Aether stared at the crying baby.
His finger never closed in on the trigger. Even when he switched his mind to the man in his last play, his finger simply never moved.
Finally lowering the gun, he placed it on his bed. Approaching the baby he wrapped her around blankets to keep her warm. Then he put down his backpack and got out some food.
Fortunately there were some food he could mash and feed it to the baby. So he got to work.
Luckily the kitchen in this house was still intact, so his job was easier. After preparing the meal for the baby, he sat her down on his lap.
When he showed her food, she seemingly calmed down.
He cleared his throat. What the hell?? Was he already being manipulated by her cuteness?
'Dangerous.'
Very dangerous.
Shaking these thoughts out of his head, he fed the baby. Or at least tried. He had never fed a baby before.
Well at least the baby looked satisfied as she looked at him with a smile. She was holding his finger in her hand.
Aether let out a breath. He needed to stay strong.
And right after that he entertained the baby. The infant's laughs filling the room.
"What's your name?"
"gugugaga."
"Hm.. an interesting name.."
He pondered for a few seconds, searching for a name he could give to the girl that would fit her.
"How about Bianca? Since I found you in such a snowy day, it would fit you don't you think?"
The baby simply laughed.
'Does that mean she likes it?'
After observing her, he came to a conclusion.
'Of course she likes it. After all I gave her the name.'
He thought to himself smugly.
'I am getting distracted.'
His smile dimmed. He needed to finish his nightmare, not get attached to a kid who was going to disappear when he woke up.
With a sigh, he got up.
However he immediately regretted that decision when he was two men dressed in armor and holding weapons walking outside.
Bianca was fast asleep, so he did not have to worry about her making sounds. He immediately hid her under the bed. Getting out his gun out of his belt, he walked to the entrance of the door and stood beside it.
The gun was pointed at the door so he would shoot whoever came in. He did not need any allies currently, and these men did not look it either.
Aether could hear their footsteps in the snow, they were coming closer to the entrance.
Thump! Thump!
He could hear his heartbeat in his chest.
And then the men entered the house.
After that everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Before Aether could even pull the trigger, the man dashed towards him. His sword cleaved through his shoulder and cut the arm that was holding the gun. Aether did not even feel the pain when the next blow came, the man slammed the pommel of his sword into his left eye.
He had underestimated the man, he was actually an ascended human.
And after that everything went black.
***
When Aether opened his eye, soreness weighed down every muscle in his body.
He could not see properly with his left eye, he had lost it once again. And this time he had lost his arm along with it.
He pushed himself upright, moving slowly, and took in his surroundings.
...Huh?
He was still in the same house. No ropes. No chains. No signs of being dragged away.
His severed arm lay on the floor, pale fingers stiff in the cold. Blood had soaked into the warped floorboards, dark and heavy. The armored men were nowhere to be seen.
Why hadn't they taken him? Why leave him alive at all?
A thin, trembling cry cut through his thoughts.
"Bianca!"
He dropped to the floor, reaching beneath the bed. His fingers brushed warm blankets, and he pulled her into his arm, setting her gently on the mattress. She squirmed, fussing, but he hushed her until the small sobs faded.
They had not found her it seems.
'I am glad.'
A muffled whimper escaped him as he pressed a hand against the raw stump of his shoulder. The pain was dull but deep, pulsing with every heartbeat. It would need to be patched quickly before infection set in.
He tore cloth from around the house, binding both his shoulder and the empty socket where his left eye had been. The makeshift wrappings held, but they wouldn't last forever.
After choking down a little food from his earlier scavenging, he packed what he could. Staying here would only invite more trouble.
He slipped Bianca into the crook of his good arm, wrapping her securely in blankets and against his chest so she'd share his body heat. His backpack went over his shoulder, the old pistol tucked in place.
The air outside bit at his skin the moment he stepped out. The cold here could kill an adult given enough time—an infant had no chance without constant warmth.
His goal was simple: find another settlement, hand Bianca off to someone who could care for her. After that, he'd return to search the village properly.
Aether had never pretended to be a selfless man. He knew how selfish he was. He just couldn't explain why he was carrying this child through the snow.
He walked through the snow with calculated steps. Aether had decided to walk towards the direction the men before came. They must have come from another place.
His steps sank into the snow as he walked forward with grim determination.
***
A blizzard.
He had been walking forward for hours. The sun had long since vanished beyond the horizon, leaving the world in a suffocating shroud of night. Thanks to his attribute, [False Sight], the darkness wasn't a problem—unfortunately, everything else was.
The situation was grim.
One arm held Bianca close, shielding her as best he could, pressing her against his chest to share what little warmth he had left. The worn blankets were wrapped tightly around her small frame, but even that felt woefully inadequate against the raging storm.
The snow fell with a savage weight, each flake stinging his skin like tiny shards of glass. The wind howled through the trees, rattling branches until they creaked and splintered—he could hear them snap somewhere in the distance. The air was thick and biting, every breath searing his lungs.
His skin had turned pale, lips tinted blue. He wasn't yet on the brink of freezing to death, but each step carved away at his strength, gnawing at his endurance.
'Bianca..'
He tightened his hold on her. He needed to get her somewhere safe. Somewhere warm.
After that… maybe he could finally allow himself to rest.
His makeshift eyepatch fell off. Revealing the gruesome empty eye socket beneath.
'Shit..'
It immediately flew away before he could catch it.
And then he felt something small on his chest clinging onto his clothes. It was Bianca, her small fingers trying to hold onto him.
"Pa..pa.."
Aether froze on his tracks. As he heard her calling him that...
However then someone else decided to speak up.
[You have slain a dormant human, Bianca.]
[You have received a memory: A snowy day.]
"Huh??"
He immediately looked down at Bianca. She was not breathing anymore, her small fingers were not clinging to his robes anymore.
She was... dead.
He finally felt something hot on his skin. He was crying.
Hot tears fell down from his right eye, while the other cried in blood.
'Why..?'
Why had the spell announced it as his own kill? He had not killed her had he?
'She died of snow damn it!'
Aether gritted his teeth. His mind was flooded with several emotions: anger, sadness.. and guilt.
He failed to save Bianca. And even killed her in his arm.
He slowly sat down on his knees, hugging her dead body. Tears and blood streaming down his face, heavy snowflakes falling down on his back.
"I am so sorry.."
'So sorry..'
A set of runes appeared before him.
Memory: [A snowy day]
Memory Rank: Dormant.
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [Don't blame yourself, please.]
Memory Enchantments: [Final Slash.]
A scream of pure agony tore through the whole forest.