Chapter 78: Mirsha
Mirsha opened her eyes in a hospital. Her body was hurting and the first person she saw was a man on his thirties.
"Mirsha!? Can you hear me? Do you recognize me?"
"Will?" Mirsha was still a little groggy but he can recognize that Blue Hair of his anywhere. His eyes and the contour of his face was something that had been burned in brained.
"Momma!"
"Ugh!"
A little girl's voice echoed in Mirsha's ears. Then the bearer of that voice appeared before Mirsha. A crying girl with a blue hair hugged Mirsha's hand.
"I…I thought Momma was going to….Waaaah! Mammaaaaaa!"
The girl resembled Mirsha. She had a pair of piercing eyes and had a well-defined face. Her hair reaches her tailbone and was braided.
She was a cute child and seeing the child cry like so made Mirsha both smile in happiness and sadness. She was happy that she can still see her daughter, but, saddened at the fact she was crying because of her.
There are many things racing in her mind. But none of that matters at the moment, because as Mirsha smiled at her daughter she softly spoke, "Don't cry, Mia. Don't cry."
She was back and alive, that's all that matters.
Mirsha Feuer, that is her name. A prospective Fire Mage. At the young age of 24, she had already become a B+ Hunter after deciding to shift from being a 'Helper'.
She is looked up to by many and because of her righteous disposition, she is both hated and beloved. But none of that matters, for what is important is that she is a mother of a three-member family.
Though her history is murky, her present life is what matters. As she looked at her family with her, Mirsha did not, even for a second hated the fact that she chained her life to a daemon.
'This is the price for my life. ' She does not wish to let go of the happiness she attained.
Right after Mirsha's awakened from the coma, two people dressed in black came to ask her some questions after her mind stabilized.
The questions were not that hard to answer. Most of them were about the mission she undertook and what happened.
"The mission to clear out the mysterious village of daemons has been completed. But as for the casualties, I fear that 99% of the Hunters who came with you died. We are in need of a detailed explanation of what transpired to cause such a devastating loss of life and how come only you managed to come out of the ordeal, alive?"
It was a man with little to no expression who asked her the questions. His voice was neither loud nor strong, but it was undoubtedly oppressive for reasons unknown to her.
As Mirsha looked at the man, she remembered what it is that she needs to state.
"There were a lot of Epic-tiered monsters. Although there were not too many of them and we outnumbered them by a lot, their sheer strength outclassed us. they…" Mirsha bit her lower lip as she showed genuine fear, "…they were too strong for us, to take care of. The plan was broken through and we were forced to combat them without a plan.
"Killing, my comrades one.after.the.other those damn beasts spared no one!"
At that moment, Mirsha's voice was beginning to show instability. Her mana was beginning to rise as the heat began to rise.
"Hunter Mirsha, please, calm down."
The words of the men dressed in black suits were stern as he called for Mirsha's actions. Her fear that is mix with self-loathing was erupting from within her and it took a while before managing to relax.
"...we, fought and fought until the last daemon. I didn't even know how many I killed. I looked for a survivor, and to my regret, I only found one." As if she realized something, Mirsha raised her head to ask, "How was the Hunter I saved? I remembered he was still saying something about wanting to fight more, I assume he too is fine?"
The man in a black suit stood up. He cleaned his dress and looked at Mirsha as he informed him, "He's dead, they found you together with a corpse."
"Is that so…" Mirsha lowered her head.
"That would be all, with this we have nothing more to ask. The mission reward will be sent to your account. As for the dead Hunters, no need to ask, the Association will take of their family. We hope you get well soon, Hunter Mirsha." The man in black was just about to leave when he remembered to say something, "If you wish to retire after this, please contact the Association so we can process your papers faster."
"…thank you for the consideration."
The doors of her room opened as the two left. A tear escaped her eyes not out of sadness but of guilt. She just said what the daemon sent her a day before the smoke rose up. The number of Hunters that were killed that day was her responsibility.
She was the one who accepted the mission and the one who called for their help. But as of this moment, she is already burying their deaths under layers of lies. Mirsha does not know why this was happening but as she closed and then opened her eyes, her eyes no longer showed guilt.
The only thing remaining in her eyes was determination. The determination to live and ride down this current of lies she was made to commit in order to keep the happiness that she had found.