Axa smiled. After receiving Nathanās promise, he could finally be at ease. "Thank you."
"No! Please donāt go! I donāt want to go!" Bianca shook her head furiously, begging Axa not to leave her.
Axa smiled before shaking his head. "I will have to leave you sooner or later. After knowing there is someone who can take care of you better than me, I should leave."
"No... I donāt want to..." Bianca was already crying, unwilling to let Axa go.
Axa looked at her face. Her face used to be round and small, but in the blink of an eye, she had become beautiful.
...
A few years ago.
"Kh..." Axa gritted his teeth, holding his elbow. His body was covered in blood. He leaned on the tree while muttering, "To think that even my best friend would actually betray me like this... Is there anyone in this world I can trust?"
Axa breathed heavily. He was gradually losing his strength. At this rate, he would die.
Nonetheless, Axa kept pushing forward, trying to use the last bit of energy to find a place to recover.
When he passed a tree, he suddenly saw an alien. The alien looked like an earthworm. It was chubby, but his instinct was telling him that this alien was dangerous. It was clear that the alienās strength was somewhere between warrior class and elite class.
"Ugh." Axa bit his lower lip. He never thought he would be this unlucky. To think he had to encounter an alien this powerful when he was trying to survive.
Axa breathed heavily and just leaned on the tree. "I guess... this is it for me. I canāt even take my revenge. Itās a shame, but well, my life was not bad at all if I ignored the betrayal."
The alien raised its head as though it were about to attack him.
Axa looked at the alien and shouted, "Come at me! Even if I beg for mercy, itās not like you aliens can understand me... not that I have that intention!"
Suddenly, a girl climbed onto the back of the alien and popped out from its back.
"A person?" The girl looked confused.
"What?" Axa was stupefied. There was actually a girl who was living with this alien. He thought the alien was supposed to kill all humans. He wondered if this alien had taken the girl hostage. "Let her go! I will... Khh..."
Axa tried to save the girl at the last moment, but when he pushed forward, blood spurted from his body as he dropped to the ground and his consciousness faded.
A few days later.
Axa opened his eyes, finding a wooden ceiling. "Huh? Is this... the afterlife?"
Axa was confused, trying to figure out where he was. He should have died from his wounds, so he tried to get up since his wounds shouldnāt be carried into the afterlife.
To his surprise, his body hurt.
"Aaarggghh!" Axa screamed and fell back down.
"Huh? Old man. Youāre awake!" The girl took a peek from the outside.
"You are... the girl..." Axa was confused. He saw the girl on the back of an alien. Since both of them didnāt die, he wondered if he was hallucinating the alien.
"Papa. The old man is awake!"
"Papa?" Axa became even more confused. This man she called "Papa" must be the one he hallucinated to be an alien. Since he had recovered to a certain extent, he should be able to see his true appearance.
To his surprise, the alien appeared again. "What? An alien? Itās truly an alien?"
"Alien? How rude. Papa is Papa!" The girl glared at Axa.
"Ah...." Axaās brain couldnāt handle all this matter. This was the first time an alien would be acting like a father to a human.
"You donāt have to worry, human. I am different from other aliens. Iām not controlled by the black cell, so I am acting on behalf of myself."
"!!!" Axa was even more shocked when he heard the alien speak. At the same time, he couldnāt help but listen to his words. He certainly didnāt see any black cells on his body. "What?"
"You should calm down first and eat the porridge. After that, I will explain the situation."
Axa realized that the alien wanted him not to have a prejudice when hearing the story.
He took a deep breath as Bianca suddenly brought a bowl of porridge. "This is for you, old man. Can you eat yourself? Do you want me to help you?"
"N-No. Iām alright." Axa smiled wryly. He held the bowl and ate the warm porridge, which surprised him.
While eating, Axa couldnāt help but ask, "Girl..."
"Iām not a girl. I have a name. You may call me Bianca!"
"Is that so? Nice to meet you, Bianca. I am Axakera."
"Assavera?"
"Ass... Itās Axakera."
"Ababera!"
Axa smiled wryly. "Axa."
"Aksa!"
Axa shook his head helplessly. "Then, just call me old man."
"Old man!" Bianca had a big smile now that she could finally call him properly.
Axa shook his head helplessly. "So, how do you know the alien?"
"How rude! Youāre so rude. All this time, youāve been acting rude. Itās Papa!"
"Right?" Axa was surprised by how big the reaction she showed was, but he was flexible enough to change the way he addressed the alien. "How does Bianca know her papa?"
"Biancaās papa and mama were gone. Bianca ran away here and met Biancaās new papa!"
"Is that so?" Axa was quite surprised that the process was that simple. It looked like the alien was indeed different.
Still, he was a bit suspicious. He had never seen an alien like this after all, so he wondered if the alien had a hidden intention.
But Bianca looked happy with her. He wondered if this happiness was actually manipulated or not. If the alien treated Bianca well, he might finally accept that this alien was different.
After finishing the porridge, Axa smiled at Bianca and said, "Iām full now. Thank you, Bianca. It looks like this old man needs to have a talk with Biancaās papa."