As I stood here lost in thought, my mind wanders back to a precious memory from my past. It's like I'm transported back in time, reliving each moment as if it were yesterday.

As I slowly opened my eyes, the bright fluorescent light overhead illuminates the hospital room. The white walls and the beeping of nearby machines remind my mother that she wasn't in her usual comfort of home.

I found myself sitting beside the bed, with my head resting at my arms. It’s been a year since Mom’s diagnosed with her disease, and she’ll be soon be discharged after her bills are fully paid.

As I sit up, I grasped her warm stare.

“Mom,” I muttered.

She patted my head, rubbing the strands in my hair. The moment she does this, I can never resist.

“You’re overworking again, Sachi?” She asked.

“N—No way,” I replied, looking away from her. “My scholarship is fine, as well as my part-time. I can still watch over my little brothers after.”

She chuckled even with the low energy she had left. “You’re obvious when you lie.”

“I’m not lying!”

“Fine, fine,” she said, gripping my stick-thin wrist. There’s still space in it even after she circled her hand on it. “Are you sure you’re eating fine?”

“I am, and so as my brothers. Naoki helps me with cooking while I’m away working.”

She sighed out of relief. “I see that you’re just fine, but don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I know, Mom. Leave my brothers to me.”

“You’re such a kind girl, Sachi. You’re still young yet you’re doing too much for us to handle. You even think of others first.”

“Of course, Mom, I all got this from your genes. Genetics is amazing, isn’t it?”

As she continues to rub my head, her smile remained, but her head slowly falls downward. With a soft voice, she muttered,

“You can look upon others, but don’t forget to look upon yourself. You might not realize, but there are people other than your family who’ll end up aching to see you hurt.

“It might not be now, but someday, there’ll be someone that will protect you with all their heart. Someday, a meteor will fall down the sky.

“There will be people who will stand before you. Make sure to protect those people too.”

Because I’m unwilling to make connections with people in my age, I’ve never utilized that tip my Mom gave me.

I can’t see a candidate in my ‘friends’ who’s willing to protect me. There’s no one who saw me as their priority. The longer I lived in solitude, the more that tip became soluble.

It remained at the deepest part of my head as I’m unable to dig it back. It came to the point that I’m amnesiac of it.

But now, there is someone who is willing to catch that meteor. It took me even death just to find her. So this is the feeling of being loved by someone.

Those people are willing to throw away anything, even their life, just to save another’s breath. I’m also like this, sacificing myself for the sake of my family.

That’s why I hated Elara for what she’s doing right now. I see myself at her, suffering in loneliness and regret. Both of us exist for some person, and if they lost, our reasons will vanish.

If I lost my life, Elara’s existence will have no point. I don’t want that to happen. Like me, she needs to be protected too.

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If there’s no other person willing to do that,

Then I should be.

There’s only a moment before the golem’s fist crush us. The knights in defense broke their formation as they rush to get me. With my single misstep, everyone went chaotic.

But this isn’t a misstep. As I garner the mana in the air, I whispered while creating gesture in my fingers.

“Thank you, Mom.”

My mind is filled with thoughts of how much people me. My family, my secondary family, Elara, Ellyn, Brodveth, the knights, everyone who cared about the soul inside this body, I’ll never forget them.

Suddenly, the golem’s fist everted, losing its balance, falling its back on the ground. Everyone witnessed the powerful glow of foreign light in Elara’s blade.

As she slowly pulled down her blade to scan it, her hanging open mouth sucked much air than it could handle. The glow gradualy fades as the breeze washed it free.

“Impossible… Is this your magic, Princess Veniara?” She exclaimed. “You’ve become so strong.”

“I can now protect you, Elara. I can now protect everyone!” I cheered. “Thank you, Elara. If not for you, I wouldn’t have reached out my limits.”

“I’m just an obstacle in your course, a burden to thee,” she replied, looking back at the golem who continued shouting its phrase. “Princess Veniara, can you help me deal the final blow?”

“The final blow?”

“Only you and your light-affinity magic can eradicate this monster. Once you defeated him, I’m now convinced that you’re more powerful than us.”

I can never be as powerful than those two assassins, not after seeing how they fight. They had experienced a much bloody past and wars since their childhood.

I’m just lucky that the enemy is weak against my magic. I’m still looking up to them until now. That title is something I don’t deserve, but…

“I might be not stronger than you are right now, but soon, I will seek for the power to defeat the dark lord. Are you willing to accompany and protect me to achieve that goal?” I asked.

“Nine-year-olds dream big nowadays. But if that’s what you’ve wanted, I’ll always be beside you even after you become the saintess.”

Suddenly, Elara carried me like a princess. The moment she jumped high up the golems chest, the hidden moon reappeared from the clouds. Her face shined under the moonlight while her body became its silhouette.

For a moment, she became the prince of the night sky. If he’s just a male, I would’ve probably in loved with him already.

The moment we landed near the golem’s core, I stood up before it. Before Elara leaves, she waved her hand at me and smiled.

“We’re counting on you, Veniara…”

The moment I heard it, I stiffened together with time. Memories had overtaken my mind again.

“We’re counting on you, Sachi.” The first time who told me that was my mother when I was three. I was tasked to teach my little brother buy an errand to the store. It’s the only time I trusted this phrase.

“We’re counting on you, Fujimoto.” This is my classmates in middle school told me when I was in their group for a school project. They cheered me, but I ended up doing everything in it.

“We’re counting on you, Fujimoto,” My classmate in high school told me when he ask me to bring the mountain of documents to the faculty room in her stead. It scattered everywhere, and I came late, which made them scold me.

“We’re counting on you, Fujimoto.” In my first year college, I became the heroine of the play at the same day of the presentation. This was the phrase they said to me before the presentation.

I’m not given any scripts or lines to follow. I adlibed without knowing the story. I pretended to be a dumb woman destroying the play. In the end, it was only I who they could blame.

After that, I realized that I was so kind to people that my mind can resist the blame placed on me. I never knew trust was too fragile.

Other than my family, I never let anyone depend on me again. I never allowed them to set expectations of myself. That’s the reason I shut myself to everyone else.

I might became lonely, but I never felt it. Since I stood independently on my own feet, I never felt longing for things. I never felt love. No one risked their time to depend on me.

But as I stand in front of this giant monster’s magical core, I saw the cheer of everyone watching me. They’re putting their trust in me, not just for themselves but also for everyone who’ll be saved by my actions in the future.

I stared at Elara with my hand on my chest. Tears fell down my eyes as I nod with my upright lips. It’s been decades before I could state a reply in those promising words.

“Leave it to me.”

Elara dropped off the giant, leaving only me in that place. She knew that what I’ll be doing would be dangerous in vicinity.

Before the golem had the opportunity to stand up, I raised my palms facing the sky. As I pulled my hands apart, a glow begins to spread between them, like a miniature aurora borealis.

With a flick of my wrist, I shouted,

“I will defeat the demon lord with my hands!”

After a second of stale quietness, the ground shakes as light flows straight from the monster’s core up to the sky. It’s like a beacon or a ray gun planted underneath it.

It’s too sudden that even I, whose near it, am blinded by its garishing light brighter than the sun. I didn’t see it, but a glass crack reverberated through my ear.

Lately that I’ve realized that I’m the only one shaking. The golem’s body cumbled into stones, losing its stickiness and forming a mountain of rocks instead.

I fell down, but I lose all the strength to stand up. After the light vanished, the cheers of people echoed around me. My magic is all drained.

My limbs turned numb as I lie on the ground. The only thing I could move was my breathing. My vision gradually fades as my eyes slowly closed.

Since it’s finished, I ended the day with a smile.

All I wish for tomorrow is a day full of peace.