Roy's low spirits rippled like water, gently creating a ripple....
He walked on the mottled stone slabs, under the moonlight, treading the soft light from the lamps on either side of the castle, slowly approaching Maha,
Closer now, he slightly bent down so Maha wouldn't have to stand on tiptoe to reach his forehead.
"Killed someone?" The old man gently stroked the boy's forehead, the child was growing too fast. In a few more years, even on tiptoe he might not be able to reach....
"Yes." The "Life Energy" lying on the panel was cold and glaring.
Roy took a deep breath, then looked up, meeting Maha's deeply meaningful yellow eyes.
"This isn't the first time you've killed, why are you unhappy?"
The Zoldyck Family was renowned worldwide, earning the title of the "World's Number One Assassin Family," all thanks to their skill in "killing."
One could say that being a "Zoldyck," whether the master or the servant, even the family's pet dog, like Sanmao Mikai... should treat "killing" like "drinking water" and "eating food," and get used to it, so...
"Unhappiness" signifies "incompetence," not being a qualified Zoldyck....
Roy didn't answer,
He straightened up, looking out the window as the sunset faded, the bright moon rose in the east, night fell, enveloping the "abandoned ones" like "Little Marty," "Old Mark," and "Lady Nora" in darkness,
said softly, "I'm sorry, Great-grandfather, Father was right, I'm roughly... not a qualified assassin."
"Whoosh~" A serene breeze arose, lifting a leaf into the air, which the boy caught, rubbing it gently under the moonlight... studying the leaf's texture, he murmured, "I can't be as cold-blooded as Father and Grandfather."
He released his grip, letting the leaf drift away toward Kukuroo Mountain, which lay like a giant black dragon sprawling at the Zoldyck Family's residence....
"That's because you haven't killed enough,"
"Haven't seen enough darkness,"
"With time, you'll get used to it, just like I did... you will slowly get used to it...."
Maha stood beside the boy, hands behind his back, gazing silently out into the dark night.
True to the old man's words,
"I was being sentimental." Roy was stunned for a moment, focus returned to his eyes, he respectfully bowed to Maha.
The old man waved a hand: "Wrong... that's not sentimentality, it's... kindness."
Maha smiled reassuringly at the boy, saying, "So, your father and grandfather amounted to nothing... kindness should be reserved for family, not others... and that certainly won't lead to [Faith]."
"There's no need to comfort me, Great-grandfather."
"Wrong again... I'm not comforting you, just speaking the truth." Maha reached out a finger, lightly tapped Roy's chest: "The two of them, including your two brothers, only have this family in their hearts, Illumi even only acknowledges you, but you,"
"Contain the... world, and must hold... the entire world!"
Countless graves stood silently and endlessly....
Roy was slightly taken aback, as he looked down at the frail, skinny old man Maha, scenes automatically flashed in his mind from when he saw within the other's Unconscious Domain....
Those who once followed Great-grandfather in the rebellion against [Divine Authority] were overlapping more and more with "Little Marty," "Old Mark," and "Lady Nora,"
forming the Dark Continent's "silent majority," so silent that it was deafening!
'They have only died, but will not disappear, new generations will always rise to take up their burdens and inherit their dreams... among these 'new generations,' I will have my part....'
Thoughts broadened, realization struck instantly... Roy opened his mouth, gently exhaled, smiled at Maha, and said, "No wonder they say, I'm like the sun... born to illuminate the entire world......"
"Heh heh heh... off you go." Maha chuckled, opening his mouth with only a few teeth.
The old man feigned a kick....
Roy nimbly dodged, throwing one last glance....
The boy's black hair draped over his shoulders, as he walked away, his back no longer desolate, but filled with a sense of freedom and relief....
"Tap... tap...." Footsteps arose, the boy turned the corner, disappearing swiftly, in his place... a head of silver hair cascaded down to his waist, gleaming under the moonlight....
"Grandfather," Silva appeared in a neat battle suit, wearing black cloth shoes, standing where Roy had just been after he left, beside Maha. (Note: Silva is Maha's grandson, for convenience referred to as grandfather)
The man watched the boy depart, solemnly stating, "I never expected... it would be Roy."
Though the path of [Faith] is not well understood by Silva... he knows, anyone with the ambition to walk this road is no weakling. In other words... Roy inherits Maha's unfinished "dream."
Maha said nothing,
Silva continued to speak: "In the past, Grandfather always said, only the spineless become the Patriarch, I am, my father was, and so were you...."
"At first, I didn't understand, or accept it."
"Now I understand,"
"Roy... really has a big heart."
So... "He's different." Maha said softly.
"Yes, he's different." Silva echoed, taking his hands from his pockets, crossing them over his chest, eyes shimmering: "I look forward to his growth."
"A year?"
"A year!"
"Maybe, it won't even take that long." Maha patted Silva's arm, turned, and strolled back into the house.
Silva: "...."
He frowned,