Sirius continued his roaming across the village. He now had a scabbard for his saber, and he had eaten that delicious bread. He didn't hold human people in high esteem, not for now, at least. After all, only one person had shown him kindness, while the others either tried to kill him or acted with cruelty.
Twenty minutes later, Sirius found a shop with a book emblem above the door. It was labeled "Library." He was still deeply interested in books, for their wisdom and their knowledge, and it had been a while since he had read anything truly interesting.
He opened the door and began to look around. He was particularly drawn to the martial arts section. Now that he had reached the Self Vision Realm, perhaps he could find something that would help him grow stronger.
The librarian was a middle-aged woman wearing a red dress. She frowned when she saw the red-haired young man entering. As a librarian, she had access to more information than most, and she knew all too well the tales that described red-haired people as a bad omen, because death always followed them.
What exactly did the omen mean? She had no idea. But she knew one thing: death was a curse, not a blessing.
She watched the young man take three martial arts books and approach her.
"I'd like to buy these three books. How much do they cost?"
The librarian looked at him, dumbfounded, before replying:
"It's a library. You can read the books here or borrow them, but you can't buy them."
Sirius blinked in surprise. He had no idea such places existed. But wasn't that even better? He could read the books he wanted, for free.
"So… is it possible to read them here for a few hours?"
The librarian nodded silently. She didn't want to talk with him, not more than necessary.
Sirius didn't like that at all. One of his goals was to save as many lives as he could, but if people only feared or hated him because of his hair, he wasn't even sure they wanted to be saved by him.
"Can I ask a question?"
"You can," the woman replied, annoyed he was still lingering. She had no reason to refuse his questions, for now. If he overstayed, she would simply ask him to leave.
"Why? Why do you all look at me with such weird and cruel eyes? I know it's because of my hair, but why? Why is my hair so despised?"
The librarian looked confused, not expecting that question.
"You don't know? Your parents never told you? It's said that death follows red-haired people. I don't know exactly what that means, but I've heard that those around them, or even they themselves, die for no reason."
"I had no idea that was the reason. Thank you for your answer."
So that was it. A rumor, yet enough to justify everyone's hatred.
"But why didn't your parents tell you?"
She frowned. The boy looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, how could he not know something so basic?
"Because my parents died when I was one year old."
Sirius then turned away and sat at the first table he saw, opening the first of the books.
The woman, hearing that, looked at him with a mix of pity and discomfort. And yet… to her, this only confirmed the rumor.
Three hours passed. Sirius, who had finished the first book, asked if he could read the other two in the inn. The woman nodded, and he left.
He returned to the inn. As always, every gaze fell upon him, but he didn't care anymore. If these people believed in such foolish rumors, it meant they believed in fate. And to Sirius, fate was so absurd that he didn't believe it existed at all.
Back in his room, he resumed his training, swinging his saber through the air. The room was small, yet large enough to move.
The book he had just finished was about common techniques for all types of weapons. He wouldn't use them himself, but it was always better to know them, to counter them more easily. And who knew? Maybe he could improve his own technique by learning from others.
The second book detailed everything about the Self Vision Realm. He decided to read only the sections concerning the Early stage, it could help him better understand his current level.
The third book covered martial arts from other races. That too, he thought, might be useful someday.
After everything that had happened today, Sirius kept training. It was said that it was better to train with a partner, or in real combat, but in this small village, he doubted he would find a fellow Self Vision martial artist, and even less likely, one kind enough to train with him.
He had begun to form an idea of what the Mid stage might be. If the Early stage was about unlocking the upper daitan, then the Mid stage must be about learning to control the energy within it, and making it flow through the body.
So, as he practiced his technique, Sirius also tried to guide the inner energy, his first goal was simply to push a small amount of it out from his upper daitan.
Time passed. The sun slowly began to fade, and yet Sirius hadn't succeeded. But he wasn't worried. He was certain that, in less than two weeks, he'd reach it. He could feel it because of his intuition.
He started to feel hungry. After all, he had only eaten a single piece of bread that morning. So he left his room, headed downstairs, and reached the counter.
"I'd like to buy dinner."
"four copper piece."
Sirius was sure the usual price was two. But the innkeeper was asking for four.
And he couldn't go elsewhere, all the shops seemed to close after a certain hour, and it was already too late.
"Can I ask you something? Do you believe in fate?"
Sirius asked the question, curious. After all, if the innkeeper believed the rumors, then he probably believed in fate, right?
The innkeeper thought for a moment.
"No, I don't."
"Then why do you treat red-haired people as a bad omen? If you don't believe in fate, you have no reason to believe in such rumors."
Sirius couldn't understand. It was so illogical.
The innkeeper smiled.
"Because it's a good excuse to make more money."
Sirius stared at him, dumbfounded. But he started to understand people, slowly.
Some people would do anything for money, even pretend to believe in a rumor. They weren't cruel because they feared him, they were cruel because cruelty paid well.
Others truly believed in fate. They looked at him with disgust not because they were evil, but because they thought he was a harbinger of death.
And finally, there were a few rare souls who were genuinely kind. Perhaps they believed in fate too, but they were kind enough to welcome him anyway.
Human thoughts and actions… were far more complex than he had imagined.