Soma withdrew his Nichirin Sword from the man's body and sheathed it. Blood spurted as if without cost, and the man clutched his wound with both hands, trying in vain to stop the flow.
Feeling his life slipping away, his desperate will to survive made him look at Soma once more—but all he saw was cold indifference. So, he turned his desperate hope toward his daughter.
"Save... save me..."
The man begged his daughter.
Kanao Tsuyuri had already been set down by Soma. She stood quietly, watching the man kneeling on the ground, clutching his chest, and said nothing.
Her beautiful pink-purple eyes betrayed no emotion as she observed the man, called "father," slowly losing his life.
Just as she had shown no sadness when learning she had been sold by her parents, the death of her parents stirred no ripple in her heart.
During the girl's harsh past, any affection she might have had for her father had long since been extinguished through countless beatings and pains.
Crying meant being kicked and stomped by her father, ears pulled under water by her mother, and failing to anticipate her father's fists often led to hitting vital spots. Many siblings had died directly from such abuse.
She didn't know how she had survived. She only knew that when her father's fists swung toward her, she tried to see the trajectory and absorb the blows with the parts of her body that could bear it. Avoiding was impossible—dodging only invited heavier strikes. Holding back tears and enduring the pain, she had barely scraped by until now.
Enduring hunger, pain, emptiness, and loneliness—until one day, the sound of a rope snapping in her mind came, and gradually, the feelings of pain, sadness, joy, and happiness began to fade away.
The girl tilted her head, watching the man she called "father" collapse to the ground, face full of despair. Seeing him look at her with those pleading eyes, she felt a strange familiarity. Her sister, when beaten to death by the father, had looked at him in the same way, and in the cold, dark night, her gaze slowly dimmed, and her body lost warmth.
Kanao watched quietly as her father's life slipped away, then tilted her head to look at Soma.
Compared to the emptiness in her eyes when looking at her father, there was a faint spark in her gaze toward Soma.
Soma reached out and gently placed his hand on her head.
Unconsciously, the girl lifted her small head to nuzzle the large hand that stroked her.
"I killed your father." Soma said calmly to Kanao Tsuyuri.
For any child, this would be an unbearably cruel statement. Any child hearing it would surely be horrified.
But Kanao merely tilted her head and looked at him, her eyes still sparkling.
Soma quietly held her gaze. In her eyes, he saw no sadness, no trace of hatred.
Even with her father dead, she felt no sorrow and bore no grudge against the one who killed him.
Looking at this girl who seemed to understand nothing, who quietly tilted her head to look at him, a wave of pity involuntarily rose in Soma's heart.
He smiled softly. "This is for the best."
Speaking, he turned and closed the front door, then lifted the man's corpse and threw it into the woodshed.
Kanao Tsuyuri quietly followed behind Soma, watching as her "uncle" tossed her father's body like a dead dog into the woodshed.
After throwing the body in and locking the door, Soma turned to look at the girl trailing behind him. Seeing her grayish, dirty little face and filthy clothes, he reached out and took Kanao's small hand, leading her into the house.
He searched through the cabinets, hoping to find some clothes for her to change into—but there was nothing.
"You wait here a moment. I'll be back shortly." He said to the girl.
Kanao blinked and reluctantly released her tight grip on his large hand.
Soma smiled, patted her head, and stepped out the door, quickly disappearing into the night.
Kanao quietly curled up in a corner of the room, hugging her knees, staring silently outside.
Before long, Soma returned, carrying several sets of girls' clothing he had stolen from various houses in the town.
Upon entering, Soma kept looking back over his shoulder. Sneaking into homes at night to steal a child's clothes felt awkward; even though it was impossible for him to be caught, he still felt a sense of guilt.
The moment Kanao saw Soma, she scrambled out of her corner and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him.
"I'll heat some water for you, then you can change into these clothes."
Looking down at the girl clinging to him, so dependent, he gently rubbed her head.
Kanao was an obedient girl, not mischievous or troublesome like some spoiled children.
He went to the kitchen and lit the firewood.
Once the water in a large pot was hot, Soma scooped it into a wooden basin and added some cold water. Testing with his hand, he found the temperature just right and carried the basin back into the room. Kanao obediently followed behind him.
"After your bath, you can change into these clothes."
He pointed to the clean clothes by the bedside and said to Kanao.
The girl tilted her head, blinking blankly as if she didn't quite understand.
Seeing her reaction, Soma paused.
"You've never taken a bath before?"
He said softly.
Kanao quietly looked at him, still not seeming to understand.
Soma felt a little incredulous—but then he thought of Kanao's cold-blooded parents, and it no longer seemed so surprising.
He remembered scenes from the anime: when the Kocho sisters rescued Kanao from the human traffickers, Shinobu Kocho helped her bathe. When water poured over Kanao's head, she remained frozen, not even closing her eyes as the water hit them.
Clearly, Kanao had no concept of something as simple as bathing.
It was strange, even a little amusing—but for Kanao, it was perfectly normal.
Not everyone grows up with attentive, caring parents. Some children learn basic things like bathing from an early age, while for others, such things are luxuries they can never hope to have.