Academy, Main Gate.
A flying bus descended near the bus stop where a young boy with dark black hair and dark black pupils was standing like a stone statue.
The boy had no expressions on his face, his eyes looked dead and had barely any light in them.
From other people's perspective, he might look like someone who has given up on his own life and suffering from depression.
Without hesitation, the boy boarded the bus and bought himself a ticket.
"Uh, h-here's your ticket…" (Even the conductor was surprised by the dead fish look in his eyes…)
Rio nodded his head took the ticket and sat on the last seat near the window.
'It's becoming more severe as time passes…' (Rio)
Originally, when Rio came to this world he still had faint amounts of emotions, he was still able to laugh and smirk at Lia from time to time.
'But now, as days are passing slowly… my situation is getting worse…' (Rio)
Rio still had light in his eyes when he took the final year exam, but now even that has started to dim. His loss of emotions has started to become more and more severe as time passes by.
'Originally I could feel the sensation of pain too, but now… sigh~' (Rio)
When Rio was still new to this body, he could still feel various emotions faintly, but now, even they have started to fade away in obscurity.
Thinking about all this Rio put his head on the window as he contemplated in his mind. He felt like he had started to lose a crucial part of a human being.
Emotions and relations define a human mostly, and Rio has started to lose these aspects from the day he arrived in this world.
'Is there no cure for me… even in the novel I never read about circumstances like mine… there was no mention of some kind of 'chance' that can cure someone's emotions..' (Rio)
Rio had read that novel for more than a thousand chapters and he knew that there was no such thing mentioned in those thousand chapters that could describe or cure his situation.
'Originally, I could still hide it, but now my situation has gotten so worse that even ordinary people can see that I look dead from the inside…' (Rio)
'I seem to have started missing a crucial part of a living being...' (Rio)
Just when Rio thinking about his condition and how to cure it, the voice of a kid entered his ears.
"Hey, big brother! Y-you can take this candy…"
Rio opened his eyes and glanced at the seat beside him.
That voice came from a young boy. The boy looked like he was just ten or so years old. He had a cautious look on his face. His small hand was stretched out towards Rio and a small candy rested on his palm.
"Uh, you don't need to be sad, big brother, here take this candy, it's sweet! Be happy!"
Hearing the remarks of the young boy, Rio nodded his head and took the candy.
'Well I can't sense any killing intent, so this thing might be harmless…' (Rio)
Rio stretched out his hand and took the candy. He peeled the wrapper and put the candy in his mouth.
Seeing Rio eat the candy the young boy became quite happy and a huge smile appeared on his face.
"Yes! Mother said that we should smile all the time, no matter how difficult the situation may be!"
Rio stretched out his hand and patted the young kid on his head.
"Yeah, your mom is right, make sure you grow up to be a strong and happy guy…" (Rio)
Being patted by Rio, the little guy smiled and ran away back to his mother. Leaving the seat beside Rio empty again.
'hmm, so he came over to give me a candy because I looked depressed to him… what a funny kid… well, since you did me a favor, I hope you live a happy life, little guy…' (Rio)
Rio shook his head and closed his eyes again, he decided to sleep for the rest of the journey.
…
After an hour or so, the flying bus finally stopped at the last stop. This was the place where the route of this bus ended.
The bus driver got up from his seat after parking the bus and declared.
"Everyone, this is the last stop, the bus will stay here for two hours now, make sure you come back on time if you want to board this bus back to the capital city!"
There were only ten or so people left on the bus right now, they all nodded their heads and got off the bus.
Rio also did the same. He got off the bus and glanced at the sky. The sun was shining brightly and the blue sky was clear today, there wasn't even a single cloud in the sky today.
'It's a sunny day...' (Rio)
Rio shook his head and moved forward.
He glanced at the signboard nearby and confirmed whether he was in the right place or not.
[National Grand Park and Memorial.]
'Hmm, yes this is the place… this is the first time I am visiting this place after coming to this world…' (Rio)
Without hesitation, Rio entered the park through the huge main gate.
While walking slowly several thoughts ran through his mind.
'This place is indeed a bit far from the capital city though…' (Rio)
Indeed, Rio wasn't in the capital city right now. He had boarded a super-fast bus to travel to this park which was located two hundred kilometers to the south-west of the capital city.
'I should have visited this place earlier, but I have always been busy since the last year… sigh~' (Rio)
After walking for a while Rio finally arrived in front of a small tree.
There were thousands of trees located nearby but Rio arrived in front of this tree specifically.
'Mom, I am home…' (Rio)
Saying that in his head Rio sat down near the tree and started to contemplate in his mind.
'Your son has come home, mom… sorry I was late…' (Rio)
Yes, the place Rio was sitting at right now was the home of the original Rio. This whole national park is built upon the ruins of the 'Drift City' that was destroyed seven years ago.
All these small trees nearby are planted in the memory of a family that used to live in that place. Everywhere there is a tree located now, there used to be a house in the past and a family used to live there.
Similarly, the tree under which Rio was sitting was the place where his home used to be.
The alliance has planted these trees and built this huge park for the people who want to visit this city.
In the first place, there weren't many survivors from that incident, most people who come here are just some random tourists who want to know more about what happened to the Drift City afterward.
There are very few people who visit this place, not more than a hundred people come here every day and this vast park is just empty most of the time.
Rio came here to visit his home today.
His mother and father's bodies were never salvaged, there were tens of thousands of bodies at the time of the massacre thus the alliance chose to burn those bodies in masses.
In the end, only this small tree could be considered the last memory of his parents.
were tens of thousands of bodies at the time of the massacre thus the alliance chose to burn those bodies in masses.
Looking at this tree, Rio could feel various thoughts come to his mind.
'How would his life have been if his parents were never killed?'
'Would he have still transmigrated into this body if the original Rio didn't suffer through this trauma?'
'Or would the original Rio have been much happier if he didn't get himself involved in all these difficulties?'
Contemplating these questions didn't really cause him any good actually.
Rio shook his head and stopped thinking further.
'Clouding my own mind with thoughts about the past will only drag my progress down… it's better to accept what has happened and move on for now… maybe I will find all my answers one day in the future…' (Rio)
After shaking off these thoughts from his head, Rio got up and glanced at the tree again.
'I am heading out, Mom…' (Rio)
…
While walking back, Rio saw the young boy he met earlier sitting near a tree similar to the one that was placed where his own home used to be.
'They are also visiting this place…' (Rio)
The young boy immediately noticed Rio and ran over towards him, leaving his mother worried behind him.
'This kid… sigh~' (Rio)
"Big brother, you are also here!"
"Mom said that we came to visit this place because my father used to work here when we were staying in the capital city… but I don't see him anywhere…"
"Once I find him, I will definitely scold him a lot you know!"
The young boy pouted his cheeks as he was angry at his father for not being there. He wanted to meet him after all.
'Ah, his father must have died in this place, these two perhaps survived because they were in the capital city at the time of the incident…' (Rio)
Rio put his hand on the kid's head and ruffled his hair.
"Yeah, you should grow up strong if you want to scold your dad… go back now, your mother is worried…" (Rio)
"Yeah! Bye-bye, big brother!"
The kid ran away back to his mother after bidding farewell to him. Rio just shook his head and walked away with a slight smile on his face.
'Kids these day…' (Rio)
Without Rio noticing himself, the kid made him smile on this sad day.
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here! I have been thinking that I didn't write much about what happened to the Drift City afterward, so here it is guys!
Question of the day.
Will you be able to recover if you went out of the city and returned back only to find that your home was gone?
1.Yes
2.No
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.