SAI SHINU
"My code name?" I thought. "I don't have a code, but I can give you my name instead," I said.
"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Isamu Namae," she said, raising her hand toward me.
"I'm Sai. Sai Shinu," I replied, taking her hand. She looked slightly confused. "You said Shinu, right?"
"Yes," I said, a hint of fear in my voice. But what she said next left me even more shocked.
"You knew the woman on the execution platform?"
I didn't know what to say. I had been caught—I had no reason to lie anymore. With a sad expression, I admitted, "Yes… I am his son."
A heavy silence stretched along the pathway. After a moment, I gathered my courage and asked, "How do you know her? And… her last name?"
"I'll tell you," she said, "but I want you to tell me how you did that."
I frowned, confused. "Did what, exactly?"
"That woman—your mother. When that blade almost reached her neck, you pulled her out of nowhere, and she disappeared," she said, her eyes locked on mine.
I paused, then said, "Okay… but I want something in return. I'll answer every question you ask, but I want you to take care of that child, as if he were your own."
She didn't reply immediately, but I could tell from her reaction that she had agreed.
The voice in my head reminded me of the other perspective—how, from someone else's point of view, my mother had simply vanished.
"About a week before… I suddenly felt an insane presence," I said calmly.
"Yes, I remember that. And then random things—like stars or stones—started falling from the sky," she said.
"Exactly. If you destroy one of those stones, you can gain a new ability," I explained.
She replied, "My father and I saw one of them, and he captured it. It had something written on it, but I don't know what it was."
"That 'something' translates to godglyph," I said.
We continued walking.
"Oh really? I have another question," she said.
"Go ahead," I replied.
She asked, "When you fell unconscious, you had a backpack and a blade in its sheath. Suddenly, they disappeared. Is that another ability of those godglyphs?"
I reached my hand out to her. "Give me your hand, miss," I said.
She hesitated. "I'm not a miss. I think we're about the same age."
I smiled. Once she gave me her hand, she could see it—the system.
CHARACTER PROFILE
Name: Namae Isamu Age: 25 years old
Class: unknown
Title: General anchor
Weapon: sword
Skills: Quad elemental mastery
"Whoah… this is incredible," she breathed. I stayed silent at first, letting us both inspect the profile.
Then I asked, "Your code name is General Anchor?"
She smiled. "Yes, it is."
I frowned. "Why that name?"
"I'm the leader of the personal army my father owns," she replied, a quiet pride in her voice.