A Desire For Revenge

That day, he saw Shiro lost in his own thoughts. The doctor did not bother him as he had finally confirmed that Loyola genuinely treats Shiro as her own child.

That incident was a blessing in disguise, as the doctor knew where to look first to find the missing Shiro.

He ran all the way to the aforementioned hiding place and found Shiro squatting down.

"Shiro, what are you doing here?", the doctor asked as he slowly took a seat beside Shiro.

Shiro looked up and beamed when he saw the doctor. "Hi, uncle!"

The doctor smiled and ruffled Shiro's hair, making it slightly messy. "Hello, buddy. Why are you hiding behind this rock?"

"…", he remained quiet for a few seconds before revealing it to him.

"Well, I was thinking of a few things."

"Like?"

"Uncle, what does selling your body mean?"

The doctor's eyes darkened the moment he heard that.

"Where did you learn that phrase from?"

"Well just now, I arrived home early and saw a few men coming out of my home. They were naked, and sister Sera told me to run the other direction the next time I saw them.", Shiro explained.

"…", Mornil became quiet too.

"And…?"

"When we entered our home, I saw mom almost naked with only a blanket covering her. Sera approached her while crying, and asked mom why she was selling her body. Mom said the Anti-Pirate Fed- I forgot the word, collected tax that day. But mom had no money to pay them."

The doctor gasped. He could feel anger bubbling from his insides.

"How could they?", the doctor yelled in frustration.

Shiro looked at the doctor while tilting his head.

"Uncle, do you know what it means?"

The doctor hummed, thinking of a proper way to explain the situation to an 8-year-old child.

"Okay, Shiro. You know men's dignity is about protecting their loved ones, being strong and whatever stereotypes that classify a man as a man, right?"

Shiro nodded his head. "Yes, uncle."

"But women's dignity, unlike men, lies in her body. A woman's body is like a temple. Not until she meets her soulmate, she would not give her body away, or in Sera's words, sell her body so easily."

Shiro nodded again. "But what does any of that has to do with my mom?"

"Your mom was forced to give away her dignity by the Anti-Pirate Federation. It's a horrible thing to do, Shiro.", Mornil said as he clenched his fists, sweating profusely at the same time.

Shiro's jaw dropped as he realized what the doctor said was bad. "So my mom was taken advantage of?"

"Yes. I'm glad you told me about it. Now I know how much of a bastard those so-called Anti-Pirate people are…", the doctor said as he clenched his other fist as well.

"Uncle, what's a bastard?", Shiro asked innocently.

His body was burning up, from rage. But he didn't know how to react or what expression to make.

"It's a word you shouldn't know, and a word I shouldn't have said. Now hurry and go home, your mom and sister are about to turn this whole village upside down if you don't."

"Wait, uncle!", Shiro stopped the doctor.

"Yes?"

Shiro clenched his fists as well. For the first time ever, the rage bottled inside him tried to break free. It wanted to burst out like a volcano.

"I- I want to take revenge for my mom.", Shiro mumbled.

"What? Could you speak louder, please?", the doctor asked, not hearing a single word uttered by Shiro.

"I said, I want to take revenge for my mom!" Shiro said loudly, this time making an awful expression.

The doctor looked at Shiro amused.

"Revenge?"

"Where did you learn that word?", Mornil asked.

That was because Shiro was the most innocent boy out there. Even though he heard people speaking garbage language all around the village, nothing influenced him.

At the end of the day, when he would sit near the seashore, admiring the sea, he would forget every bad thing.

"Well, it doesn't matter where you heard that…"

"The real question is, how would you do that?"

"I'll find a way, uncle! I can't let my mom be taken advantage of so easily!"

The doctor smiled.

"Alright, I trust you. If you need help, you know where you could find me.", he said sarcastically, thinking it was just one of Shiro's whims.

Of course, Shiro never showed his anger, in reality, he was never angry earlier.

When Mornil saw him now, he understood that the feeling that was being bottled up and stockpiled was his anger. So in order to make him comfortable, he decided to go with his whims.

In any case, since that day, Shiro had gone home earlier than he normally would. He wasn't sure when those men would come, so he had to be alert at all times.

A month later, Loyola spotted a ship by the docks. As usual, she told Shiro and Sera to play until dark. Shiro knew that his time for revenge had arrived.

He played hide and seek with his friends, as usual, however, his playtime was cut short to a mere 30 minutes. After playing, he rushed home.

When he arrived just near the home, he saw a man entering his house from the back door this time.

Furious, Shiro went inside his home a few minutes after the man did and grabbed a rusty knife that was lying on the counter.

He tiptoed towards the man who had no clue of his presence.

Loyola, who had her clothes off, waiting to be embraced by the man, saw Shiro approach the man in a fit of rage.

She lifted her right arm towards him, signing him to stop as she shouted, "No, wait Shiro!"

Without hearing her, he lifted the knife high in the air and stabbed the man in the back.

"Aaaarghh!", the man yelled in pain, as blood oozed out of his body continuously like a spray.