Mage Manual-Chapter 168 - 152: Sympathy

Chapter 168: Chapter 152: Sympathy

In the apartment, the Cult Leader locked eyes with Meiwa.

“Why?”

When Ash asked this question, Freyja was startled, then thought for a moment and said, “I’m still a legal citizen. I can rent a house to shelter you, I can go to work to support you, anything inconvenient for you can be handed over to me. I… I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

“Although I’m glad you’re willing to work to support me,” Ash couldn’t help but laugh, “but what I mean is not ‘why should I take you with me,’ but ‘why do you want to follow me.'”

Freyja’s face turned slightly red, and she looked down at the little Technique Spirit rubbing against her feet, “There’s no reason… I just want to follow you.”

“Then let me rephrase the question. Why can’t you accept me leaving you?”

Freyja opened her mouth but said nothing.

She bit her lower lip, feeling pain somewhere inside, yet she didn’t know how to express it.

The education she received for many years didn’t allow her to expose her weaknesses.

Suddenly, she remembered what Ash had just said to the little Technique Spirit, “From now on, if you feel pain, don’t just tough it out on your own; you have to shout it out loud, or nobody will know.”

“Because it will hurt me,” she said softly, “Just thinking that I will never see you again, never taste the gourmet food you make, never be able to chat with you… I feel a faint pain in my heart, it’s very uncomfortable, and I even feel like crying.”

As she spoke, Freyja began to feel aggrieved, “Everything will go back to the way it was after you’re gone, but why do I feel so bad? It’s the same as before, but the moment you appear, you throw my emotions into turmoil, why does this happen…”

“Because you feel lonely.”

“Lonely?” She was somewhat bewildered. “But I—everyone has always been lonely. That’s what the books say, that loneliness is the wings of freedom, that freedom dazzles because of loneliness…”

Ash took Freyja by the hand and sat her down in the entryway, gently saying, “But you never embraced loneliness before, you were just avoiding it. Because you are young, the world is still new to you, life is interesting to you, so you could keep running, and loneliness couldn’t catch up with you.”

“You’ve also seen Fernand’s speech, haven’t you? Do you know why he’s looking for his descendants? Because loneliness caught up with him. He’s too old, the world is no longer new to him, and all that’s left in life are calculations. Facing the pursuit of loneliness, he has nowhere to hide. So he urgently needs another vessel to contain his loneliness—nothing can ease the pain of loneliness like seeing one’s own bloodline continue.”

“What I’ve done is establish a bond with you. When we are together, the bond can drive away loneliness; when I leave, the other end of the bond will be connected to loneliness, that’s why you feel pain—you’ve been caught by loneliness, and you can’t escape.”

Freyja looked down at her beautifully manicured feet, and murmured softly, “You’re so mean…”

“In your eyes, I suppose I should be a great villain,” Ash smiled and said, “Your thoughts aren’t wrong; Blood Moon’s education is for your own good, too. As long as you don’t enter any intimate relationship, don’t establish bonds with anyone, you won’t be disappointed, you won’t be lonely, and you won’t get hurt. Because you never had it, so there’s no fear of losing it.”

“But… I refuse to acknowledge that kind of ‘for your own good.'”

Ash waved to the little feline and, once it approached, he lifted it high, looking at the place where its testicles should have been, “The pet store neutered them before selling the cats, because estrus is uncomfortable for them. It’s painful, and there can be many complications; neutering cats is for their own good.”

“In my view, what the Kingdom of Blood Moon does to you all isn’t much different from neutering cats. You don’t dare to enter intimate relationships, and you are overly cautious even with cotton candy, which indeed avoids many potential harms, but it also causes you to lose the greatest ability of mankind—the ability to love.”

“But people are not pets, at least… they shouldn’t be.”

“I’m glad, Freyja,” Ash said as he met Meiwa’s gaze. “You’ve learned to love, and you know to resist rather than flee from loneliness. This means that it’s not me who’s crazy, but this kingdom.”

“Ash, you really are the epitome of a cult leader,” Freyja’s smile was tinged with sorrow, “What should I do then?”

“Don’t resist entering into intimate relationships. Actively seek new bonds, whether friendship or love, and then you can fight loneliness,” Ash said. “But you do need to adjust the way you love; it’s too extreme. Saying things like working to support me, you switch from ‘complete self’ to ‘complete dependence’ so easily. It makes you susceptible to being deceived by jerks.”

“Keep your individuality; learn to love. Just do these two things and you’ll do just fine in this crazy kingdom, or rather, at least live happier than others.”

Freyja gazed at him, lost in thought, “Can’t I really follow you?”

“It’s not that you can’t; I would love that,” said Ash. “But that would mean abandoning your achievements of over a decade, risking becoming a fugitive, giving up a degree within your grasp, forsaking resource-rich universities, foregoing the mature mage cultivation system of the Kingdom of Blood Moon, and even giving up the chance to become a Spirit Mage… Are you willing to do that?”

Meiwa was taken aback.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

“I’ve only been with you for five days and four nights. Compared to the years you’ve spent in Kaimon, this time is truly insignificant. To you, I’m not that important; you’re just being impulsive—of course, I’m happy with that impulse, as it represents the budding of your love for me.”

Ash couldn’t help but laugh, “Speaking of which, I once invited someone to leave with me, and she decisively rejected me due to practical reasons. Now when you voluntarily want to follow me, I am the one refusing you.”

Freyja murmured, “You despise what’s handed to you and covet what you can’t have.”

“You’re criticizing me so much I’m starting to doubt my own noble character,” said Ash, grinning with a grimace. “But my thoughts haven’t changed—I can offer you the choice, but you need to think it through.”

“I can be a regret for you, but not a disaster.”

Freyja picked up the small feline and slumped to the ground, lost in thought for a long while before letting out a slow sigh, “So do you plan to just play with me until I can no longer return, and then just leave like that?”

“You’re suddenly being so harsh, making me sound like some heartbreaker, but I really didn’t do anything,” Ash said, somewhat bemused. “And it’s not that I’m offering nothing… Didn’t I give you a Technique Spirit?”

He paused and then added, “If you haven’t found a new bond for the time being, then look at the Technique Spirit and think of me. Longing can ease loneliness, longing can ferment anticipation.”

Freyja looked at the Technique Spirit within the Fluorescent Ball, feeling a sudden pang of sorrow.

“You’ve been so kind to me, doing so much these past days; is it all just out of pity?”