Throne of Heroes

CHAPTER 4.3 - SHINJI'S RESOLVE

Matou Shinji hated his life. His drunkard father spent his days drowning in alcohol. His mother was killed, eaten alive until there was nothing left of her. But, there was nothing he hated more than his grandfather.

Matou Zouken.

His grandfather was the source of all his misery. The one who scared his father so bad, he might as well be dead inside now. The one who fed his mother to the worms in the pit, accused her of birthing a worthless heir. The one who also "adopted" Sakura from her former family and "educated" her in the Matou's own magecraft.

He really loathed that old bastard.

Back then, when his grandfather and father brought Sakura to their family, he also hated the poor girl with all his heart. They said she would be the heir of this family, not him. Shinji didn't know better back then; he lashed out, calling out his grandfather. He was the heir here, not some random girl they just bought. But no matter what he said, nothing would change his grandfather's mind.

The first few weeks Sakura lived with them, he ignored the girl. Despite her attempts to introduce herself to him, to get to know him better, he outright ignored her existence. To his eyes, she was a thief, the one who stole what should be rightfully his.

Then one day, he accidentally stumbled into their family's workshop. After that, he saw it, the pit, the worms crawling inside it, and the expressionless girl who stayed motionless as the worms crawled all over her body. He wanted to puke; he was beyond disgusted.

This... this is wrong!

When he was about to run, he was caught by his grandfather. Shinji was so scared he couldn't even say anything. He was ready to die right there and then, but his grandfather gave him a very disturbing smile. His grandfather held his shoulders and whispered to him,

"Aren't you glad that your sister took your place in that pit?"

Shinji started hyperventilating. He knew that he didn't have any magic circuits in his body; he was crippled by magus family standards. He slowly came to the realization that if he had magic circuits, his grandfather would have thrown him down there. In a sickening way of thinking, he was glad. He was glad that Sakura was here. He was glad that he didn't end up in the worm's pit. He was glad that he didn't have any magic circuits. And he was so disgusted by himself.

"Don't worry, I still have a plan for you later. Your sister... will need your help later."

Those were the last words he heard from his grandfather before he let him go, and he frantically ran away.

The very next day, he went to Sakura's room. After he knocked several times, the door opened, and Shinji's pupils shrank in shock. Sakura, her hair slowly changing in color, the brown strands were slowly turning purplish, a standard for Matou family members. What caught him off guard was how empty her eyes were.

People said eyes are windows to the soul, and from her eyes, Shinji saw nothing. An empty, lifeless stare stared back at him.

"Yes... nii-san?"

His words stuck in his throat, unable to properly say anything. What had they done?!

When Shinji learned a bit about being a magus, he never expected something like this would happen. He balled his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. Trembling, shaking from how guilty he felt and how angry he was at his own family.

He actually hated this girl despite not knowing what happened to her. An innocent girl who was taken from her family without her consent. Welcomed by a monster of an old man, a drunkard as her new father, and a brother who refused to acknowledge her existence.