[You have acquired 250 Karma Points.]

[Available Karma Points: N2,345 / P710]

After the notification, Cedric's heavy breathing and Ifrit's stifled cries were the only sounds in the ruins for a moment.

Leon was so stunned that he couldn't speak; he just stared at Levi's dead body.

Eventually, the only noise that remained was Cedric's breathing, because Ifrit's form finally flickered and burned away.

Cedric sighed when he saw that he had gotten less karma from this kill than he had when he killed Damon. However, this made him understand another bit about how his negative karma accumulation worked.

It seemed that a lot was factored into it. For instance, if he killed somebody that deserved to be killed, he would accumulate less karma. The more evil the person, the less the karma.

If he killed somebody out of self defense or to protect somebody, it would be low karma too. Probably around a hundred karma points. Like that one time Aika killed the drunk fellow at the inn after his transmigration, for which she had gained a hundred.

Finally, if Cedric killed somebody who didn't deserve to die, it would be really, really high karma.

For someone like Levi, he had a hand in his death at the arena, so the karma Cedric should have gotten should have been somewhere around a hundred.

The only reason it was higher was because of Cedric's brutal method of killing him.

It seemed that if he tortured somebody before killing them, even though they deserved to die, Cedric would gain a bit more karma.

Seeing as Levi's face was a pulp of shattered bone and torn meat, he realized that his cruelty added some points for him.

Karma aside, as Cedric continued to stare at Levi's body, it began to slowly vanish into his inventory.

Then, Cedric slowly straightened his back with a weary sigh and vanished in a flurry of feathers.

Meanwhile, the ruins of the barracks slowly began to vanish. The broken and burnt shelters shimmered and faded back to their original state as Alicia finally released her ability. She looked even worse and more exhausted than when she had used it for Levi and Celeste.

This was because this time, she hadn't just layered a fake grove over the real one. Instead, she had pulled them into a separate dimension entirely, and the only people that were in this grove were her, Leon, Cedric, and Levi.

Now, with her ability released, the barracks suddenly grew noisy again with the commotion of the cadets.

It was at this point that Leon snapped out of his shock and went to Alicia, who had finally collapsed from the toll.

***

…

..

.

In the tiny empty basement of a small apartment, a boy of barely eight sat with his legs crossed, watching a show on a stolen, broken phone. The boy looked severely malnourished, with wounds on his small arms and legs that had never been given the chance to heal properly. He sat as far away from the stairs as possible, huddled in the damp corner where the light from the cracked screen was the only thing keeping the shadows back.

Suddenly, he flinched because, outside the room, he could hear bottles breaking. Then, he could hear a man shout, followed by a lady pleading.

The little boy looked up at the basement door for a moment, then turned back to his phone. But the noise outside the door went on and on. Well, actually, it had been going on for a while by then.

After a while, the boy dropped the phone on the ground, then stood up and went up the stairs to the door.

He opened it just a little bit and took a peek through.

On the ground some meters away, he could see a woman in her thirties sprawled on the floor, crying silently. The boy looked a few feet further to the right. Sitting at the small dining table, eating cereal from a bowl, was a heavily built man in his thirties.

Quietly, the boy opened the door a bit wider and sneaked out, tiptoeing until he reached the heavy front door of the apartment. He held his breath as he slowly turned the lock, praying the click wouldn't draw the man's attention away from his meal.

The latch gave way with a faint thud, and the boy walked out of the apartment.

It was snowing today, but the boy, who barely had a thin jacket to cover his shoulders, didn't mind. He just kept walking through the white streets until he reached a park, then brushed the frost from the wood and sat on a bench.

The minutes passed as the boy watched people pass. Some were laughing and talking with their families, clutching warm drinks as they hurried toward their homes.

Then, he saw a man holding the hand of a small girl. Both of them paused and the man knelt down to adjust her scarf. The man seemed to be telling the girl that he would be back soon and that she should wait here.

The man then left, and that was when this little girl turned to see the little boy sitting alone on the bench. The girl smiled and walked up to the bench to sit beside the boy.

Of course, the boy was too stunned to move, but the girl smiled and waved. "Hello, my dad calls me Seo-Seo. What's your name?"

The boy looked back to her. Eventually, he replied really quietly, his voice cracking from the cold. "Min… it's Min-jun."

The girl beamed, repeating the name as if it were a song. "That's a nice name, Min-jun. My dad gave me a hot-pack, do you want to hold it? It's really warm."

A few seconds passed, then Min-jun nodded.

Seo-Seo reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, white pouch that was puffed with heat. She didn't just hand it to him. Instead, she took his freezing hand in hers and pressed the warm pack into his palm, wrapping his fingers around it to make sure the warmth stayed trapped.

Min-jun squeezed the pouch tightly, his voice barely a whisper. "Th… thank you."

Then he looked away, staring at the snow-covered ground so she wouldn't see his face, and smiled.

Seeing him finally relax even just a little bit, the girl tilted her head curiously. "By the way, Min-jun, what are you doing out here in the cold alone? You'll get sick, you know?"

He was quiet for a bit, before replying, "It's my birthday today. But… I don't think anyone remembers that. So I decided to come here and celebrate it by myself."

He looked down at the hot-pack in his hands, the warmth from it feeling like the only gift he had received in forever.

Hearing this, Seo-Seo's eyes widened in surprise, and she let out a small gasp. "Your birthday? Today?"

She fumbled with the pockets of her coat for a moment, looking for something, anything, she could give him. Finding nothing but a small piece of wrapped candy, she pressed it into his hand alongside the hot-pack. "Then… Min-jun! Since I don't have a cake, you have to make a very big wish on this instead."

Min-jun looked down at the small, brightly wrapped candy resting on top of the warm pouch. His fingers trembled slightly from the strange tightness in his chest. "A wish?" he whispered, his eyes finally meeting hers. He had never been told he was allowed to want things, let alone wish for them. But looking at her hopeful smile, he slowly closed his eyes and opened them again after a few seconds.

Seo-Seo then leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Come on, tell me! What did you wish for? You can tell me, I'm good at keeping secrets."

Min-jun looked at her for a long time, his face turning a little red. "I wished..." he started, his voice trailing off as he looked at her soft, winter hat. "I wished for someone to just pat my head and say happy birthday to me."

Seo-Seo blinked, her smile softening into something more gentle. Without a second thought, she reached out and ruffled his messy hair with her gloved hand. "Happy birthday, Min-jun."

Min-jun's eyes widened and then… he broke down into tears.

Seo-Seo blinked again. "Huh? Everything okay Min-jun?"

At that moment, the girl's dad came back. His eyes were fixed on his watch as he crunched through the snow. Then he called out from a few meters away, his voice echoing in the quiet park. "Seo-Seo! Let's go, it's getting late. Your mom is waiting for us."

Seo-Seo jumped up from the bench, brushing the snow off her coat. She looked back at Min-jun one last time, her expression a mix of worry and a child's natural hurry to follow her parent.

"I have to go now," she whispered.

She leaned over and gave his shoulder a quick, final pat. "Don't forget to eat your candy, Min-jun! And happy birthday!"

She ran toward her father, grabbing his hand as they disappeared into the white blur of the falling snow. Min-jun stayed on the bench, clutching the hot-pack like it was the only thing keeping him anchored to the earth.

…It was at this moment that Cedric woke up with tears pouring from his eyes. After returning from the barracks to his shelter, he had been too exhausted and had just gone to sleep. Although now, he was wondering why he had that dream.

While still drifting between sleep and wakefulness, he suddenly realized his head was resting on something soft, and someone was gently patting and stroking his hair.

'Huh?'

He slowly looked up to see Aika's beautiful face. When she saw that he was finally awake, a large, genuine smile grew on her lips, and then she muttered the words he once wished to hear.

"Happy birthday, Min-jun."

Cedric's eyes widened, and then tears began to flow anew.

'So that's why…'

It was his birthday.

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