Marvel’s Shadowed Knight

Blake found the interaction between the mother and daughter even less smooth than his own communication with the little girl.

"Sarah! She's your mother. She's given you all her love, and everything she says is out of concern for you. You shouldn't be so cold."

Blake felt it was appropriate to give the girl a gentle reminder, but nothing more. Any further interference would be unnecessary.

The golden-eyed girl looked at Blake, blinked, then opened her backpack and pulled out a book.

"Mom, I don't know how to solve this question. Can you help me think it through?"

Sarah looked up at Mrs. Blake, who was driving.

"What's the question, sweetheart? I'm driving right now."

Mrs. Blake was delighted that her daughter was asking her for help with schoolwork, but still left herself an out while speaking.

"We know a man and a woman are working together on the same task. The man starts alone and works for one hour, then the two work together to complete the remaining amount. When they finish, the man has done 90 more units of work than the woman.Now assume the woman starts alone and works for one hour, then they finish the task together. In this case, the woman has done 10 more units of work than the man.How many more units does the man complete per hour compared to the woman?"

After reading the question aloud, Sarah glanced at Blake, then waited for Mrs. Blake's response with an amused look on her face.

Mrs. Blake listened carefully while driving, but once she heard the entire question, she was stunned.

"Sweetie! I didn't catch that—what's the total amount of work?"

She hoped she had misheard. With a total value given, the problem would be much easier to solve.

"The total is just 'total work.' There's no specific number, but the value should remain constant in the question."

Sarah rolled her eyes with a look of disdain.

Blake gave a "just as I thought" expression. See? The two of them really couldn't communicate.

"Sarah, what grade are you in right now? What grade level is this question?"

Blake was genuinely curious about the girl's education. Maybe she wasn't being bullied by other kids at school—maybe school itself was driving her crazy.

"I'm in fifth grade. This is from a fifth-grade math workbook Mom bought. I think it's from an advanced imported series."

Sarah casually flipped through the book. The correct answer was already written in, but clearly, her mother wouldn't be able to solve it.

"I should never have bought you this kind of workbook. Men and women? A 90 to 10 difference per hour? That's blatant gender discrimination! I'm going to file a complaint."

Whether she was flustered or just embarrassed, Mrs. Blake tried to shift the focus of the conversation to gender issues.

Even Blake had to facepalm. Seriously? Picking faults with the question because you can't solve it?

"They could've just changed 'man' and 'woman' to 'white' and 'Black,'" Sarah muttered with an eye roll.

"That would be racial discrimination. I'll still complain!"

Mrs. Blake ended up laughing at her own comment.

"What if it were Americans and Brits instead?" Sarah asked, clearly having lost all interest in solving the problem.

"Why are the Brits stealing our jobs? If they can only do 10 more units, they should be kicked out."

Mrs. Blake had now fully embraced the humor of swapping roles in the question.

"What about Northerners and Southerners?"

"Sweetheart, we shouldn't fight another civil war. We all love America, don't we?"

Watching the mother and daughter banter, Blake smiled warmly. Wasn't this kind of communication just fine?

But this cheerful moment didn't last long. After dropping her daughter off at school, Mrs. Blake drove away, and Blake got out of the car as well.

As soon as the vehicle left, Sarah's face darkened.

"Mom can't even admit she doesn't know how to solve a problem. She'll never understand me."

Sarah seemed to be talking to Blake or perhaps to no one at all.

Blake had no idea what to say in response to such a precocious little girl, but he had promised to stay with her all day today and that was a promise he had to keep.

At school, the actual lessons were skipped over, but during every break, Blake stayed with Sarah.

At school, Sarah was a very lonely child—not because of her golden-red hair, nor her golden eyes, but simply because of her excellent grades. The other children all called her a weirdo.

She consistently scored full marks and even worked on papers that other students couldn't understand, which made her feel completely out of place.

Although Sarah appeared delicate on the outside, she was remarkably mature inside. Still, even someone as mature as she was could not help but feel fear when confronted with things she couldn't understand.

"Can you see what's happening over there? That woman was accused of being a werewolf, a vampire. After her trial, she was burned alive."

Sarah would often stop at certain places in the school, though she dared not look directly at some of them.

Scenes that Sarah described would flash by like fragments from a story: the woman falsely accused, portrayed by Kate Beckinsale, dressed in a corseted medieval gown. Her long skirt was torn and tattered, her arms covered in lash marks. Several scenes depicted the full process of the witch's trial—leading all the way to the stake.

"Don't be afraid, Sarah. You can see them, but they can't hurt you, right?"

Blake pretended to see what Sarah described, even though he couldn't, doing his best to guide her through it.

"In most novels, ghosts and monsters appear to harm people. But Sarah, the ones you're seeing—what have they actually done besides letting you see them?"

Blake gently comforted her, patting her shoulder and encouraging her to face her fear.

At the same time, he was filled with anxiety and inner conflict. He couldn't see the ghosts Sarah talked about. Who knew what they might do to her? If they really harmed her, Blake would be completely powerless to protect her.

Encouraged by Blake, Sarah turned and faced the ghost—the woman who had been falsely accused.

"Sarah… you are my descendant."

The woman spoke to Sarah, her face—burned and disfigured—gradually returning to its original beauty.

Sarah was stunned. This ghost that had been haunting her at school was claiming to be her ancestor?

Could it be that she hadn't been falsely accused after all, and had actually possessed the same unique constitution as Sarah?

"Sarah! Sarah! Are you all right?"

Blake noticed that the golden-eyed girl was trembling, clearly shaken. He immediately regretted his earlier decision. If it hadn't been for his urging, Sarah wouldn't have looked directly into the ghost's eyes and might not have been harmed.

"I'm okay! That woman told me I'm her descendant. That's why I can see ghosts!"

Though Sarah repeated the ghost's words, even she could hardly believe them.

"Take care of her! Take good care of her, Blake."

After recognizing Sarah as her descendant, the female ghost no longer looked like a horrific figure on the verge of death. She reverted to her medieval attire, looking serene and dignified.

Now that the reunion had taken place, it was time for her to depart. Before leaving, she addressed Blake, entrusting Sarah's care to him.

Blake suddenly heard the ghost's voice giving him this instruction. His expression—as if he'd just seen a ghost—was priceless. The voice had clearly come from right in front of him, yet he couldn't see a thing. All he could do was gaze blankly at the space behind where the ghost had been.

Blake had still harbored some doubts about whether what Sarah was experiencing was real. But now that he had directly encountered a ghost himself, it was something science simply couldn't explain.

"I—I'll take care of her. Yes! I'll take good care of Sarah."

Blake hesitated, but still managed to give a shaky promise.

With the matter at school resolved, Sarah was able to calmly face the ghost woman each time she appeared, and the ghost no longer showed the horrifying appearance she once used to frighten her.

Everything seemed to be heading in a better direction.

But Blake still had to explain things to Mrs. Blake. It wasn't enough for him to believe—Sarah's mother also had to believe in her daughter's condition. Only then could they communicate based on understanding.

With no other evidence at hand, Blake had to rely on the tape recorder Sarah had provided. At first, it hadn't revealed anything meaningful, but Blake was convinced he must have been using the wrong approach. There had to be enough decisive evidence on that tape to prove Sarah was telling the truth.

So Blake stayed up all night once again, tirelessly reviewing the tape.

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