The moment the ring went through the knuckle and onto her ring finger, Nanako’s eyes were already flooded with tears.

She hurriedly lowered her head, so that Charlie could not see her current look.

She liked Charlie very much, but she did not want to give him too much emotional burden.

This was because, deep inside her heart, she knew that Charlie came to Japan this time and visited her in Kyoto not because of how much he liked her. Instead, he sympathized with her and felt sorry for her.

She could understand Charlie’s feeling — the kind of empathy among martial artists.

What is empathy?

It is the emotion of putting yourself in the other person’s shoes and being able to empathize with them.

This is like when a racing driver witnesses another racer, who is gravely injured or even perishes on the race track, in a car crash; his empathy for the victim must be stronger than ordinary people.

Similarly, if a soldier sees his comrades or the other soldiers being injured or rendered d