"Kosma."
A little girl with short, light blue hair walked quietly to Kosma's side, tugged at the corner of his clothes, and said,
"We've seen all the colors here. Let's go back."
"Griseo."
Kosma extended his claw-like hand and gently held the delicate little hand that grasped his. He squatted down, bringing himself level with Griseo's gaze, and said apologetically,
"Sorry, there was a little accident just now. I couldn't stay with you the whole time."
Lin Wei noticed his tone was surprisingly gentle at this moment, a stark contrast to the harshness when he spoke to him.
"It's okay, Sir Knight was with me."
Little Griseo shook her head obediently and then asked with some concern,
"Also, Kosma said there was a little accident. Did we encounter a bad person?"
After speaking, she couldn't help but look around, seemingly searching for the "bad person" Kosma had mentioned.
"Sister Pardo, and..."
Griseo spotted her companion at a glance. She certainly wasn't the "bad person," so that only left...
Her gaze swept to Lin Wei's face. Lin Wei noticed that although her tender eyes were filled with innocence, they lacked the liveliness a child should have. Instead, they possessed a depth and silence uncharacteristic of her age.
"Your color is a bit special, dark and bright..."
Griseo stared fixedly at Lin Wei, her eyes unblinking. She tilted her head slightly and muttered to herself with some confusion,
"Very cold, and very warm..."
Her voice was clearly a crisp, childish tone, yet it carried an indescribable ethereal quality, as if this little girl, clearly so close, was as distant as a cloud drifting in the sky.
"Is she talking about 'color'?"
Lin Wei looked down at his clothes. He was already prepared to hear an innocent child's remark like, "Are you the bad person?" But instead, he saw her slowly turn her head back and say to Kosma with great certainty,
"You're mistaken, Kosma. He's not a bad person. Sister Pardo is a very good person too."
Lin Wei couldn't help but take a deep look at this little girl, steeped in an aura of "quiet." He thought that "pure-hearted" seemed a more fitting description for her than "innocent and lively." She seemed to understand everything, examining this complex world from a child's perspective, yet she also seemed to care about nothing, merely clutching her paintbrush and palette tightly.
She let the colorful pigments drip down, red and blue staining her pristine dress, as if it too were a painting.
The next day, she would change into another clean dress, still the same innocent little girl, unconcerned with worldly affairs...
"Griseo, you've misunderstood. I don't think they're bad people, it's just..."
Kosma didn't know how to answer this innocent little girl for a moment. Should he say he was trying to stop him from getting closer to Aponia?
If so, Griseo would be sad...
"It seems the third person has appeared."
Lin Wei chuckled and proactively helped Kosma resolve the awkwardness. He leaned down slightly towards Griseo and said,
"Hello, Griseo. My name is Lin Wei."
This way, besides Aponia, I've basically met all the Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm. Lin Wei thought strangely. With Raiden Mei not online yet, am I the only one to achieve this "accomplishment"?
"Boss Lin Wei, this child is a bit shy. Please don't scare her!"
Pardo whispered a reminder to Lin Wei, then waved at her enthusiastically.
"Hi, Griseo, long time no see!"
"Long time no see, Sister Pardo. Hmm..."
Although Griseo greeted her politely, her eyes remained fixed on Lin Wei. She looked somewhat troubled, as if looking at a painting that was difficult to understand.
"Why do you look both happy and sad?"
Griseo asked Lin Wei, her eyes unblinking, her expression puzzled.
"Like the sun hidden by the moon, dark and bright, cold and hot..."
Various contradictory words tumbled out of her mouth, making it hard to imagine they were all used to describe one person.
"Um..."
Lin Wei was also taken aback, not quite understanding what those jumbled words meant. But he couldn't bear to refuse a child's curiosity. After thinking for a moment, he replied patiently,
"Perhaps it's because, even if the entire sky is obscured, one mustn't forget that one was originally a scorching sun?"
If a child's heart is a fairy tale world, then return a new fairy tale, he thought gently.
"..."
Kosma, however, was stunned by this sentence and fell into a deep silence.
"Is that so?"
Griseo nodded, seemingly half-understanding, then immersed herself in her own artistic world again, muttering to herself as if no one else was around,
"Countless stars... Morning light... Sun... Moon... Sky... Earth..."
Although some words seemed to carry special meaning, Lin Wei didn't want to disturb the little girl immersed in her own world at this moment. He stepped aside a few paces and said to Kosma with a smile,
"It seems my guess was correct. I have indeed fallen into Aponia's sights. You were also determined to stop me for this reason, right? Thank you for your good intentions, though."
"...It seems you know more than I thought."
Kosma looked down at Griseo and replied briefly,
"In that case, you should stop here even more. Don't try to tread the dangerous edge again."
Even though Griseo's appearance had greatly eased the awkward relationship and atmosphere between them, Kosma still hadn't changed his attitude. In fact, it seemed to have become even firmer. He remained stubbornly intent on preventing Lin Wei from moving forward.
Even though Aponia had always shown him considerable care, and even though Griseo, with whom he shared a life of mutual dependence, had always trusted Aponia deeply, this didn't change the fact that Kosma considered her a dangerous person—or rather, if one lived under the same sky as her, few people in the world would likely feel any fondness for her.
He didn't dislike Lin Wei; in fact, he even felt a subtle admiration for him because of her matter. Furthermore, the sentence Lin Wei had just spoken had unintentionally touched a certain part of his heart, making him momentarily want to ask what he really meant...
But the more this was the case, the less he wanted to see Lin Wei fall into Aponia's trap. He had to step forward and sever the threads between them.
"Actually, I don't want to have any contact with her either, but I have to come. And... heh, with your understanding of Aponia, who among the people and things in the world that fall into her sights can escape those hands of hers that can never stay still?"
Lin Wei also cut to the chase, then gave Kosma a knowing look and said,
"Even if I really retreat today as you wish, sooner or later, I will still have to stand before her—In that case, what difference does it make whether you stop me or not?"
"..."
Kosma froze, then fell silent again.
Lin Wei was right. Since Aponia had already set her sights on him, and he himself had already made up his mind, what difference did it make whether he stopped him or not?
Just give up like this? If so, there really will be no turning back. Letting him go to the Deep End of the Elysian Realm, is this really a good thing for them?
Kosma thought with some hesitation, seeming somewhat unwilling.
"Uh..."
Pardo read Kosma's thoughts from his constantly changing micro-expressions. She opened her mouth, wanting to remind him of something, but ultimately didn't dare.
Lin Wei noticed her awkwardness. Remembering her "experience" of "once" acting as a translator for Raiden Mei, he was just about to ask her to do the honors when Griseo suddenly spoke again.
"Kosma, accompany me back to the studio. I have some new inspiration."
Griseo looked at Kosma, then at Lin Wei, and said,
"Thank you. I like your color very much. You're welcome to visit my studio. As a token of gratitude, this gift is for you."
Griseo raised her slender little hand, about to give her Signet to Lin Wei, but found she couldn't send it out. She asked strangely,
"Why, don't you like it?"
"I like it. But my constitution is rather special; I can't accept a Flame-Chaser's Signet."
Lin Wei smiled, leaned down, and patted her head.
"I accept your kind intentions. Next time I visit your studio, please don't be unwelcoming~"
Signets, he did want them, but if he couldn't bear them, there was nothing he could do.
Others get rewards for challenging the Elysian Realm, but I can only look at the scenery here...
"I won't. A gift, there still must be."
Griseo shook her head, somewhat regretfully withdrawing her Signet. After thinking for a moment, she said,
"Then, next time, let me paint a picture for you!"
"A painting? Sure, I look forward to it."
Lin Wei paused. He remembered that every painting Griseo made for each Flame-Chaser was very strange. He couldn't help but be curious about what he looked like in her eyes.
"Mm, then it's settled."
Griseo nodded quietly. Then, as if a weight had been lifted from her mind, she turned back to Kosma and said,
"Let's go, let's go back."
"..."
Kosma was taken aback. At that moment, Little Griseo's tone and expression already bore a faint resemblance to Lin Wei's.
Had she really picked up her "color" that quickly?
Kosma thought with some surprise, but still hesitated slightly.
"But..."
"It's alright, Kosma."
Griseo said calmly,
"Brother Lin Wei isn't a bad person, and Mama Aponia isn't a bad person either. So it's okay, nothing will happen."
She really did understand everything. Perhaps because she was starting to be tinged with Lin Wei's color, her way of speaking had also become more direct.
"Then... alright."
Kosma hesitated for a moment but ultimately couldn't go against Griseo. At the same time, he glanced helplessly at Lin Wei, worried that continuing to delay like this would allow his color to permeate deeper. So, he gently took her hand and said softly, like a caring older brother,
"Let's go, let's go back to the studio."
As for Lin Wei's matter, he had done his best. The rest was up to fate.
"Mm."
Griseo took his large hand, also gave Lin Wei a deep look, then followed Kosma as they walked into the distance.
Suddenly, a crack opened where the sky and earth met, revealing a doorway and, behind it, a world extremely bizarre even within the Elysian Realm—colors were magnificent, vying for beauty; the blue sky, white clouds, green grass... all looked distinctly different from elsewhere, as unique as a Van Gogh painting.
"Is this Griseo's studio?"
Lin Wei thought pensively, quietly watching the two, one large and one small, slowly walk into that painted world. Then the crack closed again, and the entire world returned to its original appearance.
"He... Kosma just left?"
Only then did Pardo finally dare to breathe loudly, looking at Lin Wei in disbelief.
"It's over just like that?"
She had been genuinely worried the two would come to blows here—her small frame couldn't handle such a big scene!
"Mm."
Lin Wei withdrew his gaze from the distance and smiled.
"Let's conti—"
Before the "conti" could leave his lips, his vision suddenly went black. An intense wave of drowsiness washed over him. At the same time, a warm voice, like a mother's, sounded in his mind.
"Ah, you've finally arrived here..."
"Heh, Aponia, your voice really is very pleasant..."
Lin Wei felt his drowsiness surge like a tide, almost instantly about to engulf him completely. He sneered inwardly,
"So you seem even more impatient than I am!"
He knew that if he simply let himself fall asleep, he would naturally arrive before that woman when he woke up. But he was unwilling to do so.
"You've mistaken one thing. It's I who wants to see you, not you who wants to see me. Stop playing these mysterious games with me!"
Lin Wei unhesitatingly summoned the dark feathers. A continuous stream of feathers furiously washed over his mind, forcibly suppressing the tsunami-like drowsiness. He sneered,
"Is that all you've got!"
"Sigh..."
A faint sigh echoed from his heart, then no more sound could be heard.
"Boss Lin Wei... Boss Lin Wei? Wake up!"
When Lin Wei woke up, he found himself almost falling to the ground. Pardo was supporting him forcefully, calling his name desperately with a tearful voice. Seeing him finally wake up, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You almost fainted just now, you really scared me, wuuu..."
"It's alright, Pardo. I made you worry."
Lin Wei gently comforted this kind cat, looked up, and surveyed his surroundings.
"It seems we've really arrived at our destination."
"Ah, are we still continuing?"
Since Lin Wei had woken up, Pardo was relieved. She asked with some concern,
"Do you want to rest for a bit first?"
"No need, I'm fine. I just briefly encountered her just now."
Lin Wei shook his head calmly.
"Alright, help me open the door. I'm also very curious about the true face of this Flame-Chaser..."
"Ah? Oh..."
Pardo carefully examined Lin Wei, only moving after confirming he was truly alright.
"Also, when you open the door, remember to be careful..."
Lin Wei looked at her retreating back and couldn't help but remind her,
"Be careful not to get tricked..."