Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a soft, hazy glow over the two figures practicing their dance indoors.
"Actually," Elysia said softly, "back at that final banquet, I kept thinking—if you came, would I be able to invite you for a dance? I suppose… this is fulfilling a small wish of mine."
"It's my honor, Elysia," Silas replied with a smile.
Although… from what he remembered, when Kevin had returned and told him about that scene, it went more like this:
Silas: "She never turned against humanity, did she?"
Kevin: "As you guessed."
Silas: "Before the farewell, what did you all do?"
Kevin: "I got beaten up."
Back in his first life, when he'd played through that part of the story, it was clearly about sharing a dance. In his previous life, he'd even wondered—Kevin wasn't that dense, and Elysia wasn't the type to really hit someone…
Now, thinking about it, it was probably because he didn't go and had handed his invitation to Kevin, letting Kevin take his place—and Elysia had genuinely been beating Kevin up.
"…I see. Your honor…" Elysia lowered her beautiful lashes slightly, her grip on Silas's hand tightening just a bit.
Honor… That meant Silas still didn't place the two of them on the same level. She could always feel it—his care for everyone, and the distance between her and him that she could never quite cross.
He cared about her, yes… but he cared about everyone, about all the Flame-Chasers.
"I… won't give up," she murmured. If she couldn't get close, she would try, bit by bit.
Because she liked Silas that much. She didn't want things to end like in her last life—watching from afar, unable to even see him in the end.
Silas: "?"
What did that mean? He thought Elysia's dancing was fine—it was his dancing that was the problem. What exactly was she refusing to give up on?
Over in the training area, Pardofelis sat slumped in a chair, sulking at the thought of Silas and Elysia practicing their dance together. It made her really unhappy—she wanted to dance with Silas too!
She was in no mood for training.
"Well, if it isn't little Pardo. Why the long face? Something happen?" A cheerful voice spoke beside her.
Pardo looked up to see a blonde-haired girl. She tilted her head—she didn't recognize her. Then why did the girl seem to know her?
"Hello, I'm Dystopia. I guess this counts as our first proper meeting." The girl smiled and extended her hand.
Dystopia? Pardo's memory clicked. Wasn't she Kosma's childhood friend? In her last life, she had died very early—before Pardo had even joined Fire Moth. She'd only heard the name from others.
"H-hello. Can I call you Sis Dystopia?" Pardo asked, reaching out to shake her hand. She was younger than Dystopia, so calling her "Sister" wasn't wrong.
"Of course you can~" Dystopia's smile curved warmly.
"Then… how do you know about me?" Pardo asked. She was sure they'd never interacted before.
"Oh, that. I heard from others during training. They said the workaholic 'Silas' has a mini-workaholic named 'Pardo' tagging along. And since Silas and Kosma seemed pretty close, I paid a bit more attention." Dystopia shrugged. "By the way, isn't Silas around?"
At the mention of the man she'd only met once, Dystopia felt a small spark of annoyance. Kosma seemed to pay special attention to Silas's every move—and whenever she brought him up, there was even a faint look of admiration on her face…
The direct result was that Kosma spent less time with her.
So she'd done some digging on Silas. And once she did, she was stunned—what kind of monster of diligence was this? In just one month, he had gone from a frail boy to a fully qualified soldier, had participated in slaying the Third Herrscher, and trained at an intensity that exceeded everyone else's by far.
No wonder the first reaction people inside Fire Moth had when mentioning him was: "That overachiever?"
"Brother Ato said there's going to be a banquet in a few days, and at the end there'll be a dance party. So Brother Silas is practicing dancing with Sister Elysia," Pardo said gloomily.
Dystopia raised an eyebrow. Elysia? She knew that girl too—the one who had introduced her and Kosma to Fire Moth.
Seeing Pardo's sulky expression, Dystopia's mind quickly filled in the following scene:
A girl, full of admiration for a reliable senior, joins Fire Moth because of him. But this senior also has another outstanding woman at his side. Determined to catch up to him, the girl trains as hard as he does—only to lose the chance to get closer to him because she can't dance, letting someone else take the lead instead…
Wow… that actually makes a lot of sense! Dystopia was fired up. She was definitely going to help with this one!
She patted Pardo on the shoulder. "Little Pardo, calling me 'big sis' won't be for nothing. Dancing? Your Sis Dystopia can do that too. I'll teach you."
"Eh? What about Kosma?" Pardo asked in surprise.
Dystopia's eye twitched, and she glanced expressionlessly toward the training ground. "Forget that blockhead Kosma."
In the training ground, Kosma was sparring with Kevin.
Compared to Silas, she cared more about Kevin. Kosma spent all day training with Kevin, even though his childhood friend was also here in Fire Moth…
Pardo thought for a moment. If she remembered correctly, Kosma had a harmonica he treasured greatly. Brother Silas had told her once: "It was a gift from his late childhood friend. Back then he couldn't play well, but now he plays beautifully. Unfortunately, that person can no longer hear it."
So… Kosma actually still cared about Sis Dystopia, didn't he?
Maybe… she should give things a push?
That evening, as usual, Mobius was mercilessly dragged out of the lab by Silas for a run. Of course, the instant noodles Silas had promised—his own special recipe—were served to her after she finished her target distance, half-dead.
"Say, Brother Silas, you can cook too?" Pardo asked, watching Mobius devour the noodles with curiosity about how Silas had made them.
"…Lilith taught me," Silas replied.
Mobius nearly spat her noodles out. Lilith could even do that?
Elysia, on the other hand, had a thoughtful look. After all, the "all-around" in Lilith's title of "all-around assistant" wasn't just for show. There really didn't seem to be anything Lilith couldn't do. Eden had even said that before joining Fire Moth, she had already heard of Lilith's high level of musical talent.
She didn't even want to ask anymore how Silas had learned it—most likely, as usual, it was Lilith pulling the strings.
So, why not change her approach?
"Wow, it looks really good. Silas, can you teach me?" she asked with a smile.
"Mm, sure."
Off to the side, Kevin looked toward Su. "So, I'm telling you—"
Su decisively cut him off. "Just… say a little less." He knew Kevin wouldn't pass up any opportunity like this. Thankfully, he had come along today. Honestly, if this kept going, Kevin might as well start calling himself Kevina.
Su sighed lightly in his heart. From the facts of their previous life, Lilith might have been a good match for Silas—but Lilith would only ever follow his orders unconditionally, much like Kevin and Mei. He felt that wasn't right. And besides, in this life, Silas and Elysia were getting along so well, weren't they?
The cause-and-effect chains from their previous life had been erased when the world was reset. Let the past stay in the past.
There was something Su had never said aloud: Lilith had always given him an indescribably strange feeling—something inwardly and outwardly… out of sync.
All in all, it didn't feel right.
Kevin fell silent. From Su's expression, it was clear he already knew what Kevin was going to say. Kevin just wanted to make his own stance clear.
Meanwhile, Sakura was thinking that she only knew how to make simple things like rice balls. She wondered if Silas might want to learn…
Time passed quietly, and soon, the banquet that Ato had mentioned arrived as scheduled.
"Wow, Silas, this outfit really suits you—you look so handsome," Elysia said with a hint of surprise when she saw him. She had been planning to give him some personal guidance on outfit coordination, but seeing this… it was probably Lilith's work again.
She was already used to it.
"Ah, is that so? Thanks…" Silas replied a bit awkwardly. He had no confidence at all in his sense of style—this combination was entirely Lilith's recommendation.
As the leader of the Fallen Angels, most of the time his job was simply to fight the Honkai.
And honestly, do guys really care that much about what they wear to a banquet? Shouldn't it be enough to just have a suit and look presentable?
Still… since he was going to dance with Elysia, he should probably take it seriously.
"Shall we go?" Elysia said with a smile.
"Mm."
________________________________________
15+ advanced chapters available on Pat/NoobyIdiotka