Lilith returned to the venue, and some time later, Silas also came back. When he did, he deliberately glanced at Adams. Sure enough, the man was still watching the performance with full attention.
When she noticed Silas had returned, Lilith smiled at him politely, the way a refined young lady would greet an acquaintance she had just met.
It was as if nothing had happened earlier.
As for this Adams… before meeting him today, Silas's only impression was of a man pinned beneath rubble, face covered in blood, completely unaware of Lilith's killing intent even as she approached him. Until his final breath, he kept calling out Lilith's name, hoping she would save him.
He slowly began recalling that scene, along with his own thoughts at the time.
There had been many reasons for his decision to stand by and watch. Subjectively, he believed Lilith had been forced into her actions. But, truthfully, part of it might also have been because she was a girl—and his stance naturally leaned toward her.
And besides, his mindset back then hadn't been great.
After being rejected by Elysia, even though only she and he knew about it, he had chosen to leave Elysia's squad. He left HQ and transferred to the Europa branch for a few months.
At the time, he had been desperate to prove himself by defeating Honkai Beasts. Deep down, he still wanted to surpass Kevin—or at least achieve results he could take pride in.
But when he arrived at the Europa branch, since it was a voluntary transfer and there were no combat squads willing to take him in—and the squads there were notoriously cliquish—he was assigned to a rescue team.
To put it bluntly, he was failing in both love and career. He had been told that if he wanted to return to combat duty, he would either need to recruit enough members for his own squad or wait for a vacancy caused by casualties in another team.
So yes, that had been another reason he chose not to save Adams. Someone willing to kill humans was surely capable of killing Honkai Beasts. And since he knew the truth about her actions, he could keep her in check—at least, dealing with her wouldn't be as troublesome as dealing with a stranger.
It was a common trope in games, wasn't it?
And Lilith needed him to testify in her favor. Because of that, their relationship at the time could be summed up as mutual exploitation.
To make his stance clear, during one of her killings, he had even stopped other rescue personnel from arriving, cutting off any hope of survival for the victims.
"Heh… I was never a good person to begin with," Silas chuckled at himself, thinking this bitterly.
Suddenly, he realized there was no point in agonizing over Vincent's death. He had committed countless sins already—one more made no difference.
But still… could someone like him, with hands so stained in blood, really be worthy of Elysia's affection?
As tangled thoughts swirled in his mind, the second half of the concert ended. Lilith and Adams said goodbye to Elysia and left. Lilith never spoke another word to Silas, keeping up the appearance that they were barely acquainted.
Watching them leave, Elysia gave Silas a puzzled look. With Dystopia still there, she couldn't ask directly. So she, Kevin, and the others found an excuse to get Kosma to lead Dystopia away.
Kosma: "… I really appreciate you all, huh?"
Even though Rin was just a child and didn't understand anything, Sakura still took her away—just in case.
Once there were no outsiders present, Elysia immediately asked the question that had been nagging her:
"Silas, was Lilith always like this before?"
The others looked at Silas as well. After all, he was the one who had spent the most time with her and knew her best. If anyone could answer, it would be him.
As for Kosma… well, they could fill him in later.
"If you're asking about her in the past, then yes—she was like this," Silas replied. "Though… it was all just an act."
"Eh?" Everyone was surprised—except Su, whose expression stayed serious, as if this was exactly what he had expected.
"I don't know how," Silas said calmly, "but without a doubt, she has the memories of our previous life."
This time, everyone was truly shocked. Elysia immediately remembered that Lilith had also left for a while after Silas stepped out earlier, supposedly because of a phone call. Could it be that she had gone to find him then?
The thought made Elysia step closer to Silas and subtly sniff near him. Narrowing her eyes, she said, "That time she stepped out—it wasn't just to find you, was it?"
"You want to know?" Silas looked at Elysia. For some reason, a rather wicked thought flashed through his mind.
Seeing Elysia's reaction, Pardofelis imitated her, leaning closer to sniff him as well. Then she tilted her head in confusion:
"Brother Silas doesn't smell like anything else… just a really faint perfume…"
In an instant, everyone except Pardo understood what had happened.
Kevin said thoughtfully, "She must have hugged you first, right? As expected of Lilith—her feelings for you are really intense."
He even felt like saying cool.
After all, he couldn't exactly expect his own girlfriend to be that enthusiastic…
Pardo was momentarily dumbfounded. So, this faint fragrance was actually left behind by Sister Lilith? And Sister Lilith also had her memories… Th-then how was she supposed to compete with her?
Elysia looked at the expression on Silas's face and felt a bad premonition in her heart. She probed, "Aside from that… there isn't something more, is there?"
"Well… I guess you could say we kissed." Silas recalled the situation. Now that he thought about it, sometimes when he met Elysia's gaze he would still feel a little embarrassed to look at her. But Lilith… no matter what she did, he wouldn't be surprised.
Maybe it was because in the previous life Lilith had done so many outrageous things that he'd developed an immunity. After all, last time she had almost crawled into his bed.
By comparison, what she'd just done didn't seem that over the top.
Come to think of it… that was probably his first kiss, right?
Everyone's expression instantly became:
(⊙ˍ⊙)!
Kevin could hardly contain himself. "Although it might be a bit difficult, now we should be able to bring her back to the MOTH…"
Su immediately covered his mouth and dragged him away. "Better to let Silas handle this on his own. Let's go see how Kosma's doing."
Elysia's hands were trembling a little. She suddenly remembered the manuscript Lilith had given to Eden. Now that she thought about it… that must have been written specifically for Silas, right?
And… a kiss… Lilith, you're really ruthless.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Silas wasn't the type to take the initiative.
Which meant Lilith must have just gone in for it while he wasn't paying attention.
Pardo, on the other hand, wasn't thinking as far as Elysia. She was just taking the situation at face value—imagining the moment as it had been described.
And then, before she knew it, her mood sank.
"I guess… I'll go see if Sister Sakura needs help with anything…" she said.
With that, Pardo ran off.
Silas watched Pardo's back as she left, saying nothing. Sometimes, there were things one had to figure out on their own. After all, the fact that Lilith had her memories… was something both he and the others would have to face sooner or later.
He even found himself wondering whether, once they returned to the MOTH, Vill-V would lock him in a "black room," or whether Mobius might one day just strap him to a lab table.
But the problem right now was… Elysia. What was her attitude?
After recovering from her initial shock, Elysia had calmed down. She looked at Silas, her expression composed.
"Silas, I just want to ask you one question."
Silas met her gaze.
Elysia continued, "Do you… also harbor that kind of feeling for Lilith? The feeling called love?"
If Silas's answer was "yes," then from now on she could only be his friend—never again trying to step between them.
Even though… she would still feel a bit unwilling, Lilith was now her friend too. And even if Silas claimed Lilith had been acting all along, Elysia still believed her own judgment—that when Lilith had told her in Eden's lounge that she wanted to be friends, those words had come from a genuine place.
If he answered "yes," then there would be nothing more to discuss in the future.
Silas judged it that way—but Elysia seemed to read his mind. She went on, "Silas, can you look into my eyes and tell me the answer?"
Silas looked into Elysia's eyes. He knew she was asking this question with utter seriousness, and he knew he couldn't lie to her while meeting her gaze.
He chose to avert his eyes. "You win, Elysia. I… might have some feelings for Lilith, but… for now, I don't think those feelings are enough to call 'love.'"
To put it more vividly, it was something like more than friends, but not quite lovers.
"And what about me—what kind of feelings do you have for me?"
Before Silas could answer, Elysia clasped her hands behind her back, turned away, then looked back with a smile.
"Never mind. I don't think I have the courage to hear that answer yet. So… give me some time, Silas."
With that, Elysia left as well.
Silas stood there alone. His own knot in his heart was untangled, but it seemed everyone else had retreated into their own thoughts.
That was fine. They all needed some time to think.
He suddenly remembered that Vill-V had planted a listening device on him, so she must have heard all of this. Reaching for his phone to explain things to her, he instead pulled from his pocket… a sun-shaped earring.
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