After the performance, the group would still be staying in Puglia City for a while. After all, they had come here under the guise of taking a vacation—how could they just watch a show and head back right away?
…Well, except for one person, who really did want to return to headquarters.
Unfortunately, he no longer had a choice in the matter.
"Elysia's planning to stay over at Eden's place for the next few days, and she won't be joining us for any activities during that time," Silas said, glancing at the message Elysia had sent him. If she was still texting him, then… Elysia should be fine, right? She should be…
"Well, they are old friends reuniting. Wanting to spend more time together is perfectly normal…" Dystopia said, sounding a little puzzled. "But why do I get the feeling Elysia only decided this at the last minute?"
She clearly remembered that Elysia had been flipping through a magazine about Puglia City on the plane. And since Elysia also liked Silas, it made even less sense for her to suddenly choose to act on her own.
Come to think of it… Little Pardofelis seemed to be in low spirits too. Could it be… Silas had already made his choice?!
But who could it be, someone Elysia couldn't even beat? Sakura? That didn't seem likely. Dr. Mobius? Was the age gap really not a problem? Vill-V… hmm, could Silas really be the type to try "a different girlfriend every day"?
Silas stayed silent. Elysia had sent him the full itinerary she had planned, which meant she really had put effort into preparing for this trip. She must have changed her mind at the last minute.
It was just another day of feeling like he was carrying an unbearable amount of guilt.
And why did he have the weird feeling that Dystopia was looking at him strangely?
"It's getting late. Let's head back to the hotel," Silas said.
Originally, Elysia, Sakura, and Rin shared a triple room, while Dystopia and Pardofelis shared a double. On the boys' side, Kevin roomed with Su, and Silas with Kosma.
In fact, it was Su who had been the first to suggest sharing a room with Kevin—and ever since then, Dystopia had been giving Su strange looks.
Silas understood. Girls their age… well, the ones who knew, knew. And besides, even though Su hadn't grown his hair out yet, he was still… pretty.
So if Su really were a girl, maybe Mei wouldn't stand a chance either, who knew? Silas thought idly.
When they got back to the hotel, Kosma immediately pounced with the question he'd been dying to ask: "So, what did you two talk about earlier?"
Silas leaned back on the bed, typing out a message to Elysia. After a moment's thought, he deleted it and started over. At the same time, he replied, "Lilith has the memories of her past life. She came to see me while I was away from the group."
"And then?" Kosma pressed.
(If she just went to find Silas, there's no way Elysia and the others would be acting so strangely. And Su seemed to be trying to stop Kevin from saying something… wait, could it be that Silas and Lilith already…?)
"…I guess you could say… we kissed," Silas said, still focused on typing.
"W–what…?!"
Kosma's eyes went wide.
(That's… fast. A k-kiss?! So Silas has already made his choice? That would explain why Elysia and the others were acting strange. A kiss… ah, well, considering Silas is older than me, and what his relationship with Lilith was in his past life… hmm, does that mean Dystopia might also want to…)
Silas didn't notice Kosma's increasingly red face. Still typing, he casually asked, "By the way, are you and Dystopia really not making any progress at all?"
"I'm not trying to kiss her!" Kosma shot up from the bed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"…?" Silas lowered his phone and narrowed his eyes. "Kosma, it's just the two of us here. What are you so embarrassed about?"
"I… I'm just tired today. I'm going to bed…"
Silas: "…"
Couldn't he at least put a little more effort into changing the subject? It's like he's afraid I won't notice he's trying to avoid the question.
Still, from the looks of it, Kosma and Dystopia seemed more like they both harbored faint feelings for each other—no, in Dystopia's case, she was practically being open about it. Kosma was just the one hesitating and unable to decide.
"Suit yourself. Just don't regret it later," Silas said before lowering his head back to his phone.
Hmm… no reply from Elysia yet. Maybe she was in the shower.
Better check in with Klein about Mobius's training today—he was serious about keeping Mobius on a healthy lifestyle.
Klein also brought another piece of news:
"By the way, Blanca—Ato's wife—has officially completed her resignation procedures. Their child is still young and needs care, so she plans to recommend a few assistants to Dr. Mobius. The Doctor asked me to let you know."
So why didn't Mobius just… oh, right. Standard tsundere behavior. He was used to it.
Blanca had resigned… which meant that the two lively troublemakers, Nuwa and Fuxi, would be joining Fire Moth before long. The elder sister was relatively normal, but the younger, Nuwa, was downright unpredictable.
Come to think of it, there were only about ten months left before the birth of the Fourth Herrscher. Its accompanying Honkai Beast, the Judgement-class Vayu, would summon massive tsunamis to engulf the ocean city of Atlantis during the Herrscher's attempt to purify the global atmosphere and whip up storms.
Would it be possible to have the Tachyon Dragon fight Vayu first to stall for time?
Or maybe… eliminate the Fourth Herrscher before they awakened?
Better write that down.
Next was Vill-V—no replies to any of his messages. That made Silas start to wonder if something was wrong with her mental state.
There didn't seem to be anything else pressing. While waiting for a reply, Silas decided to review the itinerary Elysia had originally planned, and then check online for more details about each location.
If he still didn't get a reply after that, he'd just go to sleep.
—
In Kevin and Su's room.
"Kevin, are you chatting with Mei?" Su put down the book in his hands, glancing at Kevin, who was typing on his phone.
Without looking up, Kevin replied, "I sent her a message. She said, 'Enjoy your vacation,' but she still has experiments to do."
Su: "…"
He knew Mei loved Kevin, and that even before her death, the person she cared for and felt guilt toward the most was Kevin… but seriously? Was there really nothing off about the way these two interacted?
Even Lilith and Silas were…
Cough, cough. Kevin's brainwashing was getting to him—now whenever he thought of couples, Lilith and Silas came to mind. To be fair, if Lilith truly had no underlying problems, then on the surface, she and Silas did seem like a good match.
But… you couldn't judge people by appearances alone. That persistent, unshakable sense of wrongness kept him wary of Lilith—both in his past life and in this one.
He had even wondered whether Silas's eventual change in the past was somehow connected to Lilith.
"Since Mei hasn't replied to you, what are you still doing?" Su continued.
Kevin turned his phone screen toward Su.
"I'm looking into information on the Lancott and Atagina families. From what we know so far, Lilith's engagement to that Adams guy is nothing more than a political marriage between the two families. And now that Lilith has her memories from the previous life, if we can find a way to approach the Atagina household… Felis is great at reconnaissance. Sending her to scout the place shouldn't be an issue. We just need to be ready to back her up when the time comes."
Su: "…"
He was tired. Let the world end.
Why are you more anxious about this than Silas himself?! And why Felis, of all people?! Do you really think Elysia is the only one who likes Silas?!
Unfortunately… Kevin really did think that.
Sure, Mobius might have feelings for Silas, but Kevin assumed she was far more likely to see him as an experimental subject. So clearly, Lilith was the best option!
Kevin withdrew his phone and kept searching.
"Even if Silas might not be thinking this way now—in the previous life, he was always bothered by Lilith's death, so subconsciously avoiding her this time isn't impossible. Making plans early is important, especially since some things could play out differently after being reborn."
Su: "…"
Why do you only start sounding intelligent when it's about something like this?
Kevin then began listing several "rescue" plans he thought were feasible, lamenting that if Judgement of Shamash were still around, they wouldn't need to overthink it. Still, since Vill-V was now in Fire Moth, they could just ask her to make a fake Judgement of Shamash. He remembered that the final Divine Key, Void Archives, could mimic Judgement of Shamash's abilities, and with the Herrscher of Reason's core also in Fire Moth's possession, they could totally build it now! Not to mention they currently had both Sakura and Pardofelis—two high-mobility assets—right here. On second thought, grabbing Lilith immediately might not be impossible.
Su: "…"
Kevin was beyond saving. If he put even half this enthusiasm into pursuing Mei, he wouldn't have ended up in a situation where their only "child" had to be genetically engineered.
What Su didn't know was that Kevin had already thought through all these schemes in his past life. But back then, Mei… well, things had turned out differently.
In the end, Kevin had learned that Mei loved him deeply, just as he loved her, which made such schemes unnecessary. But… that didn't mean his best friend didn't need the help!
Kevin still remembered the time Mei gave him handmade chocolates, showing a shy expression for the very first time—and the fact that he didn't need to be rushed to the ER after eating them had touched him deeply.
Only later did he learn that Lilith had been watching her like a hawk the whole time, never giving Mei a chance to alter the recipe or add any "extras."
What a pity… His own relationship had worked out, yet Silas still hadn't secured Lilith. No—Kevin had to give him a push!
Su quietly listened as Kevin meticulously broke down each possible plan and talked about roping in Vill-V and the others. In his heart, he had only one thought:
I'm tired. Let it all burn.
—
In Eden's luxury suite.
Elysia lay sideways on her bed, quietly gazing at her phone screen. She had already typed out a message, but… she still hadn't sent it.
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