"I agree with Dystopia—this is something we should take our time to plan." Silas spoke up, though inwardly he was grumbling. If he really went over there to try and bring Lilith out, never mind Eden and Elysia's reactions—just the moment he showed even a hint of wanting to take her away, there'd be no need to plan anything. Lilith would probably think of a way to come over on her own…
Like, say, performing her own rendition of 'Art is Patrick Star' right at home…
She was definitely capable of something like that.
"I see… yes, I may have been a bit too hasty," Kevin admitted with a hint of regret. "After all, those two families are practically local bosses here in Puglia City. With just the few of us as we are now, it'd be difficult to get Lilith out."
Dystopia and Elysia both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Rather than worrying about me, Kevin… don't you think you should be focusing on strengthening your relationship with Mei?" Silas subtly hinted, trying to get Kevin to stop staring at him all the time and instead think about his own lifelong matters—so he wouldn't end up relying on genetic engineering in the end.
At the mention of Mei, Kevin let out a quiet sigh and rubbed his temples. "Silas, you know Mei as well as I do. It doesn't matter how proactive I am—it won't work. From the moment we boarded the plane here until now, I've exchanged less than ten messages with her."
Silas: "…"
Right. Mei is basically a human supercomputer with zero romantic instincts.
Elysia: "…"
So… Kevin was only stirring trouble because he was too free, huh?
Dystopia: "…"
Wait, are they really even a couple?
Kevin recalled the first time he saw Mei after being reborn—he couldn't help but hug her on the spot. She'd shown no reaction whatsoever, merely waited a while before saying:
"Kevin, you've been hugging me for three minutes and forty-one seconds. If there's nothing else, I have an experiment to get back to."
Kevin: "…"
Well, at least he could get away with hugging Mei like that. If anyone else tried, the taser she carried wasn't for show. That… was a small comfort, at least.
"Honestly, I'm sure Mei does care about you, Kevin. It's just that her rationality almost always outweighs her emotions." Silas could only comfort him this way.
From what Silas had gathered through others, Mei loved Kevin deeply, but she always kept that love restrained under reason.
She'd watched Kevin become a MANTIS for her sake, watched him fight again and again for her. Saying she felt nothing would be a lie. But because of this, Mei likely also carried a kind of inferiority complex—believing she wasn't the kind of girl worth Kevin going so far for.
So, before the 10th Herrscher incident, Mei had always kept a cool demeanor toward Kevin, though she still cared deeply whenever something involved him.
It wasn't until after that incident that she finally untangled her feelings and accepted openly that she and Kevin were indeed a couple.
All of this, of course, came from Lilith's analysis.
Lilith had made a point of building a good rapport with Mei, so her insights were probably accurate—though Silas still didn't know why she was trying to get close to Mei in the first place…
Silas glanced down at Kevin's plan notebook and fell silent. Surely… her goal wasn't to have Mei whisper sweet nothings into Kevin's ear for her own agenda, right?
"Oh, by the way, Kevin—don't you think you should buy Mei some kind of souvenir?" Elysia leaned forward, propping her chin in her hands. "You are her boyfriend. When you come back from a vacation, you should bring her something."
"She doesn't need any souvenirs," Kevin replied flatly. He'd probably tried that plenty of times, only for Mei to give him the same answer every time:
"Why would you spend money on something that has no function other than decoration?"
So Kevin's conclusion was simple: Oh, she doesn't like it. I just won't bring anything.
In truth… even though Mei really did think that way, she still secretly valued such gifts deeply.
Elysia and Silas each remembered something.
Elysia thought back to when she'd once jokingly told Mei she wanted a pendant from Kevin. Mei's response had been:
"That sort of thing… wouldn't be of much use to you, right?"
And yet, if she asked Mei for almost anything else, Mei would just glance at it and hand it over without a fuss.
Had Mei misunderstood her? She'd clearly said it was a joke! And yet, for the next few days, every time she saw Kevin, Mei was guaranteed to be somewhere nearby.
Silas, on the other hand, recalled something Lilith had told him: when she'd tried to teach Mei how to make chocolate, Mei had been very serious about it—but the final product always made Lilith wonder if it was a new type of biochemical weapon.
It turned out that, while Mei had memorized the recipe and steps perfectly, she couldn't resist adding other things.
For example:
"Chocolate is too high in calories… should I add something low-calorie instead?"
"How sweet does Kevin like his chocolate? Or maybe bitter chocolate? Or… what if I make it with a gradient of flavors?"
It had taken Lilith a great deal of effort to explain that they were just making chocolate—no need to overthink it. What mattered was the sentiment, not practicality! Besides, what Mei ended up with had neither practicality nor sentiment—only a biochemical hazard rating.
Both Elysia and Silas turned pitying eyes toward Kevin. Poor guy—he'd ended up with a girlfriend who didn't know how to express her feelings.
"A gift is a way of expressing your feelings. It can be simple, but it can't be absent," Silas said. "Especially for a girl like Mei. She might seem distant, but if you act the same way, she'll just drift further away. You two haven't been a couple for very long, right?"
Silas felt his hint couldn't be clearer. Kevin might have been reborn, but Mei hadn't—and Kevin's mindset right now was clearly from the late stages of his previous life fighting the Honkai, where he thought he and Mei already understood each other completely.
Instead of worrying about him and Lilith, Kevin should focus on securing his own relationship with Mei first!
Kevin pondered for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I've been negligent. I'll go pick out a souvenir or something right away."
Su glanced at Silas, then at Elysia, letting out a quiet sigh. He stood up. "As a friend to both you and Mei, I believe I can offer some helpful suggestions."
"I'll leave it to you then, Su." Kevin turned to Silas. "Silas, will you come with us?"
"In this area, I'm afraid Su's advice would be far more appropriate than mine," Silas replied with a smile. "Besides, I promised Elysia I'd spend the whole day with her, so I won't be teaming up with you this time."
Kevin glanced at Elysia. As the archbishop of the Silas–Lilith ship, he felt the need to take precautions. He was about to speak again when Su dragged him off.
"Alright, Kevin—since Silas said so, don't bother them any further."
Nice work, Su!
Elysia thought so to herself.
With Kevin and Su sent off, Silas turned his gaze toward Dystopia and Kosma.
"So, you two—how's your experience at the amusement park so far?"
Dystopia narrowed her eyes at Kosma.
"Kosma's even more afraid of heights than I imagined."
Elysia smiled and made a suggestion.
"Have you been to the haunted house yet? Dystopia, I'm telling you—this park's haunted house is super fun~"
Kosma: "…"
(Uh-oh. Kevin's gone, and I can't deal with both Silas and Elysia at the same time… How did things turn out like this? Could Silas and Elysia really…? No, impossible. Silas said before they just had some things to clarify, since Dystopia isn't reborn.)
Dystopia's eye twitched.
"Ha–haunted house? Ah, that… uh… there's not really any need to go, is there?"
"Let's check it out," Kosma spoke up.
(No choice. Elysia's motives might be questionable, but Silas definitely wouldn't cross any lines. Mm… this is the only way. If we don't go, Elysia might suggest taking me on the roller coaster again.)
Dystopia: "!"
Kosma, you've changed!
After speaking, Kosma got up to leave. At the door, he noticed Dystopia still sitting there. He hesitated, then extended his hand to her.
"…Let's go."
Dystopia: "…"
Kosma, you sly fox… now she couldn't say no, could she?
Finally, only the two of them were left again. Silas turned to Elysia.
"Well then, shall we continue our day?"
Elysia hesitated slightly.
"Silas, why…"
After all, this time it had been Silas who'd taken the initiative to send Kevin and the others away.
"Didn't I say so before?" Silas tilted his head. "I promised I'd spend the whole day with you."
Elysia: "!"
Silas stood up.
"Come on. There's a spinning coffee cup ride nearby. If there's anything you want to talk about, we can do it there too."
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