After Eugene expressed such an exaggerated and fantastical wish,
As he said, everything else seemed no longer so hard to confess.
No matter how shameless or unrealistic, it could simply be taken as a joke or a delusion, an expression of one's feelings.
Moreover...
"Perhaps a kind person heard it and will help you make your wish come true?"
Eugene said, smiling.
Everyone instantly knew that this kind person would undoubtedly be him.
His strength, wealth, numerous secrets, and strategy.
And he was also a particularly generous guy towards the girls he favored.
These conditions were enough for Eugene to be responsible for his promise.
Ryuu looked at him, lost in thought.
A few seconds later, she revealed a lovely, faint smile.
"There's no need for it to come true."
She lowered her gaze, and those unforgettable memories seemed to flash before her eyes.
"This is my wish, after all, and I should..."
She gently sighed, her expression serious.
"Perhaps everyone already knows about me."
"But I still hope to speak it myself."
"I am a guilty person."
"Although I once lived and fought under the guidance of the Goddess of Justice, Astrea, and agreed with her will, believing in her justice."
"However, I ultimately corrupted myself and became evil."
"During the Dark Ages, I lost the Familia members I considered family. To vent my anger, I didn't hesitate to break my oath to the Goddess and fled from her side."
"I abandoned the vow of justice I made and used the treacherous and cruel methods I once scorned, ostensibly to cleanse sin."
"But I know that wasn't my true intention."
"I was just committing evil, just like them."
Ryuu stopped speaking, her expression devoid of any bitterness or grief.
All that remained was a faint, desolate smile like the solitary moonlight.
Her gaze drifted, and she recounted her dark history, item by item, like detailing a stranger's crimes.
She was a Guild-wanted criminal with an 80 million valis bounty.
The sheer number of people she killed was chilling to hear, making people's palms sweat and their backs feel cold.
It wasn't dozens, but hundreds.
In this city, there was once an alleyway where blood flowed like a river overnight.
Gale, her sharp and resonant name given by the Goddess.
Ryuu fell into bloodshed, transforming into an envoy of death and vengeance, gradually drifting away from the light in her heart.
"If the Hostess of the Fertility hadn't taken me in, I would probably have paid for my sins and died in an alley somewhere."
Everyone, whether familiar or unfamiliar with the events, lowered their eyes after hearing the dusty past recounted by the person who lived through it.
It was heavy.
Just listening to it was enough to make them gasp under the immense weight of the blood debt.
Yet Ryuu lived every day carrying this burden.
"Originally, I was not worthy, nor did I have the face to live on."
"But my friend, Syr, told me that there is still a good, bright side to this world."
"She said that Orario was able to overcome the darkness and welcome a new dawn because of the hard fighting of me and my Familia family."
"I know it was just consolation, but seeing the world where people can smile freely now, I truly, truly want to see it one more time for my friends."
At this, Ryuu suddenly curled up even tighter and smaller.
She took a deep breath.
"I want to see my Goddess, Lady Astrea, again."
"To tell her that I once lost my way, and to tell her about the journey of my heart."
"Whether or not I can receive her forgiveness, I want to tell her that everything we did was meaningful."
"The efforts of my friends were not in vain, and the world has finally cleared up!"
"In that case..."
"Lady Astrea will probably be comforted."
She hooked her sculpted calves and showed everyone a heart-warming smile.
"It will definitely happen!"
Moved by this heavy yet hopeful story, Haruhime felt infected and emotionally declared:
"Miss Ryuu, your Goddess will definitely understand and forgive you!"
"I believe that one day, you will definitely reunite with her!"
"Even your dearly loved family and companions, you will definitely be with them..."
"Hey, hey! Let's talk about that later!" Lilli quickly interrupted the drunken, silly fox.
Meeting her companions would be bad in every sense of the word!
Ryuu saw Haruhime's panicked correction and chuckled, shaking her head: "Miss Haruhime, you don't need to worry. I've actually come to terms with things over the years."
"I gathered my companions' belongings and made a cenotaph on the 18th floor."
"I occasionally take time off from the tavern to visit them in the Dungeon."
"Ah~ so, you set that up."
Aisha realized: "Someone accidentally discovered it before. Seeing the Astrea Familia flag on the grave, some old folks who were helped back then would go there to pay their respects."
Ryuu blinked, apparently aware of their visits.
She allowed the atmosphere to settle for a while, and the emotion in her eyes gradually accumulated.
Finally, just when everyone thought this round of "wish sharing" was over, she spoke again.
"To reunite with the departed, that was the obsession I carried all along."
"However, meeting a certain person taught me that one cannot always wallow in the past; one must look forward."
As she spoke, a playful, lovely, and even sly smile appeared on her usually cool face—a look no one had ever seen before.
The moment that complex expression appeared, it caused a jolt in the hearts of the girls present!
This is bad!
This girl has a hidden move!
Ryuu slowly rubbed her fair, pink-tinged toes, her gaze no longer avoiding Eugene's face: "I remember a certain someone telling me that if he were with me, even if he were trapped in the same day for ten thousand years, he wouldn't get bored!"
!!!
This guy actually said something like that!?
Everyone's eyes immediately focused on Eugene's tensed face, and despite their varied expressions, their sense of resentment was mutual!
"At the time, I only considered him a slippery rogue and a womanizer."
"But as I got to know him better, I realized that one truly cannot judge a book by its cover."
"Even a loud-mouthed liar who claims to cheat for money and women can possess a sincere heart."
"Therefore, I've decided. Right today, right now."
Ryuu's voice conveyed deep determination.
And the eyes of the other girls showed intense apprehension!
Damn it! She's trying to overtake us on the bend here?
You Elf, you look so quiet, reserved, and proper, yet you have such malicious intentions!?
"If that person's wish is to sweep away all injustice in the world and hold up a pure, blue sky for all the lonely people in the world,"
"Then I, Gale, Ryuu Lion,"
"Am willing to be his sword, to clear the obstacles for him."
"Am willing to be his shield, to ward off disaster and injury for him."
"Am willing to be his staff, to support half of his body."
"Am willing to be his whip, to drive his carriage."
"Whether it be an oar, a bow, a guard, or a servant, as long as that person, as he said, can still accommodate countless mothers and maidens in his heart, then."
"I am willing to fight for him for a lifetime, until he no longer needs me, or I pass away before him."
Ryuu's voice was faintly trembling, and her fair skin was stained with a blush like a fiery cloud.
The last time she was this emotional was when she took her oath at the knee of the Goddess of Justice.
But this time, it wasn't just for an ideal.
It was also for her personal desires.
Her emerald eyes were no longer calm; they seemed to boil like a pool of water, emitting a misty vapor.
The Elf girl, who once fought for justice, for friendship, and struggled to survive for the sake of her will, entered a new phase of her life today.
This phase was so evident that even she herself realized it and could no longer escape it.
I love you, is my wish.
At this moment, she silently mouthed the words.
There was a customary rule, wasn't there?
If you speak your true wish, it won't come true.
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