The Elysian Realm truly held no danger, and it was very spacious here.
Under normal circumstances, it was hard to run into anyone while walking around. It felt a bit like... an open-world game with free exploration? Eden-nee had given him a tour before. Shiraha could more or less figure out where Sakura's dojo was.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but this time when he came, he felt many gazes fixed on him. Yet when he looked around, he truly was the only one here.
It wasn't until he stepped into Sakura's dojo that this sensation of being watched slowly faded away.
Sakura was meditating. Her long ears drooped slightly or rather, she was dozing.
She'd never been particularly invested in the affairs of the Realm.
Shiraha knocked on the door, which hadn't even been closed. Only then did Sakura jolt awake. Seeing the tiny figure at the doorway, she paused.
"So you're... the new era's Elysia."
Sakura didn't know about Origin. She'd died far too early.
It was only recently, after hearing others discuss it, that she'd learned Elysia also had the identity of Origin.
Honestly, sometimes Sakura felt rather weary. How had such a huge matter never been discussed before?
Shiraha blinked.
Sakura roused herself a little. Over the past few years, World Serpent hadn't had many trial-goers. She'd been rather bored in the Realm.
"Come in. If you don't mind being watched by others, you can leave the door open."
Shiraha, who had already stepped inside, retreated and shut the door.
So someone really was watching him. Those bored fellows had probably even gathered together to bet on who he'd go looking for.
A bunch of bored idiots!
"With the door closed, can others still see?"
Shiraha's expression was earnest. Did the Realm really have private spaces?
Sakura nodded. "Although the Realm does have operational maintenance data, ever since Aponia also entered, this place has started to become different."
"You can absolutely treat this place as a real world. But in public areas, it's still best to be mindful."
Shiraha instantly understood and prepared to switch faces. The easiest person to mess with in the Realm was Sakura, even easier than Pardo. As for Griseo... she had people behind her.
"But..." Sakura paused. "I'm not entirely sure either. For specifics, you'll still need to ask Aponia. Perhaps she still has contingencies in place."
Shiraha's motion to lean in halted for a moment, but ultimately, he still leaned in.
Only now he chose to carefully nestle close to Sakura's side. "Nee-chan... Teacher told me to come find you."
Sakura sighed. Why?
With so many Flame-Chasers in the Realm, would anyone really seek her out on their own?
Aside from Hua, who knew nothing, she was the most boring person in the Realm and had the least worth interacting with, at least to children.
Shiraha pressed even closer. Before Sakura could rise, he leaned in beside her ear. This made Sakura somewhat uncomfortable. This child was a little too forward, wasn't he?
Shiraha spoke softly. "Teacher told me... she sensed traces of Rin."
Sakura's body went rigid. She turned her head to look at Shiraha. The two were very close, but right now she had no time to care about a little brat.
She also softened her voice. "How did Elysia..."
Sakura cut herself off, crisp and decisive. "Give me two minutes, alright? Shiraha."
Sakura dared not even imagine it. So her own voice really could still become this gentle.
Shiraha nodded.
Sakura quickly got up and rummaged through the room. Unfortunately, there was no food, and not even anything that could keep a child occupied on his own for a few minutes. That left her feeling somewhat vexed.
"Give me five minutes."
She pulled off her headphones and placed them directly over Shiraha's head, repeated herself once more, then left the room without looking back, pulling the door shut behind her. With a click, she locked it.
"Sakura?" Mobius was somewhat surprised. "Did that child Shiraha not come find you?"
Sakura looked at Dr. Mobius with a calm expression and casually spun an excuse. "I gave him some insights from my past experience. He's currently training. Please don't disturb him, Doctor."
After saying this, she hurried away. But after two steps, Sakura stopped again. "Doctor, please, absolutely do not disturb him. Practice is a very sacred thing."
"Absolutely not! This child has the ability to inherit my legacy!"
Sakura thought for a moment, then added the exaggeration.
Mobius was thoroughly baffled.
Sakura rarely lied. In Mobius's impression, Sakura was a very dull person, she didn't laugh, didn't cry, didn't lie, didn't joke. She rarely even got angry.
When Sakura said something, Mobius almost never doubted it.
But...
"Isn't Shiraha a psychokinesis-type?"
Is he really suited to inherit your legacy?
But Sakura was already gone, moving very fast. Mobius wanted to ask more, but there was no time. She glanced at the locked door, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
Was Shiraha's talent really that good?
Inside the room.
Shiraha removed the headphones. Sakura's taste in music was truly hard to evaluate. He took the initiative to look around. Sakura's residence was very clean and simple. On a cabinet off to the side sat a family portrait.
The data body of the Frozen Heavens was placed nearby, wreathed in wind and snow, thin and translucent as ice. Shiraha grabbed it and boldly swung it a couple of times.
Before he could continue exploring, the door was suddenly shoved open with force. Sakura's smiling face was pure and clean... though describing an assassin with the word "clean" was somewhat strange, it truly was clean and untainted.
"Alright. I just went to ask Aponia a few things about confidentiality. Now we can talk at leisure."
Sakura closed the door behind her, then locked it again.
"Confidentiality?"
"I needed to confirm whether I'd been lied to before."
When it came to the absolute privacy of personal rooms, Sakura had never really cared before. Whatever others told her, she'd simply believed.
But now, a single sentence from Shiraha had stirred a heart that had long been dead. Some things, then, needed to be questioned.
Shiraha half-understood. "Nee-chan... are you sure you weren't tricked again this time?"
Sakura responded confidently. "Aponia doesn't have the expression-management skills to fool me."
Shiraha: ....
What an arrogant statement. Sakura-nee... do you really have that ability?
He thought about himself for a moment and decided to keep playing the child while in the Realm, just in case.
He didn't quite trust Sakura's interpersonal skills.
But Sakura clearly hadn't noticed any of this. The smile that used to only appear when she was alone was, today, so remarkably common.
Sakura asked cautiously, "What exactly did Elysia say?"
She was even more grateful to Elysia now. To think that even after becoming a wraith, a fierce ghost, Elysia still kept Rin in her heart.
What a good person!
"Teacher said she's not sure either. But at a certain moment, she genuinely, unmistakably sensed Rin's presence. Only, Rin's presence now is somewhat cold and dark."
"Teacher sent me this time to ask Nee-chan: is there anything, some tool that could help Rin come back to herself and blend into this world?"
Shiraha had no intention of replaying the Sakura Samsara all over again. At most, that place concerned Yae Sakura but Yae Sakura didn't need that much trouble to begin with, because in this world, she was already completely alone.
Even if thinking this way was pretty scummy.