"Huff… huff…"
Silas plopped onto the ground, the training-grade spear clattering beside him. Looking at the completely unfazed Sakura standing across from him, he muttered, "As expected of someone Elysia found... Sakura, you're incredible."
He had mentally prepared for this outcome—getting thoroughly outclassed by Sakura's combat prowess. But when reality actually hit him in the face, it still stung a little.
"And here I thought 'the longer the weapon, the greater the advantage.'"
Why did this feel more like Saber-class beating up Lancer-class in the Holy Grail War?
Well, whatever. A bit of self-deprecating humor never hurt.
Silas knew perfectly well: yes, reach does matter—but in close combat, a spear against a sword wasn't exactly ideal.
Especially when your opponent was a master swordswoman like Sakura.
Even at his peak in the Previous Era, he'd never been able to stop her aggressive rushdowns. There was no way to fully exploit the spear's advantage—his only winning card back then had been brute force. He had to rely purely on overwhelming physical strength to suppress her.
Sakura sheathed her blade and looked at the boy in front of her, who was still gasping for air but whose eyes burned with unrelenting determination.
She couldn't help but wonder:
What exactly was it that made him so stubbornly determined to save the world?
She herself had no such lofty goal.
All she wanted… was for her younger sister to live a peaceful life.
That was it.
So then… what about him?
What was Silas fighting for?
What gave him this unshakable drive to carry the weight of salvation on his shoulders?
After Lilith and the others had died in the previous timeline, he'd been completely alone. But it was a different kind of loneliness—one like an unbreakable barrier, an invisible fortress that no one could ever reach past.
He was so utterly alone… and yet, so endlessly persistent.
This time… maybe…
Silas sat cross-legged, trying to calm his breath and stabilize his state.
Suddenly, he lost his balance and fell backward.
He blinked in surprise as a soft, faint floral scent reached his nose.
Above him—
He looked up—into Sakura's gentle eyes.
"…Eh?!"
His brain stalled for a full second before realizing: this was a lap pillow.
Sakura's lap pillow, to be precise.
"S-Sakura… what are you…"
Hearing his voice, Sakura blinked and suddenly seemed to come to her senses. A trace of panic flashed across her eyes.
"S-sorry! You looked so tired… I did it without thinking…"
That's what she said, but—
"Could you maybe stop holding my shoulders down so I can sit up?!" Silas grumbled inwardly.
A lap pillow, huh…
Now that he thought about it, he'd actually experienced this quite a few times in the previous life.
Lilith had given him the most, always sneakily ambushing him whenever she had the chance.
"Sakura, I came to—YOU TWO?!"*
Elysia's voice shattered the moment. Sakura's grip loosened, and Silas bolted upright like a startled cat.
"E-Elysia! You're back?"
Why do I feel guilty?!
Sakura, now fully aware of what she'd done, refused to meet Elysia's gaze, her ears tinged pink.
Elysia, meanwhile, was this close to summoning Pure Evil right then and there.
She'd just returned to HQ when Mobius mentioned Sakura's arrival. She'd thought, Surely Sakura wouldn't move this fast—
Then she walked into this.
Thank god Vill-V's under review. If Pure Evil saw this, her meltdown might expose everyone's rebirth.
"Mm... Training's over. I'll go now." Sakura stood and fled, her ears burning.
Leaving Silas alone with Elysia in the spacious training room.
Side note: Unlike the training grounds, which are meant for larger-scale or team-based drills, the training room was used for individual or paired combat simulations. It could also simulate enemy holograms for solo training.
Silas scrambled for an explanation. Elysia had confessed to him. This situation was... bad.
But before he could rise, Elysia pushed him back down—and his head landed in her lap.
Silas: "..."
Two lap pillows in a row from beautiful girls? Sounds like a dream.
Reality? He was terrified.
From this angle… now that he thought about it, wasn't Elysia just a little bigger than Sakura…?
Realizing what he was thinking, Silas panicked even more and scrambled to refocus—he fixed his gaze on Elysia's face and tried to force a conversation.
"E-Elysia, uh… what are you doing?"
He had to suppress the "lance"…
"Giving you a lap pillow. What? Sakura can, but I can't?" Elysia replied with a sweet smile.
Ah.
That smile was beautiful.
And also terrifying.
Silas opened his mouth to protest—"Of course not—"
But Elysia cut him off.
"Lilith gave you lap pillows too, didn't she?"
Silas froze.
Lap pillows? That was the least of it. There was that time Lilith had sneaked into his bed after he was knocked out cold from one of Mobius' custom tranquilizers. Thankfully, one of Vill-V's surveillance drones caught her in the act. After that, he'd assigned Sariel to keep Lilith from escalating.
Wait.
Did he just uncover something even worse?
That particular incident could not reach Elysia's ears. Something told him if she knew, she'd try the same.
"You're making that face," she leaned down, voice tinged with amusement. "So, I take it this wasn't a one-time thing?"
"…You're not wrong," Silas admitted under his breath.
"Then," she whispered, her breath brushing my ear, "why can't I?"
There was a glint in her eyes—curious, mischievous, maybe even a little competitive. She must've sensed that Lilith had done worse.
After a long pause, Silas exhaled. "…You can. Of course you can. But… I can't help feeling like I don't deserve it."
"Then just this once—stay like this. Just for a little while longer. Okay?"
"…Okay."
What did he feel for Elysia now?
Love, yes—but how much?
He had no answer. That uncertainty was why he'd avoided her.
Yet one thing burned clear:
He wanted to find a way to save her from the fate that was written for her. He knew what lay beyond this era. He knew what awaited in the next era—the future Elysia yearned for.
And he wanted her to be the one to see that future with her own eyes. Not a replica. Not a memory. He wouldn't let Kevin send Mei into the Elysian Realm just to meet a data construct of her.
No.
"Elysia…"
"Mm?"
"I might not fully understand how I feel about you. I might not know if I deserve you. But there's one thing I do know—I'm still willing to fight for you."
She smiled. "Then until the day you find your answer, I'll be here. I'll walk this path with you. And together, we'll find it."
"…Thank you."
Ato had just opened the door when he froze—taking in the scene of Elysia cradling Silas' head in her lap. Without a word, he stepped back, closed the door, leaned against the wall, and for the first time in a long while, lit a cigarette.
"Ah, youth..."
Inside her lab, Mobius stared at the image of Vil-V on the screen, her finger lightly tapping the table.
Because Vil-V had destroyed a MOTH branch facility, she was now considered a highly dangerous individual. As a result, her interrogation was being conducted via video link.
Even so, Mobius doubted that such precautions would be enough to truly contain Vil-V. After all, her intentions had always been clear from the beginning.
Vil-V's statements were flawless. After all, MOTH's current actions were indeed prone to being misunderstood. Even to the very end, there had always been those who refused to trust MOTH and ended up joining the resistance.
That said, one thing was also clear: Vil-V wouldn't be released so easily.
Whether it was Mobius or Elysia, neither held enough authority within MOTH right now to vouch for her.
Even though Vil-V had showcased her genius intellect, with the current state of the war against the Honkai still unclear, the Council wasn't likely to consider her intelligence essential.
So, Mobius estimated that Vil-V might end up exiled to a deserted island again—just like last time. And if she were lucky, she might not be released until after the Third Eruption.
Mobius subtly explained the situation to Vil-V in a roundabout way, but Vil-V simply smiled lightly on the screen. With effortless calm, she pointed out the flaws and vulnerabilities in the security system of the MOTH base—and even proposed a theoretical upgrade.
Mobius: "…"
She'd forgotten—this woman was reborn too.
For the reborn Vil-V, understanding the mindset of the higher-ups was child's play.
In the end, the final verdict from the discussion was: Vil-V would be allowed to remain at MOTH's main base, but only under constant surveillance.
That was when Mobius finally realized—this had been Vil-V's goal all along.
And of course, she had plenty of ways to make the Council assign Silas to "monitor" her.
"She really isn't one to be underestimated…" Mobius muttered, biting her fingernail.
Well—when Silas came in for his check-up in a few days, she'd have more than enough excuses to spend time with him.
After all, he'd volunteered as her test subject long ago.
Sakura's Quarters
Sakura submerged herself in icy water, trying to quell the heat in her cheeks. She couldn't understand why she had done what she did earlier.
By the time she came to her senses, it was already over. And…
She dunked her face into the water.
No good. Just thinking about what she had done made her face heat up all over again.
After a while, Sakura slowly raised her head and looked toward the sword placed to the side.
No matter what—
Her resolve to protect Silas was something that would never change.
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