"Damn it… those bastards got arrested and they're still mouthing off about how Columbia will come back sooner or later… What are you all doing here?"
Shh! Boss! Shh!
"?"
What is this supposed to be?
Seeing his three "flowers" all sprawled on the fire stairwell, craning their necks to look upward, Emperor—who prided himself on having seen just about everything—had to admit this was a first.
It wasn't only Exusiai, the resident chaos gremlin, who now wore a strangely solemn expression. Even Croissant, born and raised for spectating, was looking up with obvious interest. And Texas—Texas of all people—had her ears pricked, listening tensely.
Emperor tiptoed onto the stairwell as well. He didn't even need to climb far; standing outside, he could already catch fragments of voices drifting down from the rooftop on the wind.
Li Lin and Sora.
And the moment he realized that, Emperor felt a little displeased.
Penguin Logistics fought fair, did their work aboveboard. What kind of operation was this—spying?
"Spying? Everyone's got secrets anyway. One more from that kid won't hurt…" Emperor muttered. Then, noticing the looks on their faces, he couldn't help adding, "What's with you lot? A capable guy who's handsome, mysterious, with a secret past and a gap between how he looks and how he is—does that really hook you that hard?"
Boss, lower your voice! It's the key moment!
"Fine. I'm listening."
From above came Li Lin's voice:
"…Yeah, it probably sounds hard to understand. But dreams are like that, aren't they? Abstract. Disjointed. Without a fixed shape. If you asked me about an ideal future, I might say becoming a big-shot, finding a good woman, and living like that. But if you ask me about a dream… I want to float."
That low, husky voice carried across the open night, laced with a lazy, enigmatic warmth.
Emperor could practically picture him as he spoke.
Not delicate or pretty—just a face with a mature kind of charm, tinged with something faintly sorrowful.
Short black hair with a slight curl lifted in the night breeze. Those hollow yet sincere black eyes looked as though they were focused on you… and yet also on something far away.
Even in silence, he'd look at you gently, wait for you to meet his gaze, then withdraw his eyes again. Warm enough to be lethal to girls. Truly.
Even the scruffy stubble he'd grown over two months of not caring much for upkeep only made him feel more mysterious, more adult.
And didn't the kid say he wanted to find women? Was that some kind of metaphor?
…Or was it just a sigh?
Using his height to take the higher step, Emperor leaned in and listened.
"Yeah," Li Lin continued softly. "I think I like floating."
His hoarse voice held a fractured, dreamlike quality in the night—his words carrying a strange sort of sigh.
"I don't want to be bound by gravity or attraction… but I don't have the drive or desire to fly, either. I just want to float there in the sky. Let the wind move me. Bathe in sunlight and the earth. Float between the endless deep space and tiny bits of matter. That's what I want."
"Absolute freedom doesn't exist. Everything in this world is constrained by something. So floating is enough for me."
"Like a balloon carried up by the wind."
"..."
In the hush, even Sora's breathing could be heard from above. Like she was thinking—and yet thinking nothing at all. Only Li Lin's voice flowed clearly through the night.
"So I don't have some grand or impressive dream. I'm a failure. I don't have a future and a dream as dazzling as yours."
"But I will support other people's dreams."
"Sora. I'll support yours."
The earlier hazy, fragile tone hardened into something steady.
"Your dream—and everyone's dreams—I'll support them."
"I don't want to see your dreams shattered into pieces by reality. I don't like that."
"Even if it's only a little… even someone like me, who can only talk, can still offer a bit of warmth. If it can make you feel a little more at ease—give you some sense of safety in your heart—that's enough."
"..."
Sora's breathing suddenly went uneven.
But she was a seasoned idol. In the next heartbeat, she turned that unsteady breath into the opening of a laugh.
"E-eh~? Senior, the way you say that… you've definitely said it to lots of girls before, haven't you? Sora isn't going to be fooled, you know?"
"No."
It was immediate. Decisive. A clean, unhesitating answer.
And it was sincere.
Even Sora—old-school idol that she was—fell silent for a long moment before asking, carefully:
"…Really?"
"Of course it's real. Why would I lie to you?"
In the night, Li Lin's voice carried a helpless amusement.
"Besides, I don't think anyone else needs that kind of comfort. Look—everyone at Penguin Logistics is strong, aren't they?"
"Everyone has their own ideas and their own will. Even if I want to support them, there isn't really anything I can do to help. Like I've always said, I don't actually have any ability. And nothing good ever really happened to me."
"The things I wanted to do—I can't do them anymore. I know too many things I shouldn't know. I'm a coward, really. When faced with responsibility and ideals, all I do is run. And… you see, I don't know any specialized skills. I can't even use Originium Arts. So someone like me—my biggest wish is simply to live out my life peacefully, and use whatever little strength I have to help other people's dreams."
"…I'm sorry," Sora murmured.
"Why would someone who can still chase their dream apologize?" Li Lin said, laughing lightly, as if trying to help her let go of the heaviness. "That's just how I am. But I'm counting on you for the future."
"Just don't forget this: I won't stop supporting people who have dreams."
"You have to make your dream come true."
"Your dream might become my dream, too. That's enough."
His voice was compelling—steady and calm—as though the person who had just been sighing into the night wasn't him at all.
That ability to reset his emotions on the spot—responding with mature composure—was itself proof of maturity. It even made you feel like his past must be anything but simple.
Before anyone could think too deeply, footsteps sounded from above—someone standing up, brushing off their clothes.
"All right. Enough of this. The wind's picking up—let's go back down. No idea what they're doing in there… why is it so quiet…"
"..."
Oh no. My employees.
Emperor's heart sank as he turned and saw the expressions on his staff's faces.
-------
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