"Naoya, where's the modelum?"
"here, although the codename Iron Maiden is lost due to overuse, we might need to revisit if possible"
"how's Liliya coping right now? she is your lover right now"
"I don't feel like I'm the right one for her, she should look for others if sh-"
"Naoya. Von. Eisen, why do you say that clenching your fist?"
"!?"
"haha... your the same as when before the incident... just be with her, try to comfort her and she'll do the rest, it might look like we're manipulating her but trust me, I also regret not saving Kirin but it had to be done"
"...
why did he die anyway?"
"... it's a complicated story."
"I'm willing to listen"
"haahhh... call Liliya if you want to listen, I just have to finish this for now"
------------
a few hours go by
"Mei? you called?"
"ahh Liliya, where's Naoya?"
"he had to train the recruits. what's the problem though?"
"ahh since your here then call Isabelle for the time being. she's been wanting to enjoy the day with you"
"ahh! then I'll be going then"
that girl needs to rest...
------------
I've been resting for a few days now... sir Ma'il has been taking care of me in the meantime and Nick... has been bonding with me too, although I've been bedridden and wasn't allowed to walk or even get out of my room... I haven't seen the outside world...
"Isa! your still alive!"
"GAHH! miss Liliya... please be quieter on your next visit..."
"hahaha... sorry, but anyway why don't we enjoy Ilatra for now? I have a mission today but I can't really start without my teammates can't I?"
"mission?"
"ahh that! remember the world we were in? we need much more investigation but we can't afford you to push yourself, plus you're still not allowed to travel worlds until further notice so I'll be guiding you in Ilatra today. OH and don't worry, Mei has already given you a seal of approval so you can finally get out of this cramped place"
I can... finally walk...
"haha... excited that you started gleaming their buddy, now this is a girl's night so we're going even if you like it or not!"
I nod and for the first time in... what seems like forever, I step out of my room. the fresh air, the scenery, I can't believe I missed all of these. miss LIliya gave me a smirk and ran to the transport pad, I can't bother to be embarrassed about it, it's like I've been locked for a year...
we took a route to see the shop and the confectionary, both of us suggested the places we went in and left with either a face of fulfillment or a moneyless pocket... or both... but thanks to miss Mei and sir Noel's support we can splurge all we want.
after all of that, 5 hours have passed, we didn't even notice the time and I feel like both of us are forgetting something...
"Haahh... that was fun, can't believe we bought this many!"
"haha... if it wasn't for miss Mei and sir Noel then we probably finished much earlier"
"yeah! hahaha... Noel even lent us tickets to his concert, wasn't that a lucky strike?"
we both laughed and sat in a nearby bench, this is the first time I have ever looked at this world... a bustling city with lights as it's own light source, there's no sun that can give the populace here life, the only thing that's supporting this world is the people itself...
"Ilatra... looks great... doesn't it?"
I began to say what I thought...
"yeah... kinda jealous that everyone here has the capability to support itself..."
"hey... Isa... would you mind me rambling about my past again?"
this... came out of nowhere
"y-yeah... sure..."
"haha... sorry..."
"you see, Kirin's... my creator... died... I know I said that to you before but I just... don't want to believe that he's still dead... it's just..."
she began sobbing...
"It must've been harsh for you..."
I can't think of anything... I'm sorry...
"oyy!"
sir Von Eisen ran as fast as he can, he hugged miss Liliya as soon as he got to her
"shh... everything's alright... it's alright, I'm here now"
miss Liliya began to cry as loud as he can... instinctively, time has stopped... no... time really did stop but they didn't pay any mind to it so it's probably them
Miss Liliya stopped eventually, face red and!
"miss Liliya! your eyes!"
"a-ahh... t-this... haha, so-rry, t-this was *hic*"
she's still sobbing... sir Von Eisen instead spoke for him
"all of us from Laplace have this, a way to Identify special skills. mine is Bloody mare, her is White Line"
I-I see...
"we'll be going now, I'm sorry on behalf of Liliya"
they left... Miss Liliya fell asleep after and sir Naoya carried her... what a lovely couple... despite how short she is and how long sir Naoya is compared to her...
----------------------
"what happened!?"
"I found her crying beside Isabelle, this girl... she can cry at any situation..."
"hahaha... it's really like her, anyway, we can't continue like this, I'll just send Nick to our place for him to explain everything"
"affirmative..."
"you thinking about it again? haahh... who calmed her down? who noticed her crying?"
silence...
"you see? she has so much trust in you that your worrying is disappointing, just man up and let her just mooch on you, she's a kid with problems and it'll stay that way until you, the only person who can be with her and calm her down, change her... jeez I feel like Kirin here you know that?"
she laughs and resumed what she was doing
"like Kirin?"
"oh? did you forget? who's been pampered the most while Nick was alive huh? it was you two. from problems to troubles, he's been trying to tie you two since the beginning! wanna know what his response to me while he was drunk! *ahem* 'I can't believe I made these children so damn annoying!' wanna know my response to it?! then why don't you just delete them"
Naoya felt embarrassed and a little scared after hearing what Mei said. speechless, mei continued.
"haahh... don't look so scared, he didn't hate you two, rather he was happy, I didn't finish my story. after I said that to him his response was 'I can't, they may be annoying little children but they're my annoying little children, I'll save them no matter what the cost' see what I'm pointing out here? the rest of the story will be said by Nick, he did spy on us and made a book about it for a century or so"
Mei started the portal and Naoya, while carrying Liliya, left without another word
"system, relay a message for me to Nick Astra"
-yes my queen-
"Nick, you might hate me for this but this is punishment for spying on us without our consent, since you're so curious about us when it started then why don't you tell the whole story to Naoya and Liliya? system, done"
-done, relaying message () message has been sent-
I'll just wait until he barges in like he owns the place