Chapter 58: Love Triangle
And so, the work in the City of Ruins was basically complete.
With Cécile’s help, the girls had reactivated the teleportation gate here… After this, they could continue to travel between different cities using the teleportation connection across the Rainbow Abyss.
While this was a good thing, the teleportation gate still consumed a considerable amount of energy, so it was currently limited to use during war or emergency situations.
…
“Mm, Silent Leaf, that’s how things are. During this time, you and Hoffa should rest well in the City of Ruins.
We’ll return after we’ve dealt with the Deep Sea.”
Elus was a very gentle girl, and she knew Silent Leaf had many things she wanted to say to Hoffa.
But then?
Silent Leaf shook her head and said:
“No, Your Highness Elus, I don’t need to do that, because for me, this is a journey of atonement.”
“Atonement? Why do you think that? You haven’t done anything wrong. Even if you were deceived and drew your sword against me, that kind of thing is in the past.”
Elus shook her head. She wasn’t one to hold grudges, and Silent Leaf had been helping the girls all along. She wasn’t like the Eight-tailed Fox who often caused trouble, which was proof enough.
However…
“Atonement doesn’t just mean getting forgiveness from others, I… I can never forgive myself.”
“Huh?”
“Because, after following everyone for so long, I’ve realized. The reason I’ve met such a fate is simply because I was too stupid.”
“Silent Leaf?”
“I don’t have the same intelligence as you, Your Highness Elus, nor the same emotional intelligence as Su Ling and the others. My combat ability and adaptability are even worse than the Eight-tailed Fox. So, it serves people like me right to be deceived.”
Silent Leaf lowered her head. For her, the most important thing was to settle the score with Mortimer and kill that disgusting guy.
However, after everything that had happened, she could no longer seek revenge on Mortimer… Now, Silent Leaf felt she could do almost nothing. Her only option seemed to be to numb herself.
But…
Facing Silent Leaf like this, Elus frowned and said seriously:
“Hoo… Silent Leaf, it’s not that I can’t understand your difficulties, but this kind of shadow from the past needs to be walked out of by yourself.”
“Shadow?”
“Yes, when our old country was destroyed, for a time I was like you are now, suddenly feeling immensely lost, as if I had no motivation for anything. I felt utterly useless, so embarrassing?”
“…”
“I was immersed in that for a long time, wandering incognito by myself. But later, I discovered… that although time is long in this world, it is also short. Many things pass in an instant. So, in many cases, there’s no need to be so hard on yourself, right?”
“Elus…”
“If you don’t know what to do tomorrow, then do today’s tasks well. If you don’t know where to start with a long-term plan, then don’t hesitate about your thoughts. Whatever you do, be true to your own soul and be true to the companions who have supported you all the way.”
“This…”
Silent Leaf fell into thought. Although she hadn’t been completely enlightened, she seemed to have understood something.
Seeing her like this, Elus knew she didn’t need to say more and changed the subject:
“So, Silent Leaf, since the opportunity is rare, don’t you really want to say something to Hoffa?”
“Mm, let’s forget about that… Lately, I’ve noticed that Hoffa seems very happy when she’s with the Eight-tailed Fox.”
“That’s not recently, weren’t they discussing weapon restructuring?”
“I don’t know if this is correct… but I know Hoffa has always treated me as a child and a subordinate to nurture. I can only follow her orders. But the Eight-tailed Fox is different. To Master Hoffa, the Eight-tailed Fox also symbolically represents the past glory of the Independent Kingdom. So, their relationship is more like partners, right? Should I not interfere?”
“Sigh, this is really troublesome! Then, Silent Leaf, you continue working here, and I’ll go ask the Eight-tailed Fox.”
…
…
Although Elus usually gave off a very sharp and domineering impression, in reality?
This black-haired girl was actually a pushover.
She cared about her companions’ feelings, so even though this was a bit troublesome, she temporarily put aside her work and prepared to go find out from the Eight-tailed Fox.
“Your Highness Elus, what do you need me for?”
The Eight-tailed Fox shook her eight tails and confidently placed a finger on her chest.
“Eight-tailed Fox, haven’t I told you that you can mess around with everyone here, but you can’t fall in love before things are settled? Because it will make everyone uneasy and disrupt the atmosphere.”
“Falling in love… I, I’m not!”
“However, I received a report saying you seem to be dating Hoffa recently.”
“Ah, who—who said that? Was it Mi Xue Zhou?!”
“Never mind who said it, just explain it clearly to me.”
“Waaah.”
The Eight-tailed Fox lowered her head and sighed, “Yes… that’s right, but rather than dating, it’s more like catching up, wouldn’t you say?”
“Oh?”
“After all, many things happened in the past Apocalypse Independent Kingdom. I lost my memory before, and Hoffa forgot a lot of things. It was only after we obtained the power of the Rainbow Abyss that we gradually remembered the past… So, our relationship is more like old friends interacting, right?”
“Is that so? But… I’m also very curious about something? Eight-tailed Fox, have you ever properly dated anyone?”
“Ah?”
“I see you’re flirtatious everywhere, but you’ve never had a partner, have you? It was the same when you were in the Lizardmen village. If it were a normal female barbarian queen, she would probably capture a few handsome young men to serve her at home, right?”
“Uh…”
Unlike the girls, the Eight-tailed Fox was bisexual and didn’t dislike men.
With her abilities, it wouldn’t be difficult to go to the surface and abduct a man… But when the Eight-tailed Fox was at home, she was always playing with tentacle monsters, which made one suspicious.
So…
“Alas, I really can’t hide anything from Your Highness Elus, can I? Actually, when I was little, I fell in love with a girl?”
“Oh?”
“But because she dressed as a man, I don’t dislike men. As it developed, my personality became like this.”
“The person you’re talking about, the one who dressed as a man, couldn’t it be your past self? So, are you actually narcissistic?”
“No! Although I have that thought,
but I…”
The Eight-tailed Fox shook her head, her cheeks flushing with rare shyness.
It seemed that no matter how many experiences an older sister figure had, she definitely had innocent memories.
“Then, what’s going on?”
“Ah, then I’ll tell you? But these things… hmm, it’s a long story.”
