Chapter 42: If Only This Kind of Time Could Last Forever (Two-in-one)
The capital of the Azure Court Duchy is adjacent to the Grant Sea.
This geographical location has the advantage of a pleasant climate, warm in winter and cool in summer, but the disadvantage of unpredictable weather.
Often, it can be sunny one minute and pouring rain the next, or vice versa.
Sylvia left her high heels on the gravel beach, her fair feet stepping on the damp sand after the rain. Fresh sea breezes occasionally blew from the Grant Sea, causing her pure white long dress to sway with the wind.
Minnows and small crabs would occasionally peek out near her feet, prompting Sylvia to crouch down and reach out to play with them.
Shaya stood not far behind Sylvia, silently admiring the peaceful scene before him.
After completing the coming-of-age ceremony trial of the Brunnhildr Family, his status within the family had improved considerably. He was no longer an expendable outsider member but had qualified to enter the family’s management level.
Coupled with Elder Norton’s tacit approval, Shaya could now bring Sylvia out of the Grand Duke’s Mansion openly by submitting an application to the family, rather than sneakily.
On his shoulder, Chise transformed into a tiny Star Spirit Body, resembling a small ball of fire, flickering intermittently with the rise and fall of Shaya’s mental power.
As Shaya’s third Soul Pact partner, Chise differed from his first two Soul Pact partners.
Silver and Sparkle had long-standing emotional foundations with Shaya, so their soul compatibility was beyond question, allowing the master and subordinate to unleash their full potential at any time.
However, the contract between Shaya and Chise had only just been signed, and their compatibility still needed refinement.
Therefore, whenever Shaya had free time, he would summon Chise to cultivate their bond and deepen their tacit understanding.
Fortunately, their affinity was not bad. Perhaps due to their similar origins, after only a few days of interaction, their Soul Pact compatibility had rapidly increased.
This made Silver, whose exclusive seat on Shaya’s left shoulder had been taken, a little jealous, and she began to suspect if she had inadvertently invited trouble into their midst.
As for Sparkle, she felt like crying.
Well, with both seats, left and right, taken, where was she supposed to stay?
Even after developing new Detonating Clay tactics, could she still not escape her status as a tool?
…
Plop—
Plop—
Sylvia, with water splashing around her feet, ran over and placed a small hermit crab, tucked inside a shell, into Shaya’s palm.
The little hermit crab was a bit shy and dared not show its head in Shaya’s palm, silently blowing bubbles.
Just then, Shaya heard Sylvia’s exclamation, not in words, but just a long, drawn-out breath.
Shaya followed Sylvia’s gaze and saw, on the blue horizon of the Grant Sea, in the sky just clearing after the rain, the reflection of a rainbow.
The mottled rainbow bridge connected the sea’s surface and the sky—
Like the Tower of Babel from legends, a bridge built by mortal endeavors that pierced through heaven and earth.
“I want to see the other side of the sea.”
Sylvia dipped her finger in seawater and wrote on Shaya’s palm.
The rainbow bridge was reflected in her dark purple eyes, refracting a glass-like radiance, like a brilliant starry river.
“Across the Grant Sea… should be the Golden Plains within the Alliance of Lieges.”
“I went there when I was twelve. It’s said that thousands of years ago, a Golden Dragon, surpassing the Legend rank, died a natural death on that plain.”
“Even now, the creatures on that plain are still blessed by gold.”
Shaya held Chise, who was in her Star Spirit Body form, in his arms like a ball of dough, and spoke calmly.
Sylvia listened intently.
After Shaya finished speaking, she took out her diary and pen from the side and began to write in it.
Since that night, she had become accustomed to communicating by writing rather than speaking.
Sylvia adapted quickly because she had few opportunities to converse with outsiders in her past life, and the few times she did, they were often filled with unfamiliarity and distance.
After finishing, she held up the diary for Shaya to see: “Do all dragons really like to abduct princesses?”
“That’s a complete prejudice, or rather, the bards forcefully assign inexplicable motives to dragons as villains to create story conflict.”
Shaya couldn’t help but smile.
“Adult Pureblood Dragons are equivalent to legends, and not all dragon species are male. Abducting a princess would bring them no benefit.”
Sylvia nodded seriously, then held up the diary again, her strokes filled with a hint of cheerful energy.
“What about airships? Are they real too?”
“With current technology, they should still be in the realm of imagination for the mechanical designers of the Steam Association.”
Shaya summoned the little mink.
“However… in the future, with the advancement of magical technology, airships will be widely used in the military.”
Silver activated Tsukuyomi, manifesting a scene before Sylvia’s eyes.
It was rows of magnificent, giant airships, flying in formation high in the distant sky.
The airships were equipped with metal cannons, and their interiors were inscribed with profound energy-gathering magic arrays, ready to fire at any moment.
And on the outer hull of the airships was the image of a soaring black vulture, a military exhibit from the Fresta Empire’s recent founding ceremony.
Although powerful Beast Tamers could change the course of a battle, creations of magical technology were also not to be underestimated in state-level warfare.
…
The two continued their conversation, question and answer, for a long time, until Sylvia’s diary was filled with several pages of elegant handwriting.
Some of her questions were well-organized and even possessed considerable philosophical depth, such as the causes of seasonal changes and the morphological differences in the same species of familiars in different regions.
Thus, Shaya, as a transmigrator, felt the urge to educate and earnestly explained things to her.
Sylvia also had some questions that seemed a bit absurd.
For example, why did the seemingly stronger Knight-Princesses always lose to Goblins, who were at a significant disadvantage on paper.
And why did the city guards and Directorate, who had already received reports, always arrive late after the criminals had already succeeded.
This forced Shaya to explain to her again and again that these were all plot coincidences arranged by authors for the sake of the story, merely fictional tales that should not be taken seriously.
The reason for such a contrast was understandable because Sylvia’s worldview was broken and incomplete.
She had never been anywhere outside the capital, nor had she had the opportunity to chat with outsiders.
Every night, every day, she stayed in her small courtyard, reading the ancient books and storybooks from the family library.
Then, through those dry lines of text, she imagined what the world was originally like… imagining the snow mountains of the Far North, the endlessly vast Golden Plains, and the silent, deep Sage Forest.
So, in Sylvia’s perceived world, female knights were like imbeciles, either giving themselves away in goblin dens or on their way to do so.
The world was filled with demon kings and evil dragons who abducted princesses, as well as countless senile old rulers—
Despite being the ruler of a kingdom and commanding a large army, they didn’t personally lead their troops to rescue people, but instead placed their hopes on a young hero straight out of the novice village, offering a reward of the sharpest sword in the village.
The scions of nobles were also so bored that they had to fall in love with members of the opposite sex from hostile families, ultimately leading to ruin and mutual demise.
Princes always eschewed marrying princesses from neighboring countries of equal standing, insisting on pestering a village girl who knew neither noble etiquette nor makeup, and who possessed no virtue other than kindness.
The two stayed on the beach until the afternoon, when dusk began to fall.
The tide, reflecting the rosy clouds, lapped against the shore with white spray.
Sylvia silently gazed at the twilight sky, still seemingly unsatisfied.
“Don’t regret it, there will be opportunities.”
“When your condition stabilizes and you can freely control the power of the Bronze Cross…”
“Then we will apply to leave the Grand Duke, and we’ll see the world on the other side of the sea with our own eyes.”
Shaya gently patted Sylvia’s head.
The chestnut hair of this future Azure Silver Witch was very soft, with strands of silver mixed in.
Sylvia showed no resistance as Shaya petted her head, her gaze still fixed on the distance.
She held her pen and lightly wrote on the paper, and after a long while, handed it to Shaya.
“Actually… it doesn’t matter if we don’t go to the other side of the sea.”
“I am already very content with where I am now.”
She gently lowered her eyelids, like a cat that had misbehaved.
Shaya’s gaze shifted slightly.
It was only then that Shaya understood why he and Sylvia had become so familiar so quickly. He had always been cautious and did not easily recognize others—otherwise, he would not have been able to escape Ceylon, engulfed in flames and smoke.
This was simply because, eight years ago in another timeline, Shaya had also met a girl like Sylvia, who had lost everything, like a cat.
After eight years of interaction, Shaya had long been accustomed to her company.
The feeling was very special, like keeping a black cat; normally, one barely notices its presence, but when it truly disappears, every detail of life becomes a source of profound loss.
When he met Sylvia, Shaya unconsciously felt a sense of familiarity and closeness towards her, as if they had known each other for a long time, not like strangers meeting for the first time.
Shaya turned his gaze away, not answering Sylvia’s written words.
Only he knew that the seemingly ordinary daily life before him was, for the entire Azure Court Duchy, a most precious miracle for the future.
This was the last afterglow of an ancient kingdom, beautiful on the surface, but fragile like a dream bubble.
From a purely pragmatic standpoint, after completing the third stage of the Sylvia’s affection quest, Shaya had no need to invest so much effort in her.
In Shaya’s original timeline, the fate of this ancient kingdom was already sealed.
And whether the Historical Echo before him was a reflection of past history or an intertwined parallel world… it didn’t really matter to Shaya.
He could completely treat everything in this Historical Echo as a game, a game for him to farm system novice task rewards, and everyone within the Historical Echo was equivalent to an NPC in a game.
He could go on a rampage in this fully immersive, high-fidelity game, or use all sorts of unscrupulous, ungentlemanly, villainous methods to speedrun and rack up points, just as he had done in countless Paradox Interactive games in his previous life.
After all, as long as he exited the Historical Echo, nothing would have happened, and even the most morally scrupulous saint would not fault him for his actions within a game.
But Shaya knew he couldn’t do it.
He didn’t consider himself a person with moral潔癖 (purity fetish), nor was his character particularly high; in fact, he could sometimes be considered not human.
But some things were just like that; even if you knew it was more advantageous, you still wouldn’t want to do it.
…
“I’m so sorry to disturb you, Lord Shaya, Miss Sylvia.”
A voice sounded from the distance behind the beach.
It was a member of the Brunnhildr Family, speaking with great respect.
If Shaya before the coming-of-age ceremony was merely an expendable outsider member of the family, then after passing the coming-of-age ceremony, Shaya had become the focus and rising star within the family.
Moreover, Shaya seemed to be highly valued by Acting Patriarch Elder Norton.
He cast a subtle glance at Sylvia, carrying a trace of rejection and fear, but did not reveal it: “Lord Shaya, Lord Norton asks you to come over.”
“Alright, lead the way.”
Shaya nodded, patted Sylvia’s head, and stood up.
He had lingered in the Historical Echo for so long after the coming-of-age ceremony precisely to await the final part of this stage’s mission.
Watching Shaya’s receding back, Sylvia remained on the beach as the light gradually dimmed.
She spread her diary on her lap, writing under the slanting, dim sunlight.
“I came to the Grant Sea again today.”
“Last time I came, I was contemplating suicide, but this time, my state of mind is completely different.”
“I saw a rainbow on the beach after the rain. It was beautiful, like a bridge connecting heaven and earth.”
“Brother Shaya said that a long, long time ago, a large group of people gathered in a place called Babylon and built a towering bridge to the realm of the gods with fired bricks and stone pitch.”
“But this act angered the gods in heaven, so they descended a curse, causing people to speak different languages.”
“Thus, the once united people were scattered, leaving only the unfinished Tower of Babel. What a pity.”
“I talked about many things with Brother Shaya until dusk.”
“Meeting him on that cold winter night… may be the luckiest thing in my life.”
“I hope that this kind of time—”
“Could last forever…”
—Excerpt from the Diary of the Azure Silver Witch, Page 9, Holy Calendar 346, Month of Budding, 23rd day.
PS: Highly recommend a friend’s book.
Synopsis:
[Remember, every reincarnation is your life.]
[Every ending is a new beginning for your reincarnation.]
Gu Jiangming smiled. His life had been like walking on thin ice. Can he speedrun a reincarnated life?
Having barely completed any playthroughs, one day, he finally achieved the achievement of [Wine Sword Immortal], establishing a formidable reputation. With one sword, he suppressed the heavenly abyss. He founded the Shu Mountain sect and, to promote its name, dedicated himself to saving the world. By chance, he formed a romantic relationship with a demoness but was later hunted and killed by various sects on Shu Mountain, ultimately perishing.
Immediately following, a prompt appeared: [Reincarnation complete, save file saved.]
In this mortal world, the ruins of the fallen Shu Mountain sect remained. In the legends of the demon realm, a female emperor who decided the fate of ages emerged.
As Gu Jiangming’s save files accumulated.
When the love interest from his reincarnation came looking for the reincarnation of her husband, Gu Jiangming broke out in a cold sweat.
What’s going on? My wife became reality?
