Episode 6: The World Crisis is Close At Hand Part 4
“I don’t know how that ‘god’ you speak of told you, but you have the right to know the truth. Because you are my F,
I said I would take Saint on a tour of the campus, but in reality, it was just an excuse to get her alone to talk. I brought her to this secluded mountain area, which is mostly deserted, for that very reason.
“0.-. I know about this, which is why you are my—.-.
“Listen to me first.”
After I interrupted her, Saint fell silent.
“I destroyed your original life without consulting anyone. Only Ling supported me. With her power as the world’s origin, we… no, we ‘stole’ a branch from the original world trajectory and turned it into a closed loop.”
“It’s okay if you don’t understand. You just need to know that I am the culprit who caused you to be suddenly displaced into this world. That’s all you need to understand.
“It seems like I saved you, but in reality, I am the one who put you through this ordeal. Therefore, I have no right to have you follow me like this.”
I believe I’ve made myself clear.
I am not someone worthy of Saint’s devotion. She doesn’t have any special feelings for me; it’s only out of respect for that unidentified god that she is so subservient.
But I don’t want her to be like this.
Saint looked up at me, her eyes filled with confusion. This is what happens when one’s steadfast goal is denied.
“Okay, I’ve said what I needed to say. But if, even after knowing this, you still want to continue following me, I don’t—.”
After speaking, I turned away from Saint. There’s an observation deck at the summit, and I walked over to it, leaning on the railing with my hands as I gazed at the scenery.
After a while, Saint joined me, gripping the edge of the railing and looking down at the city.
This leisurely feeling is quite nice.
The twilight cast its glow over the entire city, making the view even more spectacular as I watched the sapphire hues before dawn bloom.
The serene atmosphere was broken by Saint’s question.
“…Why does everyone have a family?”
“Family, you say? Saint, are you looking for a family of your own? SF Light Novel
Saint shook her head.
“I’m just a bit confused. Everyone seems to have a place to return to, people waiting for them, and connections with each other.”
Yes, the initial bond that a human is born with in this world comes from their family.
While many people now complain about their families and backgrounds, and families themselves are falling apart, perhaps years later, after losing them, they will lament why they didn’t cherish them more.
“Um, isn’t it… lonely without a family?”
“Then, Master, will you be lonely too?”
“If I can never see them again, I think I would be very lonely.”
If it weren’t for Ling’s companionship, I would have vanished long ago in that vast expanse of time that corrodes even the soul.
“After all, when a person departs, they do so surrounded by family. And for someone like me, who no longer has the right to an end, if no one accompanies me on my journey, I lose my value.”
“But… I don’t have a family. I was an orphan raised in a convent. After receiving the Light of Purification, I’ve always lived alone. I don’t have any attachment to my past life.”
So that’s why… it makes sense.
Saint is a person without a past.
“But in the future that the gods showed me, I saw what ‘should have happened.’ I lived with you, Master, and my stubbornness caused you a lot of trouble, even injuring you to the point of nearly dying.”
“So, are you here to atone for my sins? But those were just ‘imaginary scenarios’ that never happened.”
That future, which should have happened, has been changed by Zihua.
“No, it’s not to repay… it’s just that I think I want to feel that… by your side again. Although you and I are not related by blood.
Someone important with whom one can walk through life together in the future is also family.
Although, more often than not, people become family by marriage, there are also ways like becoming adopted younger sisters.
But perhaps there’s no need to be so strict about it.
“If you don’t have a family, then I’ll be your family.”
I turned my head and smiled at Saint.
Saint unconsciously parted her lips slightly and then naturally broke into a smile.
“Is there something funny? I thought I said something cool.”
“You said the same words as the you in the ‘future’ I saw…
“Is that so?”
I scratched my cheek, saying a little awkwardly,
“So I’ve already said it, that’s a bit embarrassing.”
“But I’m very happy that you said these words to the ‘current me’ again.”
The current me…
No matter what kind of relationship the future me and Saint had, it has no bearing on us now.
Saint and I have now, for the first time, re-established a bond.
“Then, since we are family, you don’t need to call me Master anymore.”
“But the gods said you would respond better if I called you Master…”
“Cough, cough.”
So that’s why she called me Master!
No, although I would respond better… well, whatever! You’re not at the stage where you need to call me Master yet!
“Isn’t it fine to just call me by my name? Just call me Juncheng normally, like everyone else.”
Saint lowered her head in shame and replied stammeringly,
“Th-that’s still a bit difficult for me—.”
“Is that so? Then perhaps it would be a little easier to call me by my name with an additional title?”
“An additional title?”
“Yes, like Brother Juncheng, Classmate Juncheng, and so on… Wait… No, don’t call me Dad.”
Calling a fifteen-year-old girl with an angelic face, a devilish figure, and a pure blonde saint, ‘Dad’ would overload my brain.
It feels like adding another, more volatile chemical element to an already volatile element, triggering an explosion.
“… Master… You…”
Saint thought seriously for a moment, then tilted her head and asked,
“Then, Lord Juncheng, is that okay?”
…Lord Juncheng, are you listening to me?
Book.SFA
SF Light Novel
Hearing the familiar title from another person’s lips, I suddenly felt a sense of unreality.
Lord Juncheng…
Yu Hui currently calls me Senpai. In that case, it’s fine for Saint to call me that too.
“Although it doesn’t feel quite right… for now, let’s go with that. When you can call me by my name directly, you can do so then.”
“Understood, Lord Juncheng.”
“Oh, right, Saint. When I showed you that… could it be…?”
Could it be that person…?
After all, the only ones who know about that ‘future’ are me, Lan, and ‘her.’
Perhaps it was that person, a legacy of memories left for Saint before she vanished.
“No, never mind. It’s nothing. Let’s go back. I’ll take you to the classroom.”
Just as I was about to leave the observation deck on Happy Mountain, another question dawned on me.
“Right, Saint, when I saved you earlier, you didn’t use your Light yourself, did you?”
“Yes. When—ugh, I hadn’t eaten for a long time, so I didn’t have enough energy. Another reason is that the Light of Purification can only be used once every three days, and it wasn’t time for me to use it then. I was just a little short, so if you hadn’t come to te—.”
“There’s no ‘if.’ In the end, I made it, didn’t I?”
“Yes, thanks to you, Lord Juncheng.”
“But I’m more curious. Since it was during the cooldown period, who did you use the Light of Purification on before?”
“I used it on the one who committed the sin.”
“Hmm? Committed the sin…?”
I smell trouble.
Before Saint and I could leave the mountain, we heard rustling from the surrounding bushes.
Then, a group of thugs jumped out.
“We found her! It’s that blonde woman! How dare she use sorcery to turn our leader into a sissy! Grab her!”
Sigh, they’ve finally arrived.
It seems like ever since I started meeting my F again, trouble has been piling up.
Now I understand why Saint was in such a pathetic state before. It was because
She went to her death with a sense of justice.
With a sense of justice, she charged!
But that wasn’t the end.
I noticed something being thrown and then a bright flash exploded. It wasn’t a flash from Saint, but a real flashbang.
Fortunately, before the flashbang detonated, I had already grabbed Saint and covered her eyes, so she wasn’t harmed by the flash.
As for me, the intensity of this light wouldn’t cause me to go blind.
But those thugs were in a bad way.
“Ugh!”
“From where—”
“Guaagh!”
Miserable cries erupted one after another.
Looking at this, it seems someone has come to our aid.
After the flash, all the thugs who had surrounded us collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
They were dealt with in one blow, decisively.
Then, standing amidst that group of fallen thugs, was a woman with a ponytail, wearing a leather jacket and a denim skirt. She was facing away from us,
Discarding the unconscious thug in black she was holding, the woman turned around and said to us,
“Are you hurt?”
Yo, that was pretty cool.
“Ah, thank—.”
Before I could finish my thanks, the woman pulled out a large treasure from under her skirt.
I mean a handgun.
“Now, don’t resist. Get down on the ground.”
…What the heck…
I thought someone had come to save us, but it turns out not?
“Don’t worry, I’m not a suspicious person.”
You call this entrance not suspicious?
“I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t have time to explain everything. First, I need to confirm, you are Juncheng An, right?”
“…-.”
“Come with me. My lady wants to see you.”
