Although it was lunch for three, the atmosphere at the dining table felt somewhat dull.
Elysia, who should have been the mood-maker, was exceptionally quiet at this moment, eating silently and looking listless.
“I’m heading back.
You expended quite a lot of energy this morning, so get some good rest this afternoon.
We’ll proceed with the second treatment tomorrow.” Mobius instructed Gwyn and stood up to leave.
It was fine in the morning with a goal to keep her going, but now that her curiosity and expectations were satisfied, and having eaten and drunk her fill, the suppressed fatigue surged up, making Mobius want to get some good rest.
“Alright, Doctor, I’ll be careful.” Gwyn nodded, his hands not stopping—he hadn’t felt much during the tests and exercises in the morning, but now that he started eating, Gwyn realized he was genuinely hungry.
More than half of the lunch Bianka ordered had already gone into his stomach, yet he only felt seventy percent full.
“Eat slower.
After long-term undereating, sudden high consumption can easily cause the body to have illusions.
Also, the transmission of bodily sensations takes time.
By the time you feel stuffed, your stomach and intestines might already be overloaded…” Seeing Gwyn like this, Mobius, who was about to leave, warned him worriedly again, “I don’t want to be dragged up for emergency surgery right after I lie down to sleep.” “The Doctor is right.
I was just starving, I’ll be careful…” Gwyn didn’t feel annoyed by Mobius’s advice and slowed down his pace while responding.
Seeing Gwyn obediently listening, Mobius left satisfied, leaving only Gwyn and Elysia in the room.
“Elysia, you seem unhappy…
Are you still worried about my condition?” Gwyn, who had paused eating to wait for his body’s feedback, cast his gaze on the pink-haired girl beside him.
Ever since she learned he had developed a new complication, the originally lively and enthusiastic Elysia had been very low in spirits.
“Hmm…” Hearing Gwyn ask, Elysia gently set down her cutlery, sighed softly, and looked at Gwyn— “My new friend was clearly about to recover, but then such a serious complication was diagnosed.
I…” “But I’m still alive, aren’t I?” Looking at Elysia, who was almost on the verge of tears, Gwyn chuckled and interrupted her despondent words— “When I was in that underground research institute, suffering in agony as a lab rat, I thought I was a goner.
But I survived, pulled out of that hell by you, Elysia, and Dr.
Mobius pushed me back from the morgue…
I’ve faced death more than once; every extra day I live is a blessing from heaven.
Besides, people are going to die sooner or later.
Instead of lamenting the approach of death, it’s better to observe the beauty of the world more—like now, although Elysia, who is sad because of me, is also beautiful, I still prefer that lively and cute Elysia.” “…Heh…
Then I’ll smile for you every day, okay?” Hearing what Gwyn said, Elysia, who had been tightly pursing her lips, suddenly smiled, though the curve of her eyes made the smile look a bit forced.
“Don’t smile like I’m already a goner.
I just have a new complication that requires further treatment.
In fact, compared to before, I can’t even feel the direct pain.
I can run, jump, eat, and drink; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say my condition has improved.” Gwyn looked at Elysia’s somewhat forced smile and shook his head with a laugh— “As a friend, shouldn’t you be happy for me at this time?” “Hmm, then let’s enjoy this lunch~?” With Gwyn’s diversion, Elysia, who was already good at adjusting her own emotions, finally revealed the same smile as when they first met, and her eating movements became much more natural.
“Hey, Elysia, can you tell me about Honkai?
The Doctor and the others don’t really talk to me about these things so as not to trigger my memories.” Gwyn, who was waiting for his body’s feedback, felt it wasn’t great to just watch Elysia eat, so he simply found a topic.
“Sure, let me think about where to start…” Elysia pondered for a moment and slowly began to tell Gwyn about her understanding of Honkai.
Among them were the Honkai Eruptions and Herrschers familiar to Gwyn, but there was also content that surprised him— “Because more than a decade has passed since the Second Honkai Eruption without any new Honkai Eruptions or Herrschers, and the frequency of Honkai incidents globally has also shown a downward trend overall…” After listening to Elysia’s account, Gwyn’s confusion about why the Flame-Chasers were going downhill was finally answered— “Under such circumstances, the necessity of the Flame-Chasers’ existence has been shaken, funding and other aspects have decreased year by year, and even the First Research Institute is left with only the Doctor and the others.
Is that why someone got desperate and resorted to the kind of human experimentation I went through, wanting to prolong the existence of this organization?” “I can only say that such a possibility does indeed exist.
However…” Elysia nodded gently, but did not fully confirm Gwyn’s conjecture—having been in the Flame-Chasers for so many years, Elysia had also witnessed the diversity of humanity, and the truth behind it might be far from simple.
“However what?” Gwyn thought Elysia had received some inside information and couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“However, none of this is the most important thing right now.
The most important thing now is that you should get some good rest.” Elysia looked at Gwyn with a smile and said, “As a patient, the top priority is to take good care of your health~?” “Then, when you have time later, Elysia, you must continue to tell me about these things.” Gwyn smiled.
“Sure, as long as you want to listen, I can tell you anytime!” Elysia agreed immediately, her smile sweet, and her eyes seemed to be sparkling with light.
After bidding farewell to Elysia, Gwyn returned to his hospital room and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed.
When he woke up again, the sky outside was filled with stars.
Checking the time, it was already late at night.
Gwyn ate the dinner Elysia had left for him in the insulated container and returned to bed, closing his eyes.
But this time it wasn’t to sleep, but— “Link start!” A familiar sense of weightlessness washed over him, and Gwyn waited silently for the loading to complete.
Whether it was the fact that there was indeed a gap of more than a decade between the second and third Honkai Eruptions in the Previous Era, or that the Previous Era he had arrived in had undergone abnormal changes, starting to shift from the conventional Honkai storyline to a daily life style like the Golden Courtyard, it was never wrong to master as much power as possible.
After all, some mastermind in the shadows might still want to thoroughly eliminate him, the last witness.
Even without all this mess, he still needed to continue pushing the exploration progress of Amphoreus and find a way to repay Castorice, who had given him a big gift…
“Who goes there!” Just as Gwyn’s thoughts were about to drift away, a shout suddenly came from in front of him.
At the same time, a coldness, as if originating from the deep sea, was placed against his neck, making Gwyn feel a chill throughout his entire body.
Subconsciously opening his eyes, what caught Gwyn’s eyes were a pair of sharp purple eyes.
But before Gwyn could answer, the owner of those eyes frowned, suddenly stepped back, and withdrew the strange weapon that had been resting against Gwyn’s neck, though she still looked at Gwyn with confusion.
The chill that seemed to originate from the deep sea quietly receded, and Gwyn also sized up the person in front of him.
With purple hair and purple eyes, her appearance was exquisite and beautiful, but there was a strange, scale-like object on her left cheek.
However, it did not ruin her beautiful appearance; instead, it added a sense of mysterious beauty.
Hysilens!
Even though the clothes the other person was wearing were different from his impression, the scales that hadn’t completely faded from her face allowed Gwyn to confirm the identity of the person in front of him almost instantly—Hysilens, princess of the Siren Clan, kin of the Ocean Titan and the cup of overflow Fagina, daughter of the sea, one of the Chrysos Heirs who inherited the Ocean Tinder, and Knight of the Sword Banner of the Caesar Dynasty.
“A little fish fry that suddenly jumped out of the water, why are you here?” After looking at Gwyn for a while, Hysilens spoke again.
Compared to Castorice, her tone was a bit strange, but Gwyn could still understand her meaning.
“From the very sloppily worn clothes, it can be roughly judged that Hysilens hasn’t met Aglaea yet.
There is no one else around, and she hasn’t even met Princess Keludela.
It should be Hysilens during her period of lonely wandering.” By simply observing and inferring the period Hysilens was currently in, Gwyn felt confident and shook his head— “I am a patient.
I just returned to my hospital bed to rest, and when I closed and opened my eyes, I appeared here.
May I ask, Miss, who are you?
And where is this?” If it were Hysilens from her Knight of the Sword Banner days, Gwyn would probably need to rack his brains to weave a backstory to avoid getting his throat slit by a sword.
But if it were Hysilens from her days of lonely wandering, it shouldn’t be that dangerous.
“…So, it’s just a little fish fry that stumbled out of the water by accident.” Hysilens stared at Gwyn for a moment, then suddenly shook her head, as if she had lost all interest in him, and turned back to sit by the campfire not far away.