[“Edward~?”]
[“Let’s go on a journey together.”]
Elysia clasped her hands together and blinked gently.
With a playful and adorable expression, she stepped forward without hesitation and lightly hugged Edward’s arm.
The next day.
Edward told his parents about his plan to travel with Elysia.
Since he had always been extremely reliable and had already completed his university studies, they did not object much.
However, when he mentioned that Elysia would be joining him, their expressions turned rather strange.
They looked at him with a mixture of admiration and inexplicable sadness.
This left Edward somewhat puzzled.
He was not sure what they were thinking.
But with Elysia herself strongly requesting to go and showing her full support, his parents eventually patted him on the shoulder and agreed.
He had never seen such complex expressions on his family’s faces before.
===
Of course, they did not let him leave completely unprepared.
They carefully planned his travel route, taught him how to tell good people from bad, and gave him a sum of money that an ordinary person could not earn in a lifetime.
At the same time, they thoughtfully provided him with a complete book of criminal law, specifically marking one page.
When Edward opened it, the first thing he saw was the section detailing the prison sentence for inappropriate behavior toward minors.
This made him feel like his parents were seriously misunderstanding him.
Nevertheless, he and Elysia set off on their journey around the world.
His parents had prepared a motorcycle for him, but Elysia chose a bicycle instead.
She insisted that traveling the world on foot was better.
She said the motorcycle was too fast and would prevent her from properly greeting everyone she met along the way.
Edward could not win the argument, but he quietly arranged to have the motorcycle sent ahead to one of the destinations she had marked on the map long ago.
On the road, as he traveled with the girl who had suggested this journey with clear purpose, Edward wanted to ask Elysia about her true intentions.
“Where to?
That’s a good question.
The answer is… even I don’t know~?”
“If you have any ideas, feel free to share them too~?”
“This is a journey that belongs to just the two of us.”
“Keeping everything bottled up will make your skin look bad.”
Elysia gently poked her soft cheek with her finger.
Her azure eyes were clear and free of any calculated thought.
Even though she was young and appeared innocent, her exceptional beauty was not hidden in the slightest.
Her long hair danced in the breeze.
A soft pink glow shimmered across her snow-white skin, tempting one to steal a kiss.
Her star-like blue eyes sparkled with life and charm.
She had a delicate nose, pale pink lips, and would occasionally stick out the tip of her tongue when acting spoiled or cute.
She looked like a flawless elf from a fairy tale.
This was a dreamlike journey meant for just the two of them.
Being able to travel and experience such romantic moments with the boy who had rescued her from the forest felt like something out of a fairy tale.
Chasing after a predetermined destination… had become meaningless.
Like a flower carried by the free wind, no matter where it landed, its fragrance would linger.
Why bother searching for a specific goal?
Especially when the destination had already been marked on the map beforehand.
[At the age of sixteen, Edward officially began his journey with Elysia.
Unlike ordinary travelers, Elysia’s outlook on life gradually influenced him.
He no longer cared so much whether the places they visited were famous landmarks.]
[As a result, they did not need grand historical sites.
The mountains, rivers, sunsets, and riverbanks they encountered along the way were more than enough to fill him with joy.]
The setting sun cast long shadows across the land as the crimson sky slowly darkened.
Streaks of clouds adorned the horizon at dusk, while the afterglow reflected off the mountains and water, creating a beautiful, drifting scene.
The sunset was a stunning natural landscape, a colorful interplay of light and shadow formed as the sun descended and its rays painted the clouds.
Colors and shapes shifted with time and place, yet they remained bound by the limits of nature.
Compared to this natural beauty, Edward found himself more captivated by the flawless girl who seemed to belong to another world entirely.
He turned his head slightly.
At the edge of his vision sat Elysia, her hands cupping her soft cheeks.
Her eyes held no trace of reluctance or sadness.
Instead, they shone with bright hope, as brilliant as blooming flowers.
The gentle curve of her lips formed a smile that could captivate anyone.
If only the faint traces of worry could disappear, it would be perfect.
Flowers were in full bloom nearby.
A fragrant breeze suddenly lifted the petals, carrying a melody as delicate and graceful as an organ’s notes.
It fluttered Edward’s clothes and Elysia’s long skirt, like flowers constantly blooming and fading in the wind.
A honey-sweet fragrance rose from her as the breeze brushed past her elegant neck.
A soft pink glow shimmered on her fair skin, tempting one to steal a kiss.
The girl showed no shyness at all.
She swung her feet playfully with the wind, stepping on floating leaves as she shifted position.
Twisting her waist, she leaned halfway into the open air and tilted her head back to sip the autumn breeze.
The corner of her pink skirt lifted slightly, revealing a glimpse of pure white that felt almost too beautiful to look at directly.
Only something this lovely could suit a girl as ethereal as a fairy.
Even as the golden light of dusk bathed her, and even as her azure eyes reflected both dawn and twilight, the hope and expectation for tomorrow’s sun would surely rise again.
A touch of sorrow or irritation could never truly stain such a pure and flawless flower.
At most, it was like a bit of dust that would eventually be carried away by the wind.
Her beauty surpassed imagination.
Simply being able to have her by his side felt like an incredible stroke of luck.
Though perhaps a little selfish…
Though perhaps a little shameless…
As Edward admired the beautiful scenery alongside the girl and witnessed sights that seemed straight out of storybooks, he could hardly suppress the feelings in his heart.
Extreme thoughts inevitably surfaced.
…If only those beautiful eyes would look at him a little more.
[Even though many of the locations on their journey were not typical tourist spots, aside from Nagazora, which was a fairly well-known technological city, most of the places seemed chosen almost at random.]
[There was almost no logical connection between them.]
[Nevertheless, the rare time spent traveling with Elysia still brought Edward a deep sense of physical and mental joy.
He was a traveler who was no longer alone.]
[Except for the infamous Dusk Street he had read about in books.
He would never set foot in such a dangerous and chaotic place.]
[He had no interest in fighting armed children while wearing body armor himself.]
“Why is Dusk Street here?”
Edward felt a strange sense of unease.
He frowned slightly as his dark eyes scanned the locations marked on the map.
[At seventeen, Edward and Elysia had already been traveling together for a long time.]
[During these days, thanks to Elysia’s carefree attitude toward life, he no longer obsessed over famous historical sites.
Instead, he learned to appreciate the simple beauty found along the roadside.]
[Yet the various destinations they visited followed no clear pattern.
And no matter where they went, Elysia always seemed to encounter remarkable, eye-catching individuals for various reasons.]
[This made Edward increasingly unsure about the true purpose of their journey.]
[If Elysia’s keen eye allowed her to spot hidden geniuses in the crowd, and her natural luck let her meet one or two people of extraordinary talent… that would be understandable.]
[But when this happened dozens of times, or when she encountered at least one or two geniuses in nearly every new place they visited, usually within the first two hours of arrival, it became difficult to explain through ordinary logic.]
[With the current pace of technological and social development, truly talented individuals being overlooked was quite rare.
They certainly would not appear everywhere.]
[If it was truly just coincidence, then either Elysia possessed impossibly good fortune, or the world itself was in a state of deep chaos.]
[Originally, Edward did not want to concern himself with such matters.
He had decided to simply enjoy the journey and treat everything they encountered as part of the scenery.]
[However, the prerequisite for ignoring it was that it did not interfere with their time together.]
[What was supposed to be a journey for just the two of them had gradually turned into Elysia seeking out and helping these remarkable individuals.]
[The time and attention she gave them far exceeded what she gave him.
Edward sometimes felt like he had become little more than an accessory.]
[This even made his view of Elysia grow somewhat complicated.]
[She claimed to have no goal and simply followed her heart.]
[Yet she had clearly marked their route in advance.
She spoke of wanting to focus on scenery and culture, but in practice, she spent most of her time communicating with these geniuses.]
[Edward felt as if he had returned to the days in their small hometown, as if he had never truly left.]
[He still felt somewhat overlooked and lacking in presence.
Those bright, beautiful eyes, whose depth even the most vibrant flowers could not match, seemed to rest upon him for only the briefest moments.]
[He did not resent her for it.]
[Because as their journey continued, he could sense Elysia’s true feelings.]
[She was anxious… as if something urgent was approaching.]
…
“Did Elysia realize it so early?”
Edward reflected on everything they had experienced during their travels.
Beneath the beautiful and dreamlike surface lay hidden darkness.
Being occasionally overlooked was something he had long grown used to, knowing Elysia’s personality as well as he did.
It would probably be stranger if she did not act this way.
The only unusual thing was the sense of urgency the girl displayed regarding a certain matter… or rather, a certain looming crisis.
This anxiety undoubtedly came from her awareness of Honkai and the threat it posed.
She simply did not know what she could do about it.
Nothing else in the world could make Elysia feel this way.
The issue was not whether she could fight Honkai.
The real question was…
Had she truly realized it at such a young age?
When she first left their hometown, she was still just a young girl.
Her next major appearance in the fight against the Second Herrscher was in her teenage form.
The time between those events spanned many years.
Their world travels alone would have taken no less than five years.
Could it be that throughout this entire journey, Elysia had been consciously seeking out geniuses who might one day help change the fate of the world?
Or was encountering these people merely a coincidence, and her true goal had always been to investigate the Honkai threat?
He did not know.
The answers remained unclear.
[At eighteen years old, by the standards of the ordinary world, Edward has reached the age of adulthood.]