CHAPTER 1014: CHAPTER 1011: GODDESS AND THE WRETCHED ONE

Replica Activation, Day Eight, Noon.

The sky began to rain.

The misty air had very low visibility, lightning danced wildly like silver snakes in the sky, and the rain curtain had merged into an indistinct mix of black and gray.

In the rain, two gray-black figures walked forward.

Su Ming’an’s black hair stuck wetly to his head, he was carrying Alice, walking step by step forward.

The mechanical wheelchair needed recharging, and having found nowhere to do so for eight days, it was temporarily out of service. Su Ming’an was using his legs to find the Church, thankfully after using the Teleportation Talisman, the distance was not far.

"...Alice," Su Ming’an whispered, "Are you still cold?"

"..."

Alice did not respond. Except for a brief nod when Su Ming’an asked if she wanted to go back, she had been sleeping the entire time. Her Soul Mark was in the hands of the Church, and now she was much like Su Ming’an had been days ago when he was controlled, akin to a vegetative state.

The black cat curled its tail around an umbrella, holding it over the two, but it couldn’t keep out the slanted, fine rain.

Along the way, Su Ming’an saw many mass graves belonging to the war.

Tens of thousands of corpses appeared tar-black in color, semi-fluid, piled on the ground, with no one willing to clean them up. The faces of these young soldiers still bore the resentment of the moments before their deaths. They were driven by the Oracle to wage war, propelled by the desires of those in power to the battlefield, "willingly" sacrificed like bricks of an era being stacked.

[Alice: Are they bad people?]

Su Ming’an saw words pop up in the bottom right corner of his vision, just like in a game.

But he was in the real world, not a game, and Alice was already unconscious. If he could see text, it meant he was hallucinating. His Sanity value was fixed at 50, though it might no longer truly be that number.

"They... aren’t bad people," Su Ming’an said as he walked forward.

[Alice: Then why do they kill each other, until no one is left?]

Su Ming’an tripped over something.

He looked down and saw an old, tattered ragdoll. It shouldn’t have been allowed on the battlefield, but no one could punish the dead.

He stared at the doll, then stepped over it.

"I don’t know," he said.

He could have listed dozens of reasons or spoken at length, but he didn’t want to say anything right now.

Alice remained asleep on his back, but the text in the bottom right corner kept appearing.

[Alice: Detective, everyone wants me to return to the Church now.]

[Alice: If I go, can you continue researching antiques?]

[Alice: I hope you can have a peaceful life, just like when I wrote a peace charm for you under the tree back then.]

Su Ming’an entered Burg Castle.

He shielded himself with a Spatial Concealment Barrier and arrived in the slums. Now that Burg Castle was under lockdown, the children had returned.

"...Are you the Detective?"

Su Ming’an lifted the Spatial Concealment, and people recognized him.

"The whole city is searching; you should leave quickly! Before long, there may be indiscriminate slaughter, this place is no longer safe," the street urchin Part whispered.

"I will protect you," Su Ming’an said.

"We’re just a trap; even if you bring Alice back, the Church won’t spare us," Diff wiped his shotgun and said calmly, "The era of ignorance is just like that."

At this moment, Su Ming’an’s watch received a message.

"Ding Dong!"

[Noel: Don’t return to the Church for now! I’ll set up a backup plan, then you can come over.]

[Noel: Head toward the coast; there are no pursuers at sea!]

Su Ming’an looked up; Burg Castle was already surrounded by the army — he saw the Royal City on fire and dismantled airships. Nearby, a lake had turned a blood-red hue, and floating bodies covered everything.

The sky was alight with flames, smoke, and ash everywhere. The slum children squeezed into alleys formed by planks and debris, quietly watching him.

...Noel’s words couldn’t be baseless, Su Ming’an hesitated whether to follow them.

"Go, leave here, Detective," said Diff with a calm expression, "Even if you bring Alice back, we won’t leave this place; there are people here we cannot abandon. The Church will not spare us, it will only make us continue to be your constraint."

Part chuckled softly, ruffling his flame-like red hair as he rested a hand on Su Ming’an’s shoulder in a brotherly manner, "Go on, Detective. I’ve been up to no good since I was young, robbing the rich to help the poor. The slum kids were all raised by me; they think the same as I do. If anything happens to you and causes a mistake in the world, we’d be hurt. So many adults have died on the battlefield; we can’t let their sacrifices be in vain because of a few of us."

He guided Su Ming’an to the mouth of the slum, "Go on, take Alice away from these terrifying places. She’s the protagonist, and you are too. The protagonist shouldn’t give up the best ending for some supporting roles who can’t leave."

"Yixi... where is he?"

At this moment, a voice came from Alice on Su Ming’an’s back. She still had her eyes closed, barely managing to utter a name.

"Yixi is at his home, resisting the onslaught of rebels with his retainers," said Nun Rita, "In wartime, nobility is always a target of everyone’s wrath. We also don’t know if he’s still alive."

"I told him... to learn swordsmanship with me... and now he can’t even wield a sword..." Alice seemed to both laugh and cry.

"He insists on... playing his violin... every time... I would snap the strings... he didn’t blame me, and each time he’d bring me a new violin... even though, even though I never liked... never liked instruments..."

"And... you, too, said we’d... live on together... grow up together... I haven’t even come of age, and you’ve already... broken the promise..."

"You really are... too cruel, too cruel..."

Mei Mi, wearing an apron, stepped forward.

Alice was drenched with rainwater. Their foreheads pressed together briefly before slowly parting. Mei Mi’s eyes were filled with longing.

"Alright, Alice," Mei Mi brushed aside the wet hair on Alice’s forehead, "I’ve already taught you the secret to Spring Heart Cookies; make sure to make them more delicious from now on."

None of them called her by the name Taslyche the Goddess; they all called her Alice.

Alice wanted to cry, but she couldn’t even open her eyes, only feeling her old friends call softly to her one by one, bidding her farewell.

Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go.

Don’t leave me.

...

[Part: I won’t go with you. Detective, the 39 Kel you gave us in the past once saved the lives of the slum kids; consider it a favor repaid. Leave this place, and keep striving onwards.]

[Diff: Hmph... go to a place without war. There, you definitely won’t need to become some goddess. Next time... remember to restrain your aura so you don’t scare away the rabbits while hunting. At that time, I won’t be there to back you up with a shot.]

[Mei Mi: We surely can’t leave this city; I will have my last grand meal... Alice, the lilies in your backyard, though you haven’t tended them in a long time, are blooming nicely! Remember the secret to Spring Heart Cookies.]

[Rita: As a nun, I will coexist with the local church, guarding this flock. Alice, you are a good child; leave the place shielded by deities.]

[Qiao Xi: Don’t lose the gloves I gave you! Go quickly; you deserve a better future. Go see the farther world for me, Alice.]

...

The future is covered in thorns, full of blood red.

But when they looked back, those old friends dwindled one by one.

Actually, from the first moment she saw the Detective, Alice had a premonition of departure. It turned out, those who would leave her first were her companions from Burg Castle.

At this time, the sound of an airship came from the sky, and a flaxen-haired girl stood on the airship.

[Princess Avetina: Detective, Alice, get on the airship, we’re leaving!]

The airship sped forward swiftly, and Su Ming’an, with quick eyes and fast hands, grasped the swaying rope ladder overhead. He tried to bring up a companion as well, to save at least one, but was pushed away.

It was Part who pushed him away.

"If there comes a day when the war ends, maybe we’ll still be here, waiting for you to come home. You don’t need to take us, we’re merely a burden." Part smiled, waving his hand: "Goodbye, Alice, Detective."

He raised his head high, red eyes full of their reflections. The scarf around his neck fluttered in the wind, the thin strips of fabric laden with sound.

"Clack-clack—" The airship soared high, and Su Ming’an climbed up the rope ladder with Alice on his back, evading the soldiers’ thrown javelins, and boarded the airship.

Only Avetina was on this small airship. She maneuvered the helm, laboriously avoiding the javelins.

"Princess," Su Ming’an called.

"No need to call me Princess." Avetina’s smile appeared bitter: "The kingdom has already ceased to exist due to war, I am just Avetina. Avetina wanted to save her childhood Honorary Knight Alice, so she came with a private airship, that’s all."

Su Ming’an leaned against the ship’s railing, placing Alice under the rain shelter; her forehead was a bit hot, the rain made her body temperature very low.

"Alice," Su Ming’an said.

"..."

"Don’t be scared." Su Ming’an placed his hand on her forehead.

"..."

"Everything will be... alright." Su Ming’an wiped the rain from her face.

Her hand pressed tightly against his hand.

She cried.

...

...

Due to the altitude restrictions near the sea, Avetina left. Su Ming’an and Alice got on a lifeboat and entered the sea.

He didn’t know where to go either, since the Replica Activation, it was the first time he felt so bewildered.

Maybe he should send her back to the Church, just like Su Wensheng suggested. Maybe he should heed the Deity’s words, and not interfere with this very complex instance, patiently wait until it ends.

But...

He chose to take her on the lifeboat, hoping for a better way amid the swaying waves.

Since Noel sent that message, there had been no sound. Su Ming’an held the edge of the lifeboat, striving to keep Alice lying flat. The fever-reducing medicine had already been administered, but she was still somewhat delirious.

The rain fell heavily, in the violent storms, almost nothing could be seen. The lifeboat was like a helpless leaf, ready to capsize at any moment. This feeling of not seeing any ground was enough to make anyone feel fear and confusion.

If this instance had no Alice, Su Ming’an couldn’t imagine his current state of mind if he were alone, at least he certainly wouldn’t be as clear-headed as now.

"Detective... sir," Alice said.

"Hmm."

"Actually, from the very beginning when I saw you, I felt... maybe there would be a day we part," Alice stammered.

"I also thought that generally in a raising game, a major event would not occur until the protagonist turned eighteen. But I never expected it to come so fast. Clearly, your value isn’t that strong, yet you’ve become the Goddess." Su Ming’an held an umbrella over her head: "Later I gradually realized, this isn’t a game. Reality never follows the logic of a game."

"—We are all protagonists in our own worlds," Alice said.

"Yes, we are protagonists." Su Ming’an said.

"The protagonist will... overcome challenges. We will also... go back and reunite with Part and the others after the dust settles..." Alice murmured.

The Goddess and the wretched will slay their destinies."

"You are not... wretched."

"It’s a compliment, describing someone as a protagonist."

"Wretched... one."

"Yes."

"—This... gift is... for you."

Alice raised her hand.

There were already few flowers in the world. So along the way, Alice just casually picked some grass.

At least, for such a fated reunion, she had to give the Detective a gift, even though she was terribly impoverished, she could only casually pull grass for him.

Su Ming’an’s gaze slightly lowered, looking at the gift in her hand.

—It was a stalk of foxtail grass that Alice had casually picked along the road.

Su Ming’an took this piece of foxtail grass, it looked withered, with not a hint of vitality.

He placed it in the inner pocket at his chest.

Alice was already feverishly incoherent. She babbled about this and that. From the ribbon she picked up as a child, to the Detective’s family antiques, from the bullets Diff sent her to the court ball she attended at fourteen.

All her nonsensical words, he just quietly listened to, shielding her from the rain.

—Finally, he suddenly realized.

It seemed like a very long, long time ago that he hadn’t seen the audience’s barrage in the World Game.

He looked to the top right of his vision, a blank space, nothing there. Like a computer hit by a virus.

Cold rain slapped against his back, goosebumps rose all over, he laughed lowly.

...Should he feel despair?

But Alice was still here.

Drifting at sea, his whole body almost frozen, senses unclear, and the road ahead very confusing. The all-encompassing rain was too heavy, even his wet clothes felt like giant stones.

...Should he feel cold?

But Alice was still here.

He originally had no special feelings for her, because she was the protagonist in the dream tour game, so he cared about her... Was that really the reason?

But Alice was still here.

"..."

He took out a knife and gradually cut away the clothes that blocked the rain on him.