Dinner continued amid conversation.
Mobius brought up the current progress of treatment. In short—it was at a complete standstill. In her opinion, rather than pouring resources into something so meaningless, it would be better to let her conduct experiments that actually mattered.
Dystopia objected. She insisted that no one should ever be given up on so easily.
Mobius put down her utensils and spoke coolly:
"Dystopia, I've heard the phrase 'don't give up easily' far too many times over the years. I used to say it myself. Once someone sets a goal in their heart, they refuse to stop until they reach it. But I've also seen too many people—chasing dreams forever out of reach—either give up halfway, or drown in their own ideals. In the end, the ones who actually succeed… are vanishingly few."
Since Silas clearly wanted Dystopia to grow, Mobius didn't mind speaking to this junior in the tone of someone who had lived through it all.
And she wasn't wrong.
Take Kosma, for example. In their last lives, he had only avoided drowning in his naïve ideals because Silas had been there to keep him afloat. To this day, Mobius still resented how Kosma abandoned the Ark Project and nearly left it to Griseo.
The Ark Project had originally three candidates: Silas, Griseo, and Kosma. Silas and Kosma hardly needed explanation—Vishnu's abilities could protect them in the vacuum of space.
But after the 12th Herrscher incident, Mobius realized Silas's body could no longer support the mission. To put it bluntly, his remaining lifespan was already reaching its end.
His best outcome was to set foot on the moon and dedicate himself one last time to humanity.
That left only Kosma and Griseo.
Kosma resisted the Ark Project. To him, it felt like desertion.
Ordinarily, with everyone else agreeing, Kosma couldn't have stubbornly refused forever. But Griseo—always the obedient child—noticed his reluctance, and so she volunteered to take his place.
When Vill-V told Silas, he immediately rejected her proposal. With that, the Ark Project was left without an executor and was shelved for a time.
In the final battle against the End, Silas traded his life to bring the Herrscher down for seventy-two hours. Only then did Kosma restart the Ark Project and board the ship bound for the stars.
Kosma felt Mobius's gaze lingering faintly on him, and he chose silence.
Because the truth was—he had no ground to stand on.
(Was that "drowning in your ideals" meant for me? Back then, I stubbornly wanted to be a hero. And in the end… I accomplished nothing.)
He still remembered what Silas told him then:
"You think this is running away? Hah… Kosma, you… You have the resolve to sacrifice yourself. But that alone cannot defeat the Honkai. And so what if it's running away? Sometimes, retreating—compromising—is not cowardice. It's for the sake of the next victory. For the sake of future hope."
(For the next victory… That's what you told me. But you—when have you ever retreated? Those words carry no weight from your mouth. If only… if only you had lived, humanity would've had even more hope, right? So… even if I could do it over again, I would not change my choice. This time, with the experience we already have, maybe—just maybe—we can do better.)
On the other side, even though Mobius's words were clearly aimed at Kosma, Silas couldn't help feeling he'd been dragged into it as well.
"Drowning in your ideals"? Strictly speaking, that was exactly what happened to him. For the sake of giving the Thirteen Flame-Chasers another future, he burned himself out completely. And in the end… except for Elysia, whom he could not save, he had managed to save everyone else.
The cost, however, was his life.
So yes—he really had drowned in his ideals.
Elysia glanced at Kosma. She knew Mobius was referring to him—but then she looked at Silas. His expression seemed… off.
It was as if Mobius had scolded him along the way, too.
Dystopia stayed quiet. She wasn't a researcher. She couldn't understand those incomprehensible charts and data. She only… wanted to save as many people as possible.
"Mobius has a point," Silas finally spoke. "People can't cling forever to unattainable dreams. But at the same time, people cannot lose their ideals either. It's precisely because of ideals that humanity advances, that we have the chance to evolve. In front of specialists in the field, your ideals may sound laughable. But… why not change your perspective? If you can't save those already consumed by the Honkai, then why not try to save them before the Honkai's fangs close in? I've told you before—Kosma has never changed, and it's because this is still what he believes. He wants, to the very end, to save everyone he can."
In truth, he felt Dystopia was stuck in a rut. She had put too much of her focus on the tragedies and helplessness brought by the Honkai. Instead, she should fix her eyes on the true cause—the Honkai itself.
Not that it was her fault. After all, she was still so young—at the age where people easily get trapped in such tangles. If those knots in her heart weren't eased in time, they'd become a thorn—taking root, growing, and affecting her entire life.
He had lived through it. He understood…
He himself had once been trapped in the same kind of dead-end thinking—because of Elysia.
Back then, he truly, deeply liked her. He would be happy for her, jealous for her, impulsive enough to confess his feelings. When that confession "failed," he tried to comfort himself with all kinds of excuses. In the end, he simply gave up and etched one idea into his heart for over ten years: Elysia will never fall in love with any single person.
He never once considered—nor allowed himself to consider—any other possibility.
Now, he knew better. Elysia was just an ordinary girl. She could like someone, could be happy because of him, could be sad because of him… But the current him…
Mobius narrowed her eyes at Silas. Big words, you're always so full of them. And yet, wasn't this the exact way you died last time?
This life, she would make sure to keep a close eye on him!
Always thinking about how to sacrifice yourself—is living properly really so hard? Tossing and turning every night without sleep felt that great? Facing the Final Battle with only days of life left was supposed to be satisfying?
"Kosma?" Dystopia's eyes flicked, then turned to Kosma.
Silas also looked at him. He had done all he could—if Kosma still managed to pick a fight with Dystopia after this, then he was truly hopeless. May as well bury him.
Kosma stayed silent for a moment, then finally said:
"…Silas is right."
Dystopia: "..."
Hopeless. Kosma was hopeless. But fine—at least he could finally talk to her normally now. One couldn't expect a block of wood like him to suddenly achieve enlightenment.
Still… Silas's tone of voice really did sound mature, like a man who had gone through countless trials and carried a weight of years behind him.
But the problem was… wasn't he still technically underage?
"Speaking of ideals, what are everyone's dreams?" Elysia suddenly asked with a bright smile. "Since we're here, why don't we share? It could be childhood wishes, or things you're thinking about now~"
"Dreams?" Pardo scratched her head. "I-I don't really have any grand ideals. Just living carefree every day, as long as there's sunshine to bask in, that's enough, hmm…"
—Of course, best if Brother Silas could sit beside her and bask in the sun too.
"Mhm~ a dream that really fits Felis's personality," Elysia nodded. "And what about the rest of you? Your ideals, or maybe your wishes?"
Silas narrowed his eyes at Elysia. He had a bad feeling she was plotting something.
Ideals, huh… He… didn't really have one.
If it was before he crossed over, sure—he had one. That should count, right? Better to share that than to say he had none at all, or else he'd just end up singled out again.
"Ideals… I don't really have a grand one either." Sakura reached out and gently stroked Bell's hair. "I just want Rin to grow up healthy and happy. As for the rest… I've never really thought about it."
Silas: "..."
The way she said that—are you her big sister, or her mother? Then again, considering how the two sisters had always depended on each other, it was only natural for Sakura to play both roles.
The Thirteen Flame-Chasers… for most of them, their ideals and wishes were really quite simple.
All except Mobius—hers were simply too far ahead of humanity.
"…From the beginning to now, I've always wanted to be a hero," Kosma said at last. Then he looked straight at Silas. "Silas, what about you?"
Everyone's eyes turned toward Silas.
For Rin and Dystopia, it was simple curiosity. But for the others, it was more than that. They wanted to know—what was this boy's ideal? What gave him the strength to carve a path through thorns and shadows?
What was bound to come, had finally come.
Silas thought for a moment. This must be Elysia's doing. She had said she wanted to experience things together with him, said she would gradually get to know him all over again…
But why not just ask him directly? If she asked, he would answer.
So this was what people meant when they said a girl's heart was hard to guess.
"My wish? Back then, it was probably just to get into my dream school, and find a job that wasn't too busy but not too idle either," Silas said. He had even shared this in passing with Kevin once in their last life.
Kevin was the kind of person that, once you got to know him, you'd realize he was actually a great friend—someone you could call a brother for life.
"And then?" Elysia pressed.
Silas thought back to how it would've gone in his previous life and said,
"Then, once I reached the right age, my family would start nagging me about marriage. I'd go on blind dates, hoping to meet someone I truly liked, and then spend a quiet, ordinary life with her."
But even that kind of life was rare, wasn't it? That's why it was called an ideal.
Truthfully, he had thought before about marrying his childhood friend. After all, they had grown up together, shared years of bond and trust. Honestly, that was probably the most realistic outcome.
But if he admitted that out loud, things might get even more complicated for him right now.
Speaking of his childhood friend… he had no idea how she was doing now. As for his family, with him missing for so long, they had probably assumed he was already dead. He only hoped they could find a way to move on.
During the first stretch after crossing into this world, once the initial rush of shock and excitement wore off, homesickness hit him hard. Being sent to another world wasn't all that fun—especially when you ended up alone in a place where every day could be your last. How could he not long for home?
But he had no way to contact them.
He wasn't some orphan, nor some emotionless freak. He had a family, people who cared about him, friends waiting back home.
And yet, he had been forcibly dropped into this world, stripped of everything. Left with nothing.
Back then, the only thing keeping him going was Elysia, far away at HQ. She was the very first person he met in this world, the only one he felt he truly knew.
And then, of course, came the Fourth Herrscher incident, when he joined Elysia's squad. During that time… she really did look after him a lot.
The group fell silent.
Dystopia thought to herself: So this "Casanova senior's" dream was actually this simple?
But the others were struck by something else: even such a simple, ordinary wish, he never got to realize. Instead, he carried the burden of a destiny that had nothing to do with that dream.
Elysia was quiet for a moment before speaking softly:
"My wish is actually really simple too, you know~"
Yes, Silas thought, she'd once told him she just wanted to find someone like herself—to find a kindred spirit.
But what she said next caught him completely off guard.
"My wish is to spend every day with the one I love. I want to watch fireworks with him, travel the world together, and… walk side by side until the very end."
Elysia's eyes stayed locked on Silas as she spoke.
Pardofelis & Vill-V & Mobius & Dystopia: "!"
Wait—did Elysia just drop that line?!
But she meant every word. That was her wish now—or more precisely, the wish she made in the last era, after the Twelfth Herrscher incident, when she stood alone, gazing up at the stars.
He had once stood with her watching fireworks burst above a city festival. Under that brilliant sky, they had promised to come back again to watch them together.
But in the end… they had only seen fireworks together that one time. Just once.
She knew full well Silas must have seen fireworks many times in his life. But she also knew… back then, the one standing beside him had not been her.
"…That's a wish that really suits you," Silas muttered, looking away. He couldn't help but remember that yes, he had made a promise with Elysia to see fireworks again. But…
In the end, Lilith had dragged him to see fireworks more times than he could count.
And with Elysia… only that one.
Elysia simply smiled at him. Everyone here already knew how she felt anyway, so there was no need to hide it. All she wanted was to give Silas a gentle reminder of their promise—while also quietly declaring her claim.
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