Bianka believed that a qualified warrior shouldn't cause trouble for comrades due to bad habits. She had no vices; she spent most of her leisure time reading, maintained a regular routine, and set her sleep schedule. Unless deployed, she never stayed up late or slept in. Her body, filled with immense power, was like an alarm clock that never failed, strictly following her set times for sleep and waking without a second's delay.
So, when she woke up once more from a perfect sleep with a full spirit, there was no hazy transition. She opened her eyes vibrantly, wanting to get up and exercise immediately.
I drooled again last night. Ugh, when will I fix this bad habit...
Come to think of it, why does today's 'blanket' feel a bit hard?
She looked down.
"..."
A crystal-clear strand of saliva hung from the corner of her mouth; a gentle pull made it as long and thin as cocoon silk. A certain profile less than half a centimeter away was covered in her drool, as if someone had collected it and poured it all over his face.
Eh... EH?!
Bianka body temperature skyrocketed. She held her breath as a burning sensation rushed from her neck to her forehead; her ears felt like they were on fire. She could even see plenty of saliva had flowed onto Lin lips.
Her mouth slowly opened, a volume of shame and anger gathering in her throat. At the last second, she covered her mouth, breathing heavily as she stared at the peacefully sleeping Lin. The sticky feeling on her hand made her feel even more ashamed.
But Bianka could tell what the situation was. She knew her habit of rolling and hugging blankets better than anyone. The current situation was definitely her grabbing Lin last night; he couldn't break free and didn't want to disturb her sleep.
Her body was as stiff as if it lacked lubrication. She found a towel and carefully wiped the drool from Lin face, then fled the tent for a morning run.
The body that had been motionless from the start trembled slightly after hearing the disorganized footsteps fade away, and secretly opened one eye.
...
"It seems you two are getting along well."
Einstein saw Lin again after three days. She crossed out one of the many deduction formulas in her hand; the room was filled with papers of incorrect results. She pushed up her red-rimmed glasses, put down the paper, and smiled slightly at him.
"Miss Rita already told me about the attack last night. It seems we need to speed up."
"..."
"So many dangerous individuals. Even Fire-Moth would find it a chore. Was it the Divine Key's merit?"
"No." Lin picked up a paper covered in ink from the floor. He said blankly, "That person's combat ability exceeds imagination. She annihilated most of them."
"To hear you say that, it seems the girl from fifty thousand years in the future is indeed formidable." Einstein twirled the pen in her hand, looking at Lin with a playful smile. "Specific evaluation?"
"Her combat ability is more advanced than Kevin's when we left. Her physical fitness has reached the level of a top-tier MANTIS, and she has abilities that assist in combat, including that lance..." Lin paused for a second, then continued, "It should be made of Soulium, but it's definitely not a Divine Key."
"What about her as a person?"
"...What?"
The doctor capped her pen, rested her chin on her hand in the ancient treehouse, and asked the dull, cold man, "I mean, your opinion of her as an individual."
The dark green pupils reflected the image shifting from the capped pen to the face of this doctor who was separated from him by seven years of time. "Einstein, what are you trying to say?"
"What am I trying to say?" She repeated the phrase, as if chewing on a snack. "Do you think I have something I want to say?"
"...You can tell me."
"Of course I can. We are comrades; we've come a long way together for many years." Einstein's smile was very bright. In Lin memory, she often smiled naturally; her vast knowledge and advanced concepts made her appear at ease.
But Lin felt she was different now. Like these discarded papers, her mind was filled with chaotic lines.
"Lin, you've experienced it many times."
"..."
"So you wouldn't want others to experience that feeling, right?"
"..."
"Though it sounds cliché, like using medieval art styles during the Renaissance... but Lin, you are a gentle person. But what is gentleness to some people? The reason you never had deep contact with people before—you know that yourself."
She sat in the treehouse destined to rot, looking toward the future where sunlight would always spill across the ground.
"Time is not a river, but a waterfall. Standing on the plunge pool amidst the spray, one can see the magnificent Milky Way pouring down, yet no one can swim against the current back to where it fell."
...
Lin dragged the chains of the Oath of Judah, walking slowly through the ruins. He was alone in this post-apocalyptic world, wandering without knowing the way forward, like a glorious day that had vanished, leaving only a ghost hovering in the remains where people once existed.
Lin memory had errors caused by historical reasons. He sometimes judged if a memory was real through logic, and it was at these times he remembered those experiences that could be called arduous, and those people who had long since left him.
In the ruins where there was nothing, he was the only one standing there. So, what was left? He looked back and saw nothing; he looked up and saw only devastation. In the vast stretch of time, only he remained—a product like the fusion of many people's ideals and hopes.
Lin sat on the ground, raising dust. A beam of sunlight shone into the weed-choked ruins. He remembered that fairy tale. The little girl struck a match and saw warmth in the flame, and her long-dead grandmother. Illusions make one linger; even if it means lighting all the matches at once at the end, one wants to keep the unreachable phantom.
He looked back again. This time he saw many silhouettes; some smiled at him, some scolded him, and some just looked at him indifferently.
When would he become one of them? What must he do to leave a proof that they once existed in this world? So that in the cascading time, their figures could still be faintly seen.
Lin reached out, wanting to touch those phantoms.
"Scumbag-Mushroom, what are you doing here?"
"..."
The golden-haired girl walked through the light. She wiped her sweat with the towel on her shoulder and asked the Lin sitting in the shadows in confusion. Lin turned his eyes toward her.
"Uh... well..." Being stared at, the girl shyly looked away. "Do you want to exercise together? People fifty thousand years ago surely exercised too, right?"
"...Of course."
"Hmph. Good. Then let's have a race and see who can run further!"
Lin gazed at the girl's face. He still couldn't understand why such a powerful warrior fifty thousand years in the future could possess the rich emotions that the people of Fire-Moth lacked. At this moment, he thought of a certain someone who never lost her smile.
...It seems something was left behind after all.
Lin stood up, left the phantoms, and walked toward the girl. "Is there a prize for winning?"
"Eh? What... what kind of prize?"
"...Don't be nervous. It's fine if there isn't one."