Chasing the light
"……How are you?"
"Two people working together are always better than one person fighting alone. I never thought of abandoning you. How could you give up on yourself first?"
"Ximu, Ximu!"
"Are you awake? Are you okay?"
"After we get out, come with me!"
The boy's voice rang in her ears, and she couldn't help but smile just by listening.
Ruixia was the first "outsider" she met after leaving her family.
At the beginning, she really didn't understand him.
Why can a person be so innocent and kind?
How wealthy must his family be to allow him to take out expensive props without hesitation to rescue someone he doesn't even know and doesn't know if he can repay him in the same way?
But now thinking about it, that might have been the first fork in the road she encountered in her life where everything was decided by others.
She should have followed her instincts and walked down the more familiar path of decay and death;
But the young man on the other side waved desperately and greeted her vigorously, which attracted her attention and made her turn to his side curiously.
It's a completely different world.
A wider world where you don’t have to deal with everything alone, but have companions around you to support you, to discuss things with you, to pool your wisdom, and to advance and retreat together.
She suddenly understood why sacrifices could not bring about a bond.
Because when you care about someone, you will feel reluctant to let go, and this reluctance will naturally make people unwilling to give up and die.
What kind of life does she want?
——A life with Ruixia.
Every time Ximu thought of that gentle and kind boy, a warm feeling would always surge in his cold heart.
He must have seen that she had an extraordinary background a long time ago, but he never asked too many questions. He was still concerned about her injuries and even begged Morina, whom he had just met, to treat her carefully.
She was always silent, and he would always find something to talk about in his free time, talking about his longing for his parents to travel around the world, the various interesting things he experienced during the adventurer exam, and the various people and things he had encountered, good and bad...
Whenever he had something good, he would always generously share it with everyone, then quietly save the best for her, and even wink at her to keep it to herself...
She had no interest in ambition and hegemony, nor did she care about avenging past humiliation or slapping anyone in the face.
She just wanted to stay by his side and protect him until the last moment.
--Protect?
In the void, she heard her own voice repeating this word emphatically, full of disdain and mockery.
Do these hands, which can only take lives, still want to hug others?
"I don't know how to do anything except fighting."
She happened to talk about these things once, and it wasn't even an emotion. To her, it was just an objective evaluation of herself.
Then Ruisha said—
"Then join my team! Once we get out of here and I get my official adventurer status, we'll travel the world together. We'll split all the rewards equally, how about that?"
It's really childish.
If it were at the beginning, Xi Mu would just think that he was dreaming. He started to fantasize about the future before the current problems were solved, which was a bit too optimistic.
But now, she really wants to fulfill his wish of "leaving here".
Such a good person should live forever.
Could it be that among the people she had killed before, there had been such good people?
She doesn't know.
She only remembered the identities and moves of those people, but their faces and life stories had long become blurred.
There is no question of people like her reforming themselves and turning from evil to good.
She actually doesn't care about those people, or most people in this world.
She only cared about Ruisha.
In the past, she just sat there quietly, looking up at the light that would give her some residual warmth.
But this time - she wanted to raise her hand and reach for the beam of light that was so close to her.
A cold laugh drifted away from his ears, and Xi Mu was startled. The chaos in front of him began to crack, and countless cracks expanded and tore, and finally collapsed completely.
She saw the person she wanted to see most.
"...Ximu?"
Seeing Ximu slowly waking up, Ruixia's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed with the curve of her lips, "Great! - Why did you suddenly fall down again? You scared us... Are you feeling unwell? Molina, come and see..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ximu suddenly standing up.
The silver-haired girl had been staring at him since she woke up. After recognizing his appearance, she sat up without saying a word and actually hugged him!
As expected, Ruixia's computer crashed again.
He didn't know where to put his hands, and he fanned them in the air a few times. His cheeks were flushed, and he could only look helplessly at the people around him for help.
But the three people who were originally sitting on the side all stepped back a little at the same time, started to make small talk with each other, with lively looks in their eyes, and were even ready to leave on the spot.
"Speaking of which, I'm always worried about the knight commander being alone. I'll go over and see if she's still acting well."
"Oh, then I'll come with you."
"Then why don't I..."
"Wait!" Ruixia quickly stopped Morina who was about to slip away, "You can't leave!"
The short-haired girl blinked, a smirk on her lips, and sat down again.
"Okay, since you won't let me leave, I'll just stay here and watch you guys, hehehe..."
"No...that..."
He was too weak to tell anything. After all, the girl in his arms was enough to make him upset.
Ruixia took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and finally gave up resisting.
He carefully patted Ximu's back and asked softly, "What's wrong? Did you see any bad visions again?"
Ximu shook her head against his neck, and her hair rubbed against her skin, bringing a slightly itchy and soft touch.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
The young man asked while trying to push the person away slowly and unnoticeably, but Xi Mu noticed his intention and not only did not let go, but hugged the person even tighter.
The distance was so close that they could hear each other's heartbeats, which made people feel very confused. Ruixia felt that the clear aura of Ximu, like the snowy field under the moon, was about to drown him, and even his breathing became a little disordered.
"Ximu? Ximu... the weapon on the puppet's chest suddenly pierced your forehead. Everyone is very worried. Can you let Molina check on you?"
He whispered softly in her ear as if begging.
After a while, the girl silently loosened one hand and let it hang by her side.
Ruixia quickly signaled to Morina to check her breath, but she saw that this fellow priest was holding a small shoulder bag and searching for something in it as if she was rummaging through boxes and cabinets.
"...What are you looking for?"
"A photo stone! Such a visually striking scene. It would be a great regret not to copy it and revisit it over and over again. Strange, I remember Felicia stuffing one in my bag. Where did it go..."
"Oh, stop it!" Ruixia was embarrassed and angry, "Hurry up!"
"Hehe... OK, OK, OK, got it!"
Morina took two steps forward, grabbed Ximu's wrist, and used magic to check her physical condition as usual, not forgetting to make a few jokes.
"By the way, Ximu, did you see that pillow on the ground? Oh, that really made me laugh—just now, we saw you being knocked down from mid-air by a black light. We all wanted to pick you up, but in the end, no one could outrun Ruixia! And then, before I could even ask, he suddenly pulled out a pillow from his bag and put it under your head, saying that he was worried that you had a head injury and that lying directly on the ground would worsen it...
"We were all shocked at the time, hahaha! No, it was a pillow. Who would bring a pillow with them when they go out? Zhui'en even asked him where he got it from, but Sorens said seriously that it wasn't the standard pillow in their academy, and that Ruixia must have brought it herself... Hahaha, that's amazing, isn't it? Ruixia, how much stuff can you put in that bag? Are you going to empty the house when you go out?"
"Hello!"
Ruixia finally couldn't stand it anymore and was about to raise her fist in protest, but Ximu held him tightly and he couldn't make any big movements.
Pushing her away forcefully was afraid of hurting the girl's self-esteem, so he lowered his head in embarrassment, leaned close to Xi Mu's ear, and pleaded softly: "Xi Mu... almost, is it time to let me go?"
Xi Mu raised her head slightly when she heard that and found that the boy's face was flushed and his breathing was a little uneven. She wondered if she had been too forceful and made it difficult for him to breathe, so she slowly let go of her hand.
Can't bear to.
Ruixia's body was warm and her neck smelled fragrant, she was really adorable.
If only he could always stay by her side like this.
The moment the thought flashed through his mind, Morina beside him seemed to have noticed something. The smile on her face gradually faded, and her eyes became filled with surprise and suspicion.
"Ximu, I can't find your meridians."
Ximu didn't seem surprised by this.
She quietly withdrew her hand, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "...You can't see the trajectory of the magic power, right?"
The priestess girl nodded solemnly.
The physiological structure of a normal person only consists of a few things. The movement of muscles and the operation of magic power can always be traced, rather than... being like a bottomless abyss with no path and no way to find out.
Since they started working together, Molina has been most concerned about Ximu. She has always been the one who knows best about her physical condition.
But at this moment, Ximu seemed to be no different on the outside, but "inside"... no one knew what had become of her.
Now that things have come to this, there is no objection to concealing it.
Gathering all the scattered companions, Ximu briefly told them about his origins, the relationship between the holy object and his family, and his connection as a sacrifice to the "Thorn of the End" and the god.
"You, you are actually the one who assassinated the family?! No wonder..."
Zhui's expression twitched inadvertently, and it was obvious that she was reflecting on her rash behavior when they first met that day.
"What kind of family is this? Are they crazy? Sacrificing the eldest son or daughter of each generation? What kind of evil god are they worshipping?"
The priest who believed in the God of Life and always respected life the most was filled with righteous indignation, and Sorens nodded in agreement.
Ruixia didn't say anything, just stared at Ximu, her face full of sadness.
But he didn't ask for more details, and just followed her words and continued, "But since this thing is a sacred object belonging to your family, why did it appear in this academy abandoned by the laws of the world?"
Yes, this is the origin of everything, the very beginning.
Ximu calmed himself down, and then told everything he had just seen from the perspective of the holy object.
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