Chapter 1614: A Debt-Ridden Heart

At this moment, although Yiluna Beiyasi felt the world spinning, her thoughts were incredibly clear.

Although Yiluna usually listened to the arrangements of Xia De and Luweiya when formulating plans, her wisdom was not low. Otherwise, after the Battle of Pantanal, she would not have obtained the miracle cast using the "Sage's Glow Stone":

"Why is the future you simulated not an extension of the present?"

She questioned. Although the future where Xia De did not exist was just a game, she still felt panicked by it; this panic even overcame the fear caused by the fact that the other party was an Unknown-level relic:

"Are you really 'What If'? Tell me, why does Xia De not exist!"

Amidst the girl's stern questioning, the light of the balance behind her became more restrained and profound.

The man, slowly rolling up the parchment scroll, stepped back calmly:

"I am indeed 'What If', and this is indeed not a simulation of the 'future'. Protagonist of the stage, even if you can view different versions of the script, how could all the scripts possibly include the audience under the stage?"

Yiluna frowned, but after just a moment of thought, she fully understood his words:

"No Xia De... the audience under the stage... different versions of the script... Xia De once asked me, and asked others, whether this is currently the Sixth..."

The dark golden balance behind her swayed slightly, then became more stable. At this moment, the seventeen-year-old girl stood in the alley, as if she saw the river of time flowing beside her, and the question was solved. The truth that Xia De had been pursuing for over half a year, she had pieced together completely in just a few minutes.

The balance briefly transformed into a rapidly spinning destiny ring, and the whisper - 【Real Time】 was added to it. She already understood everything:

"Different scripts, not a simulation of the future, that means it's the past... You mean, the Sixth Era has been reset before? And more than once!"

She held her breath:

"And, there's also the fact that Luweiya never voluntarily spoke about her being cursed by time, and Luweiya said Xia De is a person outside of destiny. Are the multiple resets related to Luweiya? Is this not the true Sixth Era?"

Her eyes stared fixedly at the man in front of her. The smile on "What If's" face became even brighter:

"Yes, your intelligence is stronger than I thought. To think you could piece together the truth from fragments so easily, amazing, truly amazing! Yes, this is indeed not the true Sixth Era. You are right, it has indeed been reset more than once, but no matter who it is, they cannot tell you what has happened."

Yiluna touched her nose, which was still bleeding, and the expression on her face became more serious:

"Then why does this Sixth Era have Xia De? What does the newly appeared Xia De mean to this world? What exactly happened in the past Sixth Eras? Why didn't the departed Ancient Gods and Old Gods take action to save this world on the verge of doomsday?"

"You can find the answers to these questions the next time we meet. Remember? I want to play three games with you, and this is just the first. Think carefully about what you must do to find the truth you want to know in the complex past, with only two 'What If' games remaining."

He put away the parchment scroll and bowed respectfully to the girl in front of him:

"Thank you for everything you have done for this world, Chosen One of Balance. Among all the Chosen Ones, you are the most special, but you are also the same as them. You are neither purely good nor evil; you only do things that align with your own heart."

"Are you leaving? Then next time, where will you appear?"

Yiluna asked again.

"Destiny will arrange everything, just like today's meeting. Oh, please hide my appearance from everyone. This is not a request, but for your own good. Once those around you know of me, you will lose your last chance."

"What chance?"

The man shook his head:

"The chance to save the person you cherish. He or she is walking on a path that leads to their own most tragic end, and you, only you, might be able to... You have been hiding more than one secret, so hiding my appearance is nothing to you, isn't it?"

He retreated slowly, his body constantly fading and becoming transparent. Before his body touched the wall of the alley, he had completely disappeared.

"What If... two times left."

Yiluna clenched her fist and took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her face. Only after the intense headache and dizziness subsided did she walk out of the alley.

On the other side, the five-person group that had been busy all night had also left one by one.

Priest Ao Gu Si returned to the church, and Luweiya had to go to work at the Prophecy Society after returning the staff to Xia De. Therefore, the only one who returned to St. Deran Square with Xia De and Mia, and had breakfast on Silver Cross Avenue, was Dorothy.

Miss Writer not only earned a lot but also had very flexible working hours; she was the perfect profession. Although staying up all night was nothing, after returning home, the blonde girl still wanted to take a nap and pulled Xia De to rest with her:

"Look at you, when you turned into a cat to suppress the coffin just now, you had an expression as if there was nothing left in the world to cherish; you really scared me. I know this is the influence of that relic, so let's rest a little, Xia De. Don't you have the 【Moon Dream】 miracle?"

Dorothy's gentleness made Xia De unable to refuse, so they slept from eight in the morning until noon this Friday. And what woke them up at noon was not Little Mia wanting lunch or the parading crowds outside the window, but the knocking on the door downstairs.

"Who could it be?"

Miss Writer sat up, yawning. Xia De, having awakened from the Moon Dream, also felt he was fine, so he put on his slippers and went downstairs to open the door himself.

Upon opening the door, standing against the backdrop of the bustling square was actually Yiluna. The seventeen-year-old girl had a look of anxiety on her face. After entering the door, she even reached out to touch Xia De's arm to confirm he was not a phantom but truly existed, only then did she truly breathe a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong with you? Did you run into trouble?"

Xia De asked with some confusion. Yiluna shook her head:

"It's like this, I want to hear you talk about the method to see that 'Goddess of the Lake' again."

Xia De was a bit surprised, but still nodded:

"No problem, but since you want to go to Huntington City to see the Cherub, do you need me to accompany you?"

"No, no, I'm not going myself, it's for the next story... I want to keep it secret for now, is that okay?"

She asked Xia De, pursing her lips.

"Of course."

Xia De didn't ask any more questions and instead told Yiluna the experience he had summarized for entering the "Lake of Cherub". Yiluna even took out a notebook to record it, and only after finishing did she return to her usual demeanor:

"Were you guys okay last night? The commotion you made was really big. I went to participate in the investigation early this morning, but the church hasn't found any clues yet."

"We were fine, of course, just didn't expect the Angel-level relic to almost break through containment. Now that relic has been taken away from Tobesk by someone, there won't be any problems."

"That's good."

Yiluna nodded. Because of her unusual mood, she didn't even mention having lunch with Xia De, but instead waved goodbye with heavy concerns and prepared to leave.

"Yiluna, are you really okay?"

Xia De grabbed her hand and asked with concern, but Yiluna still shook her head:

"Of course I'm okay."

Xia De looked at her suspiciously, saying nothing. The seventeen-year-old girl blushed because of such a naked gaze. Beside Xia De's ear, "She" said gently:

【No obvious problems detected. She is in a special physiological cycle.】

"I don't need to know that."

Xia De responded in his heart, then said to Yiluna:

"Sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

She asked confusedly, and then saw Xia De lower his head and take her finger into his mouth. Yiluna Amelia Beiyasi swore that even when facing the Unknown-level relic just now, she hadn't been as nervous as she was at this moment. She felt her face was about to explode with heat, and her limbs even trembled due to shyness and excitement.

The voice beside Xia De's ear said again:

【No obvious problems. Perhaps, you should have some confidence in her.】

Xia De nodded slightly and moved Yiluna's finger away. Although he knew his approach was a bit inappropriate, at least it was better than forcibly kissing Yiluna:

"Yiluna, if there is anything, you must tell me and Luweiya. No matter what trouble you have, we will help you solve it, yes, any trouble."

"I know, you don't have to tell me these things so seriously."

The girl with a flushed face had long since let her thoughts drift away. As for the matter of "What If", it was temporarily thrown to the back of her mind.

Xia De was still a bit worried, so he suggested again:

"Haven't had lunch yet, right? Wait a moment and we'll go eat together. Oh, Miss Dorothy Louisa will go with us. Yes, she's a member of my group, the female writer who wrote the 'Hamilton Detective Story Collection'."

"Okay."

Yiluna nodded again, and the emotions filling her heart had completely covered up the troubling matters.

Life will always have troubles big and small. For Yiluna Beiyasi, a little happiness was enough to tip the balance against those troubles on the other side of the scale. She never asked for much, but if someone tried to take away the things she cherished, then even a good-tempered girl would definitely show her power.

In fact, Yiluna and Dorothy knew each other, but they weren't very familiar. The seventeen-year-old girl knew the relationship between the female writer and Xia De, and Dorothy, of course, could also see Yiluna's attitude toward Xia De.

The lunch time that day was quite pleasant. Yiluna, as a fan of the "Hamilton Detective Story Collection", was happy to have lunch with Dorothy. Plus Xia De was there, this was simply two portions of happiness stacked together.

During lunch, Xia De also briefly explained the operation from last night to Yiluna. When mentioning Little Mia, Xia De also looked at it with concern, worried that not sleeping all night would affect the cat's health.

But in fact, Little Mia was currently squatting on a high stool, full of energy, waiting for Xia De to feed it, showing no signs of fatigue or sleepiness at all.

"It probably sleeps too much usually."

Xia De reached out and touched the cat's little head, and the latter obediently narrowed its eyes and made a "meow" sound.

The lunch location was a private club in the city, which Dorothy took the two to. Of course, there is reason to suspect that this bill would eventually be charged to Lei Qianya's account. The security here was very high, so sensitive topics could be discussed. Seeing Xia De petting the cat, Dorothy smiled and said to Yiluna:

"You haven't seen the cat Xia De turns into yet, right? It really looks quite nice."

Yiluna showed an interested look, and Xia De immediately shook his head:

"Don't look at me like that, I absolutely won't transform usually. If you want to see a cat, you can go transform yourselves."

Miss Writer was full of smiles:

"Xia De, transformation magic is very dependent on talent. Do you need me to repeat the content of the second-year basic spellcasting course at St. Byrons—the transformation masters in the Ring Mage system are divided into two categories: one is born with extremely high transformation talent and corresponding spirit runes, and the other follows the Druids of ancient eras, following the way of nature and staying closely with animal partners, thereby obtaining corresponding transformation abilities."

"I see, Xia De should belong to the latter, and Little Mia is his nature spirit."

Yiluna said while holding a soup spoon, and asked Dorothy if she wanted to add the plot of the detective turning into a cat into the story.

"It is indeed a very interesting plot, but unfortunately, the detective stories I write generally still follow non-supernatural laws."

The blonde, blue-eyed girl felt regretful, but she and Yiluna chatted happily. After lunch that day, when Yiluna was about to return to the Black Stone Security Company, the two exchanged business cards. Dorothy even invited Yiluna to go out for material collection with her when she had time, and Yiluna was also very happy to receive the invitation.

Xia De found a rental carriage for Yiluna and saw her off at the entrance of the club. And when the girl with long brown hair waved goodbye to Xia De and the blonde writer at the window, she had already made a decision.

No matter what, and no matter what price she had to pay, she would hold the hands of those she cherished and loved. The balance of the scale was controlled by her, and she was the one who dominated everything. The protagonist of the stage must lead everything, and that brand-new story script must absolutely not be a tragedy.

【Present World · Sixth Era, Common Calendar 1854, New Spring, Month of Sowing. The sound of horse hooves faded into the distance, and the spring sunshine was warm. The departed Child of Destiny had already made a choice, and those feelings of attachment and sourness were like light feathers, fluctuating on the inconstant strings. On the stage of destiny unknown to anyone, brand-new possibilities were added because of you. This is a story that has never existed before, and this is a choice that has never been made before. Cherished Outsider, how exactly will you repay the heart you owe?】

Xia De, holding Mia and watching the carriage move away with Dorothy, was suddenly stunned:

"Huh? Wait, what did you say? Why are you saying things like this now? I just had lunch with Dorothy and Yiluna, what do you mean by scaring me with such words? Is this meal very important?"

He looked around, fearing that an Unknown-level relic would suddenly jump out, or that an Evil God would appear in Tobesk again.

But this was just an ordinary city street, and everything was fine.

At least for now, everything was fine.

PS: It's the end of the month, begging for votes! ===== CHAPTER 1615 =====