Endless Silver Machine

Before setting off for the sanctuary, Aika got in touch with Liuyin.

Because there is something she wants to know now, but Wei Xi has a very subtle relationship with the Holy See, so she did not tell Luo Luo and Wei Xi about this trip.

--now? Everything that can be done has been done, and the wounds have been healed faster with healing magic, but... they haven't woken up yet.

Liuyin told Aika roughly about Ling's current situation by text message.

The sanctuary has allowed Aika to enter and leave freely, and now Aika is thinking about how to get to the sanctuary.

There is no regional train that can go directly to the sanctuary. You can only get off the train at a relatively close place and then choose to walk.

Shun won't be back for a while, and Luo Luo and Wei Xi still need his help.

Although I could find an empty car at the Imperial City Defense Bureau with my instant connections, I had no driving experience.

After checking the map of the Imperial Capital and asking passers-by, Aika got on the regional train that would pass through the Holy Land.

While waiting to arrive, he made another request to Liuyin.

…………

After walking for nearly half an hour, Aika arrived at the high wall of the sanctuary with tired steps.

Like Augustus, the sacred area is clearly separated from the general area.

The side door next to the city gate is where Aika and Liuyin made an appointment. Without Liuyin to lead the way, he would definitely get lost in the sanctuary.

Use a text message to tell Liuyin that he was waiting here until he saw her figure, which was only a few minutes.

"Aika, you are so rude when you make requests."

"Actually, I have already had this idea. I can only ask you for help."

Aika knew that Liuyin had done a lot for her unconditionally, but she was unable to do anything for her, so she naturally felt a little ashamed.

"And actually meeting the Pope directly, the conditions are too high."

"I remember that you and Wei Xi once called him 'Dad', so I think the relationship should be very good."

"It's not because we have a good relationship, and I've never used this title in the Holy See!"

Liuyin glanced at the driver's seat. Fortunately, the front and rear seats of the car were covered by soundproof panels.

Now the two were sitting side by side in the passenger seat, and the knight responsible for driving seemed to be Liuyin's subordinate knight.

"So, is that okay?"

Aika wished to meet with the Pope, and this was another of his requests.

When I asked Liuyin before, I didn't get a positive answer. Even if you want to meet privately, you still need to apply, Aika thought.

To be honest, he himself was not sure that he could get the Pope to focus on him and take time out of his busy schedule to meet with him.

Although he once used Tutor Tara's "Omniscience" ability to meet the Pope in a dreamlike past, the two had no intersection in reality.

So Aika could only place her hope on the words she asked Liuyin to tell her.

"Let's talk about the results first. We have already received the consent. Now we will take you directly to the Pope's residence."

"Very good!"

As long as we can meet once, everything will go on smoothly.

"That date is when the incident at the Heinz family happened, right?"

Although Liuyin did not directly participate in the mission, he still knew the time of execution. After all, it was Wei Xi's first mission.

"That's right."

"And there are specific moments... Did you hear these from Ling?"

"Well...that's it..."

Liuyin didn't know that he and Ling had gone back to the past. Aika only told Liuyin the results of the reconciliation between Ling and the Holy See.

He didn't deliberately hide it from Liuyin, but there were still many unknowns and he couldn't speak too clearly for the time being.

"Oh..." Liuyin echoed as if he was not interested, "So, what are you going to talk to the Pope about? Isn't that matter already clear?"

Wei Xi's words mentioned Ling's apology to herself, indicating that the entanglement between Ling and the Holy See had been resolved.

But this is only a one-way reconciliation. From the perspective of the Holy See, it is the prisoners who were once hunted who took the initiative to return to the net.

Because the person who coordinated the relationship between Ling and the Holy See was Liuyin, Aika did not stop him when Liuyin and Principal Felice decided whether Ling should stay or go.

"I still have some things that I care about that I can't express well right now. If I can get the answer from meeting with the Pope today, I will tell you well after that. Sorry!"

Although he was clearly asking for something from her now, he still had to maintain this secretive attitude. The only thing Aika could say to her was to apologize.

"Actually, you don't need to apologize to me. It's not something you particularly want to know..."

If you didn't want to know, you wouldn't ask so many questions. She probably prefers talking about Wei Xi than this kind of thing.

The locomotive stopped beside a courtyard.

"There is a barrier here for protection. I will go in with you."

Liuyin, who got off the car behind Aika, said something to his subordinate knight, and the motorcycle slowly disappeared from their sight.

"follow me."

Liuyin stretched out his hand to Aika.

"Um?"

In this scene, Aika felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Holding hands..." Liuyin's eyes wandered, and the ends of his fingers were trembling slightly, "I can pass this barrier, but you can't, so you have to hold my hand to go in together."

When she was at Shimozuki Academy, Aika once reached out to Liuyin, but at that time she was fooled by Wei Xi's topic.

Since it was her who reached out her hand, it wouldn't be rude to hold it.

Aika responded to her waiting, as small as Wei Xi's hand, warm and soft.

Liuyin didn't say anything more, but dragged Aika forward with brute force, as if he wanted to end this state as soon as possible.

"I'm sorry, because it's necessary..." Aika relaxed her fingers and let Liuyin pull her, "If you hate it, you can just let go after entering the barrier."

Considering Liuyin's mood, Aika did not restrain Liuyin with a handshake. As long as Liuyin took the initiative to let go, the two could separate immediately.

"It's not that I hate it..."

Although she was walking beside him, her voice was as quiet as a mosquito. She and Wei Xi had very similar attitudes towards this issue.

"Um."

"This is my first time holding hands with a boy like this..."

It makes sense to think about it this way.

"Actually, I have something to tell you..." She seemed to have passed the barrier. She always turned her side face towards Aika, and her little ears hidden under her silver hair were already hot. "After the meeting with the Pope is over... let's talk about it." …”

I don’t know when, Liuyin had let go of Aika’s hand.

…………

Liuyin did not enter the room with Aika, she just silently led Aika to the meeting room.

"I can only send you here. I don't need to know the content of your conversation with the Pope. I will wait for you in the courtyard."

After Liuyin finished speaking, Aika was left here. There was no trace of wavering in her tone, as if she had forgotten the profound speech she had just made.

Or maybe it was Aika's illusion. Maybe what Liuyin wanted to say to herself was just about Wei Xi.

But at this age, Aika was very shaken, because he cared deeply about those profound words.

Liuyin, who had her back turned to Aika, suddenly turned around and noticed the sight from behind.

"……what are you up to?"

She questioned Aika with suspicious eyes and words, but Aika could only hide her inner panic and pretend to be calm.

"I was thinking about what I should say when I get in."

"Did you propose to meet with the Pope without any preparation?"

Liuyin immediately ran back with a bang. Apart from the Pope himself, there were no guards in this mansion, so Liuyin was not rigid in his attitude.

"So start thinking about it now."

In fact, he had already prepared all the questions, he just said a few more words to Liuyin in order to cover up his lies.

"I really can't stand you..." Liuyin sighed heavily, "Do you need me to go in with you?"

"Thank you, there's no need for that. I'd better solve my problem by myself."

It was originally just to get over the shameful fact that he had been looking at Liuyin's back, but in the end he turned to asking a child to cheer him up, and Aika's inner shame level rose again.

"The Pope probably didn't want me to know what happened at that time, so when you contacted Augustus, I couldn't help you at all..."

"There is no such thing. You were already of great help at that time."

"But I didn't tell you anything!"

"Whether it is true or not, you believe that the Holy See will not do that kind of thing. This has given us all great peace of mind."

——But I believe this possibility exists. This is not that I am protecting the Holy See, but...

"That's just my personal opinion, a sentence without any basis..."

"Those words can only be convincing if they come from your mouth."

"Is that so?"

Liuyin blinked his big watery eyes with an expression of incomprehension. She probably still doesn't understand what she did to deserve Aika's thanks.

"That's it, I'll go in first."

Aika touched Liuyin's little head. This time, she didn't kick Aika's calf as hard as before.

…………