Endless Silver Machine

After everyone was ready, Shun finished the work of the Imperial City Defense Bureau and drove back to the mansion.

The severely overloaded locomotive took everyone to the airport. There was no tear-jerking farewell scene because it was only a short separation.

"Have brother Aika said goodbye to Xiaoyin..."

In the smoothly flying airship, Wei Xi, who was sitting next to Aika just like before, asked quietly.

"Well, I chatted with her for a while in the courtyard."

"I am also very grateful to Brother Aika... Even if I am not in the Holy See now, I still have a place where I can go back..."

"It would be better if Liuyin was here too."

"That may be difficult..." Wei Xi pretended to be strong and smiled, "But as Xiaoyin said, as long as we can connect together, no matter how far apart we are, we can still communicate..."

No, this is not a smile pretending to be strong. Wei Xi is already strong enough, she can already support everyone's sky inadvertently.

"That would be great."

Aika gained strength from her words. What she did was not completely meaningless, at least she could see the results in them.

Perhaps it is arrogant to attribute all these results to themselves, after all, it is they who decide how to do it. But Aika felt that there was nothing wrong with being so "arrogant" once in a while.

"The atmosphere there is so good."

"Yes, brother is still the same..."

"I can't interrupt at all. Is this also the effect of Xiaoxi's barrier?"

Ling looked at the two of them sideways with a cold tone. Luoluo seemed to be very disappointed with Aika's "old behavior", while Professor Cocona was amused and heckled from the side.

"No...I won't use this kind of barrier..."

She became the object of everyone's attention again, and Wei Xi immediately coyly distanced herself from Aika, both physically and mentally.

Suddenly being dodged by Wei Xi, Aika was slightly injured.

"Ling, don't always say unnecessary words."

He pointed the finger at Ling, who had caused the topic.

"What I said is true."

"Don't say it even if it's the truth!"

Ling has completely returned to her original appearance, and Aika can't see from Ling's attitude the feelings she mentioned about her existence with the Light Flame Sword.

"Brother, hasn't that voice on the PDA contacted you yet?"

"Um."

PDA has been silent since last night until everyone left the Imperial Capital. Maybe we won’t contact you again after this...

Although she didn't know who that person was, she did help everyone, and Aika could only thank her in her heart.

It takes at least half a day to travel from the Imperial Capital East Airport to the neutral area.

It was now approaching noon, and it should already be late at night by the time the airship arrived in the neutral area. The magic train should no longer be operating at that time. Fortunately, I contacted instructor Letika before returning, and she would drive to pick everyone up back to Frost Moon Academy.

…………

Aika didn't know when her consciousness started to slip. When she opened her eyes again, the lights on the airship were already lit.

"Fell asleep……"

Above the clouds, Aika could see the out-of-reach bright full moon from her window.

He looked out the window for a moment, then gently drew the curtains down.

The girls around her also fell into sleep like Aika. Professor Ling and Cocona, who were sitting next to Luoluo, rested their heads on her shoulders. Wei Xi, who was next to Aika, put her hands on the back of his hands at some point. .

Everyone who has been up all night can finally sleep peacefully.

"Well……"

Ling's fingers hanging on the armrest suddenly moved, and then she slowly opened her sleepy eyes.

"Are you awake?"

"Eh?"

Hearing Aika's voice, Ling, who originally looked lazy, suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"What a great response..."

"W-when did you wake up?"

"When...it was just now."

Aika didn't know why Ling suddenly panicked.

"...My sleeping appearance is very bad..."

"I don't have such a feeling, and it's not the first time I've seen you look like you while sleeping."

"Have you seen it so many times?"

"I've seen it many times before when I was taking care of you."

"Scared me……"

After hearing Aika's answer, Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you care about this kind of thing?"

Aika thought she wouldn't care about her sleeping face being seen, after all, she had already seen things even more incredible than her sleeping face.

"Of course I will care! I don't want to be laughed at by you."

Although she seemed a little excited, she still paid attention to controlling the volume so as not to wake up everyone who was sleeping.

"It will be there soon."

Aika looked at the time on the PDA and saw that there was only one hour left before the scheduled arrival time.

"Um……"

Ling responded softly, and she seemed to be ready to wait until the airship entered the port like Aika.

"Is your health okay?"

"You've asked this question back and forth several times, right? Don't you have anything else to say to me?"

Ling still had that cold attitude, as if the panic just now was just an act.

"I really care about your body. There should be no wounds or anything left."

"……abnormal."

"..."

"...I won't show it to you if there is no wound left."

"I never said anything like that!"

"...At that time, I was hiding under the quilt and watching so excitedly, and I was still breathing 'ha, ha'."

"It was out of necessity...and I didn't pant like a pervert like you said."

Recalling the morning after sleeping with Ling in the past dream, Aika and Ling were both very embarrassed, but they still used this topic to tease each other.

"Aika, actually I am the Light Flame Sword now."

"……Do not make jokes."

"I was serious."

Aika was speechless. He could not forget this sentence, even though it was said by the Light Flame Sword through Ling's body.

Ling looked at Aika who was speechless and showed a lonely smile.

"...If you put it this way, can you still tell who is me?"

Her voice was quickly drowned out by the noise of other passengers in the airship, but it was deeply engraved in Aika's heart.

This is a problem that cannot be avoided, and Aika knows this clearly.

Even if various reasons can be found for delaying her confession, this issue already involves the meaning of her existence here.

Ling himself may not have this idea, but Aika is just overthinking it. Even so, he must answer it.

"Sorry, I probably can't do that."

Lying also needs a reason, but Aika can't even find a reason. A lame lie can't even be called a laughing stock.

"Really..." Ling lowered her eyes, as if she was just saying this to herself, "Of course...I can't even tell the difference..."

Which consciousness is the real "Ling"? Is I really "Ling" when I can't even understand my own thoughts? Or is it that the Light Flame Sword that can express its sincerity without hesitation can be called the real "Ling"?

My heart felt a twinge.

Ling couldn't cheer up like usual and deliberately pretended to be strong. That kind of show-off would only make herself more embarrassed in front of Aika.

All he could do was avoid his sight. In this way, you don't have to know his expression or what he is thinking clearly, and you can more or less relax and take a breath.

"If someone can perfectly disguise everything about Ling, I think there is only one person in this world, and that is Ling herself. Apart from that, there is absolutely no way anyone else can replace her. Just based on what you just said, I have no way to judge. But there is only one person I know, Ling, and I remember everything about her. If someone wants to pretend to be her, first... they should get my recognition."

Aika didn't know if his words were conveyed to Ling. They sounded incoherent. He just said the reasons that came to his mind.

He just wanted to tell Ling that no matter how she disguised herself, she was who she was and she was irreplaceable.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone else was asleep, Aika wouldn't be able to say this.

"Then...now, do I need your recognition?"

Ling, who finally met Aika's eyes, confirmed to him like this. Her expression gave no clue what she was thinking.

"Well... what I mean by 'admit' is actually the feeling of 'yes means it, no means no'. It's not something particularly formal. How to express it... It's just..."

The serious attitude made Aika, who was already incoherent, even more confused.

Seeing him desperately trying to explain, his iceberg-like expression suddenly melted, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Sure enough, this looks more like you. Suddenly he started to talk nonsense. I thought you took the wrong medicine."

"Obviously you asked me first!"

"I just wanted to see your reaction, and didn't you already recognize it at that time?"

"that time……"

When Aika pointed out that Ling's body contained the consciousness of the Light Flame Sword, the Light Flame Sword's ability had not yet gone wild.

Does she know what happened at that time? To what time does her memory go back?

Aika suddenly couldn't tell clearly. It was obviously something that didn't need to be cared about so much, and Ling himself never mentioned it again, but Aika still cared about it very much.

At that time, he had escaped her questions, but now he wanted to get confirmation from her, was he really a "scumbag"?

"Brother, can you explain to us?"

The three sleeping people woke up without knowing when, and Luoluo and Wei Xi's sights dropped below zero, while Professor Cocona watched the excitement indifferently.

Aika didn't know why she was treated so coldly by them. If it was what she just said to Ling, it shouldn't be...

Then Aika remembered Ling's casual joke.

"When did my brother hide under the quilt and gasp for breath while looking at Sister Ling's body?"

"Brother Aika... Even if we are family members..."

The cold gazes of Luo Luo and Wei Xi made Aika not even know what to say in defense.

"That's just what Ling said casually!"

"But brother just admitted it, right?"

"I admitted it..."

"No, it was an accident. Back in the past...right, Ling, you know that, right?"

No longer knowing how to express herself to convince them, Aika could only seek help from another client. There is no credibility in what a boy says at this time, and the effect would be much better if Ling Ye helped to explain.

"Guilty, death penalty."

Not only did Ling not help explain, but he went even further to decide Aika's punishment.

"I always believed in Brother Aika..."

"I didn't expect that the brother I always believed in would be such a person..."

From contempt to pity, Aika's social status seems to be decreasing step by step.

"It's really hard work."

"Doesn't Professor Cocona believe me too?"

"It seems that you can't be allowed in and out of my research room at will in the future...if you can survive after going back."

"So, what are your preparations?"

Until the airship entered the airport in a neutral area, Aika had been receiving inhuman treatment in the low pressure.

…………

"Actually, Xiao Xi and I both believe in my brother, but...we have definitely seen it, right?"

Luoluo walked beside Aika, who was carrying everyone's luggage, and finally said that it was just a "little" joke.

This fact has been exposed, and there is no point in hiding it, so Aika simply admitted it.

He just mistakenly thought that a thief entered the room at dawn, so it turned into that kind of accident.

"There's nothing we can do about it..."

"If there is a thief... you can't close your eyes..."

Although the reason was a bit far-fetched, kind-hearted Luo Luo and Wei Xi still chose to forgive him.

"But after knowing that the other person is not a thief but Ling, can't we avoid the accident just by closing our eyes?"

After listening to Aika's statement, Professor Cocona suddenly brought up the blind spots of Luoluo and Wei Xi.

Aika looked at Professor Cocona without tears. She just made a triumphant gesture towards Aika. Aika had no idea what this person wanted to do.

"Yes, why does my brother keep staring at him even though he knows that he is not a thief but Sister Ling?"

The fire that was finally extinguished was rekindled by Professor Cocona, and Lolo once again captured Aika to investigate.

"Sure enough...it cannot be forgiven..."

Of course, Wei Xi did not simply forgive him, but this was just a joke.

At the exit of the airport, Instructor Letika was already waiting here, but she was not the driver. The driver was Instructor Wilber from the Assault Division.

After unloading all the luggage from the body and putting it into the trunk, Aika could finally move her sore arms and waist.

It seems that the tutors don't know what happened to Ling. Principal Felice should only let everyone in the student union know the situation.

"You haven't come back for such a long time, Letika is very worried."

With his hands on the steering wheel, Teacher Wilber jokingly revealed Teacher Letika's mood this week.

"Of course I will be worried! Principal Phyllis just told me not to worry. This kind of statement is what I need to worry about the most."

Although Instructor Letika was sitting in the passenger seat and could not see her expression, we could tell from her panicked voice that she must be very embarrassed.

"Teacher Letika, tutor Wilber, I'm sorry, it was delayed for such a long time because of me."

The two tutors who came to pick him up both had a close relationship with Ling, so she took the lead in expressing her apology on everyone's behalf.

"It's nothing. As long as she is back intact now, Letika will be relieved."

"Stop stressing about that matter!"

"Don't move, Letika! It's very dangerous!"

Instructor Wilber, who was beaten by Instructor Letika, turned the steering wheel randomly, and the whole car turned left and right in the middle of the road. If it were not late at night, the traffic accident would have become a fait accompli.

"By the way, classmate Luoluo, do you remember?"

After Teacher Letika got tired, she remembered that this issue had not been confirmed yet. In order to get the twin class to cooperate with the amnesiac Lolo, instructor Letika and her classmates all knew about the fact that she had amnesia.

"Yes, I have completely remembered it. I caused a lot of trouble to you and your classmates during that time. I'm really sorry..."

"In this case, classes can be resumed as normal tomorrow, right? Where are classmates Aika and Wei Xi?"

"Well, there's no problem at all."

"It doesn't matter to me..."

"It's great. My classmates can rest assured."

Teacher Letika who said this is very admirable.

Although she has only been a tutor for a year, she is undoubtedly a dedicated tutor and has given a lot of help to Aika and the others who have been transfer students for half a year.

Instructor Wilber stepped on the accelerator and drove from the airport into Shimozuki Academy with the unique sense of speed of the Assault Class.

…………

Aika carried the large and small bags into the administrator's cabin and put them down at the entrance.

Feeling the familiar scenery and air, the next step is the long-missed school life.

"Brother, thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll use the bathroom last and go back to the room first."

"I also……"

"Xiao Xi, come in with me."

"Eh?"

"It's getting late now."

"It's true...it's getting late..."

"Brother, come and call me after you're done."

"Well, I won't be using it for long."

You don't need too many words to know what each other wants to express. This is the feeling of "home".

I'm back……

This must be the common aspiration of everyone.

Aika wanted to spend even a moment of peace with them.