The silvery-white rose emblem glows beautifully in the moonlight, just like its owner. Immediately, it was carefully held in the broad palm.

Apaya watched the silver-haired woman leave for a moment, and then heard the voices of the mercenary members who had returned late, and there seemed to be someone else's movement, so he hid in the shadows of the building and began to reminisce about the conversation he had just had.

The topic that the other party mentioned at the end was indeed unexpected - based on the experience of getting along with her during this time, as well as what Shao conveyed to the other party's mercenary partner, she didn't seem to be the type to take the initiative to provoke such a sensitive topic. She must have wanted to escape this ...... more Just like her reaction just now.

He doesn't spend his days just thinking about how to apologize, and if that's the case, he's too clumsy.

He knew very well what the mercenaries were saying about him - a rigid and inflexible engineer, uninformed...... And they don't have to learn much about magic for anything or anyone.

Although it is true that some of them used to be true...... But that's not all. Honestly, if he really just conformed to the rules, how could he have done it to this extent? Could it be that his inventions were made by following the rules?

Appaya thought to herself, a little depressed.

As for not understanding the world...... He admits that he was, and he does, most of the time, yes, but that's only because he doesn't want to spend energy on it—doesn't the other person realize that he's not so annoying when he's facing her?

As for magic, he really didn't study it at first, and only discussed it based on the description of the mercenary. But with the increase in the number of contacts...... Naturally, he's going to learn so that the conversation continues, right? Otherwise, how can you have more and more advanced topics with each other...... Is it that he behaves so naturally that the other party doesn't realize it?

If he didn't understand that, how could he make magic combine with his mechanics...... If he was able to do this based on her description alone, wouldn't that show that he had a talent for it? No matter how you think about it, you can't conclude that he can't have the relevant knowledge, right?

In fact, he needs to know some basic knowledge of magic more than Shao - for example, if he is a beginner in magic and reads advanced theories without a basic theoretical foundation, then it is very likely that his brain will have problems. If he hadn't had a good foundation, he would have refused to listen to the topic because of the headache when Shao talked to him about the soul side instead of patiently listening to the end.

Although it was true that he hadn't read through the Soul Oath aspect before, as he had only studied knowledge that could be combined with technology or inspired by technology, if he had known about it earlier......

Appaya scratched at her hair in frustration.

Although it was true that Shao didn't teach him what to do, it was only in the matter of apologizing. If you completely say that there is a problem between him and Rhine, there is actually water, and the digestion of the soul content these days has made him very difficult, and there is no way to think about other things. In the end, Shao couldn't stand it anymore, so help him straighten out his mood-

"Apaya, I won't say too much, after all, there are some things you should think about yourself."

The black-haired woman pulled the chair away as if she was impatient, and sat down directly.

"I don't think you need to think too carefully about the theories about soul symbiosis." Shao said decisively, "We are a family - you should think about these things in your own way. ”

"Even if you say so......"

"Apaya, I didn't think it was the right time before, so I didn't tell you clearly, but I think it's time now. You liked me before, didn't you? ”

"Hmm." I will still be a little embarrassed to be said directly in person like this.

"Let's give you a few of the most concise examples, Apaya." Shao said unhesitantly, which made him feel that he was too stingy, "As far as I know, you first realized this because of Lord Huck's previous situation, right?" ”

“…… Be. "The original cause is indeed this, which makes me feel that Huck is not worthy of Shao, and Shao deserves better.

"So what if those things didn't happen?" Shao stared into his eyes, "Tell me, Apaya, if something didn't happen to Lord Huck—even if he wasn't perfect, but he was very nice to me, would you still think I shouldn't be with Lord Huck?" ”

“…… This ......"

"Think about it, what if it's Rhine? If she's in a relationship with Lord Huck, or if she's a wonderful, gentle man like Iroh, or Sanger, or Gail, and Iori, and so on—you know, Sanger is cold to others, but he's spoiled for his wife. ”

Before he could think carefully about the first question, Shao's second question smashed into his heart like a hammer.

No matter who she is with, even with a truly perfect man, she will feel unpleasant, very unpleasant.

"Apaya, do you think about how you felt when you were with Rhines when you saw her hurt?" Shao's tone softened a lot, "Yura and I, and many other people know that you don't really know how to interact with people, you just don't think about it. But in fact...... You know a lot of things yourself, don't you? ”』

- Yes.

Even the fact that he didn't actually like Shao was clear.

He knew that Shao liked Huck, or that he loved him deeply. The other party should be the same, but something like that happened at the time, which made him feel that Huck was sorry for Shao's love.

"Stop paying attention to that bastard, Shao, wouldn't it be happier for us to continue working on our subject together?" 』

He said this to Shao, and Shao at that time also smiled weakly and agreed.

So at that time, I thought that as long as I liked Shao, then the other party would abandon his troubles and pick up happiness again. Even in the end, Shao won't like himself, and that's enough, he likes to spend so much time together simply studying theory and practice.

…… But then the mercenaries appeared.

When he explored some ruins or some anomalous locations with her, whether it was the initial dispute that was easy to arise, or the later discussion of magic and technology, or just sitting and resting, he had the same nostalgia...... Even much more than with Shao.

This confused him at first, he didn't know how to tell the difference between his attitude towards mercenaries and his attitude towards Shao, his friends were so few that he couldn't compare them.

But as time passed, he suddenly realized that he was truly immersed in the time he spent with the mercenaries - even without the machines, he seemed to be able to live with it. He was afraid of such emotions, if so, then what was his feelings for Shao? If she didn't like Shao, would she still want to go back to that bastard and continue to be tortured? It shouldn't be, it was his best friend, how could he sit idly by and ignore her.

Therefore, he stayed at the level of making a second close friend in his life. chose to ignore the strange emotions that fermented in his heart, and firmly stopped their relationship with ambiguous friends. Even if he occasionally gets irritated by this vague distance, he retreats and waits for something to change on the mercenary's side.

— and that's what makes me regret it.

After Shao finally figured out his mood at Shao's suggestion, he went through all the soul-related materials - in fact, there were not many, the family's collection of magic was really scarce, and this bit still existed because of Shao and Yura's insistence - and he clearly learned that the punishment of the soul oath was shared. As long as the punished partner has her partner, a partner with a core fit above 95%, through this close bond, he can help her to part the pain if he wants to.

And they are also the relationship between the oath and the oathed, and there is some causal logic that can be more convenient...... If I hadn't flinched back and just walked forward, it would have been completely different now, right?

You know how evasive she is, and she has a stubbornness that is far stronger than his, doesn't it? That's why she didn't make it clear today, she will run away, there's no doubt about it, and she will stubbornly think she's lying.

Thinking of this, Apaya couldn't help but rub the corners of her forehead.

When the layer of window paper was finally pierced, he found that there were so many obvious traces that allowed him to realize his true thoughts, and the part of his soul that had been blended with the breath of the other party also made him understand the other party's mood more clearly.

The reason why she chooses to toss him in those seemingly dangerous ways every time there is a conflict is because she doesn't quarrel with him face-to-face - if he will leave because of these angers, then naturally there will be no future, and she can also use this indirect way to make her accept the symbiotic departure without suffering too much.

And he hasn't really been angry, but has tried to make her angry, isn't it also his mood to protect her? Every time she regains her smile or argues with him energetically, the satisfaction in her heart that she doesn't know where it comes from-

It is the fulfillment of the heart that I succeeded in guarding the person I liked.

How did you manage to suppress all of this before?

Appaya spread her hand and looked down at the badge in her hand again. This time he held it tightly in the palm of his hand.

He hurt her soul with this badge and maybe even her mood. He knew that the mercenaries had always tolerated him, even if she had done so many stubborn things that made her angry, she had never completely left him because of her disdain when she didn't know how important Filly was to her, and she had ever expressed disdain for the goddess.

It also made him think that she would not leave until this time.

The feeling of emptiness gnawed at his heart all the time, and the panic of fearing that she would really leave his life would take over his brain.

He would even wake up in the middle of the night, and when he woke up, he could only look at his outstretched hand and be stunned.