I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

Page 169

Ling brought these things up on purpose, trying to get his attention over there; he was indeed trying to find a way to help those people.

Aozaki Touko, who was with Ling and the others, also noticed this. Whether or not to accept Einzbern's artificial human technology was not a question that needed to be considered at all. However, if she accepted it, she would have to solve the problems that Ling had mentioned earlier, whether intentionally or unintentionally, because she would owe them a great favor.

Ling's actions seemed to be generous to others, but from the conversation between the maid and Ling, it can be seen that without Ling, she would have had no chance to come into contact with those invaluable magics, and she also became somewhat interested in the three beings that Ling mentioned.

"I agree to the conditions, and I don't want to owe anyone a favor, but the money must be in full." Orange agreed to Ling's suggestion. "Also, I'm interested in those people you just mentioned. Could you tell me about them as well?"

Orange thought she was giving the Servant a way out, but Ling didn't take the opportunity. Instead, she looked at her with a very strange expression and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"No, I didn't expect you to meddle in other people's business. Even though you're wearing glasses now, you probably still don't like trouble, right?" Ling looked at Chengzi's glasses.

"--Can't I just suddenly feel like meddling?" Orange frowned angrily. It was his request, but now it seemed like she was the one who was being nosy. But thinking about it carefully, could it be that he really just mentioned it unintentionally?

"Hmm, don't be so angry. After all, it's not a big deal, but if you resolve it now, the story of Kara no Kyoukai in the future won't be complete." Ling looked at Touko with surprise, an expression he had never seen before. But to be honest, he felt like he had known [Aozaki Touko] for a long time, but that was only from his perspective. Moreover, they had only known each other for less than forty-eight hours, so they could be considered strangers. But why was Touko from the apocalypse so kind to him?

His thoughts drifted back to this question, but before he could figure it out, Orange asked in a puzzled tone, "What is the Kyoukai (Kara no Kyoukai)?"

Because Ling's thinking mode is single-threaded, and his attention was mostly occupied by the previous question, he directly provided the answer from his memory without thinking: "It's about what happened in the Hall of Garan: overlooking the scenery, murder investigation (before), residual pain, the Cave of Garan, the spiral of contradictions, the recording of forgetting, murder investigation (after), and finally, the gospel of the future."

Although Aozaki Touko looked puzzled, she understood what Ling meant. These titles were probably his summaries of future events that hadn't happened yet.

However, Aozaki Touko's expression changed drastically on Chaldea's side. She knew what these things referred to. Although she didn't know how Rin knew, if he revealed these things, the impact could lead to the destruction of the world, because it involved one person: the one who connects to the Root, Ryougi Shiki!

If other magicians found out about her existence, Orange couldn't even imagine the chaos and bloodshed that would engulf Guanbuzi City. The magicians' madness might destroy the world. And putting all that aside, as Shiki and Mikiya's friend, she didn't want their peaceful life to be disrupted. So, she ran anxiously to Da Vinci and asked, "Do you have a way to contact the other side? Open it immediately and tell that Servant to stop talking!"

Everyone was surprised by Orange's outburst, and then they realized that what Ling had just mentioned must involve some big secret. Da Vinci also looked at her in surprise. She had long known that there must be many incredible secrets that Ling knew. Even the Human Reason Burning was something that Ling had told her. So it was normal for Ling to have things about Aozaki Orange that she didn't want others to know. But regarding Orange's request, Da Vinci could only smile bitterly and shake her head: "I'm sorry, we really don't have the means to contact the director."

"Then disconnect immediately! Those things can't be—" The moment Orange heard Da Vinci's reply, her eyes turned unusually fierce, as if someone had said her taboo nickname right in front of her face!

“Miss Aozaki Touko, you have no right to make such a request.” Hirori Adashino, who had always had a low profile, took a step forward, her aura suddenly spreading out to make her presence known.

"—Is the Forensic Science Department just so eager to stir up trouble?" Orange turned her head and stared at Hideo Ryori's face with a cold gaze. Although they were from the same country, it didn't mean that their relationship would be good. In fact, Orange hated Hideo Ryori's existence more than ever before.

“You’ve overcomplicated things, Miss Aozaki Touko,” Adashino Riri wasn’t intimidated by Touko; instead, she gave a gentle smile. “I’m just reminding you that we’re just an investigation team and have no right to make any demands on Chaldea. After all, we’re just guests.”

Although Ryori Adashino was smiling, there was no hint of a smile in her eyes. She stared at Touko, who was a Grand Puppeteer, without any fear.

The confrontation between the two caused Gordelf Mujik to turn pale. Ryori Adashino was known as the witch in the Forensic Science Department. As the right-hand woman of Barthelro Loreleia, the ruler of the Forensic Science Department, she was a mysterious and enigmatic figure who kept her true abilities hidden.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the screen, what Aozaki Touko was worried about finally happened. She heard her counterpart from another timeline questioning Rin.

What are those stories?

Just as Pandora's box was about to be opened, Orange almost wanted to attack the big screen. However, at this moment, Da Vinci spoke up: "Don't worry, Miss Aozaki. Rin is a very rational person. Well, that's not quite right. I should say she's a very good troublemaker, but she will never leave a mess behind. So you can rest assured."

After hearing what Da Vinci said, Orange could only calm down, stare intently at the big screen, and silently pray that Ling wouldn't say anything out of line.

Chapter 398 Oranges, Oranges, and More Oranges (Part 6)

“Those are—” When Ling wanted to tell the story of Kara no Kyoukai, he immediately shut his mouth and snapped out of his thoughts.

He looked at the bracelet on Olga's wrist and finally realized that he had almost caused trouble. "You can experience those things slowly in the future. After all, you are just a witness. Besides, we are probably being monitored by the other timeline. It would have too much of an impact to say some things out loud."

Orange paused for a moment, then looked up at the sky. No wonder she had always felt a faint gaze; was it someone from another timeline watching her?

"Wujou Kirie is the protagonist who overlooks the scenery, while Asagami Fujino is the protagonist who experiences lingering pain. As for their endings, Wujou Kirie induced seven women to jump off the building, and then committed suicide by jumping off the Wujou Building herself. Asagami Fujino was gang-raped, and then awakened her Mystic Eye ability to kill all of them, and incidentally destroyed the bridge that the Asagami family had contracted to build."

Ling deliberately concealed information about Ryougi Shiki, and then revealed the matter of Wuzhao Kiri and Easaga Fujino.

"—You weren't talking about those two surnames just now, and the two surnames before were..." Orange gave a "this is troublesome" look. Sure enough, favors are not so easy to repay.

"The four great exorcism families in Japan are Wujing, Liangyi, Asakami, and Nanaya. Wujiao Kirie is a branch of the Wujing family. Asagami Fujino's original name was Asakami Fujino, but later the Asakami family went bankrupt, and Asakami Fujino's mother remarried to the branch family, Qian Shang." Ling was just introducing the family, leaving the choice to Chengzi.

In truth, whether Orange helps those two people or not makes no difference to him. If he doesn't help, Ling won't feel regret; if he does help, he won't feel happy either. He's just fulfilling his promise to Arthur and offering a little kindness to the world.

"Hey, what's so special about these four demon-slaying families? Are there any very powerful people among them?" Beo looked at Ling curiously. He felt that since Ling had brought it up specifically, these four families must be very interesting, and interesting things were what he was looking for.

"If you ask me, the four great exorcist families are a little more troublesome for you than magicians, since two of them are known for their physical skills. But they're just a little more troublesome; you'll still win if you fight them."

Without encountering Ryougi Shiki, Rin deliberately added this sentence to her mind.

"That powerful?" Olga looked at Touko with suspicion, because these so-called four great demon-slaying families were clearly native to Japan, and as a representative of the Japanese underworld, Aozaki Touko should know them very well.

"I only know they exist, but I don't really know what's so special about them. And as far as I know, several of these families have declined or fallen into ruin," Orange replied with a somewhat uncertain tone.

"Ling." Olga turned to look at Ling. She didn't know why, but she felt that the four great exorcist families were hiding some incredible secret.

“Olga, curiosity killed the cat.” Ling clearly didn’t want to reveal anything about the four great exorcist families to Olga, so she shook her head to indicate that she wouldn’t say anything.

"I'd like to know too, since I might have to help those two girls. In that case, just tell me briefly." Orange felt that what Ling wanted her to do was not simple. This was based on a magician's intuition. She always felt that if she helped those two girls, she might encounter a formidable enemy.

“Actually, Miss Orange, it’s alright if you don’t go to rescue them.” Ling noticed that Orange seemed genuinely interested in those two people. “Those matters will be resolved in the future—”

“But ordinary people have died in these things.” Orange’s gaze suddenly became heavy as she looked at Ling. She tried to dispel her displeasure and spoke to Ling in a guiding tone, “If you really didn’t want to save people, you shouldn’t have brought it up with me in the first place. Since you brought it up, don’t hesitate! Your personality isn’t selfish, but you have absolutely no sense of responsibility. I’m sure you’ll never amount to anything in this world because no matter what you do, you’ll easily give up in the end! Even if you’re only one step away from success, if you feel that you’ll have to shoulder the responsibility after success, you’ll definitely run away, right?”

Suddenly, Olga was overwhelmed by a strong sense of unease, because she knew that what Orange said was true. Even though she had a relationship with Ling, she never dared to guarantee that Ling would not abandon her. Even though he had told her that he would take responsibility, how much responsibility could he actually take?

Is it to never abandon it? Or, like the Einzbern family in this world, to abandon it without hesitation once a successor is found? Because if Ling feels that finding a way to make the other party safe is all it takes to give it up and feel relieved, will she be arranged in the same way in the future?

Ling showed no emotional reaction to Chengzi's words. He calmly looked at the bright moon in the sky and said softly, "The sun and the moon will just float there quietly. How humans use light and heat is their problem."

Orange hadn't expected Ling to say something like that, while on the Chaldea side, Kirshtalia Wodem looked up thoughtfully at the Skyguard, her gaze seemingly looking through it at something.

"Do you mean to compare yourself to a god?" Orange didn't know why she was questioning so agitatedly, but now the inexplicable sadness surging in her heart felt like it was about to pierce through her chest.

“No, if I had to say, I’m an outsider.” Ling showed a thoughtful expression. “Yes, an outsider. Not a participant, not a scribe, not an observer, not a recorder, not even a listener. Just an outsider.”

Ling seemed to have figured something out and looked at everyone, from Orange to Beo, from Beo to Ilya, and from Ilya to Olga. Everyone who was looked at by his current gaze felt somewhat uncomfortable.

A terrifying look

Cruel eyes

An eerie gaze.

A hard gaze.

A look in his eyes as if he were judging a price.

A look that treats people as less than human.

Observe a person's eyes from the inside.

A gaze that seemed to see through everything.

A look that denies the existence of a particular way of the world.

A gaze that defines the world in the opposite way.

If I had to sum it up, it would be—the gaze of a non-human being.

"—You look exactly the same as when Aoko used magic back then." Orange looked at Ling with lingering fear, because Ling's current gaze was too indescribable. The only thing she could compare to in her memory was Aoko's mysterious appearance after activating [magic].

"What exactly are you?" Recalling the memories of that night, and seeing the inexplicable changes in the boy in front of her, Orange felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

Meanwhile, chaos reigned in Chaldea. Just moments ago, Ling's figure vanished from Chaldea's observations, with neither visual nor auditory representation possible. This occurred right after Orange asked Ling if he considered himself a god.

Within the Starry Sea, the prisoner, peering at the surface world through a small window, let out a soft sigh, "Ya-le ya-le."

Sitting amidst a sea of ​​flowers, the Flower Magician stroked his chin in distress. "I was just at the crucial point, and this is the last thing I did? It seems some strange change has occurred to my kind again. Heh~ The key to the influence of [Self] is actually [Language]. This is truly terrible. Knowing too much has attracted all sorts of strange beings. This kind of change is not a good thing. Do I still have to go and ask Vivian for help? Ugh, going that far is exhausting."

Merlin, who had intended to visit the Lake Fairy to ask some questions, ultimately abandoned the plan. He felt that even if he went to Vivian, he wouldn't get the answers he wanted. Based on his understanding of the world, he had guessed that Ling might not have been born on the inner or outer side of the planet, but rather on the outer side.

If that's the case, then he shouldn't meddle in other people's business. After all, the planet has certain plans, and Ling is currently in a place he can't reach. Even if he wanted to help, he wouldn't be able to.

"I hope you haven't forgotten what I taught you before, otherwise you'll become more and more unfamiliar with yourself." Merlin rested his chin on his hand, recalling the days when Ling lived with him here, and closed his eyes with a little worry.

"Fourfour!!" Suddenly, he heard another friend shout. He opened his eyes again and saw that in the Chaldea control room, Fou was shouting at Touka. Then, he had a flash of inspiration and thought of a solution that was not a solution.

Merlin abruptly stood up, staring intently at the window. "That's it! So that's how it was! Was it a coincidence or fate? No, no, no matter what, at least I see hope! But can that puppeteer understand? If he can't, it's all a waste of effort—oh my! It can be like this! Doesn't the personality that seals the Holy Lance not have Kai's memories? Why can it understand Cassiopeia's cries?!"

Rewind a minute, and Chaldea still couldn't see Ling's figure. Suddenly, Olga panicked and reached out her hand towards where Ling had been. The gesture seemed to be grabbing something, and at the same time, the Command Seals on the back of her hand emitted an unprecedented light!

It turned out that after Ling seemed to have figured something out, his body slowly turned into a layer of translucent black. This black did not have the kind of fear that the evil of this world evoked; it seemed to have always been there, always naturally there.

As the blackness appeared and deepened, Olga felt the contract between her and Ling becoming unstable. Startled, she quickly reached out to Ling beside her and gripped his hand tightly. "What's wrong, Ling! What's wrong with you!"

Ling knew why Olga was flustered. His hand, which Olga was holding, twitched slightly, as if hesitating whether to hold it back. He lowered his eyes, not looking into Olga's eyes, and let her shout anxiously beside him.

“Miss Orange, you’re right. I’m not one to take responsibility. After all, I’m quite self-aware. If Arthur hadn’t given me his spirit origin, I wouldn’t have given him that hint at the end of the apocalypse. Once those 500 days were over, Yug would have taken away the ‘me’ that I had abandoned. That world would either be used as a surveillance device to control events or be destroyed. However, there’s a high chance that the Sands of Osiris would have permanently sealed it away using a special method. If Arthur’s ability as a mobile savior were activated and he left that timeline, I might have chosen to live a peaceful life in that world.”

Ling gazed at Chengzi, "I think it wouldn't be so bad if it turned out that way, because there are people there who understand and indulge me. If the world is really destroyed, she and I can escape to the Moon Spirit Crystal. Even if the timeline is cut off and abandoned inside, we can still live well."

Orange had a feeling that she knew who the person who could understand and indulge him was. It is normal for people of the same kind to repel each other, but that person of the same kind was herself. This feeling of frustration made Orange feel very uncomfortable!

You've been talking to yourself the whole time! I don't even know you! Why do I still feel like I've done something wrong?

Orange wanted to shout this out loud, but faced with the increasingly intense sense of unease from Ling, she couldn't say anything.

"Don't go! You promised you wouldn't abandon me!" Olga finally couldn't stand Ling's indifference and forcefully turned his face towards her. Ling didn't resist. His indifferent gaze wavered slightly when he saw Olga's tearful face, but it was really just a slight change.

“Olga, you might actually be better off not going back.” Ling finally decided to talk to Olga.

"Actually, when you think about it, you and I are the most similar beings, so I subconsciously dislike you. I suppose you feel the same way?" Wiping away Olga's tears, Ling looked at the glistening teardrops on the back of her hand and then pressed them to her lips.

“We’ve both died, we’ve both been unwanted. The difference is that you actively seek others’ approval, while I don’t. You’re pursuing a sense of reality, while I’ve only felt emptiness from beginning to end.” Ling tasted the slightly salty flavor in her mouth, but felt a different kind of bitterness in her heart.

"Why are you saying all this! What are you trying to do!" Olga grabbed Ling's hands and cried as she questioned him loudly.

“Since humans ate the fruit of wisdom, they have become travelers, following the routes shown by the rites and placing a faint hope in the future. This should be a very normal thing, but now I realize, or rather, I was unwilling to admit before, that I have never had any hope for the future.” Without answering Olga’s question, Ling gently placed her other hand on Olga’s head.

Chapter 399 Oranges, Oranges, and More Oranges (Part 7)

“If you need me, I can stay by your side to help you, just like I have done before. Since someone needs me, I will give it to her. But I must maintain my identity. This is one of the few things that belongs only to me.” Ling slowly emerged from the translucent black sac, like a cicada shedding its shell. Olga felt the sensation of holding Ling’s hand vanish for a moment, but the contract was firmly established again.

"Wait—" Olga instinctively wanted to refuse. She didn't know why she should refuse, but if she didn't, things might become very different.

However, before she could even shout, a thin, crimson thread wrapped around Ling, who was trying to break free, and forcefully pushed him back down.

"This is—!" Ling stared at the red silk thread binding her, stiffly turning her head to look at Chengzi. Chengzi was also staring blankly at her palm, because the thin red thread was shooting out from her palm.

Ling's lips twitched in disbelief. "Where did you come from, Spider-Man?"

"What the hell is this thing?" Orange also realized something was wrong and hurriedly tried to shake off the silk thread in her hand. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break it. What was even more terrifying was that when she tried to tear the thread with her other hand, she found that she couldn't touch it at all.

On the Chaldea side, many people were looking back and forth between the Aozaki Touko on the screen and the Aozaki Touko in the control room. Just now, after seeing Ling disappear, Fou jumped anxiously to Aozaki Touko's side and kept shouting at her. Completely confused, Aozaki Touko squatted down, trying to understand what Fou was trying to express from her eyes. After all, she already knew from Ling's words that Fou was a fantasy species like Beo. She brushed the long hair that fell by her ear and carefully focused on Fou's eyes, but she still couldn't understand what Fou was trying to express.

She could indeed see intellect in Fou's eyes, but Fou couldn't express that intellect well. She looked up at Mashu in confusion, "Do you know what this little one is trying to say?"

Mashu was surprised that Touko would suddenly strike up a conversation with her. Mashu looked at Touko in confusion and then shook her head repeatedly.

"Is there no one in Chaldea who can understand this little guy?" Orange was surprised that even Mash, who seemed to be the owner, couldn't understand Fou's meaning. She felt that things were getting a little difficult. Fou looked very anxious. Combined with the fact that Ling suddenly disappeared in the scene, then what Fou wanted to tell her must be related to Ling.

The Chaldeans looked at each other, then fell silent.

To everyone's surprise, the person who told Orange the answer was one of the members of their investigation team.

“That stinky cat is saying ‘use what I gave you!’” Ad said from beneath Gray’s robes in a tone completely different from usual. If the strange construct’s tone was funny before, it was now calm and serious.

“Yard?” Grey looked down at the birdcage in her hands.

"..." Yad didn't offer any explanation for its partner's confusion, and even fell silent again after saying those words.

"Use what I gave you?" Orange thought of Fou, who had given her a red Chinese knot when she first entered Chaldea. She took the Chinese knot out of her pocket, and it looked like an ordinary thing no matter how you looked at it.

Completely bewildered, she could only look at Fufu again and ask, "How do I use this?"

However, Fou ignored her and ran back to Mashu's feet, begging for a hug. Orange looked at this magical little animal and was speechless for a moment.

She stood up again, looking at the Chinese knot in her hand. Da Vinci, Dr. Roman, and Rafe were all looking at the thing. This thing was the medium through which Olga summoned Ling, and it seemed to be Ling's property. But Ling hadn't cared much about it for a long time, so it had always been tied to Fou's tail.

Fou also really liked this little thing. Even though she was running around Chaldea all day, she had protected it very well. It was neither lost nor dirty. However, she gave this important thing to Aozaki Touko, whom she was meeting for the first time. This caused a small ripple in Chaldea.

However, after learning that Ling had once crossed paths with the existence of [Aozaki Touko], this question was answered, but in the end, the meaning of this Chinese knot remains unclear.

Now, as Orange looked at the Chinese knot, she suddenly noticed that it seemed to be glowing faintly. Then, the observer recording the screen suddenly shouted, "Servant Listener has reappeared!"

Orange stood up and looked at the screen. She saw that her counterpart from another timeline had suddenly bound Ling with a thin red thread. She looked down at the Chinese knot in her hand. The faint red light became more and more obvious. On the screen, Ling was also wrapped with red threads, and his figure and voice reappeared, becoming clearer and clearer.

Orange in Chaldea didn't sense any magical fluctuations from the Chinese knot in her hand, but it was clear that what happened on the other side was definitely related to this Chinese knot. Everyone noticed this issue, and someone from Group A gave the Chinese knot a look of sudden realization. She calmly took off her glasses, using this action to hide the burning desire in her eyes.

Koyanskaya looked at the Chinese knot with a complicated expression, but in the end she didn't say anything. She just tried to look away and turn her gaze to the big screen.

"Is that so? So that's how it is! There's another Aozaki Touko over at Chaldea?!" Ling looked at the increasing number of red threads wrapped around his body and finally remembered what they were. He looked up at the sky, and his gaze seemed to travel through time and space to see another Aozaki Touko in Chaldea holding the [Fate Bond].

"Heh~ Fate! Fate! This kind of thing—" Before Ling could finish speaking, her mouth was bound by red silk, and the bright black shell that appeared on her body was also stained and neutralized by the red light, eventually disappearing. Ling's plan to split her soul again also failed.

Anger and resentment flashed in his eyes, then turned into disappointment and frustration, and finally all of that returned to calm.

After Ling calmed down, the fine threads slowly split into three parts: one part flowed into the back of Olga's hand, one part entered the dazed Ilya's body, and the largest part shrank back into Orange's body.

At that moment, Orange's perspective shifted. She was standing in a high-tech hall, surrounded by many people watching her. She saw a large screen displaying footage of where she had been standing. However, she also recognized two somewhat familiar faces in the hall. She touched her face, and a man beside her asked, "Aozaki, what happened?"

Just as she was about to explain, she found herself back in front of Ling. Everything that had just happened seemed like an illusion, but she knew it wasn't. She must have been transported to another version of herself from another world, which was probably the timeline from which Ling and the others came.