Banquet • Part One

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the two people practicing dance indoors, blurring even the colors.

"Actually, during that final banquet, I kept thinking, if you were here, could I ask you to dance with me?" Elysia said softly. "That would be... fulfilling one of my wishes."

"It's my honor, Elysia," Zhu Yufeng said with a smile, but... he vaguely remembered Kevin telling him about the scene back then, and the situation was like this:

Zhu Yufeng: "She has never been an enemy of humanity, has she?"

Kevin: "As you expected."

Zhu Yufeng: "What did you all do before saying goodbye?"

Kevin: "I got beaten up."

He clearly said during the plot of his previous life that it was a dance, and in that life he was wondering why Kevin was so clueless about romance, and why Elysia would take it so seriously... Now that he thinks about it, it's probably because he didn't go and gave the invitation to Kevin so that Kevin could go in his place, and then Elysia really did beat up Kevin.

"Is that so... You are honored..." Elysia gently lowered her beautiful eyelashes and tightened her grip on Zhu Yufeng's hand.

It's an honor... In other words, Feng still didn't place him and her on the same level. She had always felt it, felt his concern for everyone, and felt the inability to get close to him.

He cared about her, that's true, but he also cared about everyone, all the Flame-Chasers...

"I... I won't give up," she said softly. If she couldn't get close, she would try little by little. Because she loved Feng so much, and she didn't want to be like she was in her previous life, only able to watch him from afar, and ultimately, never even being able to see him.

Zhu Yufeng: "?"

What does that mean? He thinks Elysia pretty good at dancing the kabuki, and that he himself isn't very good at it. Is she planning to give up on something?

In the training ground, Pardo sat on a chair, feeling depressed. Thinking about how Brother Yu Feng and Sister Elysia were practicing dancing, she felt very unhappy. She also wanted to dance with Brother Yu Feng!

I've lost all interest in training.

"Hey, isn't this Little Pardo? Why are you looking so worried? What happened?" A cheerful voice rang out beside her.

Pardo looked up and saw a blonde girl. Pardo tilted her head. She didn't recognize the girl, so why did the girl recognize her?

"Hello, I'm Disaster. Today is the first time we've officially met." The girl smiled and extended her hand.

Disaster? Pardo has a boyfriend, isn't she Amo's childhood friend? But in her previous life, she sacrificed herself very early, before Paddo joined the Fire Moth. Paddo had only heard the name from others.

"Hello, may I call you Sister Daisy?" Pardo extended her hand and shook it back. She was younger than Disaster, so it was perfectly fine for her to call her "sister".

"Of course you can!" Disaster smiled, her eyes crinkling.

"Then how did you know me, Sister Daisy?" Pardo asked, remembering that she had no connection with Disaster.

"Ah, that? I heard others mention Fire Moth King Maple was accompanied by a Little Scroll King named Pardofelis. Plus, Maple and Amo seem to have a pretty good relationship, so I've been paying more attention." Disaster shrugged. "Speaking of which, isn't Maple here?"

When Disaster mentioned Feng, whom she had only met once, she still harbored a little resentment. It seemed that Amo paid special attention to Feng's every move, and would occasionally show a hint of admiration when talking about Feng with her...

The direct consequence was that Amo spent less and less time with her...

So she still went to find out some information about Feng. It would have been better if she hadn't known, because she was shocked when she found out. Holy crap, what kind of "King of Rolls" is he? He went from a weak boy to a full-fledged soldier in just one month of training, and even participated in killing the Third Law. His daily training intensity was much higher than everyone else's.

No wonder the first reaction among those within the Fire Moth when they hear about him is, "That King of Scrolls?"

"Brother Hen said there would be a banquet in a few days, with a dance at the end, so Brother Yu Feng and Sister Elysia went to practice dancing," Pardo said dejectedly.

Disaster raised an eyebrow. Elysia? She knew that girl too; she was the one who introduced her and Amo to the Fire Moth.

Seeing Pardo's sullen expression, Disaster quickly conjured up the following scene in her mind:

A girl who longs for a reliable senior joins the Fire Moth for his sake. However, this senior also has another outstanding man by his side. In order to catch up with her senior, the girl trains as hard as he does. However, because she can't dance, she loses the opportunity to take her relationship with her senior to the next level because of someone else...

Emma, that makes a lot of sense! Disaster was practically bursting with enthusiasm; she was determined to help!

She patted Pardo on the shoulder. "Little Pardo, you didn't call me 'sister' for nothing. It's just dancing, right? Your Sister Daisy can do it too. I'll teach you."

"Huh? What about Amo?" Pardo, somewhat surprised.

Disaster's eye twitched, then she looked expressionlessly at the training ground. "Let's just forget about that clueless Ah Amo."

In the training field, Kosma is training against Kevin.

Compared to Feng, she cared more about Kevin. Amo spent all her time training with Kevin, even though she had a childhood friend who was also Fire Moth...

Pardo seemed thoughtful. If she remembered correctly, Amo had a melodica that he treasured very much. She Brother Yu Feng say, "It was a gift from his childhood sweetheart. At that time, he wasn't very good at playing it, but now he plays it quite well. But that person can no longer hear it."

Amo actually still cares about Sister Daisy, right?

Or... should she try giving it a push?

That evening, Mobius was once again ruthlessly dragged out of the lab by Zhu Yufeng to go for a run. Of course, Zhu Yufeng's promise to make him special instant noodles was fulfilled after Mobius, half-dead, finished his workout.

"By the way, Brother Yu Feng, can you cook too?" Pardo, watching Mobius devour his noodles, wondering how Zhu Yufeng cooked them.

"... Lilith Church." Zhu Yufeng said.

Mobius almost spat out his instant noodles. How come Lilith even knows this?

Elysia looked thoughtful. After all, Lilith was an all-around assistant, and the word "all-around" was not just for show. It seemed that there was nothing Lilith couldn't do. Eden had also said that she had heard that Lilith was very talented in music before she joined the Fire Moth.

She didn't even want to ask Feng how he learned it anymore; she figured Lilith would control him again, as expected.

So, can't she try a different approach?

"Wow, this looks really good, Feng, can you teach me?" she asked Zhu Yufeng with a smile.

"Yes, that's fine."

Kevin looked at Su and said, "That's why I said..."

Sue abruptly interrupted Kevin, saying, "Stop talking." He knew Kevin wouldn't give up any opportunity, and he was glad he had come along. He genuinely felt that if things continued like this, Kevin would eventually become like Kaiwen.

Su sighed softly to himself. Although Lilith might have seemed a good match in the previous life, Lilith would only unconditionally obey Feng's orders, just like... Kevin and Mei. He felt this wouldn't do, especially since Feng and Elysia were getting along well in this life. All the reasons from the previous life had vanished with the changing world; let bygones be bygones.

There was something he had never said: Lilith had always given him a very strange feeling, an indescribable sense of disharmony between his inner and outer self.

In short, things aren't looking good.

Kevin remained silent. After all, judging from Su's expression, he knew that Su already knew what he was going to say. He just wanted to express his firm stance.

Sakura was thinking that she seemed to only know how to make simple rice balls and other rice dishes, and wondered if Kaede would want to learn...

Time passed quietly, and soon the banquet that Hen had mentioned arrived as scheduled.

"Wow, Feng, this outfit really suits you~ You look so handsome." Elysia said with some surprise when she saw Zhu Yufeng appear in front of her. She had originally wanted to personally guide Feng on how to match clothes, but judging from this... it was probably related to Lilith again.

She's used to it...

"Oh, is that so? Thank you..." Zhu Yufeng felt a little awkward, after all, he had absolutely no confidence in his appearance, and this was a combination recommended by Lilith...

When I was the leader of the Fallen Angel, I was truly only responsible for fighting Honkai...

Do guys really care what they wear to a party? Shouldn't it just be a formal suit and neat clothes?

But since we're going to dance with Elysia... we should probably prepare properly...

"Shall we go then?" Elysia said with a smile.

"Um..."