"Eh? Dr. Mobius?"
Blanca had just composed herself and walked out of the room when she ran straight into Mobius, who was standing silently by the bedroom door. Her eyes immediately grew flustered, and she stammered,
"D-Dr. Mobius... did you have some work for me?"
Mobius's face was gloomy, and Blanca barely dared meet her eyes.
After who knew how long, Mobius took a deep breath, held out her right hand toward Blanca, and said,
"Give it to me."
"Huh... huh?"
Blanca was a little dazed. She did not understand what Mobius meant.
"Your resignation letter. Give it to me."
Mobius sounded somewhat impatient, and her tone frightened Blanca. Blanca hurriedly pulled the crumpled resignation letter from her clothes and handed it to Mobius with both hands.
Mobius took the crumpled resignation letter, pulled out the pen she carried with her, signed her name in the employer's section, and then tossed the letter back to Blanca.
"All right, Blanca. You can leave now."
"Huh... huh?"
"What are you huh-ing about?"
Mobius waved her hand impatiently.
"Was I not clear enough? From this moment on, you are no longer my, Mobius's, experimental assistant. There is no place for you in my laboratory anymore."
"I... huh?"
Blanca only felt that Mobius was acting strangely today—so strangely that it was almost unforgivable. After thinking for a moment, she still asked Mobius with a baffled expression,
"Doctor, are you... running a fever?"
As she spoke, Blanca looked toward Xu Ziling with a puzzled expression, asking whether he knew what was wrong with Mobius today.
Xu Ziling naturally knew, but he certainly could not say. He could only shrug helplessly and pretend to be blind.
"Huh??"
After hearing Blanca's words, Mobius seemed to get worked up. She rose onto her toes, thrust out a finger, and viciously poked Blanca's forehead several times.
"Blanca, did spending too much time with Elysia make you stupid? Was I not clear enough?? From the moment I finished signing that contract just now, you! stopped being my, Mobius's, experimental assistant! You have no reason to stay in my laboratory anymore! Because you... have graduated!!"
"Huh??"
Confronted with Mobius's outburst, Blanca became even more confused and stammered,
"I... I graduated??"
"Yes."
Mobius answered bluntly,
"When you first came to be my assistant, was it not because you admired my achievements in biology and wanted to earn a degree here? Now you have graduated. I will have the Fire Moth send you your certificate later. You have no reason to stay here anymore, so please go home."
"B-but..."
Having obtained the certificate she had once dreamed of, Blanca was not happy at all. Instead, she looked at Mobius worriedly.
"But, Dr. Mobius, I still haven't found a suitable replacement for me. As for Mr. Xu Ziling... I haven't even had time to teach him how to handle the paperwork. If I leave now, what will you do, Doctor? What will you do?"
"Huh???"
The expression on Mobius's face grew even more exaggerated. She gave a disdainful snort, then reached out and tapped Blanca's forehead again.
"Blanca, remember this. You used to be my experimental assistant, but that is all you were—an experimental assistant. Your presence certainly made my work at the laboratory much easier, but that does not mean my laboratory will stop functioning just because you are gone!
"Do you understand? Blanca, if you understand, then leave! There is no place for you here anymore!"
It was obvious that Blanca still wanted to say something, but Mobius directly reached out and covered her mouth. Her expression shifted unpredictably.
"Blanca, I know what you want to say. You want to accuse me of being cold-blooded. You want to ask how I could treat all the feelings we built up over so many years as bubbles in a single day, right?
"Hahahahaha~ Blanca, that is truly hilarious... Go anywhere in the Fire Moth and ask anyone. See if there is a single person who does not think 'Mobius' is a cold-blooded, brutal doctor! How dare you measure me with sentiment? Who gave you the right?! Do you think I will be unable to live if you leave? Do you think my laboratory will stop running without you?!
"Who do you think you are? Blanca, do you expect me to lie on the floor, crying and throwing a tantrum while begging you not to leave? As if that could happen! I am Mobius! Mobius, the most cold-blooded biologist in the world! Something like that... how could it possibly..."
Perhaps realizing that her voice had faltered at the end, Mobius's expression changed. She immediately put on a stern demeanor and fixed Blanca with a severe gaze.
"Perhaps you did feel a little warmth from me in the past... but I need to tell you that the Mobius you see now is the real Mobius. The warmth you felt from me before was fake! Do you understand? It was merely a means I used to make you work harder for me, got it?
"So, Blanca, if you want to leave, then leave now. You were nothing more than a little pawn working under me, and I am nothing more than an absolutely evil, cold-blooded doctor. There is nothing here worth your attachment, right?"
After Mobius had said so much in one breath, Blanca hugged the experimental report Mobius had already signed and looked at her with a complicated expression.
Mobius truly seemed to be as cold-blooded as she claimed. Faced with Blanca's incomparably complicated gaze, she merely sneered disdainfully, then turned around without even looking at her.
...But that was only what Mobius herself believed.
In reality, everyone present—Blanca, Xu Ziling, and even Miss Elf, who was still fiddling with the box in the living room—could clearly see that Mobius's fingers... and even her entire body... were trembling slightly. This was the symptom of certain emotions reaching their limit. It could not be suppressed through sheer willpower alone.
Blanca had no doubt that if she stayed any longer, Mobius would absolutely break down emotionally. She might even burst into tears in front of everyone. But crying... truly did not suit Mobius.
Yes, Blanca knew that the best choice for her now was to take the signed resignation letter, return home under Mobius's scolding, and spend time with her husband and children. Later, she could take the diploma she had earned from Mobius and put her name on a few small biology projects. Even if Blanca did nothing else, she could accumulate enough wealth for her entire family to spend for the rest of their lives.
But... everything had happened far too suddenly. Blanca still had so, so many things she wanted to say to Mobius. Yet Mobius was already wandering on the edge of collapse, and Blanca truly did not know how to begin.
Blanca stood frozen in place, thinking for a long... long time. In the end, she still looked at Mobius's back and said,
"Doctor, I..."
"...Stop!"
Before Blanca could get a complete sentence out, Mobius raised her right hand.
"I know what you want to say. It is nothing but those disgusting farewell emotional scenes. I will give you five minutes. Hurry up and finish saying goodbye to me, Elysia, and Little Mouse! Then leave. I do not want you seeing me for another minute... or another second!"
After saying this, Mobius quickly ran off, leaving Blanca standing alone where she was.
Xu Ziling looked at the stunned Blanca, then at the Mobius who had run away. He helplessly shrugged, walked over, and said to Blanca,
"Senior Blanca, you... understood what the Doctor meant, right?"
"How could I not understand..."
Blanca muttered to herself. Then, as if she had thought of something, she looked at Xu Ziling.
"Mr. Xu Ziling, come here for a moment. There is something... I need to tell you in private."
"Hm?"
Xu Ziling was somewhat surprised. Without leaving a trace, he glanced at the Pink Elf still in the living room, then returned to Blanca's room with her and asked,
"What is it?"
"Um..."
Blanca scratched her head, then said,
"I just wanted to ask, Ziling... you do not have anything else to do tonight, do you?"
"Hm?"
Xu Ziling leaned back reflexively. Why did that sound so strange?
After thinking for a moment, Xu Ziling answered,
"When I have nothing to do at night, I usually go to the Doctor's room and sleep on the floor."
"Whew... good."
Blanca seemed to relax. She then looked at Xu Ziling seriously.
"Um... this may sound rather abrupt, but I really am not suited to staying at the laboratory anymore. Xu Ziling, could I ask you to sneak into the Doctor's room tonight and keep her company for one night? I can tell that the Doctor's emotions are about to collapse. She needs someone with her.
"As for Miss Elysia... well, her company would probably have the opposite effect on the Doctor, so I can only ask you. Will you do it?"
"So that is what this is about..."
Xu Ziling nodded, then said,
"Do not worry, Senior Blanca. Have you forgotten my relationship with the Doctor? Even if you had not asked, as her 'target,' I would still go keep her company."
"Mm."
Blanca nodded, then said,
"Then I will be going... Ah, sorry. I have not been able to teach you much during these days we have spent together. I will recommend another assistant to the laboratory later. Follow her and study when the time comes... I really am leaving now?"
"Mm."
Xu Ziling gave Blanca a deep look, smiled knowingly, and said,
"Senior Blanca, until we meet again."
"Mm, until we meet again."
With that, Blanca pushed open the bedroom door and prepared to leave this "little building" where he had lived for less than three days, yet where she had lived for "three years."
"Creak."
"Eek!"
What Blanca did not expect was to see the Pink Elf crouched against the door, eavesdropping, after she opened it. As the inner door slid open, Elysia nearly fell over.
"Miss Elysia, you..."
"Ahem, ahem!"
Feeling the odd look Blanca gave her, Elysia hurriedly coughed twice and changed the subject with a smile.
"Oh my, what a coincidence~ Fancy meeting you two here... Anyway, Little Blanca is leaving the laboratory now, right?"
"...Mm."
Blanca nodded, then added,
"We will keep in touch."
"Oh my~ Why say 'in the future' and all that?~"
Elysia smiled and hugged Blanca, then asked,
"I only have one question for you, Blanca. Do you... still have money to buy a plane ticket?"
"...?!!!"
Elysia's words jolted Blanca awake and startled her. After calming down and thinking for a moment, Blanca said,
"...It is fine. I will borrow a little more from Hen. Our family can still afford one plane ticket."
"Hehe~ No need to go to all that trouble!"
Elysia smiled, nodded at Xu Ziling, and led Blanca by the hand into the living room.
On the living-room table sat the "box" Elysia had been fiddling with from the start.
When he came closer, Xu Ziling discovered that the box on the table was not an ordinary box at all, but a collection of "gift boxes" of various sizes, each wrapped beautifully.
"Ta-da~ This is Miss Elf's big surprise!"
Elysia cheerfully handed a gift box to Blanca.
"Open it and see~"
When Blanca opened it, she found not some trinket, but a plane ticket that had already been booked in advance—a ticket... to M Continent.
M was the most cutting-edge continent in the world. It was not Blanca's homeland, but Hen and Griseo were there, so it was Blanca's home.
The flight was scheduled for... three o'clock in the morning tonight, departing from Changkong City's First Airport.
When she saw the ticket, Blanca's pupils contracted. She looked at Elysia with both helplessness and delight.
"Miss Elysia... so you already knew the Doctor would make me leave tonight?"
"Mm-hm~"
Elysia tilted her head slightly.
"Just a little concern from a beautiful girl for the companion by her side... Oh, never mind that! Little Blanca, hurry and open the other boxes. I prepared lots of presents!... Eek, and Little Ziling, do not just stand there! Come help Little Blanca pack. I will... handle opening the gifts and keeping the atmosphere lively~"
Xu Ziling froze. He had not expected Elysia to call for him at a time like this. Once he recovered, he smiled helplessly, accepted the travel bag Elysia handed him, and earnestly helped Blanca pack the gifts Elysia had prepared for her.
Blanca also opened one gift box after another with great care.
Inside were the cute little dresses Elysia had bought for Blanca before, a hand-sewn cartoon sachet, a packet of jasmine tea... and so on. Elysia had prepared so many farewell gifts for Blanca that there were almost too many for Blanca to count.
The final gift box contained three dolls... or rather, three dolls stacked on top of one another.
At the bottom was a green Serpent glaring with cold eyes. Without a doubt, the doll had been sewn in Mobius's likeness.
Above the green Serpent lay an adorable pink elf. Without a doubt, this cute pink elf was Elysia.
And above the elf, at the very top of the stack... was a little blond, blue-eyed girl. Who she had been sewn to resemble, I will not say. Everyone knew perfectly well.
"Pfft... haha~"
Seeing the three adorable yet comical stacked dolls, Blanca could not help laughing. Then she asked in confusion,
"Miss Elysia, the dolls have the Doctor, you, and Ziling... but why am I not there?"
"Mm-hm~"
Elysia smiled at Blanca.
"Who says you are not there? You... have always been there, you know?"
As she spoke, Elysia gave Blanca a big hug. Blanca finally understood where the "herself" in the stacked dolls was...
Xu Ziling watched the scene and thought for a moment before shamelessly joining the hug. His current face and body were highly feminine anyway, so asking for a cuddle would not be a problem.
After the hug, the three of them let go of one another. Blanca took the bulging travel bag Xu Ziling handed her and said,
"Thank you... both of you. See you next time."
"Mm."
"Mm-hm~ Little Blanca, remember to call me after you get home!"
"Mm."
Blanca nodded firmly, shouldered her backpack, and pushed open the front door of the little building. Carrying the proof of graduation in her heart, along with the affection she held as both a mother and a friend, she left the little building in Changkong City.
"Whew!!"
In the blink of an eye, before Elysia, standing at the entrance, had time to wave goodbye to the departing Blanca, a jade-green figure rushed to her side, slammed against the doorframe, and shouted at the distant figure,
"Wait!! Blanca!!!!"
Blanca, who had not gone far, stopped and turned to look at the Doctor, whose eyes had already reddened, waiting for her to speak.
"Heh..."
Mobius's chest heaved unevenly. She gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and shouted at Blanca,
"Blanca!! Today, you left me! Go and tell everyone you meet from now on!! You are my, Mobius's, student! You are a student who graduated from under me, Mobius!! From now on, you never need to bow your head to anyone! Hold your head high and be proud! Go—go prove it to everyone!!! Do you understand me!!!!"
Blanca said nothing more. She simply firmly shouldered her travel bag.
Everything was left unsaid.
Volume One: The Crown of Truth (End)
Next Volume: The Vessel of the Imaginary Space
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