[You know that the children afflicted with Honkai Sickness must be relocated. Therefore, you have asked Vill-V to remodel The Deep End to resemble a garden.]
[As Aponia once said, some people can only better protect themselves and the innocent when they live within constraints.]
---o---
♪ Golden fields of wheat sway in the breeze ♪
♪ Traveler on horseback, where is your home ♪
♪ Oh~ my love, may we never be parted ♪
♪ Oh~ my love, may this moment last forever ♪
Humming Eden's favorite song, Fu Li slowly drove his beloved little car back to the church.
If he remembered correctly, there were still more than three months until the advent of the Seventh Herrscher, which was enough time for him to handle matters here.
However, when he knocked on the church door and saw what Kalpas was wearing, he couldn't help but freeze.
"Kalpas, you're… cooking?"
Seeing Kalpas in a chef's uniform, Fu Li began to question his own reality. He had just been on a business trip, right? He hadn't traveled to another dimension, had he?
"Hmph… I just lost a bet to the nuns. What's there to be so surprised about?"
Despite the mask, Fu Li could clearly sense Kalpas's shame, annoyance, and suppressed rage.
Though his fists were clenched, Kalpas managed to keep his emotions in check.
Just as Kalpas was about to turn and leave, he seemed to remember something and spoke with sudden malice.
"By the way, a woman named Aponia has been coming around a lot lately. Get rid of her, quickly. I don't like her."
"Aponia?" Hearing the name, Fu Li was puzzled. "Why is she here? Where is she?"
"She's in the basement right now. Sneaking around all day. I don't know what she's doing, so don't ask me!!"
After dropping that bombshell, Kalpas stormed off towards the kitchen without a backward glance, leaving Fu Li standing frozen in place.
A sense of dread crept into his heart.
Aponia couldn't have found out I locked Sakura up, could she?
No, stay calm. Don't panic.
With an extremely complicated mix of emotions, Fu Li guiltily closed the door. After making sure no one was around, he headed for the basement.
The first level of the basement was mostly used for storage. After Fu Li turned a candlestick, a section of the stone wall creaked open, revealing a narrow path leading straight down.
At the same time, thanks to the superior hearing of a MANTIS, the last sliver of hope in Fu Li's heart vanished.
"Um, Aponia, what are you doing here?"
Looking at Sakura, who wore an expression of someone who had lost the will to live, and then at Aponia, who was constantly trying to make conversation, Fu Li swallowed hard, his guilt becoming more and more obvious.
Hearing his voice, Aponia paused. She turned her head and stared fixedly at Fu Li. After a long moment, she revealed a gentle smile that wasn't gentle at all.
Closing the door to the secret room, Aponia and Fu Li sat face to face. The atmosphere was a little unnatural.
"Lord Priest, might I ask you to explain why you have imprisoned such a poor young lady in your basement?"
This was the first time Aponia had added 'Lord' after 'Priest,' and the first time she had used such a respectful tone. It was a clear indicator of the intensity of the anger she was suppressing.
"Wait, Aponia, listen to me quib... explain."
Fu Li instinctively leaned back, raising his hands in a French military salute.
As the saying goes, communication is the bridge to solving problems. Besides, with Aponia's talent, it was only a matter of time before she found out the truth.
"That woman's name is Sakura. She's part of the Toxic Chrysalis, an assassination unit secretly formed by the official transnational organization, the MOTHs Who Chase the Flame. She handles assassinations and clean-up duties."
"I captured her at the Sanatorium. Her objective was to 'clean up' the children there who are suffering from the Honkai Sickness."
"The reason I locked her here was so I could go and talk to the MOTHs about the future of those children."
This explanation contained a great deal of information. Aponia processed it in silence for a while before finally asking.
"'Clean up'… that means to kill, I assume. But Honkai Sickness? What is that?"
Aponia was certain he wasn't lying, but in the limited knowledge she had acquired growing up, the term 'Honkai Sickness' was clearly outside her area of expertise.
As for the matter of 'cleaning up' the children, Aponia, surprisingly, wasn't angry. The light in her eyes merely dimmed a little more.
Perhaps this was the sorrow of one who could see fate.
Seeing this, Fu Li could only patiently explain the cause of Honkai Sickness and the effects it would have.
"Priest, are you telling me all this because you've already thought of a solution?"
As he explained, Aponia's anger slowly dissipated, and she asked with a hopeful tone.
She was an intelligent woman. Although she hadn't received much formal education, her ability to understand and deduce was not lacking.
"That's right." Fu Li nodded. "At the MOTHs, I asked Vill-V to improve The Deep End. That will be the children's new home."
"There, they will receive the best medical assistance in an environment where they won't pose a threat to others."
Is that so?
If that's the case, then it's not a bad outcome.
For some reason, for a brief moment, Aponia felt as though her own fate had quietly begun to change.
But why? The threads I see have never changed.
Just like now, the luminous, thread-like veins of light still bound her and Fu Li tightly together.
"Then… what about that woman named Sakura?"
Aponia asked the final question on her mind.
"Simple. It's just a matter of a phone call. Her superior will explain everything to her."
Fu Li casually handed Aponia a special phone used internally by the MOTHs, along with two keys.
A call made from this phone couldn't be ignored by a mere leader of the Toxic Chrysalis; even the most powerful person in the MOTHs wouldn't dare to disregard it.
Wait, no, the most powerful person should be me right now. So it should be, even the second most powerful person in the MOTHs wouldn't dare to disregard it.
"Alright. I'll take these to her." Aponia nodded and stood up to walk back inside.
She had thought that dealing with the girl would be a difficult problem, but she never expected Fu Li to have already handled everything.
She had to admit, Fu Li was the most reliable man she had ever met, apart from his somewhat low EQ.
The iron door closed, sealing the sound away once more.
Half an hour later, a knock came from inside the room. Fu Li opened the door and was met by a pair of angry blue eyes.
Heh, she's definitely still mad at me…
Fu Li coughed awkwardly and extended a hand to Sakura.
"Let's start over. My name is Li, and I'll be your new direct superior."