Given Takatsuki's stamina, he wouldn't feel tired even if he ran for thousands of kilometers.
But at this moment, he only felt mentally exhausted.
He almost didn't make it. If he hadn't used the ability of his newly drawn character card, Dimaria Yesta, to stop time at the very end, this recruitment would have failed, and he didn't know if there would be a second chance.
"Who...are you?"
Takatsuki, who had just sighed in relief, immediately snapped back to attention upon hearing Cecilia's voice beside him.
"Cecilia...emmm..."
As soon as he spoke, Takatsuki didn't know how to address her.
Cecilia was currently twenty-four years old, not much older than himself.
Her daughter was his girlfriend.
So, how should he address her? Sister? Auntie? Mother-in-law?
"What's wrong? Is this...your doing?"
Cecilia didn't know who the young man in front of her was, but she noticed that the surrounding world had completely frozen.
This was true for the impact of the explosion, the flowers beneath her, and Sirin in her arms.
It was as if only the two of them could still move in this world.
"Yes, that's right. Because I almost didn't make it, I had to pause time. I'll just call you Cecilia; the seniority can't be messed up."
Seniority?
Cecilia didn't understand what that meant; she was certain she didn't know the young man in front of her.
However, Takatsuki had no intention of explaining slowly. Instead, he directly pulled out a contract.
"Cecilia, I want to introduce you to the savior of this world, the resting place for heroes after death, the guardian of human history, Throne of Heroes. And I am the administrator of Throne of Heroes, Takatsuki Sen."
Takatsuki placed the contract before Cecilia: "As a hero who ended the Second Eruption, you are qualified to join Throne of Heroes. As long as you sign this contract, you can become an Honored Spirit after your death."
Cecilia was momentarily bewildered by Takatsuki's words.
"Um...what is Throne of Heroes? And if it's a resting place after death, you can only join after death, right?"
"Throne of Heroes, you should have heard of Norse mythology, right? That heavenly place in mythology, Valhalla. You can think of it as something similar. Indeed, you can only join after death, so that's why I'm here, isn't it? Because you're about to die, aren't you?"
Even with honorifics, the offense couldn't be concealed. Telling someone they were about to die to their face, only someone like Cecilia would tolerate it. Anyone else, even if they were dying, would probably jump up and hit Takatsuki.
"Waiting for the brave to die? If you have this ability, why don't you go save them?"
As soon as Takatsuki heard Cecilia's words, he knew she had misunderstood something.
"You've misunderstood, and it's my responsibility for not explaining clearly. In reality, I am from the future, and the future is something that is already set. For me, the present is actually history. I can change history, but in return, the future would be destroyed, and a new timeline would be created. However, on that timeline, there are people I love and people who love me, so I won't do such a thing."
Cecilia immediately understood Takatsuki's meaning. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly felt a pain in her chest.
Although the surrounding world was paused, her time was not, and her time was also nearing its end.
Suddenly, a warm current entered her body, and her precarious life was barely sustained.
"I apologize. According to history, you must die here, so I cannot heal you. But I can do this much."
Cecilia had almost no blood left in her body. Even if Hamon was injected, the Hamon transmitted through blood would be difficult to sustain endlessly. She could only rely on Takatsuki's hand on her shoulder continuously injecting it to maintain her life.
"You don't need to apologize; I understand your position."
Cecilia smiled faintly. Knowing Takatsuki's reasons, she naturally wouldn't say anything more.
"Since you're from the future, can I ask you some questions?"
Takatsuki pondered for a moment when Cecilia said this.
"How about this? If you agree to sign this, I will grant you one, no, three wishes—three wishes that won't affect the course of history. What do you think?"
Takatsuki had just thought about it. It was a bit abrupt for him to suddenly ask someone to sign a contract.
Originally, he thought that becoming an Honored Spirit meant a second life, and others wouldn't refuse, but he hit a wall with Cecilia. He also learned from the experience and refined his persuasive tactics. Kyubey even uses wishes to trick little girls.
"Whether it's about the future or delivering your last words to someone, as long as it doesn't affect the course of the future, I can help."
"Doesn't affect the course of the future, huh..."
Takatsuki's words made Cecilia ponder: "Can I see that contract?"
"Of course."
Takatsuki handed the contract to Cecilia. He wasn't really Kyubey, so he naturally wouldn't hide anything.
"After becoming a Heroic Spirit, will I be subject to your control?"
After quickly reading it, Cecilia asked.
"Indeed, as I am the administrator of Throne of Heroes."
The terms of the contract were not complicated; the only problematic clause was the one about being subject to control.
Cecilia was unsure whether the person in front of her would exploit her power.
After some thought, she decided to take a gamble.
"Then can I ask you three questions first?"
"Of course."
Seeing Takatsuki agree decisively, Cecilia concluded that the young man in front of her was definitely not skilled at negotiation, or perhaps not very cunning.
After answering the questions, wouldn't it be up to her whether to sign the contract or not?
If she felt there was a problem, she definitely wouldn't sign.
It wasn't impossible that the other party had a way to force her, but the fact that he didn't do so at the beginning meant that he most likely couldn't. Moreover, the other party couldn't threaten her with the people in the present, because from the start, he had revealed that he couldn't interfere with history.
Although she was a pure Saintess, it didn't mean she was foolish. Or rather, many times, Cecilia feigned ignorance while knowing full well, making those choices for the sake of the world and ordinary people.
But at the end of this life...let me be selfish for once...
"I want to know about my daughter's situation in the future."
Is it this question after all?
Takatsuki thought for a moment and pulled out a terminal from the Gate of Babylon.
"Which daughter are you asking about?"
"?"
"I should only have one daughter, Kiana Kaslana."
Takatsuki nodded: "I know, I mean, never mind… just consider it a buy one get one free."
Originally, Takatsuki wanted to be mischievous and mess with the other party's mindset, especially since they weren't even using honorifics anymore, but then he suddenly remembered the other person's identity.
Mother-in-law!
Wouldn't it be over if she complained about him in the future?
Takatsuki directly opened his terminal and accessed the photo album.
"This future is the time period I'm from, which is fourteen years later, and these two are your daughters."