Sunday's fingers clenched and loosened at his sides, as though he were on the verge of breaking.
"Miss Kallen."
"Please give my sister back to me."
"I already said I won't." Kallen hugged her prize a little tighter. "Seriously, what is wrong with you? Weren't you the one who wanted to get her out of the way just now? And now that she's out of the way, you're unhappy again?"
"I—"
"You what?" Kallen cut him off. "Your sister apologized to me over your mess, then you wanted to send me away so you could threaten me in private, and now that I've put her to sleep, you're upset again. Mr. Sunday, what exactly do you want?"
As if worried he might keep pestering her, she added one more line.
"Ask again and I'll beat you to death."
At that, Sunday opened his mouth, his throat bobbing once.
Of course he wanted to argue. He wanted to say that he had never planned to separate Robin from her just to threaten her, that he was the one being threatened, that this whole thing had been the fault of the woman in front of him from the start.
But when the words reached his lips, they turned into nothing more than an almost inaudible sigh.
"…Put her on that bench over there."
"Let her sleep somewhere comfortable."
Kallen lowered her eyes to Robin in her arms, then looked back up at Sunday's face, which was written through and through with restraint.
"Fine."
She walked over and laid Robin down on the bench.
She even took off the outer layer of that Iris Family dress and folded it into a little pillow to prop under Robin's head.
Sunday stood a few steps away, watching this, and suddenly found the whole thing absurd.
"She'll probably sleep for three or four hours," Kallen said, straightening up. "Plenty of time for us to talk."
Sunday was silent for a moment before finally speaking.
"Who exactly are you?"
"Kallen." She blinked. "A returning singer of the Iris Family."
"…I'm asking for your real name."
"That is my real name." Kallen tilted her head, her expression innocent enough to make one want to cough blood. "Mr. Sunday, don't you trust me?"
Sunday gave no answer, but his silence was answer enough.
Kallen shrugged. "Fine, don't trust me then. A name becomes real once people use it often enough, anyway."
"You—"
"Enough with the you, you, you." Kallen cut him off again. "Didn't you say you wanted to talk? Then talk."
Sunday took a deep breath, forcing his mind back onto the proper track.
"If you had a problem with me, you could have come straight at me. Why did you get close to Robin?"
But when Kallen heard that, she laughed.
So the siscon really was worried she was up to no good with Robin.
"Mr. Sunday, don't you have something backwards?"
"You were spying the whole time, weren't you? Then you should know perfectly well that I wasn't the one deliberately approaching your sister. Your sister was the one who came looking for me first."
Sunday choked on his own words. He seemed unable to refute that.
And really, the facts were more or less exactly that.
He had only tipped off the Bloodhound Family because he was afraid she'd cause trouble in the dreamscape.
But he had never expected Robin to overhear any of it.
Even worse, after that stream of shameless nonsense from Kallen, Robin had actually been taken in by it. In the twists and turns of sheer bad luck, she had really begun to suspect her own brother.
At the thought of that, Sunday let out another sigh and decided to move past the subject.
"Miss Kallen." His voice was much steadier now.
"The things you said earlier at the sanatorium—the parts about Preservation…"
"So you really were eavesdropping." Kallen didn't sound surprised at all.
Sunday did not deny it. He only continued, "Were those words truly from the bottom of your heart?"
Kallen rested her chin on one hand. "Why are you suddenly asking that?"
For once, Sunday's tone turned grave. "Because I want to know. A Preservation Emanator—why would she choose Order?"
At that, Kallen quickly produced her answer.
"I already told you. Order helped me before, so naturally I look on it favorably."
"That's not the whole reason." Sunday stepped forward.
"You said your Preservation was to be 'the people's shield.' Was that… true?"
Kallen fell silent for a moment.
Then she lifted her gaze. The teasing light so often lingering in her eyes had gone faintly darker.
She hadn't expected that one line she'd casually borrowed would actually strike a chord in him.
"Mr. Sunday," she said slowly, "what kind of person do you think qualifies as 'the people'?"
Sunday froze, apparently caught off guard.
Kallen pressed on.
"Or to put it another way—do you think everyone in this galaxy counts as 'the people'?"
Sunday did not answer immediately.
He looked toward Robin, sleeping quietly on the bench, peaceful and defenseless, oblivious to all the conflict outside her dreams.
"Not everyone," he finally said softly. "Not everyone counts."
"And who does?" Kallen asked.
Sunday was silent for a long time.
"Those who need to be protected," he said at last.
"Those who cannot protect themselves."
"Like the children from the sanatorium just now?"
"Yes. Like those children."
Kallen nodded, as if tasting the answer on her tongue.
"Then do the people the IPC throws outside the wall because they can't pay their credit bills count?"
Sunday did not reply.
"Do the ones touched by Nihility, who can't even remember who they are anymore, count?"
He still did not answer.
"What about the ones whom Order arranges everything for, people who don't even have the right to choose anymore? Do they count?"
Sunday's pupils contracted slightly.
"Are you talking about me?"
"I'm talking about a lot of people," Kallen corrected him.
"Mr. Sunday, your ideal is beautiful. You want everyone to be happy. You want everyone to live free from fear and suffering. But the problem is—who gets to decide what happiness is?"
"Order can—"
"Can do what?" Kallen interrupted. "Order can decide for everyone? Order can turn everyone into puppets on strings? Order can take away all suffering, and along with it, take away everything else too?"
Sunday's breathing grew uneven.
"You don't understand."
"You've seen those children gnawed on by Nihility. You've seen how they slowly lose all their colors. Pain, joy, sadness, anger… all of it disappears. In the end, they're nothing but empty shells."
"But I've seen worse. I've seen people who lost everything to war. I've seen people born into mud, fated to stay there forever."
"If Order can give them a dream from which they never have to wake, what is wrong with that?"
Kallen looked at him quietly.
"So you think that instead of waking up and suffering, it's better for them to stay asleep and dream?"
At last, Sunday answered without hesitation, "Yes. That is exactly what I believe."
"Perhaps, Miss Kallen, you are right. In a certain sense, Preservation and Order are indeed somewhat alike."
"And as for the question you asked just now—I think I have my answer."
"Weak people. Those who cannot continue living by their own strength. Those abandoned by fate. Those who disappear soundlessly into the corners of the galaxy."
"They are the true people."
When he had finished, Kallen did not immediately deny him, nor did she affirm him.
She simply nodded.
"I see. I think I understand a little of what you're trying to say, Mr. Sunday."
But Sunday refused to let it end there.
"So Miss Kallen still doesn't agree with me?"
"Well, of course not. Your ideal is far too fanciful. Isn't it normal for me not to agree?"
There was no chance she would agree.
Perhaps for true weaklings, the future Sunday promised really would be acceptable.
But she, Kallen, was not weak.
She could live just fine in the real world, so why should she sink into a dream?
"Then why did you choose to join us, Miss Kallen?"
"If you think what we're doing is wrong, then with your strength, you could have stopped us directly. Why choose instead to join us?"
That was the one thing Sunday could not understand.
From everything he had observed, he might sympathize with some of her ideas, but he still could not fathom why she had stepped onto their side.
Because at the end of the day, they were fundamentally opposed.
And this time, Kallen gave him her answer.
"Because helping you lets me accomplish my own goal."
"Your goal?" Sunday paused, then pressed on. "And what is that goal?"
Naturally, Kallen had no intention of telling him.
"Enough. We've talked more than enough. It's about time you left, don't you think?"
With no chance of getting any real information out of her, Sunday had little choice but to retreat for now.
After all, openly tearing things apart here was the last thing he wanted.
So he walked over to Robin.
He intended to take his sleeping sister with him.
But Kallen would not allow it.
"No. You can't take Robin away right now."
Sunday's brows drew together. "She is my sister."
"I know that." Kallen walked over to the bench and sat down beside Robin.
"But she's also my instructor now. You heard it yourself. She said she'd take responsibility for me all the way through."
"And besides, for the sake of my peaceful life ahead, how do I know you won't go tattling on me?"
"I won't."
Sunday finally said it.
But Kallen very obviously did not believe him.
"Mr. Sunday, the look on your face in that hallway earlier did not look like the face of a man capable of keeping secrets."
Sunday's mouth twitched faintly.
He wanted to argue, but in the end he swallowed the words. Because Kallen was right.
Just now, when Robin had questioned him, when she'd looked at him with those disappointed eyes, he really had been tempted to flip the table over entirely.
In the end, Sunday did not pursue that line of thought. He merely gave Robin one last look, then turned to leave.
Kallen, sitting there on the bench, lowered her head and studied Robin's sleeping face.
The Family's great star was curled there without a trace of wariness, her lashes casting small shadows over her cheeks, her breathing even and soft.
"She really is a good little sister," Kallen muttered.
"Too bad her brother's a hard-headed idiot."
No one knew how much time passed before Robin finally woke up.
The moment she opened her eyes, confusion flashed across her face. Her gaze lingered briefly on the unfamiliar surroundings before she abruptly sat up.
"Miss Kallen?"
"Over here."
Kallen's voice came from beside her.
Robin turned and saw Kallen reclining against the other end of the bench, somehow already snacking on something she'd procured from who knew where.
"I…" Robin rubbed her temples.
"How did I pass out? What happened just now?"
"Your brother did it," Kallen answered without the slightest hesitation, popping another bite into her mouth.
"He used Harmony modulation to make you fall asleep so he could talk to me alone."
Robin froze. Then she reacted at once, the confusion in her eyes replaced immediately by alarm.
"Miss Kallen, what did my brother do to you? Did he threaten you?"
At that, Kallen lowered her head. Her shoulders trembled slightly.
Then a tear rolled down her cheek.
Robin stopped breathing for a second.
Miss Kallen—the very Miss Kallen she had come to think so highly of—was crying.
Could it be that her brother, for her sake, had really done something unforgivable?
"Miss Kallen…"
Robin's voice softened. She reached out, wanting to touch her, yet hesitated in midair.
"He told me to stay away from you." Kallen's voice came out hoarse.
"He said if I got close to you again, he would…"
She did not finish the sentence. Instead, she lowered her head again and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.
Robin's pupils shrank slightly.
"What would he do?"
Kallen shook her head, as if afraid even to say it.
"Senior… we should keep our distance from now on," she said, standing and taking a step back.
"I don't want to cause you any trouble. Your brother was right. I'm just an outsider. A suspicious person who won't even tell you her real name."
"I only came to Penacony because of the Charmony Festival. Once the festival is over, I'll leave."
"So… so you'd better stop worrying about me."
With that, Kallen turned and prepared to walk away.
"Wait!" Robin called out, trying to stop her.
But Kallen gave her no chance at all.
In the end, she left Robin alone where she stood, quietly questioning her life choices.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter222)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 190
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 215
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 200
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 61
Checking In in Demon Slayer 65
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 15
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