What kind of thing was suitable for expressing one's feelings?
For Miss Ling, this was undoubtedly a difficult question.
As a child, Ling and her older sister depended on each other, having almost no contact with outsiders.
When you live with the sister you've relied on since childhood, where is the need to express your feelings with gifts?
And with people you barely know, giving gifts to express affection is even more out of the question.
After her sister's demise, she was sealed away, losing even the most basic of interpersonal relationships.
It wasn't until a certain someone beat her to a pulp and she was bound together with Yae Sakura—who was practically the spitting image of her sister—that she could be considered to have a new social circle.
But—
Their way of getting along was still that of sisters.
Clearly, choosing a gift that could express romantic love...
It was a bit beyond the syllabus for her.
While the difficulty wasn't as absurd as stuffing Lie groups and graph theory into a high school textbook, it was no less than teaching advanced mathematics ahead of schedule.
"Do you have any suggestions?"
The youth, a smile as hard to grasp as mist and smoke on his face, looked at the girl whose social circle was so narrow it was almost touching. His smile was tinged with amusement.
"..."
Miss Ling fell as silent as the Dokutah, known in the community as the ticker-tape timer.
What do you do when you see advanced algebra on a high school math test? Waiting online, urgent.
"Little Ling, you should be able to think of what Fu Hua, Sirin, and Mei like, right?"
As if he already knew something, the youth smiled faintly and continued.
"After all, you're a girl, aren't you?"
Huh?
Just because you're a girl, you're supposed to know what other girls like?
What kind of logic was that?
Brother, did you take a trip to India, get kicked into a river by Amiya's hoof, get your brain flooded with water from the Ganges, and then get your head caught in an elevator door?
As if something was stuck in her throat, Miss Ling had countless retorts she wanted to spit out.
But—
She held them back.
After all, she had just finished mocking him. If she couldn't come up with a condition that sounded at least somewhat reasonable now, it would be truly embarrassing.
"How about... trying to make some trinkets by hand?"
The girl, who wasn't actually sure how to express love, said after much thought.
Receiving something handmade from a lover should easily make a girl feel the sentiment behind it, right?
The girl, who had in fact once imagined a man with an unclear face carving an amulet for her with a small knife, or weaving a wreath for her with pretty little vines and wildflowers, felt a sense of longing.
That feeling must be wonderful.
"Isn't that just a daily routine?"
Quite surprised, the youth, who often stretched time to make a little extra for crafting small trinkets, looked at the girl who sometimes lived in his Herrscher core and sometimes at the Yae Shrine.
"Huh?"
As if she had heard something utterly unbelievable, Ling let out a startled cry.
"Bronya's HOMU doll, Seele's butterfly hair accessory, and Fu Hua's hairpin were all made by me."
"Sirin and Kiana's towels were woven by me."
"Mei and Ana's brooches were carved by me too."
Very calmly, the youth, who in Miss Ling's perception should have been busy trying to date cute girls every day, rolled his eyes.
"Giving small, handmade gifts to raise affection points... while it's interesting, isn't it a bit cliché?"
Isn't it a bit cliché?
Those words fell upon Ling's ears, and her expression instantly became a picture.
So, the thing she had spent so long thinking about was just someone else's leftovers?
"Are there no other options?"
A certain someone, who probably had enough self-awareness to know he had wronged the girls around him and thus never slacked off when it came to showing attentiveness, looked at the girl who seemed a bit dazed.
"Then... try going on a trip together."
Ling, who never expected her idea to be something a certain scumbag had already done to death, felt her mouth twitch as she spoke.
"Have you ever seen me go on a trip without bringing someone along?"
The retort, which was frankly a bit sharp for Miss Ling, landed in her ears.
Ling fell silent.
It seemed...
This guy really never skimped on spending time with the girls around him.
"Then... try cooking a meal together with your woman?"
Ling, who vaguely sensed that a certain someone might be a grandmaster when it came to maintaining relationships, sounded a bit lacking in confidence.
A certain someone greatly enjoyed the feeling of being taken care of and was also very good at taking care of others. It wasn't just once or twice that he had pulled a lover along to cook a meal while flirting.
Naturally, Ling received a roll of the eyes from a certain someone.
Clearly, she had proposed another meaningless plan.
So, he's already done things to this extent?
For some reason, Ling's mood began to sink.
This guy... there was a reason he was so popular with girls.
Then, what about herself?
Her feelings when seeing him kiss other girls had gone from initial disdain to disgust, and then...
It started to feel a little painful.
By the end of this mental shift, she couldn't stand to see him with other girls at all, but she was powerless to stop it and could only choose to sleep and pretend she didn't see. The emotions in Ling's azure eyes grew increasingly bewildered.
She had fallen for him after all.
Just like the other girls who hadn't liked him at first but eventually fell.
How pathetic.
She was clearly the Herrscher of Erosion, capable of altering others' emotions, yet her own feelings were shaken by a single scumbag...
So stupid.
"Forget it, there's really no point in talking about this."
Vaguely sensing what was happening, the youth simply raised the Divine Sword Mandala high.
As if time were reversing, the numerous divine instruments were pulled back into the Mandala Array by the sword, then returned to the Divine Sword of Salvation's interior.
"What are you...?"
Startled by the commotion as he recalled the weapons, the girl asked in a daze.
Wasn't he planning on picking something out?
"It's nothing. I just decided that if I want to give them the best gift, it would have to be a world of absolute peace."
The youth, now holding a necklace in his hand, stretched lazily.
"Therefore, what I should be doing is achieving Transcendance as quickly as possible, obtaining a Seat that can bear my 'Law,' and destroying the Tree and the Sea."
So that's how it is.
It's really his style.
Ling thought silently.
He would never let the people around him face real danger, eradicating all difficulties long before they could arise.
Gentle, yet cruel.
"This is for you."
The youth's voice interrupted Ling's thoughts.
Then, a slightly cool sensation suddenly touched her neck.
"Eh? Eh—"
Completely clueless about the situation, Ling let out a surprised cry, sounding like a young girl for the first time in a long while.
"What are you doing?"
Not understanding what was happening at all, Ling's face flushed red as she asked loudly.
"I just felt that you should have some jewelry too."
The youth squinted, his eyes smiling. The narrow corners of his eyes couldn't help but remind one of a cunning male fox.
"What do you mean by giving me jewelry?"
Ling stomped her foot, demanding an answer.
"Guess."