"And then?"
"Then?"
Geno froze for a moment. Twiggy asked him 'then'... and then, of course...
...
What indeed.
Contemplation. Geno sank into deep contemplation. Thinking carefully, he hadn't actually thought about what he would do after leaving the Hollow at all.
He was merely following the instincts of his former human life, wanting to find a group to cling to.
But now, he had to properly think about what he would do after returning to human society.
"Leaving Geno aside for the moment, what about you, Twiggy?"
Lucia was particularly interested in this topic as well, but seeing that Geno wouldn't have a follow-up answer anytime soon, she turned her head to press Twiggy for an answer.
And Twiggy did not disappoint her.
"I want to repay my... repay the sins of the Silver forces. I want to create a way for humanity to defeat the Hollows."
Twiggy's gaze was extremely firm; her orange eyes flickered with an incomparably pious light.
Hearing this, Lucia was also stunned for a moment. She hadn't expected Twiggy's goal to be so grand, and also so harsh.
Yes, harsh.
In this world, there was currently no research institution that claimed to be able to defeat the Hollows.
That implies a method allowing humanity to completely eliminate the Hollows or to live freely within them.
Not like what they were doing now—building a shelter-like area inside a Hollow—but truly living within a Hollow for the long term without needing any protection.
"And you?"
Lucia, having the question thrown back at her by Twiggy, was stunned at first, but she reacted quickly.
"I want to find the Night Demon. I want to find a solution to the predicament my people face."
If the Night Demon could communicate, Lucia wanted to ask it—why give the 'Night Watcher' traits that are viewed as 'kin' by Ethereals? And could the dreams of the 'Night Watcher' ever stop leading to the ending where they lose their minds and turn into Ethereals?
Will there be a day when they can receive a response from the Hollow like the original 'Night Watchers,' and no longer have to wander from place to place just to avoid the Hollows?
This was what Lucia wanted to do.
"You say that about me, but your own wish is just as out of reach. Communicating with Ethereals or whatever—just thinking about it is absurd. Actually, no, that's not right. There really is a living example right here."
Originally wanting to say Lucia's goal was whimsical, Twiggy—who was even more absurd than Lucia—suddenly realized that such an anomaly existed right beside them: an Ethereal that could communicate.
"Hmm? Why are you guys looking at me? Oh, right. I am an Ethereal."
Although this particular communicable subject was completely devoid of value, that is.
"Hey, the two of us have finished speaking. It's your turn."
"That's right, that's right. Geno, you aren't allowed to run away! Confess honestly! You've been racking your brains to infiltrate human society—what do you want to do? Are you waiting for an opportunity to rule all of humanity!"
Lucia spoke with a sinister look, outlining a plot like something out of a conspiracy movie, but her tone ultimately betrayed her true thoughts; she was obviously joking.
"Hmm, perhaps that's also a good choice."
"Then you'd better give up early. With your IQ, you'd be exposed at the very first step and then immediately captured and thrown into a research institute."
Twiggy, arms crossed at the side, mercilessly poured cold water on the idea. However, Geno didn't mind.
After spending these past few days together, he was used to it.
"Jokes aside, I've really thought it through. My goal."
Geno's tone turned sharp, suddenly becoming formal. This made the two girls somewhat unaccustomed to the shift, but seeing him so serious, Lucia and Twiggy also became a bit nervous, their breathing quickening a few beats.
"My goal is... I want the people in this world to be able to show happy smiles."
"Hah?"
"Eh..."
Isn't that a bit too fake, big, and empty?
This was a moment of unprecedented unity in the two girls' thinking. Obviously, neither of them accepted such a vague goal from Geno.
"That's way too perfunctory toward us. If you don't want to say it, then forget it."
"Yeah, exactly. Are you treating us like three-year-olds? I stopped believing that kind of talk when I was five."
Geno spread his small hands and shrugged his small shoulders. He told the truth, but they didn't believe it.
Women. Truly unfathomable creatures.
"Believe it or not. Anyway, seeing as I can't even get out of the Hollow right now, these are all castles in the air and reflections of the moon in water. It's still a long way off."
Geno held his head and looked up at the sky. He really did think this way.
The memories of his past life were becoming increasingly blurry, but he always felt that if it were the 'him' from before, he would say the same thing as the 'him' right now.
After all, he was the kind of person who least wanted to see a tragedy.
His thoughts gradually drifted, and once again, he recalled that night when Thanatos dissipated.
"Since that's the case, then you two come and help me."
"Help?" x2
"Correct."
Twiggy nodded, then took out a small notebook from the crude shelter Geno had built.
On it was a checklist she had listed for the things to be done over the long period ahead.
"One of you wants to walk out of the Hollow, and one wants to go into the Hollow to find the Night Demon. In the final analysis, neither can avoid a single problem."
As she spoke, she drew a circle on the notebook and wrote a word inside it—Hollow.
"The Hollow. Whether it's an Ethereal going out, or a human exploring, the problem to be solved is the same: How to make the Hollow controllable, or rather, how to make Ether controllable."
Whether human or Ethereal, the biggest reason the two cannot integrate into each other's worlds is the difference in the Ether density of their living environments.
One requires high density; the other requires low density.
Just like right now, Geno must constantly maintain his Ether energy so it doesn't leak out.
Otherwise, the safe house Twiggy established would very quickly fall short of success.
The reverse is also true. An Ethereal who leaves the Hollow and is exposed to the outside world—an environment with almost no Ether—is like a fish leaving water, or a human leaving the air. It wouldn't take long for them to die.
"So, if my goal is solved, won't your goals also be easily resolved?"
Twiggy's words were like an enlightenment poured over their heads. The two of them felt as if their energy channels had been unblocked, instantly clarifying their train of thought.
Right! As long as the Hollow is solved, would their little problems even be called problems?
"Then what's there to say? Let's do it! From today on, I'll do whatever you tell me to do! No questions asked!"
"Mmn, I will help too."
Both of them offered Twiggy their absolute trust. Twiggy felt very moved in her heart, so she couldn't wait to begin her great undertaking.
"Since that's the case, let's start the experiment right now!"
"Experiment? Now?"
Geno sized up the shelter, which was only slightly better than ruins, and a big question mark appeared over his small head.
"Correct. The first thing you need to do is..."
"Strip!"
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