The air in the Black Stone Tower remained as cold as ever.
Leovet sat behind his massive desk, toyed with a gold coin in his hand. The coin flipped and danced between his fingertips as if it were alive.
“So, this is your creation?”
His gaze bypassed Bell and landed squarely on Tia.
Those “Eyes of Truth,” said to see through all illusions, were currently flickering with an eerie silver light.
Tia stood half a step behind Bell.
Quiet.
Submissive.
Like a perfect statue.
Faced with Leovet’s scrutiny—the kind that felt like it was peeling back one’s soul—she didn’t even blink.
Because she was Mithril.
Mithril knew no fear.
“Though the exterior is flawlessly disguised...”
Leovet slapped the gold coin onto the desk.
“...In my eyes,”
“She is a walking, high-density aggregate of energy with a structure so complex it’s almost offensive.”
He stood up, rounded the desk, and walked over to Tia. He reached out, intending to touch her shoulder.
Snap.
Bell’s hand shot out, blocking Leovet.
“Instructor.”
Bell’s voice was icy.
“She is my girlfriend.”
“Not an exhibit.”
Leovet raised an eyebrow.
He pulled back his hand, stuffed both hands into his pockets, and a playful smirk curled on his lips.
“Girlfriend?”
“Bell Lucas, you’re calling a pile of Mithril and runes your girlfriend?”
“She is Tia.”
Bell didn't yield an inch.
“That is enough.”
Leovet stared at Bell for a few seconds.
That kind of pressure was enough to make an ordinary student drop to their knees. But Bell stood perfectly straight.
“Interesting.”
Leovet suddenly laughed.
“Stuffing a dead person’s soul into metal while maintaining a complete sense of self.”
“Even being able to think and act like a living human.”
He leaned in close to Bell and lowered his voice.
“How did you do it?”
“That method of constructing mana circuits, that unheard-of energy circulation system...”
“Even if I scooped out the brains of those old fogies at the Royal Magic Academy, they wouldn’t be able to come up with this.”
The thirst for knowledge in Leovet’s eyes was almost overflowing. It was a greed for the unknown.
“Tell me the principles.”
“I can help you solve a lot of trouble.”
“For example... trouble from the Church.”
Desecrating the dead. Creating a false god.
Those two charges were enough to have Bell tied to a stake and burned for three days and three nights.
Bell fell silent.
He looked at Leovet.
This man was strong. Ridiculously strong.
If he could bring him on board, it would indeed save a lot of trouble. However...
The laws of thermodynamics? Fluid mechanics?
How could he explain entropy increase or the Carnot cycle to a native? It wouldn't make sense. It was a collision of civilizations from two different dimensions.
“Trade secret.”
Bell spat out the two words. They were hard and blunt.
Leovet froze for a moment. Then, he burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
“A trade secret indeed!”
He patted Bell’s shoulder with significant force.
“Fine.”
“I won’t ask.”
“Everyone has their secrets.”
“As long as she doesn't lose control and turn into a monster that only knows how to kill.”
Leovet turned around and waved them off.
“Get out.”
“Stop being an eyesore in my office.”
Bell breathed a sigh of relief. He took Tia’s hand and turned to leave.
As they reached the door, Leovet’s voice drifted from behind them, sounding lazy.
“By the way.”
“That body must have been very expensive, right?”
“More expensive than your life.”
Bell’s footsteps paused briefly. He didn't look back.
“She is priceless.”
...
By the time they left the Headmaster’s office after finishing his leave paperwork, it was already dark.
Antinoia pushed up her glasses, which still only had half a lens left from a previous experiment explosion.
“Um...”
She pointed toward the laboratory.
“I just remembered I have some data I haven't finished calculating.”
“You two go ahead and talk.”
With that, the genius girl of the Royal Academy slipped away faster than a rabbit. She didn't even dare to look at Tia.
It was guilt. After all, she was one of the primary culprits behind turning someone’s wife into a Gundam.
The streets were brightly lit, with streetlamps casting a warm yellow glow.
Bell held Tia’s hand. It was soft and cool, like holding a piece of fine mutton-fat jade.
Passing students couldn't help but stare. There was amazement, curiosity, and even jealousy.
Tia was too beautiful. That otherworldly beauty, paired with her shimmering silver hair, made her practically radiant.
“Want some cake?”
Bell stopped in front of a familiar dessert shop.
Sweet Time.
The last time they were here, it was Tia’s treat. Back then, she would still blush and feel down because she didn't have money for jewelry.
Tia looked up at the sign. A flicker of data streams passed through her blue eyes as she searched her memories.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
They sat at the same window seat. They ordered the same strawberry cake.
Bell cut a piece and held it to Tia’s lips. Tia opened her mouth and took it in.
She didn't chew. She didn't need to. The moment the cake touched her mouth, it was decomposed into basic energy molecules and absorbed by that seven-colored heart.
“How is it?”
Bell watched her, his eyes filled with a sliver of cautious hope.
Tia tilted her head as if seriously trying to feel it. After a few seconds, she shook her head.
“It has no taste.”
The electronic voice was flat. There was no disappointment or complaint; she was simply stating a fact.
Mithril had no taste buds. Runes could not simulate the sense of taste.
Bell’s heart twinged with pain. He reached out and wiped the cream from the corner of Tia’s mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Tia took Bell’s hand and pressed his palm against her cheek, nuzzling into it like a gentle cat.
“Even though my tongue cannot taste it...”
She pointed to her chest, where the seven-colored heart beat.
“It feels sweet in here.”
“Very sweet.”
Bell gripped her hand tightly, his knuckles turning white.
“I’ll find a way.”
“Whether it’s alchemy or something else, I will make sure you can taste things again.”
“Not just taste. Pain, touch, heat, and cold. I will get back everything you’ve lost, one by one.”
Tia smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.
“I believe you.”
“I always have.”
The two sat there in silence. People passed by outside the window, some laughing, some arguing. But in this small space, there was only the two of them.
“Bell.”
Tia suddenly spoke.
“Yes?”
“I want to go up and look.”
She pointed toward the sky. There were no clouds tonight, and the stars were very bright.
“Up there?”
Bell was taken aback for a moment before he realized what she meant. Flight's Favor. That was the “dowry” given by Philan.
“Can you carry someone?”
Bell was a bit worried, as this body had only been completed a few days ago.
“No problem.”
Tia stood up, her skirt fluttering slightly. She walked over to Bell and held out her arms.
“Hold me tight.”
Bell didn't hesitate. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Tia’s waist. It was so slender—the location of the core skeleton—yet it felt soft.
“Are you ready?”
Tia’s voice held a hint of a smile.
“Let’s go.”
As soon as she spoke, Bell felt his feet lighten. Gravity seemed to fail at that moment, and their bodies slowly floated upward as if lifted by an invisible hand.
“Holy crap!”
“Look!”
“Someone’s flying!”
Down on the street, someone pointed at the sky and shouted. Soon, more people joined in.
“Who is that?!”
“Is it a wind mage?!”
“I don't feel any mana fluctuations!”
Amidst the chorus of gasps, Tia carried Bell higher and higher, faster and faster.
The wind whistled past his ears. The lights on the ground became flowing ribbons of radiance. The academy’s clock tower and the Black Stone Tower all turned into toy blocks beneath them.
Exhilarating. It was too exhilarating. This was a hundred times more thrilling than a roller coaster.
Bell looked down at the city below. Was this what flying felt like? Was this the feeling of having the world at one’s feet?
Tia seemed to be enjoying herself. She spun around in the air, her silver hair flying like a waltz in the sky.
“Hold on tight.”
Tia let out a light laugh, and her speed suddenly increased.
Boom!
A sonic boom erupted. The two of them turned into a silver meteor, streaking straight toward the heavens.
Piercing through the thick layer of clouds, the world suddenly became silent. There was no wind, no noise, only the vast, boundless starry sky above them, looking close enough to touch.
Tia stopped, hovering above the sea of clouds. The moonlight spilled over her, making her entire being glow. She was holy, noble, and incomparably beautiful.
“It’s so beautiful.”
Bell looked at the stars and whispered to himself.
“Yes.”
Tia looked at Bell, her eyes reflecting the entire galaxy.
“It is beautiful.”
Bell turned his head and met Tia’s gaze. In those blue eyes, there was only him.
Bell’s heart skipped a beat. There were words he had kept bottled up for a long time. From the first day he had crossed over, from the moment he met her, they had been there like a heavy stone weighing him down.
Now, in this world where only the two of them existed, in this place closest to the gods, he wanted to say it.
“Tia.”
Bell’s voice trembled slightly.
“Yes?”
“There’s something I want to tell you.”
Bell took a deep breath. The cold air filled his lungs, clearing his head.
“Actually...”
“I don’t belong to this world.”
Tia wasn't surprised, nor did she interrupt. She simply watched him quietly, waiting for him to continue.
“I come from a place very, very far away.”
“There is no magic there. No conflict. No dragons, no elves.”
Bell looked at his own palm.
“There are only forests of steel. Only iron birds flying in the sky and iron boxes running on the ground. We call that science.”
Bell looked up at Tia, his gaze honest.
“I am someone who has died once. In my previous life, I was an engineer. I specialized in studying how to convert thermal energy into power. That’s why I could build that pump. That’s why I understood those formulas Antinoia couldn't.”
Bell gave a bitter laugh.
“Isn't it absurd? A soul returning in another's body. Usurping another's place.”
“Maybe in your eyes, I’m just a liar. A lonely ghost who took over Bell Lucas’s body.”
Bell closed his mouth and waited for judgment. Even if Tia threw him down right now, he would accept it.
Silence. A deathly silence. Only the sound of the clouds drifting by.
Suddenly, a hand caressed Bell’s cheek. It was cold and gentle.
“Silly.”
Tia’s voice was very soft, carrying a hint of heartache.
“Does that matter?”
Bell froze.
“No matter who you are, no matter where you come from... whether you are Bell Lucas or an engineer from that other world...”
Tia leaned in closer, her forehead resting against his. Their eyes were inches apart.
“The one who saved me was you.”
“The one who made me cake was you.”
“The one who left himself battered and bruised just for me... was also you.”
In Tia’s electronic voice, there was actually a slight sob.
“I love the soul that lit a lamp for me in the midst of despair, not this shell.”
“Even if you were a demon, even if you were an undead, even if you were a monster from hell... as long as it’s you, I accept it.”
Bell’s eyes turned red. This time, he didn't hold back. Tears slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the back of Tia’s hand.
“Thank you.”
Bell held her tight. Ten thousand meters in the air, under the starry river, two hearts finally pressed together without reservation.
Rate on N.U.
