Volume 4, Chapter 57 – Making Amends

‘Even if you call me big sister.’

‘But doing something like this still makes you a total idiot, Lucifa.’

The Black Dragon King grabbed Lucifa and left right in front of Tianyin.

Even though Tianyin wanted to make a move to stop him, the time on Seven Original Sins had run out, and Tianyin, unable to accept this reality, could only watch with wide eyes as Lucifa was taken away.

Well… sometimes things just happen that suddenly. Maybe some people always think a miracle will appear at the critical moment… but will a miracle really happen?

An hour had already passed since the Black Dragon King left.

The whole city of Eden was still cleaning up the ruined battlefield, and in the City Lord’s mansion, Tianyin was alone in her room, sitting there with her spirits low.

Thinking back to the scene of watching Lucifa being taken away right in front of her, what rose in Tianyin’s heart was not only regret over her own carelessness, but also worry about Lucifa’s situation.

「Xiaoyin… I’m sorry… if it weren’t for me, if it weren’t for me thinking Lucifa could help us… something like that never would’ve happened…」

Samael’s voice slowly sounded in her mind. She had probably sensed Tianyin’s low mood. While gently comforting Tianyin, Samael also wanted to shoulder all the responsibility herself.

Indeed, just like Samael said… Samael did have her own mistakes.

But Tianyin also didn’t want to push all these mistakes onto someone else. After all… Lucifa had already acknowledged her as her big sister… so as the big sister, why couldn’t she properly protect Lucifa?

『Samael… what’s done is already done, and… it’s not just your fault… I didn’t protect Lucifa either…』

She was clearly just a little girl Tianyin hadn’t known for long, yet she treated Tianyin as her most important big sister.

Tianyin might not be able to understand Lucifa’s attachment to her own mother, but she believed that the feelings Lucifa had for her were absolutely not some fake emotion of treating her as a “substitute” for her mother.

Those were real feelings.

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She didn’t want to lose that warmth again…

‘Because big sister is big sister…’

Those few plain words, at this moment, felt like a spell, relentlessly disturbing Tianyin’s chaotic heart.

『Hey… Samael, am I… just too useless?』

Her suppressed mood made Tianyin start to doubt herself, and she began to feel that maybe she was actually the most useless one.

After all…

In battle she relied on Samael…

For strategy and arrangements she relied on Sister Xiaomu…

All this time, hadn’t she always been relying on others? And she had never really thought about trying to rely on herself. Wasn’t that kind of her completely pointless?

「That’s not it, Xiaoyin…」

In her mind, Samael’s voice became gentle.

「Why would you think that? Xiaoyin’s existence is special to all of us. Xiaoyin is Xiaoyin, and it’s exactly because you exist that we’re willing to stay together and help you…」

Even though she knew Samael was making a lot of sense, Tianyin still felt incredibly down.

Just then, her bedroom door was pushed open.

“Xiaoyin?”

A beautiful elf girl pushed the door open and came in, looking at Tianyin with a face full of worry.

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“S… Sister Xiaomu, aren’t you dealing with Eden City’s affairs?”

“I am dealing with the parts of Eden City that were destroyed by demons, but because I couldn’t stop worrying about you, Xiaoyin, I took some time to come see how you’re doing.”

Xingyu Muxi’s words made Tianyin’s heart warm a little.

“It’s fine, Sister Xiaomu, nothing’s wrong with me at all right now~”

Not wanting Sister Xiaomu to worry about her, Tianyin pretended to be completely relaxed and showed a somewhat cute smile.

“Hmph, hmph~ you think I can’t tell what you’re thinking, Xiaoyin? You must still be blaming yourself over Lucifa being taken away, right?”

“No, I… I just… just… really, I’m fine…”

Tianyin knew that at some point, the smile on her face had become more and more forced.

“You still say you’re fine…”

Xingyu Muxi walked over. After coming up to Tianyin, she stretched out her arms and gently pulled Tianyin into her embrace.

“Mm… Sister Xiaomu?”

“Shh, don’t talk, Xiaoyin.”

The sudden warmth of that embrace made Tianyin feel safe without meaning to, but she still wanted to ask Sister Xiaomu why she was suddenly hugging her without saying anything.

“But, Sister Xiaomu…”

“You little idiot…”

For no particular reason, the elf girl hugging her so gently began to speak, her voice as soft as could be.

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“Xiaoyin, do you still remember the first time we met?”

“The first time? I remember…”

Tianyin felt a little confused.

“I remember too… I remember back then, you and I were still in the Beginner Village… Xiaoyin, you know, at that time I had just logged into this game, and the very first thing I saw was you, sniffling and crying there, looking so pitiful…”

“D-Don’t say it, that’s my dark history…”

Thinking of the reason she had been crying back then, Tianyin couldn’t help remembering how she’d taken a spill on flat ground and lost almost half her HP…

“No, Xiaoyin, you know, the you back then gave people this impression that you were really, really cute… like a little animal that made others want to protect you without even thinking about it…”

“…Is that so…”

“Yeah… so, the you back then and the you right now actually haven’t changed at all~”

By her ear, the elf girl’s voice rose softly, like murmurs from a dream.

“Eh?”

“Xiaoyin still doesn’t get it? What I mean is, the Xiaoyin now and the Xiaoyin before are the same, just as unable to hide your own joy, anger, and sorrow. You’re clearly really sad, so why are you still pretending nothing’s wrong?”

“I…”

‘I don’t want Sister Xiaomu to worry about me…’

Tianyin thought silently in her heart.

If Samael couldn’t sense the change in her mood, then Tianyin wouldn’t want Samael to worry about her either…

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“So, if you can, Xiaoyin, just tell me. You don’t need to bottle it up. Everyone has times when they feel down, but that kind of feeling absolutely, absolutely mustn’t be held in your heart…”

Saying such gentle words, the elf girl also softly stroked Tianyin’s head.

“Then, Xiaoyin, can you tell me, Sister Xiaomu, why you’re so sad?”

“I… I didn’t protect Lucifa…”

Tianyin was filled with self-blame.

“Mm, mm, not protecting Lucifa, that’s Xiaoyin failing in her duty as a big sister~”

“Eh?”

“Well, but it’s still alright. After all, everyone in this world makes mistakes, and no one is born perfect, right? And the fact that Xiaoyin can recognize her own mistake already makes you a hundred times better than people who like to shove all the blame onto others!”

“Mm…”

She didn’t know why, but listening to Sister Xiaomu’s words, Tianyin felt a warmth she couldn’t describe.

“Then, since Xiaoyin knows you were wrong, instead of sitting here blaming yourself, why not try to make up for your mistake?”

“Make up for it?”

The girl’s words left Tianyin a little puzzled.

“That’s right, make up for it. Go find the Black Dragon King, and then snatch Lucifa back from his hands!”