ch31

Sunlight streaming through the lobby windows touched Helena’s silver hair, making it shimmer.

The hotel’s golden decorations, which I had initially found excessive, now felt like a temple dedicated to a goddess with her standing in the middle of the hall.

And so… for the first time in a long while, I relaxed my body.

Even though there had been a great war that could have regressed civilization, there was still a time difference of nearly two hundred years between me and this city.

I was fortunate that I had implanted memories and common sense, and that a cyber revolution had occurred instead of a singularity that completely replaced electricity and machines… otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to be so aggressively active.

Even though I occasionally saw familiar objects or systems, I believed that the fundamental sense of alienation would never disappear, so I had decided to stay at this hotel, which imitated old-fashioned designs and services, for a short while….

But the emptiness that familiar furniture, interiors, and longed-for food couldn’t soothe vanished like snow melting the moment I faced Helena Valentine.

Ah, this is indeed Neo Haven.

Dangerous… brutal… and desolate as it may be, it must be the world of romance I loved most.

“……”

“……”

Even after I had been lost in distracting thoughts for quite a while, she showed no sign of moving from in front of me.

……Let’s stop this escapism.

Why on earth did she show up here? ……A staycation? Then why did she suddenly grab my face? Do I look like a wanted criminal? But she was so kind…?

Question after question piled up, growing larger and larger.

Get a grip. No, I have to. No matter how glad and attractive she is, I decided to refrain from actions that would disrupt the original story…!

Even this moment of confrontation with her could return as a huge storm in the distant future and change all the scenarios. So, even if I don’t know the reason why this meeting was arranged, I have to end it safely somehow.

“…Helena-ssi? Nice to mee….”

“Helena Unnie.”

“……Miss Helena?”

“Unnie.”

…A completely immediate response. But thanks to that, I could tell why she had personally come, even if I didn’t know how she had found me.

If a suspicious person whose birth and background were unknown suddenly sweet-talked the family elder and put their name on the family register as a family member, anyone would be suspicious.

Forcing me to use that title… is probably her way of telling me to try it if I have any conscience left.

…Denying the relationship is simple.

I could just make up all sorts of excuses, like I created a fake identity with the same surname because it sounded good… or that I manipulated the data arbitrarily….

But this is a token that grumpy Grandpa Heinrich gave me. Proof that Anastasia Valentine has a home to return to, and family to check in with, besides the collapsed laboratory basement or the room I can only go to in my dreams.

It’s as precious as the pistol and clothes I received from some nameless Care Bot.

So, I understand that Helena Valentine has the right to be angry… but I absolutely cannot give this up.

“…I’m sorry, sincerely.”

“…?”

I infuse energy into my relaxed body and put strength into my face.

The eyes are the window to the soul, making it clear that I’m not saying this with a half-hearted resolve.

“…I know very well that you don’t like my existence that fell from the sky and that it bothers you…. I know that someone who has no memories or shared time has no right to raise their voice. But…! Still…! I don’t want to say that the given name is nothing.”

“…Amazing. Where did they find someone like this…?”

Helena let out an exclamation, as if she was dumbfounded by my rambling sophistry.

I almost bit my lip unconsciously, but I managed to hold back. If we had to assign roles, she’s the victim, and I’m the perpetrator. It’s none other than me who’s appealing to emotions without logic.

“…I cherish the Valentine name, and I’m grateful to Grandpa too. I swear I won’t use it in any way…! So please allow me to live with it… please…?”

Pat, pat…. Press, press.

A familiar touch pulled at my cheeks slightly painfully and poked my forehead.

“…I know my little sister doesn’t listen to people. I told her that this Unnie would come to pick her up before something big happened…. Did you run away after being abused somewhere?”

“Huh…? Huh?!”

As the image of the night’s combat police, who had only said incomprehensible things, overlapped with Helena’s appearance, a hypothesis that I had completely discarded revived and rang the alarm like crazy.

I thought I had ruined my first impression… but in fact, I had already finished the first contact without even knowing it.

Now that I was aware of that, I couldn’t understand Helena’s thoughts at all, which I thought I had grasped based on my long experience and understanding.

“Um… excuse me, Helena…?”

“Helena Unnie.”

Ah, her expressionless eyes were slowly starting to burn with intensity. I understand that she doesn’t particularly dislike this anomaly called Anastasia Valentine.

…But I don’t know anything else?

“……”

“……Hurry.”

I forcibly continued the staring contest, which had become absolutely disadvantageous. Even the voice urging me was sweet, but I tried to ignore it.

It’s been almost a month since I’ve been living in this high-performance but fragile body that seems like it would break if I dropped it wrong.

Thanks to the brain freely correcting the sense of distance, the suddenly changed body shape has been familiar since the laboratory days, but if there’s one thing that still makes my mouth bitter every time I realize it, it’s the changed gender.

…I’m not trying to deny the dark history of actively using it. The result was better than good, it was perfect.

It’s just that, unlike my game preferences, I have a slightly… conservative view, so I felt uncomfortable experiencing a gender that was turned 180 degrees in a situation with much less free will.

Until now, this mainly happened near the bathroom(…), but just now, one more thing has been added.

I’ll put up with the fact that the titles calling me are all Miss… or Noona… But if you want to hear the words Unnie or Oppa from my mouth, you’ll have to bring a more severe trial than this…!

“……Helena Noona.”

“……”

Somewhere between surrender and compromise, I dramatically reached an agreement.

If she wanted to be treated as an elder, this would have satisfied her, and if that wasn’t the case….

“Helena?! It hurts…! It hurts, hurts, hurts!!”

“Haa…. The fact that you bounce back when I press you really makes you look just like me.”

My cheeks were pinched so hard that it blew away all my trivial thoughts. At the same time, she was messing up my hair, and I wanted to tell her that it was a really excellent operation if it was to break me down.

Her hands are spicy, my skin is stinging, and my head is spinning. Save me…!

“…I heard that a kid who barely entered the city in the morning was found almost dying while pretending to be a mercenary at night. Grandpa told me to catch you right away and live together. What would have happened if I hadn’t found you by chance?”

“I’m sorry…! I’m sorry!! I’m sorry…! ……Unnie—!!”

Pop!

I learned painfully that the Valentine family certainly doesn’t spare corporal punishment when it comes to education.

As soon as I said the magic word, the face that had been grabbed was released with a sound that was hard to believe came from her elegant fingers.

I absolutely didn’t succumb to external pressure. It’s only because the other person was Helena, and because I heard that Grandpa Heinrich was worried, that I gave in. …Really.

“…Have a good time.”

The burly guards who were trying to enter the lobby late, thinking that a violent incident had occurred, heard my cry and stepped back out again.

The witch at the front desk was busy watching me and Helena with the brightest expression in the world, saying that the time had finally come.

No… that’s not it! Hey!! Stop jumping to conclusions and look at reality…!

“Um… the hand….”

“…No. Especially for a kid who only cares about others and can’t take care of their own body.”

As if she was arresting a runaway teenager and taking her away. I’m being dragged along with my hand connected to hers. To her, who can cut down mercenary units, my gun is probably just a toy weapon.

I tried to resist clumsily, but I realized that I couldn’t beat her in strength either, and I gave up.

Yeah… if my face explodes and I die, even the most advanced medical technology won’t be able to revive me. That’s a relief….

The thing that would heal my spirit, which was fragmented by shame and embarrassment, soon appeared.

“Ah…!”

Helena’s trademark crimson motorcycle was parked at the hotel’s main entrance.

The width of the tires, which was wider than my body, and the coolness exuded by the large body that matched it, was truly overwhelming.

I was excited for a moment, wondering if I was going to ride this from now on…? But after seeing me with shining eyes, she made a short decision, put her hand under my shoulder, and lifted my body up. And then… she carefully hugged me from the front like a doll and got on.

……God is dead. Even if he was alive, I would kill him.

“Wait, …Anastasia? Where’s your luggage? Did you check out…?”

“……”

I think it’s a very thoughtful question for a kidnapper who suddenly abducted someone who was going out.