Curse the Mainframe! 443 Boom!

At the same time that Alec and his bunch of untrained house cats were trying to figure the way out from that cavern…

Dominique glanced at the ruined building in front of him and finally felt some satisfaction.

The smell of blood and ash converged in the air. It caused one to feel suffocated and stifled, but Dominique had no problem with it at all. In fact, he was rather used to it.

Just because he had not done this in recent times didn't mean that he grew unused to it. It was in his blood.

The instincts of a Sin, that was.

He had been away from Boss for a long time, but now he was finally done with his task.

The youth beside him seemed to feel Dominique's satisfaction, which also made him happy. Elias smiled faintly and lightly held Dominique's hand, causing the man to look at him.

When Dominique got the news that Alec and the rest of the Spectres had taken care of the Kaoriht continent's side of things while he still had not achieved anything here, Dominique had felt very repressed and doubled his efforts.

He even met up with that idiot, Sekai, along the way who also aided their plans. The man's need for vengeance was probably stronger than his own need to complete his mission.

At last, after a solid month or two of hard work, they were now standing before a completely destroyed castle. There were bodies that lay smoking on the ground, charred beyond repair.

Honestly, it was a horrendous sight, but Elias didn't feel any repulsion when he looked at the scene at all. He had no idea if it was because of his rose-tinted glasses or what, but he actually felt a bit satisfied being able to help Dominique out.

Dominique lightly took Elias' hand out of habit and was prepared to leave when One suddenly spoke up from behind.

"Mini, I won't be leaving with you."

Dominique paused, and Elias looked back.

One calmly continued to speak even though Dominique wasn't looking at her. "I know you're going back to find Alec now, but I still have things I want to do and other things that I can't experience with you. So, we'll be parting ways here."

Sekai pulled One into a hug and princess carried her up. She didn't even weigh anything. Her tiny body didn't have any resistance at all. One clung onto Sekai's neck.

"Yeah, just relax. She'll be fine with me. It's no trouble for me to bring around a small person."

There was more continued silence as they all waited for Dominique to speak.

Finally, the Sin spoke up, his voice somewhat lower and hoarser than usual. "…Do what you want."

One smiled faintly, knowing that she had obtained his permission. Just as the two of them originally left because they didn't want to get in the way of Alec and Elysia's happiness, now that Dominique had Elias, she would similarly not get in the way of their relationship developing.

They were all very good to her, and she could feel it even though she had been created not to have any superfluous emotions like humans. She had been made to optimize efficiency and logic, but… being in close contact with humans over these months, she had slowly but surely changed.

What was so different from her than the rest of the humans?

Logic said that she should have avenged her master when Ye Sha took over as the motherboard, but in her heart, there had only been a faint relief when she thought that she wouldn't have to harm those that she cherished.

One poked Sekai in the neck, spurring him on. "I'll see you later," her voice rang out faintly as they slowly moved away.

One clutched Sekai's neck a little tighter, but the Sin didn't complain. The little girl wasn't as unaffected as she appeared to be while parting.

Sekai may not be the most tactful of people, but there were times when he knew that he should shut the fuck up and let nature take its course. This was one of those times.

A few hours passed before One regained all of her previous liveliness, having silently put her burdens down.

One laughed quietly. "It's alright to talk, you know? Don't hold yourself back for my sake."

"Oh, thank god. I was dying keeping my silence."

One laughed brightly, familiar with the heating of her computer chip now. She'd felt it a lot over the course of these months. Now, it was stranger not to feel it.

"I knew it! How could you be so calm? A blockhead like you wouldn't ever be able to keep your silence for long."

Sekai faked offence. "Hey! I'll have you know that I can take on whatever stealth and infiltration missions without ever failing. I've never failed a mission before!" he said proudly.

"Really?" One asked with disbelief. "Why did I hear from Alec that you failed the mission to protect the crack between realms?"

Sekai: "…" Damn system! Could he not leave him some dignity in front of a small child!?

A few hours passed as One left with Sekai, and the two people holding hands had been standing there motionless the entire time.

It was only after Dominique got a grip on his emotions that they started moving towards town as well.

Elias looked silently at Dominique, who was holding his hand tighter than usual. He'd slowly boiled the frog in warm water, and they were finally at the hand-holding stage. He took advantage of it in any way that he could, so he could feel Dominique's fluctuating emotions.

He likened it to a parent losing their child to someone else, so he just stayed there silently. He didn't give any pressure, nor did he ask for the man to speak his mind. He just stayed by his side.

Their pace was a slow stroll, as if they were taking in the scenery instead of heading to a destination.

Elias spoke up after he noticed that Dominique's emotions weren't calming down any further.

"Everyone has their own fortune. Just because we part doesn't mean that we won't meet again. A path isn't just a straight road. There are countless detours, and paths that will intersect in the future."

Dominique was silent as he digested Elias' words.

Elias smiled faintly seeing that Dominique was listening to him. "Of course, I hope that our paths that have converged will never part again in the future. I hope to walk down the path together with you."

Dominique's voice was extremely hoarse as he spoke. "Good," he said faintly.

Then, without any warning, he leaned down and pressed a faint kiss to the top of Elias' head.

Elias stared at him blankly as his free hand reached up to touch the place that Dominique kissed.

Seeing his dazed and cute look, Dominique smiled faintly.

Dominique felt a stirring of his emotions that he still didn't know how to put a name on. It was too different from the usual emotions that went through him.

But if he went according to his logic, he had to say… this was… love? He was obviously fumbling around in the dark, but he didn't think that his IQ was so low that he wasn't able to figure out what this fluffy feeling should be.

He was quite happy to take their relationship slow. They still hadn't even reached the six month mark, but he had a feeling that he wanted to keep him…

Boom!

At that moment, while the two of them were letting go of their pent-up emotions, the ground suddenly exploded not too far away, the shockwave rippling over them.

Chapter end

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