Xyrin Empire
Chapter 514 Leisure Time

Chapter 514: Chapter 514 Leisure Time

"Master... Anwina is stuck!"

The little ghost, shining faintly, poked half of her body through the TV screen, but got stuck there due to a misjudgment of the timing to materialize, lifting her head pitifully and casting her big watery eyes this way.

"Wow!!! What is this!" Closest to the TV, Sister Jil, dazzled by golden light, was scared out of her wits by the half-bodied maid with ghostly flames all around her. She almost jumped up, but Little Baobao reacted quickly, stretching out her little hand and grabbing Sister Jil’s skirt, causing her to flop awkwardly onto the ground, "Uhhhh!"

"Tell me, Heroic King, you’re not actually afraid of ghosts, are you?" I glanced at the fool of a Heroic Spirit dragged down on the floor by Little Baobao, stood up, and walked over to the TV, amused by the teary-eyed little maid. This house is truly full of joyful elements.

Grabbing Anwina’s shoulders and utilizing my Special Ability, I phased her entirely and slowly pulled her out, thinking to myself that if every Zhenzi were this clueless, The Ring would make quite an excellent children’s movie.

"Ghosts?" Gilgamesh repeated, bewildered, "The ghosts from my era weren’t this weird. You’ve got quite some bizarre things in your house."

"Yes, yes, and now we’ve adopted another golden fool... Yo-heave-ho, done! Anwina, do you see your mistake now?"

Finally emerging from the TV, the little maid floated pitifully in front of me, sheepishly explaining in a low voice, "I just wanted to give Master a surprise!"

What kind of surprise involves a ghost crawling out of a TV!

Unapologetically, I knocked on Anwina’s head, complaining fiercely in my mind. However, it had been quite a while since I last tapped the little ghost’s head like this; both the familiar sensation and her feeble protest brought a nostalgic feeling.

Meanwhile, Sister Jil, beside me, after thinking for a while, suddenly bristled, "Hey! Who did you call a fool?!"

She would certainly have much in common with Sylvia.

Just then, the living room suddenly brightened, and just as I was about to lecture Anwina further, I felt a long-missed fluctuation inside my Spirit Sea. It seemed like a certain mega-lazybone had finally woken up.

Golden halos preambulated through the space in the living room, with brilliant feather illusions gradually materializing and spreading a holy aura, accompanied by a distant and illusion-like holy chorus echoing in my ears.

Angel Sister made her radiant entrance again!

Rubbing her drowsy eyes, Alaya stretched languidly, her golden eyes blinked twice before her gaze focused on me.

"Ah, Lord Brother, good morning!"

Good morning my foot!

This Dull Cat Angel had been asleep ever since she entered the Fate world, waking only now as she greeted me with a nonchalant "good morning" as if nothing had happened. How naturally panicky must one’s nerves be to be so oblivious!

"Not really, Lord Brother," Alaya responded to my teasing with her trademark ditsy expression, then she explained, "It’s because the reconstruction of the Kepulu Star Zone has started, so Sister Gaia summoned my spiritual power to help, and my physical form had to sleep in Lord Brother’s spirit world."

"Eh?" I was taken aback, realizing that I had somehow forgotten about Kepulu, which was still a no-man’s land, "The star system reconstruction has already begun? Then why does Pandora look like nothing has happened?"

Considering that Pandora, as one of the World Arbitration Agency, should also have the responsibility of participating in the star system rebuilding, why was only Alaya busy while Pandora was still bouncing about lively without a care? Angel Sister blinked confusedly and answered innocently, "At that time, Sister Gaia asked us to come up with our own reconstruction plans, and Sister Pandora proposed a motion to transform all celestial bodies in the star zone into Planet Fortresses, which is why Sister Gaia excluded her."

Was it all for the long-term peace of the Universe?

Turned out, Alaya had been absent for so long because she was fully engrossed in preparations for the reconstruction of the Kepulu Star Zone. No wonder she stretched and yawned as soon as she appeared, not looking as though she had been asleep for almost two weeks.

As she yawned lazily, Angel Sister instinctively knelt at my feet and draped a huge wing over my knees, which typically meant she intended to sleep while enjoying her feathers being groomed.

Glancing at the bright noon sun outside and then at the Dull Cat Angel who was already lightly snoring in front of me, I could only shrug my shoulders and pull out the feather brush specially made for Alaya.

Gilgamesh had been staring blankly at the living room scene that had nothing to do with "everyday life" the entire time, before finally muttering softly, "A strange family, a strange family, I’ve come to a strange place..."

While I was grooming Alaya’s feathers, I also stealthily raised my head to look towards Sandora and Qianqian. Even though they both were my lovers, it was exactly as Qianqian had said, the current situation with Sandora sneaking out and me sneaking snacks wasn’t something I could easily dismiss as not awkward. As soon as those two girls got home, they huddled together and whispered, occasionally glancing at me, putting me continually in a state of inexplicable unease and chill. Honestly, the combination of Qianqian’s brain full of loose screws and Sandora’s scheming could be rather horrifying, even though now they seemed so harmonious and congenial that one would thank heaven and earth. But if their harmony was based on plots to torment their boyfriend...

That would be really sad for me.

However, noticing my sneaky glances, Sandora suddenly looked up and reassured me with an "all is well" expression.

Phew, it seems the situation isn’t that dire after all.

For us, who almost considered saving other worlds as a daily job, there wasn’t much to celebrate about successfully returning home this time, and the afternoon was still marked by a sumptuous lunch prepared by Anwina. During which, Big Sister herself personally cooked our favorite dishes as a way of welcoming us back, followed by a restful break.

Everyone was tired from the trip, and dealing with the Red Moon had been particularly tense, so after coming home, even the typically energetic Tsuruya quickly retreated to her room for a long sleep. She was still a model student monitored by everyone in Academy City, and although an occasional skipping of classes might be overlooked, she couldn’t afford to take a prolonged holiday, as she had to return to Academy City in a couple of days. This meant she needed to recharge fully to catch up on a massive load of missed lessons, though in my view, for someone who held the rank of the number one human strength, middle school courses shouldn’t be that much of a concern.

The rest of us didn’t feel like going out either, after lunch, Pandora and Visca went back to Shadow City to check on the base conditions, Vega of course accompanied them, while Sandora went to the balcony to bask in the sun, since soaking in mild ultraviolet light after a hearty lunch was her favorite pastime.

Little Baobao was busy interacting with her new collection, Golden Shining, who she treated as a pet, undoubtedly one of the most tragic figures I knew, the other being Cu Chulainn, the Gunman who multiple times moved people to tears using the figure of Xiang Lin—well, we won’t talk about that guy who might still be seizing up in Quiet Wind Garden.

The ancient king of Uruk Kingdom had collected countless treasures in his lifetime and was revered by figurine enthusiasts as the greatest collector in history. Little did anyone expect that such an entity would eventually become someone else’s collectible.

Under the forceful command of Little Baobao, Gilgamesh now had no choice but to open the doors of his treasure vault and share all his collectibles—since Little Baobao had cracked the principle of Wang Zhicaibao, it was no longer possible for Golden Shining to protect his vault, and under irresistible circumstances, Gilgamesh absolutely couldn’t leave the former’s side. Even when Little Baobao snuggled into my arms, he would subconsciously grab the latter’s clothes, fearing this unprecedented, walking collectible would run away. Well, the result was quite obvious...

The Heroic Spirit Girl, no longer able to escape, would be embarrassingly dragged close to me, forced to grit her teeth at this despicable man who indirectly caused her plight, and terrified of the sharp gazes that might come from any corner, possibly from Sandora, or Qianqian, or even those twin sisters hopelessly obsessed with their brother. And the sole reason for this was because she was too close to a certain detestable man.

"Why should I have to endure this treatment?" Sister Jil complained in the drabbest tone, being tugged at her clothes by Little Baobao, not daring to resist, "Even Saber, Rider, even that gunman struck by lightning and the swordsman who bites through ten toothpicks a day, can move around freely."

"Just enjoy it," I patted Alaya, who was gently snoring against my shoulder, murmuring in her drowsiness as I absorbed her into my Spirit Sea. "As a vassal army, becoming the personal bodyguard of the Little Princess of the Empire is a position many would dream of."

I wonder if she understood what I said. Little Baobao immediately raised her little head, throwing her hands up in joyous gesticulation. Could I translate it as "Because this new pet shines brightly and is fun, others absolutely can’t replace it"?

Time leisurely reached the evening, and the ever-restless Qianqian finally (why do I say finally?) felt bored. Seizing the moment before dinner time, she hopped in front of me, busy training Dingdang to leap through iron hoops on the table. She shook my shoulder and said, "Ah Jun! Ah Jun! Let’s go shopping!"

See, it’s completely incomprehensible how she suddenly came up with that.

I glanced outside at the sky, the sun hung as low as the 1857 United States stock market; I couldn’t help but shrug hopelessly, "Girl, it’s this late, what’s there to shop for?"

"Come on, come on! Even if we don’t go shopping, a walk along the riverbank would be nice! Waiting at home for dinner is so boring!"

If Sandora were here, she would definitely argue with you.

Although I felt that strolling out at this time wasn’t a proper otaku—or even pseudo-otaku—thing to do, seeing the hopeful expression on Qianqian’s face and getting used to her whimsical impulses, I still smiled and stood up obligingly.

"Alright, alright, I’ll go with you—Dingdang, practice well at home."

At that moment, Little Thing was busily arranging the iron hoops neatly on the table and trying to fly through them without touching her wings, blissfully forgetting how fiercely she had protested when I asked her to jump through the hoops just ten minutes ago; Sister Gaia even found this to be an extremely fun game. Hearing my instructions, the little one, too lazy to lift her head, just waved her hand, "Go, go! Today, Dingdang must master that Rattlesnake Maneuver you mentioned!"

"I’ve given up hope for my future life," came a languid cry from the sofa across, where Sister Jil, used as a massive pillow by Little Baobao and tormented for hours, was barely holding her eyes open.

The evening breeze was cool, fluttering one or two dry yellow leaves by the roadside, and unbeknownst to me, it was deep autumn again. It’s been a year already, huh?

Ever since that group of freeloading Imperial Soldiers came to Earth, it seems about three years have passed.

Well, only three years, huh? With so many events, it feels like it’s dramatically steamrolled history. Perhaps only others like Clark Kent, busy saving the world every day, and that particular druid would feel this odd sense of temporal dissonance, right?

The sun had already half-set below the horizon, leaving behind a dazzling red arc scattering its glow across the sky, where thin clouds were imbued with the red of the evening glow, reminding me of the Red Moon, which once boiled with energy but now turned into a cold air mass among space fragments.

Okay, okay, the doomsday retreats, the doomsday retreats. Having finally found a chance to rest, I couldn’t let my mood be ruined.

I just strolled aimlessly along the river-side paths of the city’s water system, with no need to think or do anything, just feeling the long-missed tranquility and peace. By my side was my beloved girl, gently snuggling up, her touch full of sweetness and contentment. Ah, Savior, Leader of All Realms, the Empire... just a bunch of nouns, but now this is truly the happy time of life!

"Hehe..." A quiet chuckle suddenly rang out beside my ear. I turned slightly to see the petite girl with a face full of pleasure, laughing to herself. I patted Qianqian’s head in surprise, "Girl, what are you laughing about?"

"It’s great, nothing has changed." Qianqian spoke mindlessly, then lifted her head, "Ah Jun, speaking of which, it’s been a long time since we last spent time alone like this, without any distractions."

I was taken aback and somewhat dazed by Qianqian’s suddenly calm demeanor, but still smiled and nodded, "Indeed, we’ve always been entangled with all kinds of messy things, hardly having any free time."

"Although I also love those bustling days," Qianqian let go of my hand, and lightly jumped onto the river guardrail, her astonishing leap disregarding human physical capabilities as elegant as a swallow turning back, though shocking enough to drop jaws for ordinary people, "But it’s nice to quiet down like this occasionally."

"I say, you better come down," I shrugged, quite concerned about Qianqian’s nonchalant attitude, "This isn’t Shadow City, it would be troublesome if ordinary people saw you."

"It’s alright, no ordinary people would come here." Qianqian casually walked back and forth on the guardrail, and occasionally stepped directly onto the air, performing her mid-air steps, "But, Ah Jun, do you still remember when we used to play here as kids?"

As kids? I paused for a moment, but those memories quickly surfaced clearly. Anything related to Qianqian, no matter how trivial, I always remembered. Speaking of which, I was still a boy, and Qianqian was a loli. Did my soul as a loli fan truly start burning fiercely from when I was seven and a half?

Hey! Don’t give me such imaginations at such a tender moment!

"Back then this wasn’t the city water system," I leaned on the railing, squinting slightly in front of the sunset, "A big trench used for flood discharge decades ago, both sides covered with foxtails and other assorted weeds. Back then, you were so thin, completely invisible when squatting in the bushes. You used that advantage to scare me, hid in a tuft of grass about a few meters from that street lamp over there, wanting to scare me by making me think you had gotten lost, right?"

"Wow! You actually remember all that..." Qianqian said in utter surprise, then stared at me for a long while, "Anyway, you never fell for it in the end, and even caught a frog without me noticing and threw it on my head to scare me!"

I rolled my eyes, "Then you kept that frog for seven days until it finally died."

"I thought if I fed it more, it would turn into a prince," Qianqian didn’t look embarrassed at all, just pouting, "Speaking of which, in hide and seek when we were kids, I never really succeeded under your watch, did I?"

"That’s right, back then you even ran into the ladies’ bathroom and I almost risked my life to drag you out—later stopped violently by Big Sister."

Ah, childhood memories... Although they’re just trivial things, recalling them now feels so warm.

Suddenly, I felt a heavy body leaning on my shoulder, Qianqian leaned her entire body against me, just like when we were kids and tired from playing, she’d use me as a makeshift recliner. Her soft voice murmured near my ear, "Ah Jun, just like you promised Sandora, you haven’t changed at all, that’s great."

"Silly girl..." I let out a complex sigh, and with a motion I had grown accustomed to many years ago, I gently knocked on Qianqian’s head, repeating the familiar words from over a decade ago, "Let’s go home for dinner, else Big Sister will be angry again." (To be continued, for further details please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)