Part 6

Se Family Head: Remember, every one of your actions represents the Se family.

Se Family Head: You may not say 'please', for you have no need to make any humble requests of others.

Se Family Head: You must not owe anyone any favors.

Se Family Head: You must not apologize, because a Se cannot make mistakes.

Se Family Head: You must not thank others, for it is only natural that they make sacrifices in your name.

Se Family Head: Se Yue- my daughter.

Se Family Head: Do you understand the meaning of these rules?

Se Yue: Your daughter understands.

I nodded.

Se Family Head: You must not beg from others.

Se Family Head: You must not make mistakes.

Se Family Head: You must not hold gratitude to others in your heart.

Father's words crashed into my heart like a heavy hammer.

Se Family Head: Owing others favors will result in aspiring masterminds attempting to manipulate you.

Se Family Head: Mistakes will lead you to cowardice and shame as you try to hide the consequences of your deeds.

Se Family Head: Holding gratitude will cause you to bend your own nature to please the natures of others around you.

Father pointed a finger at me as though to pierce my head through.

Se Family Head: Know your position!

Se Family Head: You will always be different from others!

Se Family Head: Nobody may stand by your side- and neither shall you permit others to stand by your side.

Se Family Head: Tread on others' heads and look upon the lesser things of the world with rightful arrogance!

Se Family Head: Answer me, who are you?

Se Yue: I am Se Yue.

Se Family Head: WRONG!

Se Family Head: You are the princess of the Se house, you are the heir of all that is Se,

Se Family Head: You are the Se Family itself!

Se Yue: Damn.

Why would I think of the words of my father at a time like this?

Se Yue: That's right- I'm the Se princess.

So even if my life were to be saved by someone else at the cost of their own, I shouldn't let it shake me. Rather, it's only natural.

Se Yue: ...Wu Shi made the decision of his own accord.

Se Yue: So, I've done nothing wrong.

I had neither the choice nor the privilege to apologize anymore.

Se Yue: Good work.

Corpses.

Corpsescorpsescorpsescorpsescorpsescorpsescorpsescorpsescorpses.

The whole expanse of my vision was full of corpses.

Se Yue: Well, it's not so bad.

Hearing me nonchalantly say that, the maidservant before me visibly shuddered for a moment.

But she immediately pretended that nothing was wrong and voiced agreement with me.

Maidservant: Y-yes, with such an incident such as this, only having 49 deaths is a silver lining to this cloud of misfortune.

Se Yue: No, even if 490 people died, this accident wouldn't really qualify as serious, either.

I said that, and smiled.

Se Yue: So long as I remain among the survivors, the casualty rate will always be negligible by definition.

Suddenly, a massive tremor shook the whole station. It'd originated from the very rear of the train.

Maidservant: Eh? Ehh???

Raising a hand, my maidservant pointed at the rear of the train.

Maidservant: Young mistress...

Her finger was shaking- either from the tremors, or from her own lack of self-control.

Se Yue: It's the thirteenth train car, isn't it? It's reappeared, hasn't it.

As I predicted, S stole my crest from me after knocking me out.

He must have only now made it to the rear of the train and used it to summon the 13th train car back.

I should-

Maidservant: W-who are all of you?!

I was surrounded by countless Se family maidservants. They clearly wore the uniform.

But they were all wearing bizarre, unsettling masks that completely covered the face.

Se Yue: As I expected. S has accomplices.

It made sense. As the time loop increased in loop count, the number of corpses stacked and stacked. Without collaborators of some kind, S couldn't possibly have moved all the corpses to the infirmary by himself.

Se Yue: ...Damn it, father.

The culprit was probably my father, at this point, with very high probability.

He was probably either S, or behind S, trying to use all of this to take control of time itself.

Maidservant: What are you doing?! Where are you taking all these corpses?!

Disregarding my maidservant, the rest of the masked maidservants cleanly and quickly removed all the corpses from the scene of the accident.

Then, in an almost rhythmic sequence of thuds, they threw each corpse into the darkness of the thirteenth car.

Maidservant: Shouldn't we stop them, ma'am?

Se Yue: There's five or ten times as many of them as there are of us. How do you expect us to stop them?

Se Yue: Besides, they're already dead, it's not like there'd be a point to stopping them.

I watched as they dragged Wu Shi's drowned corpse away as well.

Se Yue: A corpse is just a corpse.

Oh, whoops. That last one seemed to have finally broken my maidservant's composure. Now she was looking at me with nothing but undisguised fear.

Eh, I'm used to it.

After all, everyone in the Se household treats me that way.

Se Yue: Leave me now.

I fixed a practiced cold gaze upon her.

Se Yue: I'll handle the rest myself.

Who was S?

What was his motive?

How could I stop him?

I had to stop him- or else, sooner or later, I would be turned to fuel just like the rest.

When that moment came, my death would be established and unavoidable.

Se Yue: I've only got one chance.

If I allowed S to escape even once, S would realize that I'd inherited the mantle of opposition against him, and he would take care of me immediately.

Se Yue: But, eh. I've taken tests where I only get a single chance plenty of times in the Se household.

Once again, there were three ways to stop the time machine from being used.

1: Don't allow the User to board the Tour of Time.

2: Don't allow the Fuel to be placed in the 13th train car.

3: Don't allow the crest to be stolen, so that the functionality of the time machine itself is inhibited.

Outside the train car, S struggled helplessly on the ground, trying to climb back onboard the train.

All around us, masked maidservants swarmed the train as well, upon seeing the situation.

Se Yue: It's too late, you fools!

I'll be the one using the Tour of Time, this go-around!

I grabbed my crest and spoke the activation phrase into it rapidly.

My father had always been trying to indoctrinate me with such beliefs, ever since I invented the machine.

They will be the fuel by which the world is made to progress; they were not existences on the same level as us.

Even if we burnt them all to extinction, we needn't concern ourselves.

Se Yue: But... I didn't permit myself... to do such things.

It wasn't like I disagreed with my father, exactly.

I just... wasn't content with limiting myself with just this.

Why sacrifice one life every time you travel through time?

Wasn't there a way to time-travel without sacrificing a life?

The rules were decreed by god, but god does not intervene to change the rules.

If time travel requires death, it is surely only because humanity has yet to understand the fullness of the rules laid out by god.

But I am special.

I am the princess of the Se household.

A method that relies on the sacrifice of lives to achieve one's goals can't be called 'successful' at all!

Break the walls of time, Tour of Time!

As the Se household princess, I cannot owe others favors and I cannot apologize to others and I cannot make mistakes.

So, I must make sure that anything that could lead to any of those things... must not be allowed to happen.

So, no matter what...

I'm not going to let Wu Shi have to sacrifice himself to save me!

Forty-eight loops flooded into my brain in a single breath, causing my eyes to unfocus.

Se Yue: Have you calmed down now?

Wu Shi: The details aren't important anymore, at this point.

Wu Shi: ...I'm just happy that we're both alive and in one piece, right here and now.

Se Yue: Oh, Wu Shi~...

Wu Shi: Se Yue....

She leans towards me, and...

Wu Shi: Why're you hitting me in the head?

Se Yue: TO TEACH YOU A LESSON!

Wu Shi: You can't treat your savior like this!

Se Yue: NOBODY ASKED YOU TO SAVE ME!

Wu Shi: You-

Se Yue: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE ME USE THE TOUR OF TIME!

Se Yue: Making the princess turn her back on an oath she swore- do you KNOW the depths of your depravity?

Wu Shi: Why are you making it sound like I was the one who did something wrong here?

Qian Yuan: Don't worry, senpai.

Qian Yuan: She's just a giant fucking tsundere. She's prohibited from apologizing or thanking you, so tsuntsun-ing at you is the only thing she can do to express appreciation.

Wu Shi: Wao~~~

Wu Shi: You're right, that is tsun as FUCK.

Se Yue: Your expressions fill me with an inexplicable yet righteous anger. I fear I have no choice but to take it out on both of you. En garde, villains.

Wu Shi: I now graciously permit you to set down the fan of domestic violence and instead embrace me in loving warmth as I rightfully deserve and- mmph.

Se Yue: I have some guesses, but let's confirm the situation before we rush to any conclusions.

Wu Shi: So that's why we're heading this way? To check out the thirteenth car?

Se Yue: Well, at this point I doubt it's just going to be the thirteenth car.

Wu Shi: ...How ominous.

Se Yue: Teehee.

Wu Shi: So why's Qian Yuan alive now? Wasn't she used as fuel already?

Se Yue: The one who used her as fuel was S, not me.

Se Yue pointed at herself.

Se Yue: Like I said, the user has been swapped, from S to me.

Se Yue: It's like save files in a video game, to use terminology your primitive mind can understand. S was playing on the savefile with 48 deaths, but I stole the controller from him and started a new save file.

Se Yue: I've had Qian Yuan conduct a thorough check. Nobody has suffered Lost Time Syndrome yet on this train.

Se Yue: Furthermore, it's likely that S isn't on this train, either.

Wu Shi: EH?!

Fleming: Hey... look over there...

Hao Xing: Wu Shi and the young lady together?!

Se Yue: Anyways, what I was saying was,

Se Yue: Being the user, my consciousness was transmitted back in time to now.

Se Yue: But S wasn't the user this time, so there's no reason to believe that S's consciousness has been transmitted back in time.

Se Yue: In the world that exists at present, S doesn't have the previous 48 loops' worth of memory.

Se Yue: It's even possible that S doesn't know they're going to become S, at this point in time.

Wu Shi: You're telling me that S's true identity is lost forever now?

Se Yue: It really depends on what S's motivation for using the Tour of Time is.

Se Yue: If his goal is to steal the secrets of time travel through experimentation, then he'll become S and attack us sooner or later.

Se Yue: Furthermore, we already know a good half of the maidservants here on the tour are secretly working with S.

Se Yue: The real deciding factor will be whether they received their orders from the family head before or after S appeared.

Se Yue: That said, if we fuck this one up, we're going to go right back to the very bad no-good savefile, where half of us are dead, including you, and then we're going to be fucked for good.

Se Yue: Hey check it out I was right.

Wu Shi: A fourteenth car...

Se Yue: And that's why we went back 24 hours!

Se Yue: You see that original car?

Se Yue: That's S's world. He's got 48 loops' worth of space-time stored up in that there thirteenth car.

Se Yue: But this is my world now.

Looking at the fourteenth train car, a chill went up my back.

Se Yue: This is a new Tour of Time.

Se Yue: Welcome to the world of the 14th train car.

Wu Shi: Let's go over the new rules.

1: Whenever a new User appears, an additional train car will manifest, and time will reverse an additional 12 hours.

2: In the story of the 14th train car, everything is starting over anew.

3: S may exist, but he has no self-awareness, and no memories of the 48 loops stored in the 13th train car.

As I watched, Se Yue started nibbling on another biscuit straw.

Wu Shi: ...What happens if we can't find S?

Se Yue: Mmmm... well, we don't have any firsthand experience, but my best guess is that, if S becomes the User again, then we'll see the fifteenth train car appear.

Wu Shi: What, you don't think he'd just remember the 13th train car's events instead?

Se Yue: Honestly, I'm not sure either. This is kind of new territory for all of us, but I don't think that's what'd happen.

Se Yue: I'll be relying on you, Wu Shi.

Wu Shi: On me? Why?

Se Yue: Because S doesn't remember anything from the loops, he's probably going to try the exact same strategy he did on the very first loop. I don't remember that loop, only you do, so you're going to have to take point on this.

Se Yue: And if you mess this one up, then the hellish experience of the 48 loops will reenact itself once more, except this time in the 15th train car.

Wu Shi: Well, as long as I have you, I'm sure I'll be fine.

Se Yue: Ehh? What's with the sudden compliments?

Wu Shi: Well, you are objectively really cool, y'know.

Wu Shi: Beating up S and bringing me back from the dead into the fourteenth train car- I'm quite grateful.

For some reason, when I said that, she turned her head aside and blushed.

Wu Shi: Hey, what's the deal? I thought you must be used to being praised by everyone. Why get all bashful here?

Se Yue: There's no way that the princess could possibly be embarrassed by a mere peasant. You think too highly of yourself.

Se Yue: ...ANYWAYS! Now that we're here in the 14th train car's world, it's a good opportunity to get some information out of someone we couldn't access back in the 13th train car's world!

She claps her hand, and out of nowhere a Qian Yuan appears.

...Where was she even hiding??

Qian Yuan: Actually, I was clutching onto the ceiling of the train car with my fingertips this whole time.

Wu Shi: What does that make you then, a bat??

Qian Yuan: Oh, come on, senpai, you're being silly.

Qian Yuan: No bat would wear such a lovely maid outfit as this.

Se Yue: Qian Yuan, I've got some questions for you.

Qian Yuan: Ask away, your highness! I promise to speak everything I know.

Se Yue: Well, then.

She takes Qian Yuan's chin in her hand.

Se Yue: Are you an enemy to me?

Qian Yuan: Why would you ask that, young mistress?

Se Yue: Answer me.

Qian Yuan: ...Since you saved me one year ago, I made the decision to spend the rest of my life repaying your kindness.

Qian Yuan: I see you as my one and only, mistress. I value you more than I value myself.

She lowered her head deeply.

Qian Yuan: So, please believe me, young mistress. I am not your enemy, and if today I could save you by sacrificing myself, I would give my life for you without hesitation.

Se Yue: I understand.

Se Yue: That said, you're still misunderstanding something.

Se Yue: To save everyone within her power is something that a princess of the Se household ought to do.

Se Yue: So the events one year ago were nothing more than a casual action for me. I have done nothing special for you and do not require you to sacrifice yourself to protect me.

Qian Yuan: Thank you, young mistress, for your concern for me.

Se Yue: I JUST said I'm not doing this for you-

Qian Yuan: Tsun tsun tsuuuuun.

Qian Yuan: I'm so glad that I get to be young mistress's personal maidservant.

Wu Shi: Well, that settles it, she's probably not S.

Se Yue: so beeeestie

Se Yue: qiaaaan yuaaaaaaan

Se Yue: didja tell anyone the secret code to control the time machine,

Qian Yuan: course not

Se Yue: you sure

Qian Yuan: ye

Se Yue: or write it down

Qian Yuan: ye

Se Yue: hm.

Well, that was weird. S knew the activation phrase, but neither of the only people who knew the phrase had leaked it. That didn't seem possible.

This was the first timeline, so we couldn't even chalk it up to time loop shenanigans yet. How'd S gain access to the codes?

Se Yue: ...unless... what if... that's it! S's TRUE IDENTITY could be-

Wu Shi: What is it?! Did you figure it out?!

Se Yue: ...No, nevermind, that thought doesn't actually make logical sense.

Wu Shi: Well don't fucking leave me hanging, explain.

Se Yue: No, forget it, ignore I said anything.

Wu Shi: Oh my fucking god you just extended the runtime of this game by another fucking three hours just by saying that.

Wu Shi: I guarantee you that whatever you're refusing to say here is exactly correct and you've just doomed us all by not fucking telling us on-screen while the camera is looking at us, jesus fuck.

Wu Shi: But whatever! It's not like I know anything! I'm Wu Shi the useless guy who spend 48 time loops accomplishing jack and shit!!!

Wu Shi: Alright, try my theory.

Wu Shi: Qian Yuan hasn't said the code yet but she will eventually at some point in the future.

Qian Yuan: ...I object to this objectionable aspersion on my honorable nature.

Wu Shi: It's this or I cast those doubts on your mistress.

Qian Yuan: I understand. I accede to your wise judgement of character.

Se Yue: ...Let's put it this way.

Se Yue: If you were EVER going to leak the code, besides to me, who do you think you would be most likely to leak it to?

Se Yue: ...I suppose, uh, I'd probably tell Wu Shi....

Me?

Qian Yuan: The person I am most likely to tell it to would be Wu Shi, because... I owe him.

Things had slowed to a dead stop all over again.

Se Yue: IT'S YOU! You're the CULPRIT!

Wu Shi: Look, come on, I can't be S. If I were S it'd mean that literally everything I did in the 13th train car's world was basically a giant play I put on by myself.

Wu Shi: Plus, I don't even remember what Qian Yuan owes me for.

Se Yue: Oh, no, I was just practicing for when we actually find the culprit.

Se Yue: I'd never do something so petty as pretend that I'd been convinced you were S just to see the reaction on your face.

Se Yue: After all, whether in brainpower or in horsepower, you are far inferior to S, Wu Shi. You should be glad that I am such a discerning young lady who can immediately tell the difference in capabilities between the two of you.

Wu Shi: ...You know, they say girls who play too many mean-spirited pranks have a tendency to get addicted to unhealthy cheap snacks like biscuit straws.

Se Yue: There is NO correlation between these unrelated events. I am a scientist that is how I know.

Wu Shi: Seriously, the way you go through those things reminds me of a cigarette addict.

Se Yue: Can you not compare me to an addict?

Wu Shi: Look, I get it, you can't sate your biscuit straw addiction so you're feeling the antsiness of withdrawal. It's fine, it happens to all of us. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Here, just nibble on a chopstick and pretend it's a biscuit straw, it'll help.

Se Yue: The two are NOTHING alike! They're completely different things on a fundamental topological level!

Se Yue: ...Look, uh, Wu Shi, can I ask you...?

Wu Shi: Eh?

Se Yue, for some reason, started speaking with jerky starts and stops.

Se Yue: ....how do i talk to normal students?

Wu Shi: ......???

Oh, right.

She's basically got no friends and doesn't know how to talk to ordinary people.

We invited Yu Guang and Ji Hengsheng here and she's probably getting anxious that she's going to make a bad impression on them, isn't she.

....Wow, is this ACTUALLY the first time the two of them are meeting?

Se Yue: ...don't you even dare make fun of me I can tell you're thinking about saying something to make fun of me and I warn you if you dare make fun of me I will send a hitman after you or something aaaaaaa please help.

Wu Shi: Wow. I'm terrified.

Wu Shi: ...Look, you've just gotta- actually start the conversation. If you're not sure if you want to say something or not, just say it- you'll feel much worse afterwards if you miss the opportunity.

Even now, I still remember the mysterious hero who saved me a year ago. If I'd been able to say 'thank you' back then, maybe I wouldn't feel the guilt gnawing away at me to this day.

Se Yue: ...I understand now.

Se Yue: I finally understand...

Se Yue: Why you're so dang rude all the time.

Se Yue: No wonder. You have no inhibitions on that mouth of yours.

Well, that was a difficult thing to deal with. I doubted a bit of chicken soup for the soul would fix all her social problems immediately.

Still,

I figured the problem was solvable- or it would be, once my friends showed up.

After all, if Yu Guang and Hengsheng could tolerate someone like me, I had no doubt that they could easily breach the gates to the princess's heart, sooner or later.

As I thought that to myself, I detected unhealthy vibes coming off a nearby potted plant.

Ji Hengsheng: Agent Yu, what are your conclusions on the scenario here?

Yu Guang: After cross-correlating all available objective data and supplementing with my impeccable analysis,

Yu Guang: I've got it!

Yu Guang: Wu Shi is clearly dating multiple girls simultaneously!

Yu Guang: To think I once named him a friend. Not only does he have to claim Qian Yuan for his own, but then he starts cheating on her with Qian Yuan's mistress, of all things! It's terrible to even voice aloud, but I can only conclude that my friend has become nothing more than a walking amalgamation of pure lust energy.

What the shit?

Ji Hengsheng: Ahhhhh... our little Wu Shi is finally growing up.....

WHY ARE YOU APPROVING OF THIS???

Ji Hengsheng: To see our little baby boy able to chitchat with the Se princess... I can pass on without any more regrets.

Yu Guang: Who cares about your regrets?!

Yu Guang: I HAVE REGRETS, DAMMIT! A LOT OF THEM!!

He slammed his fist into the floor with a loud thud.

...Yeah, I'm pretty sure everyone could hear that.

You've completely left the domain of subtlety. Everybody in the dining car's staring at you, you know that??

Ji Hengsheng: Is that important, though?

Ji Hengsheng: Look at how happy the two of them are.

Ji Hengsheng: Isn't the best thing to do here to wish them all the best in their future life together?

Yu Guang: ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact, the happier he looks, the more pissed it makes me!

Ji Hengsheng: ...Hmmmm....

Ji Hengsheng: How could you be furious at finally seeing little Wu Shi find the love of his life? Unless- ah!

Ji Hengsheng: It can't be! Is it possible? That the bond between you two goes beyond a mere bond of friendship, and is in fact something... more?!

Se Yue, sitting in front of me, chokes on her cup of red tea.

Wu Shi: I categorically deny all of these allegations as baseless and unfounded.

Se Yue: ...No, no, I'm not- I mean, I'm not prejudiced against it, I solemnly believe that every person has the right to pursue their personal happiness no matter what-

Wu Shi: Thank you, your highness- wait, no, fuck, that's not-

Se Yue: ...Try not to exhaust yourself too much in the men's dormitory, if you're already staying together?

Yu Guang: ...Hm, y'know, that's not a bad idea. If I start dating Wu Shi, it might cause Qian Yuan to distance herself from him, which would provide me a window of tactical opportunity to steal her heart for myself...

Wu Shi: SHUT THE FUCK UP ALL OF YOU AAAAAAAAAA

I couldn't take it anymore. I stomped over and pulled the two of them out of the bushes by their collars.

Ji Hengsheng: What?! We've been discovered?!

Wu Shi: Please explain to me where your confidence in your own stealth comes from exactly.

Ji Hengsheng: I, uh, um, erh, uh.

Ji Hengsheng: Nyaaaaaa.

Ji Hengsheng: Miaaaaaow.

Wu Shi: .................

Wu Shi: ...Kind of late to pretend to be a cat at this point-

Yu Guang: Nyaaaaaan.

Wu Shi: STOP FUCKING MEOWING!

Se Yue: Pleased to make your acquaintance-

Yu Guang: -and, as Wu Shi's good friend, I cannot in good faith allow him to continue on his path of debauchery further!

Yu Guang: Your highness, you might not be aware, deceived by this man's suave outer looks as you are, but Wu Shi is in fact cheating on you- with your own maid, in fact! How scandalous!

I was pretty sure that this was nowhere in any of the meet-and-greet scripts that Se Yue had surely been trained with as an heiress.

We'd gone far off the script at this point and now her brain was experiencing a BSOD.

Yu Guang: As Wu Shi's good friend, there is nobody more qualified than me to describe him as an absolute piece of human-shaped trash. For your own good, I suggest you break up with him.

Se Yue: ...Wu Shi, you're sure this guy's a good friend?

Wu Shi: Eh, I question it myself sometimes-

Yu Guang: YOU MUST THINK I AM VERY STRANGE, PRINCESS!

He shouted it to interrupt our whispers to each other.

Yu Guang: But as the old saying goes, BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER! If I am the bird of a feather with this man, you can imagine what his true moral constitution is by simply comparing him to me. Ask yourself: Do I seem like a reliable or trustworthy person?

Yu Guang: Therefore, you can imagine the twisted nature of Wu Shi, Q.E.D.

I was pretty sure this is what they call a 'pyrrhic victory'.

Se Yue's elegant smile had frozen up into a rictus grin at this point.

Ji Hengsheng: YU GUANG STFU.

Se Yue: Did... did your other friend just crack his skull against the surface of the table?

Wu Shi: Yeah, I heard it too. Relax, he'll be fine.

Se Yue: I- really?

Wu Shi: Yeah, he's a basketball player, that means he's got a constitution mod through the roof.

Se Yue: ...That doesn't sound right but I don't know enough about basketball to challenge it.

Ji Hengsheng: Hey hey hey my bud, my pal, my classmate Se Yue.

Ji Hengsheng: Can I call you Moony, by the way?

Se Yue: M-moony?

Ji Hengsheng: Mmm-hmm!

Se Yue: This is the first time I've ever been assigned such a cutesy name. I will treasure this gift with honor.

Ji Hengsheng: You can call me Sheng-chan as well!

Se Yue: No, decorum must be adhered to, we must not be too casual immediately-

Ji Hengsheng: But Moonieeeeee.

Ji Hengsheng's social offenses are unstoppable. The Princess's feeble defenses melt away with nary a resistance. It's a total rout. The Se forces are in disarray and in total retreat.

As expected from the genius befriender Hengsheng, she's closed the (social) distance between them in a flash.

Ji Hengsheng: Soooo, Yue-chan, I wanted to ask you,

Ji Hengsheng: JUST HOW LARGE EXACTLY IS THE SE FAMILY'S PRIVATE TREASURY????

Se Yue: ...I am pretty sure I am specifically not supposed to talk about that to anyone.

Ji Hengsheng: What, no, I'm just curious! I mean, everyone talks about how big and... also big, that Cesium is, but it's hard to get a grasp on that you know?

Ji Hengsheng: Do you know how many employees you have?

Se Yue: ...I'm honestly not clear on the specifics. The family head's cabinet is responsible for managing most of the day-to-day affairs of the treasury...

Se Yue: But no matter how you calculate it, I'm pretty sure that our assets add up to at least a trillion?

Ji Hengsheng: T r i l l i o n???

Se Yue: Yep.

Ji Hengsheng: To be clear, the one with TWELVE zeroes?

Se Yue: Yeah, exactly that.

Ji Hengsheng: ....Ohhhhh... I'm so happy!

Oh no I knew where this was going.

Ji Hengsheng: For someone with assets, as large as yours, to be willing to be Shi-chan's friend, I'm so happy for him.

Please don't look to me for help, Se Yue, there's nothing I can do. I can't save you from this. There are some things you must face on your own.

Ji Hengsheng: Shi-chan will be much in your care from now on! Thank you SO much for taking care of him.

Se Yue: No, uh, that's not the nature of our relationship-

Ji Hengsheng: Aren't you friends, though?

Se Yue: I don't know if I can formally say that yet-

Ji Hengsheng: So you're not friends, then?

Oh no she's pulling the puppy-dog-eyes trick.

Not even Se Yue's immaculate defenses can stand against Ji Hengsheng's puppy-dog eyes.

Finally, in the face of Ji Hengsheng's relentless pursuit, Se Yue turned her head aside and just barely and incrementally nodded her head.

Se Yue: Uh, look, so. The reason I've called the two of you here today is because there's something I'd like to trouble you two with.

Ji Hengsheng: Nope! I don't have many friends other than these two.

Yu Guang: Does Wu Shi count? I could start acting weird again if that'd convince you.

Se Yue: I don't-

Yu Guang: Seriously, no matter how you think about it, it's suspicious how popular he is with the ladies recently.

Aaaaand we've driven this conversation into a dead end again.

Se Yue: ...I mean, if someone were to assault Wu Shi, do you have any idea who that person might be?

Ji Hengsheng: Relax, it'd never happen. Shi-chan is broke as a bat, nobody would possibly want to rob him.

Yu Guang: Me! I would! Are you looking for volunteers? I volunteer to assault Wu Shi! How much do you want me to pay you to do it?

Yu Guang: God, you've got no idea, if you let me at'em I'd tear him up like a rag. I'd make such a mess out of him that no women would ever want to approach his sorry ass ever again.

Wu Shi: Yep, that confirms it, I'm pretty sure this idiot is S. Let's work together and push him off the train right now.

Se Yue: On second thought, I take back that whole 'I wish I had friends' thing. Clearly having friends isn't everything it's chalked up to be.

Even after all that, Se Yue continued to ask these slow meandering questions, not letting onto the seriousness of the situation at all.

With such a slow method, could we really figure out the true identity of S?

But, despite all of my misgivings, I'd never considered that maybe we didn't even need to go looking for S.

CONSPICUOUS FLASH TO JI HENGSHENG'S PORTRAIT.

Ji Hengsheng: Hmm?

Hengsheng was the first to notice what was wrong.

Ji Hengsheng: Doesn't it feel strange?

We looked around. Now that she mentioned it, something did feel off.

Something was missing.

What was missing??

Yu Guang: Is it just me or is it way too quiet?

Wu Shi: That's right. Where're the other students?

No matter when it was, the dining car always had plenty of students enjoying the food.

But, at that moment, besides the four of us, not a single soul was in the train car with us.

It felt like an omen.

My heart pounded uncontrollably, and-

No.

This early?!

Yu Guang: EVERYONE, RUN!

S: My target is Wu Shi.

S: As long as no others interfere, I will not raise my hand against you.

Yu Guang: Are you telling me that you want us to sacrifice Wu Shi and flee by ourselves?!

S: Yes.

Yu Guang: Hey, actually, I like the sound of that.

Yu Guang: Except...

He raises a chair over his head like a battle weapon.

Yu Guang: ONLY I MAY LEVY JUDGMENT UPON WU SHI!

Yu Guang: Tormenting Wu Shi is the only passion I have left in my life now! I won't let you take that away from me!

S: Then, perish.

Wu Shi: Up to you again, princess.

Wu Shi: Uncover this scumbag for me.

And then the iron pipe descended.

But then, suddenly-

Ji Hengsheng: No!

Ji Hengsheng: You can't hurt him!

Ji Hengsheng: I won't let you hurt Shi-chan!

Everything in front of me turned into slow motion.

I saw, in slow motion, S's iron pipe descend slowly, coming into contact with Hengsheng's head,

Wu Shi: DOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNN'TTTTTT!

I reached my hands out, but I couldn't catch anything.

The iron pipe hit Hengsheng's head, and I heard the disgusting sound of a watermelon being smashed-

was what I expected.

But, much to my surprise,

the pipe instead halted, there, in midair.

As though it were frozen in midair, the pipe halted half a centimeter away from Hengsheng's forehead.

S: Is that enough, milady?

Wait, what?

I'd just heard S's actual voice. Not the synthesizer voice, an actual human voice.

And it sounded like...

Se Yue: Indeed. This is satisfactory. You've done well.

Wu Shi: Eh?

S took off her robes.

Qian Yuan: It was my pleasure to be of assistance, young mistress.

Qian Yuan: Hallooooooh, senpai! Sorry for scaring you.

Qian Yuan bowed politely to me.

Wu Shi: So it was all a trick to test my friends?

Se Yue: And they passed with flying colors.

Se Yue: But it wasn't just a test. With this, we've successfully captured real photographs of S committing a real 'assault' on students.

Se Yue: Now we just have to disseminate these photographs, and the whole train will be on alert for anybody that looks like S.

Wu Shi: Ah. I see. Very clever.

Wu Shi: Except fuck your clever plan! Did you see how much your plan scared Hengsheng?? And you even knocked Yu Guang out!

Se Yue looked down at me haughtily.

Se Yue: It was necessary.

Wu Shi: You can't justify anything by saying it was necessary!

Se Yue: It doesn't matter.

Se Yue: As long as I rewind it with the Tour of Time, it'll all be like it never happened anyways.

Ji Hengsheng: STOP! MAKING! ME! WORRY! ABOUT! YOU! ALL! THE! TIME!

Qian Yuan: I cannot believe none of you fucking asked me where I got the S costume.

Qian Yuan: I just wore my murder costume into your midst and you just accepted it???

Qian Yuan: This is why you deserve to get murdered by me. God.