---o---
"I like you a lot. That's all there is to it."
Those words fell upon the girl's ears.
Like the most beautiful crimson blooming into a scarlet flower, a sudden flush of color graced the girl's lovely face.
"Liar."
"How can there be so many things in the world without reason or logic?!"
The girl, who had been so aloof, suddenly became agitated. She stared intently at the young man beside her, her tone almost an interrogation.
Despite her words, the depths of her azure eyes shone with a longing light.
She is surprisingly easy to read, Li Zihan thought.
"Reality isn't a novel, so why does it need logic?"
These words came from the young man who, before settling on a goal, acted almost entirely on whims, with no logic to his actions whatsoever.
"If every action was dictated by logic, wouldn't that be incredibly boring?"
The girl was stunned.
The answer caught her completely off guard.
"However, if this matter absolutely must have an answer, I suppose it would be because 'a raven is like a writing desk.'"
The young man chuckled softly, offering his answer.
The girl fell silent once more.
Li Zihan was referencing a famous exchange from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Alice: Mad Hatter, I like you.
Mad Hatter: Why?
Alice: Because a raven is like a writing desk.
Mad Hatter: Why is a raven like a writing desk?
Alice: Because I like you.
Liking someone requires no reason at all.
Though she had spent her life in a laboratory, the well-educated girl's delicate face flushed an even more stunning shade of red.
"It's just... simple lust."
The girl, who had always been so cold toward Li Zihan, spoke with a sharp, critical tone.
But her words were tinged with an inexplicable, indefinable emotion.
"You'd say these things to any pretty girl, wouldn't you?"
The girl stood up, walked directly in front of the young man, and stared intently at the face of this youth who always gave off a devil-may-care impression.
She yearned for a negative answer.
Once that answer came...
She would have a reason to throw herself into his arms, to enjoy the warmth of his body.
And then, she would no longer be alone.
"To be precise, I say these things to girls whose personalities are my type, who are moe, and who are very cute."
As if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her, Kiana was shocked back to her senses.
She looked at the young man opposite her in disbelief.
"I won't lie to a girl I like."
As if the path had suddenly taken a sharp turn, the young man spoke these words, calming the girl down.
"At the very least, unless I believe that a lie is necessary to protect her to a great extent, I won't lie."
"And the current situation clearly doesn't meet the conditions for me to lie to you."
The young man, who would absolutely be deceiving Kiana in the future, said this with the utmost seriousness.
Because he likes me, he'll show me his complete scumbag side? He'll appear before his lover as his true self?
The girl fell silent.
"I still don't like you."
Just like Sirin in one of her fits of pique, Kiana turned her head away, not letting the young man see her face.
"Is that so?"
The young man chuckled, stating his own resolve with ease.
"But I will still pursue you."
"You're really... not the type of guy girls like."
The girl turned her body completely away from him as she spoke.
And then—
She shuffled backward, bumping into the young man's embrace.
"I'm a little cold."
The girl, still not looking back, said something completely unrelated to her previous words.
Li Zihan was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head with a smile. He reached out his arms, pulled the girl before him into his embrace, and together they watched the sunrise.
---o---
While a certain someone was watching the sunrise from the sky with the little princess in his arms, what was the Chaldea crew up to?
The answer: they were obeying the power of the Heavenly Lord of Mechanics, Newton, and performing a freefall exercise.
The screams of young girls and the Fourth Beast echoed through the skies above the ruined city.
"Waaah—aaaaaaaaah!"
This was Gudako, an Evil of Humanity.
"Kyaaa—aaaaaaaaah!"
This was Gudako's personal accessory—the Lecherous Eggplant, Mash.
"Fou—woooooooh!"
This was the Lecherous Eggplant's personal accessory, the Fourth Primate Murder—Merlin-beast, Fou.
"Why is the landing point in mid-air?!!"
Gudako, who had never before been subjected to the baptism of an unreliable system's teleportation function, screamed as the ground rushed up to meet her.
"V-Visually estimating 200 meters to the ground! Master, please, please give the order!"
Faced with this special situation, even the Demi-Servant, the Lecherous Eggplant, stammered as she spoke.
"Wha—, 200 meters!"
Miss Fujimaru's scream grew even more distinct.
"Estimated seven seconds until impact! P-Please advise!!"
Seeing the ground getting closer and closer, Mash requested instructions from her Master.
"Deploy your Noble Phantasm, Mash!"
"Are you alright, Master?"
Mash quickly leaped up and pulled the last Master of humanity to her feet.
"I'm fine."
Fujimaru Ritsuka took Mash's hand, her expression troubled as she complained.
"What on earth is the Doctor thinking?"
At that moment, Merlin's #1 fan, who had long been targeted by a certain scumbag, finally contacted them.
"Ritsuka, Mash, can you hear me?"
The somewhat frantic voice of Doctor Romani, the #1 fan of the Grand Scammer Merlin, came through the comms.
"Answer me!"
"Comms are perfectly clear."
Hearing Romani's voice, Fujimaru Ritsuka breathed a sigh of relief.
"Doctor, can you scan the surrounding area? It might be dangerous here. We need intel support."
"I understand!"
Doctor Romani carefully studied the data displayed on his instruments, checking it several times before answering.
"There are no significant magical energy reactions around you."
These words reached Gudako's ears, and she couldn't help but relax.
"Still, it's best to proceed with caution. Chaldea detects danger by observing the difference between a specific mana signature and the ambient mana. If an enemy's magical energy level is too similar to the environment's, it's difficult to detect them."
After confirming the instruments were working properly, Romani added.
"If their mana is that similar to the ambient level, then even if there are enemies, they can't be too strong, right?"
The Lecherous Eggplant patted her chest, speaking with great relief.
Just falling from the sky was life-threatening enough. If they had to fight a powerful enemy immediately after, it would truly be a disastrous start.
"Yeah, if we ran into a strong enemy right after landing, that would be—"
Before she could finish her sentence, her face froze.
In her line of sight, a colossal beast over a hundred meters tall was leading a pack of demonic beasts, each several dozen meters high, charging straight toward them.
---o---
Author's Note:
ps: Trying to write a bit of a romance scene.