"Hello, Mei."
"Hello again, Eden."
The only word Mei could squeeze out of her mind to describe the singer sitting gracefully in the lounge was: dignified.
Eden and Su were the rare calm types among the Flame-Chasers. Even Hua could hardly be considered composed enough. Compared to her five thousand years later self, known as Fu Hua, the current her was closer to an introverted rather than reserved person.
Her auburn hair was elegantly spread behind her head. Her dark gold pupils, like the red and gold accents on her attire, gave people a wonderful sense of luxury without being overly extravagant.
She looked like a woman who had walked out of a medieval artist's painting, full of historical and artistic flair. Even her excellent appearance seemed insignificant compared to her demeanor.
Mei somewhat understood why the portrait hanging in the lounge was of Eden.
"Are you alone?" Mei glanced around and didn't see any other Flame-Chasers besides this beautiful woman. Of course, neither Lin nor Klein was present.
"Lin was just here."
"Him again..." Mei had been hearing this name quite frequently lately, yet she never saw the person himself. He was everywhere, yet nowhere.
Lin and Eden had spoken few times. Although not as little as Sakura, who barely spoke, their conversations were certainly among the fewest. He talked more with the male Flame-Chasers.
Perhaps their fields were different, leading to fewer shared topics.
This piqued Mei's interest. She asked, "What were you two talking about?"
"We were talking about my debut work." Eden poured a glass of deeply colored red wine. The purple-red liquid swirled in the stemmed glass, elegant and refined.
She smiled slightly, picked up the glass, and took a sip.
"Work? Does Lin understand art?" Mei hadn't expected their topic to be this. "Strange... Why does that helmeted man know a little bit about everything?"
Eden only tasted the wine, then put down the glass and crossed her hands in front of her: "No, Mei, Lin doesn't understand art; he simply enjoys the sensory pleasure of sound."
"Furthermore, Lin's versatility is related to his past life. Compared to Pardofelis, Lin's life was relatively happier, but he still grew up alone and independently, which is why he is 'knowledgeable about everything'."
A look of pity for someone fleetingly crossed Eden's golden eyes, but it quickly vanished. That person didn't need anyone's sympathy. He never complained about these "small things."
"Alone... Do you mean he was an orphan?"
This was the first time Mei had heard about Lin's past. It was also then that she realized Lin shouldn't have been this way from the start. So what was Lin's past like?
"Yes, Lin didn't grow up in an orphanage but was self-sufficient until he joined the Moth of the Fire Chasers."
A child, self-sufficient until joining the Moth of the Fire Chasers.
This single short sentence held so much hardship and bitterness.
Mei's own past also had a major turning point at one point in time, causing a blow to her consciousness. But compared to Kiana's and Lin's childhoods, hers was, in a sense, even happier.
Lin... Is that why he's so cold to people?
"Mei, you must be thinking that Lin became this way because of his childhood influence." Eden took another sip of wine. Instead of "drinking," she seemed to be "smelling" it. Each time, she only wet her lips with a tiny amount, but the wine in the glass was disappearing quickly.
Mei frowned: "Isn't that the case?"
"Mei, I mentioned earlier that Lin and I were discussing my debut work."
"Yes."
"The reason Lin brought it up is that he used to be my fan."
"Huh? A fan?" Mei was startled by the title.
The person who always communicated with an attitude that suggested you owed him eight million, and with facial expressions that required an eighth-grade light-signal language proficiency to understand—was he once a fan who sat in the audience waving light sticks and cheering loudly?
Wait, no, Eden wasn't that kind of singer, was she?
"He often came to my concerts before he joined the Moth of the Fire Chasers, so do you think he was like this back then?"
"Now that you mention it, that's really contradictory..."
The current Lin, when commenting on a song, would likely only have two answers: either "Don't bother me," or "Boring."
"I only learned from Elysia that Lin used to be my fan and how 'ordinary' he once was."
Ordinary?
Mei was confused, but Eden no longer seemed interested in talking. She finished the rest of the wine in one gulp, a blush rising on her cheeks.
"When will Lin accept his 'insignificant' happiness?"
"Have you been waiting long?"
Lin arrived at the designated spot right on time, not a minute more or less, precisely like a stopwatch.
"No, I just arrived too."
The girl with the inner-dyed hair smiled, tilting her head. A lock of dark hair fell on her shoulder.
That's right. Lin's date today was with Seele. After the Fifth Branch incident, her psyche had been severely traumatized. It took several months for her to emerge from the tragedy of her parents' brutal deaths. After careful thought, Lin decided to specifically take a day off to observe Seele mental state.
Lin had not told Seele or Spaciel about Rit. They only knew that the killer had been executed while being transported back to headquarters and didn't know about Lin's trip to The Deepest Reaches.
After much consideration, the Rit incident could still potentially destabilize the mental state they had worked so hard to recover. Since the outcome was the same, it was best that they didn't know.
Furthermore, Lin's outing wasn't entirely for this reason.
"Squad Member Lin, you've gone to so much trouble. You never take days off..." Seele eyes dimmed. She guessed the reason Lin asked her out. "I'm just so useless."
Lin stood with his hands in his pockets: "...Why would you think that?"
"But it's the truth..."
"..." Lin sighed almost imperceptibly. He said to the dejected girl, "No, it's not. I've just been very tired lately and wanted to go out and rest."
"Really?" Seele eyes brightened.
"You told me to take a break sometimes, so I decided to go out today."
Lin's current tone was similar to how he spoke when consoling a child. Seele mental state couldn't withstand any major emotional setbacks right now, so being as gentle as possible was best.
Seele was stunned for a moment, then happily said, "Is that so? You remembered."
"Let's go. We'll have lunch first."
"Okay!"
The two walked side-by-side toward the commercial street.
Lin carried a document in his inner pocket.
It was one of the files on the Cocoon members that he had brought back from The Deepest Reaches.
His purpose for this trip, besides Seele, was to find clues about the Cocoon members.
And the address marked on this document was located nearby.