Humans always pursue the future, not just out of fear and curiosity for the unknown, but also in search of inheritance and hope. Death is meaningless; what determines a person's significance is the thought they transmit.
...
Alright... this should be the last stop of tonight's itinerary: the duo of Hua and Immer. Lin didn't want to treat tonight's actions as "missions" to complete, but in terms of results, he was no different from a game protagonist who has to complete "talk to certain people" quests to advance the plot. He couldn't say if it was due to a lack of time or some other indescribable situation.
Like Sakura, Hua and Immer weren't the stars of the ball; they stayed in the corners. Lin worst fear was that they hadn't come at all, so he was a bit surprised to find them.
Hua had changed out of her uniform and into the cheongsam Himeko had prepared for her. Immer was the same as always. Standing together, there was a strong sense of visual dissonance, but in terms of expression, there wasn't much difference. Perhaps Eden's song had worked; Hua's face looked a bit better than expected.
"Captain."
"Captain Lin."
They had noticed him as he walked over. After all, only Lin would wear a helmet even more prominent than a uniform at a ball.
"...I'm no longer your captain." Lin had said this before, but habits don't change overnight.
Immer, however, had his own view. He shook his head expressionlessly. "Even if you are no longer my actual captain, this is my respectful title for you."
"..."
"..." Lin had no objection.
"Captain Lin... Lin, does your body feel better?" Hua's greeting suited her personality. "Are you able to get out of bed and walk now?"
Lin raised his hand to show her, gripping a nearby cup. "Yes, no problem."
After that, there wasn't much to say between the three of them. But this wasn't the stiff silence like with Kevin. Immer noticed the hesitation in Hua's expression, so he said without much thought, "I'm going to the bathroom."
He left to give them space, hoping Lin could resolve Hua's confusion. After Immer quickly left, Lin stared at the silent Hua, waiting for her to speak. He knew Hua. This girl he had saved, whose worldview he had helped build, was far from the stage of maturity. Many mature people use silence to show their independence and wisdom. But for Hua, silence was simply her only option.
"Lin, you saw what Captain Himeko looked like after she turned into a Herrscher, right?" Finally, she was forced to speak by Lin gaze.
"Yes." That destructive figure and the incinerating flames—Lin would never forget them for the rest of his life.
"What was she... like?"
What was she like?
If it were the Lin of a long time ago, he might have said categorically, "She looked like a Herrscher." She wanted to destroy humanity and put it into practice, nothing more. But the faces of the Sixth, the Seventh, and the Previous Era's Herrscher of Reason flashed before his eyes.
Was the Sixth terrifying? Yes, she was the incarnation of death, highly intelligent, a Herrscher who dealt Fire Moth the most severe blow in history. Her sweet smile, indistinguishable from a human's, was a demon mask leading people to extinction.
What about the Seventh? Same. She burned Australia, and the Large-Scale Honkai Eruption she triggered covered an entire continent. She would smile while bringing world-ending flames to the mortal world.
The Previous Era's Herrscher of Reason went without saying; she was the last straw that destroyed the Previous Era, the prophesied world-ender who killed all humans and silenced civilization.
But the way the Sixth yearned for a trivial name before death; the gentle smile of the Seventh as she chose to spare Lin and the 19th Branch; the self-destruction of the Previous Era's Herrscher of Reason for the sake of humanity...
Were those also... "what a Herrscher looks like"? Could he define what "the appearance of a Herrscher" was? He couldn't.
Those beings who didn't possess humanity yet were infinitely close to it, born from human bodies as if acquiring human traits—what kind of creatures were they?
Monsters destroying humanity?
Infants yearning for new life?
Exceptions for self-actualization?
Finally, Lin found a word from his vocabulary to tell Hua.
"Pitiful."
Hua's eyes widened, as if she had heard an unbelievable word. In fact, it was indeed unbelievable because it came from Lin.
"She was mad in the fire, she burned in the fire. She looked like herself, yet she didn't." Lin recalled the scene, the streak of fiery red he could see through the heat-distorted vision. "I don't know if her personality was polluted at that time, or if she was directly replaced. But I think, she might not have been just a 'Herrscher'."
For the girl before him, Lin did his best to teach her. Her acquaintances, Seele and Himeko, had both become Herrschers; this would undoubtedly lead to unnecessary doubt. Even Lin couldn't avoid the suspicion.
"...Thank you, Lin." She thanked him softly. Perhaps she didn't hear the deep meaning in his words, but she would still act in her own way.
"...Look with your own eyes."
"Eh?"
Hua looked up and saw the visor she had seen countless times. It emitted azure particles—rational and cold.
"If you want to know what Himeko was at that time, then investigate for yourself, search for yourself, experiment for yourself... From past records, from the Herrschers you will meet in the future, look for what you want."
"Himeko once told me that you couldn't find your own direction, from simply living at the start, to looking for an ideal after the Honkai ends, to now... you can set this as your life goal."
"Whether what you find in the end is right or wrong... it will be what you pursued yourself."
Was that all? These weren't just things Lin wanted to say to Hua; they were also things Himeko and Lin had discussed regarding Hua's future. They were veterans tied to the Savior's chariot; whether it was Himeko or Lin, it was hard to escape these tightening bonds. But these young people were different.
To place hope in the future, to hand everything over to the young... that was Himeko's thought. Regardless of what Himeko's Herrscher transformation ultimately taught Hua, she had completed her final lesson.