Li Mo stared at the neatly written 「Kanagawa Yume」 on the title page for a long time.
"Ring ring ring—!"
The phone alarm rang. It was time for him to pick up the children.
Li Mo turned off the alarm, his eyes becoming sharp.
"Kanagawa, you really gave me a 'huge' surprise. You'd better not let me catch you this time, or you'll be in for it."
Li Mo teased, repeatedly flipping through the storybook filled with dark fairy tales, not immediately going downstairs to pick up the children as he usually did.
"The fairy tale and the five-day rule of the haunted house are too similar. I wouldn't believe it if you told me there was no connection between the owner of the book and the corresponding story."
"But the problem is, where do I find a breakthrough to connect the two?"
Li Mo fell into deep thought, constantly recalling what he had seen and heard after entering the haunted house. Having lost the power of the Bizarre, he had also lost the ability of photographic memory, especially the experience of the haunted house, which was already more than a decade ago for Li Mo... If Li Mo didn't recall it every day, he might really forget everything.
The memory of the haunted house, especially the first meeting and the other party's actions, were aspects Li Mo had once focused on observing. He had to ensure that every person and every action he encountered was reasonable and logical, so Li Mo was very clear about Kanagawa Yume's habits.
Outwardly, she was a fearless delinquent girl. But after reading the second fairy tale, Li Mo was more inclined to believe that Kanagawa Yume was just a superficial personality. She had a rule about her, which meant she wasn't a normal person, and very likely not even a person at all. It was just that for some reason, she continued to exist in the manner of a living person.
The strange thing was that her behavioral logic did not deviate from Li Mo's understanding of living people, she was just a bit bolder.
"..."
"No, I might be in a misunderstanding. Why would I believe Kanagawa Yume's words?"
"She can talk about her past and her experience of transferring schools. It seems incredibly real, but a living person's cognition is very easy to modify. It's very likely that from the beginning, she forgot her true identity, including her name and past experiences."
"..."
"Kanagawa Yume is recording everything about the haunted house."
Li Mo's voice became low, his puzzled facial expression gradually becoming indifferent. The more he thought, the more his eyes became unfocused.
The act of recording happened to match this story. But Kanagawa Yume did not write this story at that time, nor was the past dark fairy tale born from Kanagawa Yume's and his own experiences in the haunted house.
The fairy tale was already written at an early time node in the haunted house world. The haunted house was something that happened later. And Kanagawa Yume's later recording was very likely inheriting the habits of her true identity. Her master personality subconsciously made her do so.
The reason was also simple. A normal person in a haunted house wouldn't have the leisure to record the Bizarre, let alone recall the near-death experiences and the twisted and terrifying ghosts. Li Mo initially just thought she was bolder and more aggressive and enthusiastic about gathering material.
But gradually, Li Mo recalled that Kanagawa Yume did not record everything. Apart from what Li Mo asked her to record, the rest of what she recorded could almost all find a corresponding shadow in the second fairy tale.
Li Mo closed the book, operated the wheelchair, and came to the elevator. He was holding the second fairy tale.
"No wonder I've been waiting for Kanagawa Yume for so long. Because there's no such person in this world at all."
"So, Kanagawa Yume's true identity is..."
"..."
Li Mo pondered for a moment, his eyes twinkling slightly. He pursed his lips and said the reality he was unwilling to accept.
"The owner of the first book, Seele Vollerei."
Pressing the elevator button, Li Mo returned to the first floor. After he came back from the bizarre fourth floor, there was no change on the first floor. Or rather, there was a change but he didn't notice it.
If the owner of the storybook, Kanagawa Yume, and Seele were the same person, then how should he treat Seele, a newcomer? Li Mo was very puzzled. He already knew the ending of the dark story.
Even because of his foreknowledge as a transmigrator, Li Mo could compare Seele and Kanagawa Yume to White Seele and Dark Seele. But the key was that there was a big gap between reality and ideals. The best choice was to kill Seele while she was still a normal person to avoid future troubles.
Was it possible? To be honest, Li Mo couldn't do such a thing, even if he was 100% sure that Seele was the master of the story.
There were two dilemmas he was currently facing. The first was how to treat an innocent person who would cause a great disaster in the future. It was like in a novel where a person who had suffered a lot of torture and hardship became the final boss, and the protagonist traveled back to a time point before this person turned evil.
At this time point, the other party was innocent. Why should an innocent person be subjected to an unwarranted disaster? But if you don't do that, the same tragedy will be born.
Choice, only the person involved understands the struggle. If it was just thinking and talking, Li Mo could stand on the moral high ground and ask the protagonist to kill the other party to save more people and avoid tragedy. Or he could righteously ask the protagonist not to do so, and absolutely not to sentence an innocent person to death.
"Making choices is so troublesome. It would be great if the hints in my mind were still there."
Li Mo couldn't help but mutter. At least the hints back then could reveal the direct outcome of the choice, unlike now where he was completely confused.
The second point was that reality was composed of countless rules and logics. Li Mo couldn't just kill Seele for no reason. Bronya couldn't accept it, Cocolia couldn't accept it, and it was conceivable that the children in the orphanage couldn't accept Li Mo becoming that kind of person.
Perhaps Shigure Kira could accept it, because she knew that his choice must have a corresponding reason. But the key was that he couldn't accept it himself. Such a cute and sensible child...
"I can't bring myself to do it. How can I casually take away a person's life? It's too arrogant to decide her life and death based on my own subjective thoughts."
Li Mo knew very well that if he didn't act now, he probably wouldn't have a chance to act in the future. Once Seele became the witch in the fairy tale, which was a ghost, she would gain immortality. He could only repeat the tragedy of the prince, watching the kingdom fall and committing suicide in despair.
"In that case, I'm more like a second-run prince. But I don't think I can accept becoming a second-run prince. Perhaps the original plot of this world had such a second-run prince."
"But unfortunately, I'm not."
Junior high school was dismissed an hour later than elementary school. Li Mo could go home after picking up the elementary school children. The junior high school children would go home together.
After ruling out all other options, Li Mo was left with only one. It was a bit cliché, and even a bit ethereal.
"I'll just take good care of her. With the company of family and classmates, she won't be twisted."
"Letting you grow up healthily is also the reason we fight."
Li Mo shook his head helplessly, the last expression on his face a cheerful smile. He had made his choice. The future was hazy, and who could say for sure what would happen?
From a rational point of view, killing Seele directly was the safest choice, just like the second-run prince in the fairy tale who killed the princess on her eighteenth birthday with that sword.
Was the prince wrong? No, because he knew that the eighteen-year-old princess would turn his kingdom into a city of the dead. Then was he right? Not entirely. He would have to bear the psychological shadow of killing his beloved for the rest of his life, and his reputation would be ruined.
Reality... choices really run through one's entire life. Many times, you know the price but still choose the option you are willing to choose.
Li Mo smiled with relief, remembering how he used to spend all his time in internet cafes in junior high and didn't care about his studies at all. Did he regret it? It's hard to say. He only knew that he had a lot of fun at that time.
Li Mo, as usual, picked up all the children and brought them home. The elementary school children only had to do the cleaning. As for cooking, it was up to the older Sin and the other children who were still in junior high and about to enter high school.
Li Mo could be an assistant, but due to his physical condition, he couldn't enter the kitchen much. It was easy for him to choke and cough.
At seven o'clock in the evening, the junior high school children came home in groups. The gate was open. Li Mo sat in the living room on the first floor, looking for Seele in the crowd.
After searching for a long time, he finally saw Seele at the back of the crowd, holding Bronya's hand, looking very happy.
"..."
No, that's not right. This smile was fake. Li Mo focused his gaze, pretending to be nonchalant as he observed Seele. Her smile was very forced. It was just because of her sweet and cute face that the smile looked beautiful and real.
Couldn't Bronya see it? Hmm... the current Bronya didn't have the heavy armor and rabbit, nor had Cocolia implanted a biological chip in her brain. Her legs were both healthy, without a hint of technology. It was difficult for Bronya, who lacked emotional knowledge, to see this fake smile.
"..."
The question arose again. Then... why could Seele fake it so perfectly? Was it her talent? Or was it for some other special reason.
Li Mo pondered. He decided to take the time to contact Cocolia and ask about Seele's past. This level of perfect disguise should not be a skill a twelve-year-old girl could master.
He remembered that he had practiced fake smiling for a long time. Before he mastered it, his smile was so abstract that it was obviously fake.
"Brother Li Mo! We're back! Hee hee."
Sin ran up to Li Mo and greeted him politely. Li Mo felt very gratified. It seemed that his moral education was very effective. You should greet your respected elders. Sin had learned well. Of course, there was another possibility, that Sin was afraid of being locked in the small dark room again and feeling the noble grace of Teacher Li Mo.
"Is everyone here?" Li Mo asked.
Sin immediately replied, "Yes, we waited until everyone was here before leaving the campus. Don't worry, we won't leave any family member behind!"
Looking at Sin's cheerful and sunny side, Li Mo was quite touched. He felt a great sense of accomplishment in raising a foul-mouthed, rebellious villainess into a healthy, sunny, and positive normal girl.
He really wanted to shed fatherly tears... ha, just kidding. His current physical age was not old.
"Brother Li Mo, I'll take them to cook now. Sister Shigure gave us some pocket money last night. We discussed it and decided to buy some meat and desserts to celebrate the arrival of Seele and Bronya to the orphanage!"
"The butcher saw that we were small and gave us a little more!"
Sin held up a plastic bag and two well-packaged small cakes, proving that what she had just said was true. The plastic bag contained some unknown type of meat, which looked okay and was a good portion.
Li Mo knew that butcher. His child was in elementary school, and he had met him on his way to pick up the children. At that time, the two of them had a good chat. After the butcher learned about Li Mo's family situation, he would give him a large amount of meat every half month, including chicken, duck, fish, and beef.
Shigure Kira certainly wouldn't give the children much pocket money, as most of it had to be used for the children's education and living expenses at the orphanage. That amount of money certainly couldn't buy so much meat.
Li Mo was a little emotional and sighed. He would remember this favor. When the old bastard Otto died and his body recovered, he would go and help out and return the favor. It was quite embarrassing to owe so much and not pay it back.
"Okay, be careful when you're cooking. Don't cut your hands." Li Mo reminded.
"Don't worry too much, Brother Li Mo. We've cooked so many times, there won't be any problems. By the way, Bronya said she also knows a little about cooking, so we can cook together." Sin led the people beside her past Li Mo and towards the kitchen.
Li Mo did not specifically call out Seele. He would find a suitable time to talk to Seele and Bronya separately.
"Hmm?"
Just as Li Mo came back from his thoughts, he found Seele at the back of the crowd staring at him intently. When his gaze met hers, Seele shrank back like a shy mimosa.
"Is she shy?"
Li Mo didn't think about anything else. He and Seele had only known each other for a day and were not yet familiar enough to look at each other subconsciously. The emotions were not there yet.
Li Mo watched Seele's departing back. Her small body swayed, her small, snow-white hands naturally relaxed. Her short, black-blue hair fell to her shoulders, without any hair ornaments, simple and pure, very quiet.
Unlike the Swallowtail Phantasm in the game, whose dress was more gorgeous, the Seele in front of Li Mo was just wearing a simple light blue dress, like a clear lake flowing all over her body. The pure white over-the-knee stockings wrapped around her slender legs, and the space between the hem of her skirt and the stockings created a pure and dreamy absolute territory.
"..."
"I have to let Kira pick a longer skirt for Seele. Seele is still young, she can't dress so seductively."