Chapter 58: As Long As The Painful Memories Disappear, The Pain Disappears With Them

Chapter 58: As Long As The Painful Memories Disappear, The Pain Disappears With Them

Monday, dusk.

“Caroline, Caroline, don’t walk so fast. I really have something important to tell you.”

At the gate outside the villa, Tendou grabbed Caroline’s wrist, finally stopping her from leaving.

Caroline did stop walking, but she wasn’t showing Tendou a pleasant expression at all.

Because the little tricks Tendou and Chen Xing had been pulling these past few days had made her quite unhappy with him.

Unless Tendou takes the initiative to explain the reason behind all of that, she absolutely won’t forgive him so easily.

Even so, in that seemingly cold expression on Caroline’s face, there was still a hint of expectation.

It was obvious she thought that the reason Tendou had suddenly stopped her today was to finally explain the “little secret” he and Chen Xing had been hiding lately.

But Caroline was quickly disappointed.

Because what Tendou said next wasn’t about any “little secret” with Chen Xing at all.

It was about the upcoming “escort mission.”

If this had been before, given her reputation for always being calm and rational, whenever Tendou took the initiative to bring up anything unrelated to their mission, she wouldn’t have taken it seriously. She might even have knocked some sense into him and reminded him to focus.

But today, for some reason, when she heard that Tendou had come to talk to her because of the mission…

Caroline unexpectedly felt a little disappointed.

This was a rare feeling for her, but it undeniably happened.

Yet Tendou didn’t seem to notice any of this. He simply continued explaining the reason he had stopped her.

“So, Caroline, because Miss Isabel suddenly decided to be willful, we have to take a day off from school tomorrow and go scout the places she plans to visit.”

“After all, whether it’s the Jellyfish Amusement Park or the Sunken Ship Restaurant, they’re both extremely crowded locations.”

“If we don’t familiarize ourselves with the area ahead of time, we won’t be able to properly protect her when she goes there on Friday.”

Caroline looked at Tendou expressionlessly and replied calmly, “Alright, I understand.”

After speaking, she turned to head back into the villa.

But this time, Tendou called out to her again, as if something had suddenly come to his mind.

“Wait.”

Under Caroline’s confused gaze, Tendou suddenly brought up her Star Origin—Quantum Phantom.

“Caroline, I heard from Yume-nee that after this mission, you plan to undergo the organization’s arranged quantum computation to greatly increase your Star Origin development, is that right?”

Caroline nodded without denying it.

She had only discussed this with Instructor Tachibana so far, but considering the relationship between Tendou and Instructor Tachibana—and her own relationship with Tendou—it wasn’t strange that he knew.

But there was one thing Caroline couldn’t understand.

Why did Tendou suddenly bring this up?

The essence of this quantum computation process was to allow Caroline—under the organization’s assistance—to let her consciousness enter the “Supercomputing Space,” a realm normally accessible only to second-order Machina-Type Starbearers.

Although doing so carried risks for her, such as “humanity formatting” or “memory loss,” considering the organization’s expertise in intelligent machinery, Caroline believed the risk level of this “Supercomputing Space journey” was actually very low.

Could it be… Tendou was worried about her?

Thinking this, Caroline’s mood suddenly improved.

Her previously cold expression visibly softened, and she asked, “What is it, Tendou? Why did you suddenly bring this up?”

Facing Caroline’s puzzled look, Tendou opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he chose to bury those words in his heart. Instead, he said in his usual half-joking tone:

“...It’s nothing. I just suddenly remembered that once your consciousness enters the Supercomputing Space, we won’t be able to see each other for at least a month, or up to three months.”

“And if that happens, for the first few months after you return to the base, there’ll be no one to help me grab food from the cafeteria ahead of time.”

Hearing this, Caroline unexpectedly let out a small laugh.

She looked at Tendou with a rare playful expression.

“So the only thing you wanted to say is that?”

Being teased by Caroline, Tendou scratched his cheek, pretending his thoughts had been seen through, and replied reluctantly, “Alright, fine. What I really wanted to say is that I won’t be able to openly eat double portions of dessert for a while. That’s actually the most important part.”

Seeing his amusing reaction, Caroline couldn’t help but laugh.

“I knew it. Alright, Tendou, don’t worry. I’ve already arranged everything you’re concerned about.”

“I told Instructor Tachibana a long time ago that during the period I’m inside the Supercomputing Space, all of my desserts will be assigned to you. So you don’t need to worry about losing your double-dessert privilege.”

“Besides, it’s only at most three months. There’s still plenty of time in the future. You definitely won’t be short of desserts.”

“I–I see… then I’m relieved…”

Receiving the answer he “wanted,” Tendou immediately revealed a satisfied expression.

After reminding Caroline not to be late tomorrow, he walked toward the villa ahead of her.

But in the direction Caroline couldn’t see, Tendou’s expression gradually changed from happiness to something far more complicated.

Although the “Year-End Fireworks” plan was something he had planned and was determined to carry out…

As he spent more time with Caroline, he no longer saw her and the others as emotionless popularity tools like he once did.

He now truly saw them as partners, as friends… as family.

Because of this, if possible, Tendou actually did not want to deliberately hurt his “family” just for a bit of popularity.

However, if everything followed the original story, Caroline would—due to a sudden Starbearer Association attack a few months later—end up with an imperfect computation.

The result would be a fatal defect: a “personality fragmentation.”

For most Machina-Type Starbearers, personality fragmentation was not considered a flaw at all—in fact, it was seen as a great advantage.

Because it allowed them to abandon all “emotional” factors and keep their minds in a state of pure “rationality.”

But in Tendou’s eyes, if a person couldn’t feel even the most basic “joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness,” could such a being… still be called a person?

Therefore, if Tendou wanted Caroline’s computation to be perfect, he not only had to secure enough computation time for her, he also had to give Caroline sufficient emotional stimulation afterward.

Only then could he dilute the excessively high rationality value the Supercomputing Space would impose on her.

Only then could she retain as much of her “human” side as possible.

Even though what he planned to do was cruel to Caroline, letting her live on as a human—even with hatred—was still far better than letting her turn into a pure, emotionless machine, wasn’t it?

Besides, Tendou never intended for Caroline to remain trapped in “pain” or “hatred” forever.

Because as long as the painful memories disappear, the pain naturally disappears with them.

Thinking this, Tendou, who had already reached the doorway, took a deep breath.

In the next second, the complicated expression on his face vanished.

In its place was his usual unserious, carefree expression—the one everyone around him was familiar with.

This change in expression was clearly meant to prevent anyone from seeing what he was truly thinking inside.

His disguise fooled everyone around him.

But it absolutely couldn’t fool the dimensional viewers watching the episode.

If the earlier flashback hadn’t been shown, then the dimensional viewers might have been tricked again, just like Caroline—thinking that Tendou was merely worried about losing his double dessert privileges, and that this was the real reason behind his conversation with her.

After all, that perfectly fit Tendou’s character as a hardcore dessert addict.

But because the flashback had established the truth beforehand, the dimensional viewers knew that Tendou’s words clearly carried a deeper meaning.

He simply chose—out of certain concerns—not to say those true feelings out loud, burying them once again in his heart.

While this made viewers love him even more… it also made them feel unbearably sad.

And that sadness reached its peak the moment Caroline said, “There’s still plenty of time in the future.”

Girl, seriously?

You’re still naively talking about “the future”?! The future is about to stop existing any moment now!!!

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