Chapter 1061: Family

Chapter 1061: Family

January 1, 2345—if nothing had gone awry, this should have been the 216th year of the Wasteland Era.

Yet, due to the many events that transpired, the timeline that once plunged into the abyss had ultimately shifted.

The Orion had not fallen into the hands of the Celestials, nor had the azure planet.

The survivors living in the new age had taken the torch from their predecessors, wielded it to dispel the boundless long night, and welcomed the dawn.

January 1, 2345.

The Orion, bound for the Lagrange Point space station, docked at the starport.

Beyond retrieving the heroes of the Burning Legion and delivering the rotation troops, it also brought forty thousand standard shipping containers—nearly half a million tons of cargo.

For the first time in two centuries, goods produced on the surface had entered the docking orbit of the Lagrange Point.

Just two years prior, the outer orbital space of Earth had been choked with a dense field of debris.

Of that half-million tons of cargo, only a tiny fraction consisted of supplies; the vast majority were aerospace materials, intermediate products, and various components manufactured by the industrial zones of Dawn City, Ideal City, the Southern Coastal Ring, Ravenka, and Bartoya.

Under a previously signed covenant, the Academy had shared with the Alliance the blueprints for starship manufacturing from the era of the Human Union, along with logistics records and “supplier orders” recovered from the wasteland and relayed to the Lagrange Point space station over the years.

With these data, the Alliance could, together with its allies, replicate the entire “Lagrange Point space station industrial chain” from the Age of Prosperity.

In exchange, the Alliance would fulfill the first order for a “large civilian interstellar cruise liner” for the Lagrange Point space station since the end of the Age of Prosperity, based on the blueprints and technology provided by the Academy.

Though the reward was generous, the order was no small matter—its table of contents alone amounted to several gigabytes of data.

The vast array of related industries and countless components was an astronomical figure for a wasteland just emerging from decline.

Fortunately, the Alliance did not fight alone.

Besides a host of smaller allies, it had the help of Ideal City—a big brother gradually becoming a little brother!

Industrial machines produced by the Silver Wing Group had greatly compensated for the quality deficiencies of the Alliance and its allies, while the information processing technology of Endpoint Group provided fertile ground for building more complex industrial chains.

Notably, long ago, Endpoint Group had been skeptical about expanding its Endpoint Cloud business across the wasteland.

But now, with the Alliance’s investment in information infrastructure and the ever-growing demand for data centers, Endpoint Group’s board could only mutter, “It smells so good.”

The upper echelons of Ideal City had seen little mobility for a long time, yet the channels for movement still existed.

If Endpoint Group failed to ride the wave of the times, it would inevitably be replaced by emerging information technology companies that seized the opportunity.

This urgency was heightened by the Alliance’s tendency to offer more opportunities to new ventures like “Abu Aerospace” and foster a healthy competitive environment.

Many technologies on the wasteland were already available.

Moreover, after the Academy opened its database to the Alliance, many cutting-edge technologies no longer faced significant barriers.

Those who could not adapt to the times would simply be left behind.

Thus, through full competition and cooperation among all parties, the first batch of half a million tons of cargo destined for the Lagrange Point space station was finally completed.

Even Mammoth Nation, fresh from the ravages of war, contributed a batch of engineering exoskeletons, while the Bartoya Alliance, having shed the title of the Southern Legion, secured orders for over a hundred precision components.

What arrived aboard the Orion missile cruiser was not just cargo, but nearly a thousand staff members from all factions of the Conclave.

These were experts in the aerospace industry.

Most were vault dwellers, especially those from the Alliance.

Having been of little use during the Wasteland Era, they had finally awaited an age where they could spread their wings.

These experts from the Human Union era would use their experience and skills to restart the shipbuilding facilities at the Lagrange Point space station, complete the first batch of standard cargo starships as quickly as possible, and relieve the Orion missile cruiser of its transport duties.

Chu Guang’s ambitions for this space station went far beyond a single colony ship.

Beyond the Academy’s order, he had also unveiled the blueprint for the “Solar System Revival Plan” at the Conclave assembly.

This plan was jointly drafted by the Alliance’s scientific expedition team and the Academy’s Science Committee.

According to the blueprint’s steps, the Alliance would gradually reclaim the outer space facilities of the Human Union era in three phases.

In the first phase, the Alliance would rebuild the Mars colony, attempt to repair the mining facilities on Ceres, and establish mining stations in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

In the second phase, the Alliance would expand its operational range outward, setting up habitation stations on asteroids like Europa and Titan where the Human Union had once left traces, conducting archaeological work on pre-war facilities while maximizing production restoration.

In the third phase, the Alliance would return to the Kuiper Belt, completing the full recovery of all Human Union legacy assets.

The entire plan would be advanced in five-year cycles.

As it progressed, the plan would also gradually feed back into the reconstruction of the surface world.

All products and derivatives related to the Solar System Revival Plan would enjoy tariff reductions—down to zero—when entering the Alliance’s market.

Beyond the Alliance itself, it welcomed all Conclave signatory powers to participate in the Solar System Revival Plan, contributing production capacity while sharing in the benefits, fostering mutual exchange for the common good of all humanity.

With the successful precedent of the Conclave, the surviving factions could almost foresee—this grand vision painted by the Administrator himself would soon take over the nearly completed historical mission of the Conclave, becoming the cornerstone of a new global cooperation framework and the order of a new era.

In the years that followed, this gradually realized blueprint indeed proved this to be true.

To commemorate that person’s achievements, future historians, when studying this glorious period, would ultimately take the “Solar System Revival Plan” from beginning to end as their thread, formally naming this blank memory left for the future as the “Dawn Era.”

They commemorated him.

But not only him.

Yet those are tales for another time…

Just past seven in the evening, the Pirate’s Cove tavern in Boulder City was at its liveliest.

There were no pirates or ships here, only a holographic television hanging on the wall and a crowd of workers drunk as skunks.

In the not-so-distant Wasteland Era, what people produced here was nothing but a pile of dreamless canned goods.

Now, though many still worked in the canneries, those dreamless cans had been sold all the way to the distant Lagrange Point space station.

During a broadcast of the “Awakener Football Tournament,” an advertisement for a Boulder City canned brand was inserted, roughly depicting how those wonderfully hearty cans brought a taste of home to the “tin cans” on duty at the Lagrange Point.

The humorous images made everyone in the tavern laugh, and the sudden burst of laughter jolted Kent, who was slumped over the bar, straightening his shoulders.

The man he had been drinking with had already gone home, but Kent, still stuck on the topic before he had passed out, let out a long, drawn-out belch and shouted on his own.

“You know—I saw it long ago. That Administrator is a truly good man.”

His voice was so jarringly out of place, like someone still placing bets on a winner after the match had already been decided.

The tavern fell silent for a moment, then those who couldn’t hold back their laughter erupted into guffaws.

“Hahaha!”

“Kent, if your dick were as hard as your mouth, maybe your wife wouldn’t have divorced you.”

“Who was it that said ‘it’s all the same’?”

“Take it easy, buddy. You don’t have to pretend to be like everyone else. Even if you don’t love him, we won’t force you to kiss his ass, and we sure won’t whip yours.”

“Hahahaha!”

Kent, with his unspeakable troubles, flushed crimson but could not muster a retort. He only took a deep gulp of his drink and muttered to himself.

“If you knew three days ahead, you’d be rich for life… Who knows what will happen later.”

Who could have imagined that the towering spire standing for a century would collapse? Who could have thought that a makeshift stage built by a few carpenters would prove no worse than the noble Sir Hyde?

Who could have imagined this...

And that House fellow who ran off to Bragda to keep spewing his nonsense.

Wasn't it agreed that incomplete cleansing equals no cleansing at all, that the old nobility would return to snatch the Workers' Union's hollow victory and rain punishment upon the betrayers?

How come, before Boulder City could explode, Bragda itself started popping off fireworks first!?

The more Kent thought about it, the angrier he grew, utterly loathing that ill-omened wretch. He took another gulp of beer.

But come to think of it, the beer in Fries Harbor, though not as rich as Boulder City's, had its own unique charm.

Was it just his imagination, or was it thanks to that so-called Tree of Life?

Kent couldn't help musing that once he saved up a few days of annual leave, he might go stay there for half a month...

...

Every year on January 1st, New Year's Day is a legal holiday in the Union.

Though Boulder City had no tradition of celebrating the new year over the past two centuries, Elisa, studying far away at Camp 101, was stirred by the festive atmosphere into a bout of homesickness. She finally decided to return home for a visit.

After all, it wasn't that far.

Clearspring City was no longer the perilous hell it once was.

The underground passages, once paralyzed, had resumed operation not long after the Union conquered the Hive.

Boulder City, emerging from its debt crisis, had renovated the subway station outside the city a year ago.

Since then, the express train from Dawn City heading south could reach Boulder City in just an hour, even skipping the need for a transfer.

Elisa stood at her doorstep, suitcase in hand, suddenly gripped by a mix of nervousness and longing. But she mustered her courage and knocked.

The door slowly opened.

To her surprise, it was her eldest brother standing there.

That tall, lean man wore a pair of glasses on his nose, and the sternness in his brow was even more fatherly than their father's.

Though their family had fallen from grace, a tiger remains a tiger even in decline.

Especially this eldest son of the Melvin family—even if he no longer muttered about restoring the family's glory, he still carried an air of nobility and composure that Boulder City's drunkards lacked.

Caught under his sharp gaze, Elisa instinctively shrank her neck, but eventually straightened her back.

She was no longer the little girl who could do nothing without help.

Now she had not only a band of reliable companions but also her own strength.

As if noticing her growth, the sharpness in his eyes softened slightly.

Woffett spoke in a gentler tone.

"Back?"

"Mm..."

Elisa nodded cautiously, nudging her suitcase an inch over the threshold, and whispered a greeting.

"You... are you okay?"

Since the day he slapped her in the square, they had never spoken face-to-face like this, only exchanging letters.

Woffett looked at her with a complex expression—relief, guilt, and many unspoken feelings.

But perhaps unsure how to begin, he swallowed those words and simply said flatly,

"I'm... getting by. And you? Getting used to it?"

"Mm! I'm doing great!"

Seeing her brother finally speaking more to her, Elisa's face lit up with a genuine smile, and she happily opened up.

"Since I went to Camp 101, I've learned so many things I'd never heard of before, and made so many friends..."

Watching his cheerful sister, Woffett's face also showed a hint of a sincere smile. He reached out and lifted the suitcase that had crept onto the threshold.

"Don't stand at the door... Come in and talk."

"Mm!"

With an emphatic nod, Elisa happily stepped inside, chattering all the way about her experiences at Camp 101.

Hearing her daughter's voice, Gwyneth, who was cooking in the kitchen, rushed out excitedly and pulled Elisa into a hug.

"Elisa! My precious daughter, Mom missed you so much! You've suffered out there!"

Her still-charming face was etched with a few wrinkles.

Perhaps from weathering the storms of family upheaval, or from life's hardships, the once elegant and noble woman had gradually become an ordinary old lady.

Seeing how much older her mother looked, Elisa's nose tingled with emotion.

If there was anyone she felt most sorry for, it was probably her own family.

But then again, she hadn't had much choice—like many who stood with her that night.

Either adapt to the changing times or be crushed by the wheels of history.

Standing at that turbulent crossroads, still young, she could only follow her heart and make her choice.

"Mom... I've been doing well out there... And you? Are you getting used to life?"

Looking at her daughter's youthful face, Gwyneth smiled warmly and pinched her cheek affectionately.

"Mom's just fine. Your father and I have long gotten used to it. Oh, by the way, I've learned quite a few new dishes lately... You and your brother wait a bit; I'll bring them out for you to try!"

"Mm!" Holding back the tears welling in her eyes, Elisa nodded firmly.

After kissing her daughter's cheek, Gwyneth returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner with her eldest daughter-in-law.

Not just her mother, but her sister-in-law had also emerged from the shadows of the past.

Still, it was clear she hadn't forgiven Elisa, only refrained from turning hostile for the sake of family ties.

There was no helping that.

"Dad will be back from the library soon. Let's go to the living room." Woffett gently patted his sister's shoulder and led her away from the corridor outside the kitchen.

They went to the living room and sat in front of the TV, chatting idly for a long while, until their father, Melvin, returned from the Boulder City library.

Though it was a holiday, Melvin was used to spending his days at the library sorting through documents, whether it was a workday or not.

Seeing his daughter home unexpectedly, Melvin's reaction wasn't as intense as Gwyneth's. He just kept murmuring in surprise, "You've grown up," "You've gotten taller," his incoherent, wooden manner making the whole family chuckle.

Finally, it was time for dinner.

Only when she sat at the table did Elisa learn from her mother that during her time away studying, her eldest brother had also taken a long trip, representing Boulder City Bank to open a branch in Kingallen Port.

Thanks to his outstanding performance there, he had risen from an accountant to deputy branch manager of the Kingallen Port branch.

Now that the business there was mature, the bank's headquarters had recalled him, planning to send him to the Bragda Free State to develop new operations and participate in local debt restructuring.

This time, he would assume the post as branch manager.

It was commendable that Boulder City Bank hadn't deliberately suppressed his promotion due to his sensitive background.

And her brother had reciprocated by turning down many offers from other banks... even though jumping ship with such an impressive resume might have led to even better prospects.

According to Warfitt, the civil war in Bugra had concluded with an absolute triumph for the populist faction, who had thoroughly trampled the "corporate dogs" that once rode roughshod over their heads.

Yet, breaking from historical precedent, Odo did not immediately prop up a new conglomerate to replace the Flint Group; instead, weathering immense political pressure, he enacted antitrust laws, dissolved the chaotic private militias, and restored a sense of discipline to a society that had spun out of control.

For Boulder City, this presented a ripe opportunity for vengeance.

Previously, Bugra had taken advantage of Boulder City’s internal strife to tear away a massive piece of its flesh, leaving them entirely helpless at the time, able to do nothing but endure the humiliation.

Now, the tables had turned, and it was Boulder City’s turn to collect that debt, with interest.

Naturally, this vendetta had nothing to do with the ordinary local citizens; it was aimed squarely at the Flint Group and the opportunists who had plundered the wealth of Boulder City's residents during the chaos.

Those bloodthirsty, rapacious wolves were the common enemy of both the citizens of Bugra and the residents of Boulder City.

No matter how eloquently the lapdogs kept by these beasts spun their lies about how humans and wolves ought to unite, no one was willing to listen to their nonsense anymore.

Watching her eldest brother, who had grown so much, and seeing the high-spirited radiance return to his face, Alyssa felt a profound sense of relief welling up within her heart.

Though the journey had been fraught with twists and turns, the ultimate outcome was, at the very least, not a bad one.

Looking at the genuine smiles gracing the faces of her family, she suddenly realized that the estrangement between them had thawed considerably.

Even her sister-in-law, who used to never look her in the eye, had softened her attitude toward her just a little.

Time truly was a sovereign remedy.

Imperceptibly, the burden of guilt they harbored toward one another had lightened tremendously.

"Come to think of it... where is Kish?" she asked suddenly, thinking of her second brother, wishing he could be here as well.

At the mention of his younger brother's name, Warfitt’s vibrant expression dimmed slightly, a shadow of complexity crossing his brow.

"Who knows, the guy seems to have vanished into thin air... I did try to ask around, but there was no news, only whispers that he headed east after leaving Boulder City."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but mutter a low, frustrated curse, exasperated by the boy's lack of promise.

"That cowardly fool... I have no idea what goes on inside his head."

Catching sight of his mother’s gently trembling shoulders, Warfitt abruptly realized he had spoken out of turn, yet he had no desire to take the words back, choosing instead to avert his gaze in silence.

"Maybe he went back to Ideal City... let him be," Melvyn mumbled, seemingly reluctant to utter his youngest son's name.

That was the only stain of dishonor the Melvyn family had failed to wash away.

Yet, he was his own flesh and blood after all, and the old man simply could not bring himself to speak harsh words against the scoundrel.

If blame had to be assigned, he could only blame himself for failing to raise him properly.

Warfitt cleared his throat softly, shifting his gaze toward Alyssa to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Speaking of which, what have you been busy with lately?"

"Me...?" Alyssa blinked, startled, and under the strict scrutiny of her brother's gaze, her voice involuntarily dropped a few decibels. "Aside from my management courses, I’ve been helping my professor organize historical documents recently... He said I have quite a talent for this sort of work."

Warfitt raised an eyebrow slightly.

"And who might your professor be?"

Alyssa answered truthfully.

"His name is Meng Jie."

"Meng Jie..."

Repeating the name aloud, Warfitt felt a lingering sense of familiarity, as if he had heard it somewhere before, yet he could not quite place it.

Meanwhile, sitting beside him, his father Melvyn showed a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"It's actually him?"

"You know him?" Warfitt turned to his father, surprise coloring his features.

"We're acquainted, in a way. He visited me a few times to talk about the old days of Boulder City..." Melvyn looked toward his daughter and said, "He’s the former president of Mammoth University, isn't he?"

"Yes!"

Alyssa nodded, offering a somewhat self-conscious smile as she explained.

"He said that I carry the shadow of an old acquaintance of his. That person was much older than me, far wiser and stronger, to the point where he almost seemed like a grown-up version of myself. It must be fate, I suppose; Professor Meng wants me to organize the materials concerning that man..."

Although Alyssa had not mentioned the man's name, this time Warfitt seemed to understand perfectly.

"Was that man named Ishel?"

"Yes! How did you know?" Alyssa looked at her brother in astonishment, her eyes sparkling with pleasant surprise. "Brother, did you know him?"

"Heh... you could say that. Back when I was working at Port King Galleon, I managed to read about him in the newspapers a few times."

Warfitt curled his lip, letting out a soft, dismissive snort.

"The only reason that guy wasn't drawn and quartered and hung from the city walls to be beaten posthumously is purely because he died early."

He had never seen a man more blessed by fortune than that fellow.

Escaping by the skin of his teeth from the West Sail Port Massacre, withdrawing completely unscathed from the Rebellion of the Heavenly King... and managing to bring everyone by his side out alive with him, before going toe-to-toe in a shifting tide of battle against a host of seasoned veteran generals from the Southern Legion.

That guy's life was like a rigged game, as if he truly enjoyed the divine protection of the Silver Moon Goddess.

Even at the very end of his days.

Compared to Abhishek’s other subordinates, he had probably met the most dignified end of them all.

At least he died on the battlefield.

At this point, he looked back at his sister, whose face was written with utter bewilderment, and said, weighing every syllable:

"Do you know? You were almost exactly like that guy."

The atmosphere at the dining table suddenly turned frigid, shifting seamlessly from one heavy topic into another.

Seeing the sorrowful expression that crept onto Alyssa's face, Warfitt’s wife felt a pang of sympathy; she squeezed her husband's hand beneath the table, shooting him a reproachful look for speaking so harshly.

Though Alyssa had grown up, she was still just a child... at least in her eyes.

Warfitt also realized he had crossed a line again, even if he did not believe his sentiment was wrong.

Rather than chasing impractical ideals, the person she most needed to protect was herself.

Even if she hated him for it, this was the one truth he would not take back.

He refused to watch her turn out like that fool, burning herself down like a mere matchstick, only to change absolutely nothing in the end, having consumed her own life in vain.

"But... those things... they didn't happen after all, did they?" Alyssa lowered her head, speaking with a quiet sadness. "Are you still brooding over it, Brother?"

Her greatest worry was always her eldest brother, the man who would willingly sacrifice himself just to revive the family name.

She had already crossed her own crossroads; it was highly unlikely she would ever encounter the perils of the past again.

But he was different.

He was the eldest son of the house.

If he were still living in the Boulder City of the past, that meaningless sense of responsibility and loyalty to a bygone era would sooner or later drag him straight into hell...

"I'm not brooding over the past, I'm just worried about you."

Warfitt turned his face away, his voice raspy as he spoke.

"You're too young, and so are those friends of yours. During my time at Port King Galleon, I saw far too many compatriots arriving from Boulder City, full of passionate zeal to help the locals and replicate the success they had back home. And the result? Every single person who let victory go to their head got a swift kick to the backside, falling flat in all kinds of undignified postures... Of course, the ones who kicked them didn't meet a good end either. They brought the misery upon themselves and deserved it, with no one else to blame."

“I don’t want to crush your dreams, but from now on, do fewer dangerous and foolish things. When absolutely necessary, still be cautious… Remember, I am the future head of this family, and I haven’t yet lain in my coffin.”

The current head of the family, Melvin, remained silent, clearly acquiescing to those words.

After a pause, Woffett spoke again, somewhat embarrassed.

“Also… my tone wasn’t very good. About this matter… I apologize to you. I’m sorry.”

He was not a person good at admitting fault; these words seemed to drain all his strength.

But upon hearing these words, Elisa’s face blossomed into a surprised smile.

She suddenly realized that the thorn that had been stuck in her heart all along had never actually existed from the very beginning.

Her family had never truly hated her.

Instead, they loved her more than anyone else in this world…

…

The wind and snow howled outside the window.

Although there was no blazing fireplace, the water pipes and radiators were not necessarily less warm than a hearth.

And perhaps because the room was smaller, Elisa suddenly noticed that her family was sitting closer together.

Just as the family was joyfully celebrating a long-awaited reunion, the doorbell suddenly rang.

“I’ll get the door!”

Elisa jumped off her chair, padded over to the door in her slippers, and the moment she pulled it open, she saw a strange girl standing at the entrance.

The girl wore a light purple down jacket, carried a simple travel backpack, was about fifteen or sixteen, around the same age as her, with fluffy blonde hair and a youthful face tinged with a hint of shyness.

Seeming unaccustomed to interacting with people, she constantly averted her gaze, afraid of eye contact… even with someone her own age standing before her.

Camp 101 occasionally had some students from the Free State, and most of them were like this.

Seeing the cybernetic modifications on the side of her cheek, Elisa was almost certain she was from the Free State; the only puzzle was why she had come here.

She didn’t recall having seen this face before.

“Are you here to see Mr. Woffett?”

After thinking it over, only her eldest brother might know someone from the Free State.

After all, he was about to take up the post of branch manager of the Boulder City Bank there.

The girl’s face showed a bewildered expression; she quickly shook her head, then, as if coming to her senses, suddenly bowed deeply. Next, she took out a black box from her bosom, along with several crumpled letters, and thrust them into Elisa’s chest.

“…I’m sorry!”

She shouted these words recklessly, her eyes tightly shut, already prepared to be scolded.

Not only that—

Her shoulders trembled slightly, as if she was suppressing sorrow.

Elisa looked at her in astonishment, initially puzzled about what she was doing, but gradually understood the weight of the box in her hands from the frost frozen on her eyelashes.

Her fingertips trembled slightly; Elisa unfolded one of the letters and indeed saw a familiar handwriting…

[Elisa, my little sister…]

[Please forgive your cowardly and incompetent brother for not apologizing to you in person… Although I did think about it, by the time you see this letter, I will probably be dead.]

[It’s not that I never thought of washing away the sins I once committed, but the family I most wanted to apologize to has long since left this world.]

[Thinking carefully, that old man who begged me to take responsibility for his daughter might have been the last chance given to me by the gods… and my final opportunity. But in my stupidity, I didn’t realize my own folly. Not only did I have no intention of repenting, but I also tried to flee from my sin, and in my foolish cleverness, I burned them to death.]

[From that moment on, I became a demon. The one who truly destroyed the Melvin family was never you, but me, in my utter stupidity.]

[The collapse of the inner city of Boulder City as well was never about those kind and brave people like you, but about countless versions of me who had fallen into demons.]

[I had no face to face them. I tried to seek answers on the wasteland, but in the end, I merely lived in a daze, without even the courage to end myself.]

[And so, confessing my sins, I walked toward the direction of Ideal City, fantasizing that if I could reach it, it would mean the gods had forgiven my sins. And if not, it would save me the trouble of doing it myself.]

[Ridiculous, isn’t it? I, who couldn’t even obtain forgiveness from humans, was still fantasizing about receiving forgiveness from the gods. Perhaps my arrogance brought about fate’s punishment. Before I even left Clearwater City, I ran into a group of slave traders and was sold by them to the infamous Bugra Free State.]

[If there is such a thing as hell in this world, that place could count as one of them. I thought that might be fate’s punishment for me, and I figured I might as well rot there.]

[And just as I was thinking that, fate played another joke on me. A beam of light actually shone into that sunless hell. A puppet manipulated by demons suddenly broke free from its shackles and said it would lead us in rebellion.]

[That person was the mayor of the Free State; perhaps you’ve heard his name in the news… But I’m not talking about that guy, nor am I his soldier. What I want to talk about is the girl standing before you, whose name is Lala.]

[We met in a temporary shelter near the war zone; we were civilians caught up in the war. At that time, her father lay on a stretcher with his last breath, entrusting her to me, begging me to take her out of that city.]

[I don’t know why he would trust a scumbag like me, nor do I know where I found the courage to agree to him… But in that instant, I suddenly realized this might be my only chance, even if it wasn’t some earth-shattering feat.]

[I will take her out of that hell, no matter the cost…]

[I don’t pray to the gods for their blessing that I might also survive to the end. I only hope that the one who delivers this letter to you is her, not a refugee home or some other charity. Please, let this be my last prayer to the gods: let me, who has accomplished nothing, succeed in one thing at the final moment of my life.]

[——Your good-for-nothing bastard brother, the demon of Boulder City, the eternal shame of the Melvin family, Kish]

Elisa read the letter to the end; tears fell uncontrollably, dropping onto the paper.

Perhaps because she had waited until the end without receiving the expected scolding, the girl who had been bowing her head lifted it.

Seeing Elisa heartbroken, she was stunned for a moment, then noticed the tears on the paper and couldn’t help blurting out.

“He’s not a scumbag!”

She had obviously read those letters.

And she had read every single one.

Looking at Elisa, who had tear stains at the corners of her eyes and raised her head in shock, the girl quickly averted her gaze and continued in a hoarse voice.

“He told me he had done many terrible things in the past… but the person I saw wasn’t like that…”

Biting her lip, she continued.

“He tried so hard to live, and he could have survived… it was all to save me that…”

She would rather have died herself.

After all, she had no family left, while he still had so many family members waiting for his return…

Without bothering to wipe her own tears, Elisa stuffed the box and letters into her pocket and embraced the sobbing girl who had risen.

After a long while, when her emotions had settled, Elisa spoke in a gentle voice.

“What is your name?”

“…Lala.”

“Lala… thank you.”

Thank you?

The girl’s eyes widened, unable to understand why this gentle younger sister would say that.

Looking into those bewildered eyes, Elisa tried not to rub the grit from her own eyes, and simply gazed sincerely at the girl.

“My good-for-nothing brother… perhaps he really did accomplish something remarkable. Please, in place of that worthless one, live well in the new world.”

Seeing that gentle smile, Lala suddenly began to sob again, and for a moment, choked with tears, she threw herself into Elisa’s arms and wailed loudly.

All the grievances along the way fell into the snow.

“It’s all right now……”

Elisa comfortingly patted her shoulder and whispered softly in her ear.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? It’s so cold outside—come in and talk…… By the way, can you tell me about him? Consider it a willful request from his sister. If you have nowhere else to go, you might as well stay here until winter is over.”

“……Thank you.”

With tears of gratitude in her eyes, the girl nodded firmly and followed her timidly into the house.

Living in a concrete jungle, she had never met such a kind person.

Was she actually…… in heaven?

She had heard that the Wasteland Era had ended during the Free State’s civil war.

Now she finally began to believe it a little.

“You’re welcome.”

Seeing Lala still feeling shy, Elisa smiled gently and said softly,

“Please make yourself at home—treat this place as your own.”

“If you don’t mind, from now on I’ll be your family.”