Chapter 161: Chapter 147 Everyone is the Same (Three More)
Ash brushed away her hand, his expression seemingly uncomfortable.
“But since you neither date nor have a family, doesn’t that mean you always have to be alone?”
“We have always been…yes, that’s right!”
Freyja suddenly remembered something. She pulled out her homework essay from her backpack and began frantically writing, “Another benefit of the socialized fostering system… Since childhood, fostered independence… accustomed to fighting alone… having an advantage in Void Realm Exploration… ‘Every citizen of the Kingdom of Blood Moon is a qualified Mage reservist’… okay, the professor has to give me full marks this time!”
Ash watched her write her essay and continued to ask, “Don’t you want to have a perfect union with a lover, don’t you want to share your joys and voice your stresses to family, don’t you want someone to care about you?”
“Why are you asking so many weird questions… you aren’t hoping to become my lover and live with me, are you?!”
“I’ve already said I’ll be leaving after staying here for no more than seven days.”
Freyja shrugged and answered, “I don’t need to find a lover. I just need to spend some money at a mud café to have a perfect union. If I want to share joys, I can boast about my achievements in the Veil; if I want to voice my stresses, I should see a psychologist. As for caring, isn’t that just another way of saying ‘investment’? If someone cares about me, it means they want to gain more benefits from me.”
“If I have a lot of utility value, everyone will care about me; if I am worthless, naturally no one will pay me any mind, even lovers would leave me. This is the very superficial human nature.”
Ash softly said, “But human nature isn’t just about weighing benefits; it also encompasses the true, the good, and the beautiful.”
“But why should I pin my hopes on others rather than investing all my resources in myself?” Freyja smiled, “I can go to a restaurant when I’m hungry, visit a mud café if I need something, find a hourly maid if my room is dirty, and see a psychologist if I’m stressed—actually, being a psychologist is one of my future career options—it’s already the seventeenth century, anything you need can be bought with money, why gamble on human nature?”
“Even my gambling-fond friend Adela wouldn’t dare to partake in a gamble where control is completely in someone else’s hands. Entering an intimate relationship carries far too much risk.”
“But don’t you ever feel lonely?”
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Freyja wrote down the last period, placed her homework back into her bag, and turned to look at Ash.
“Everyone is the same,” she said.
Then she reached out, picked up Xiao Xian, and affectionately rubbed Xiao Xian’s face. Xiao Xian, however, disapprovingly pushed her away with its paw, “And I have Xiao Xian too, how could I feel lonely?”
Facing Meiwa’s pure and joyful eyes, Ash suddenly realized that Fernand, the ogre mayor, had still not touched the core of the Kingdom of Blood Moon.
Because he too was an orphan, he had no family, and he didn’t love anyone.
Just like Freyja couldn’t realize the sour smell of her clothes, the majority of those living in the Kingdom of Blood Moon also couldn’t realize their lost capacity to love.
How could those who have never seen the sun know the warmth of sunshine? How could those who have never felt familial care believe in selfless affection?
Maybe they believe in selfless love, maybe they yearn for it, but they are more convinced that such love will not descend upon them.
Just like Fernand thought the Kingdom of Blood Moon didn’t deserve a Savior, they also believe they don’t deserve to embrace love.
The ogres thought Blood Moon had sown the seeds of suspicion and built walls of discrimination to isolate everyone. But in reality, Blood Moon was extracting the seeds of love from everyone’s hearts through education, making all people spontaneously resist entering intimate relationships; discrimination and suspicion were merely the foul exhalations of a loveless land.
Suddenly, Ash remembered Lanna—Could this werewolf be considered a traitor to Moon Shadow because his desires for love were too strong?
Seeing that Ash had been silent for a long time, Freyja couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong?”
Coming back to his senses, Ash smiled, “Nothing, I’m just thinking about where I can make some money.”
“If you’re willing to show your face, I recommend you work part-time at a mud café. With your looks, although you won’t qualify as a top-tier mud-worker, you’d still be middle to low tier, and you likely would have quite a few clients choose you. Want me to refer you to a mud café? Even if you don’t plan to do it long-term, you can experience it once. Many men with decent looks have worked as mud-workers for a night to determine their market positioning.”
“Thank you, but my skills are poor, and I don’t deserve this money.”
“Beginners actually have a unique appeal, many wealthier women have a particular fondness for virgins, and if you want to practice, I can help you…”
“Aren’t you supposed to have class at 2 pm? It’s already 1:50.”
Upon checking the time, Freyja hastily grabbed her backpack, “Oh no, I almost forgot the time, these dishes…”
“I’ll wash them,” Ash said, “Will you come back for dinner tonight?”
Freyja felt that strange emotion surfacing once more.
It had nothing to do with lust or greed; it made her both despise and like Ash, wanting both to keep her distance and to draw closer.
Could it be the curse of the Four Pillars God Sect? Or an unwittingly emitted corrupting halo by the Evil Demon Saint?
Thinking this, she nevertheless responded, “Hmm.”
“Is there any particular dish you would like to eat?”
“Spicy Lanna Rice with Fatty Roe, would that be possible?”
“No problem,” Ash waved his hand. “Be careful on your way.”
As that strange emotion grew more intense, Freyja nodded hastily, put down the small violin and hurried out of the house.
Decisively, Ash turned off the store browsing video and opened “Just Need Hands to Slay Creatures in the Void Realm: Fish-Slicing Dragon Edition.” After watching the video, he dressed up, put on his mask, and summoned his Substitute.
“Wash dishes, do the cleaning, and if there’s any spare time, play with the cat. If anything unexpected happens, just dissolve the Substitute, got it?”
The Substitute nodded.
Ash opened a spreadsheet named “4.29 School Timetable” under the protective Veil known only in Kaimon Comprehensive University, which was accessible only within the university’s internal Veil; incidentally, Freyja was also a student there.
He hadn’t just randomly chosen a household to stay with; he had come prepared.
His gaze lingered on a line in the timetable.
“16:00~18:00, ‘Ancient Ritual Faction,’ Selin Karl, Classroom 108.”
Securing his target, Ash was also ready to leave but saw the small violin sitting on the floor like a chubby otaku, listless and lethargic.
Moved, Ash directed his Technique Spirit of Compassion towards the small violin, immediately receiving waves of pain in return.
Despite the pain, despite the discomfort, it did not cause any unhappiness, its mood as calm as if it had become accustomed to living with pain. Watching Ash’s Compassion Technique Spirit, it tilted its head, appearing somewhat curious.
“Congenital cartilage disease…” Ash gently stroked the small violin’s head, “From birth, selected for aesthetic and utilitarian value with only the fortunate surviving, then living in a cage to be neutered and spayed, and after leaving the cage, treated as merchandise to be squeezed dry…”
“Because it had been in pain since childhood, it did not see it as misfortune but as a fate to be accepted; since everyone experienced it, it did not see it as pain and thus had no worries.”
He reached out to scratch the folded cat’s chin, and the small violin displayed a content, foolish smile.
“Being an Observer is truly challenging.”