"When I want to be able to stand by your side, I want to be able to."
"… So, regarding my decision about the essence technique, I'll go with the Core Creation power system that I'm suited for, and I want a technique specialized in space."
"So that distance will never stand in my way again."
Hearing everything his sister said, Christian was convinced that he really needed to say a few words to her.
He wanted her to focus more on herself than on him, after all.
… Things couldn't continue . That much he was sure of.
Still, there was the very difficult essence technique she had gone and selected. Christian wanted to finish dealing with that first, so he said, "This kind of essence technique will take a long time for me to be able to make. Is that fine with you?"
For Christian, even though this type of technique was still far from the level of the overpowered one he had in mind for himself, it was still demanding in terms of research material.
He needed something to start from, but anything even remotely related to space, he didn't have.
So, everything would have to be researched from scratch, and that would take time.
"I'm fine with it taking time. I just want it to have very strong attacking power too, aside from being based on the space attribute," Annabelle said.
And Christian felt that he was probably going to need to change his plans once again after hearing her.
His prior plans had been to start researching an essence technique for her, replacing it with the Talent Detecting technique, but now...
It couldn't go on like that anymore.
Christian decided to accelerate his plans regarding how he would acquire more essence techniques and knowledge from around the world.
If everything before had been him working quietly from behind the scenes, now, he planned to interfere directly.
… Naturally, not personally, but through his fighting humanoid robot.
Christian now resolved to speed up the development of it, along with creating other weapons, weapons that would be effective even against those that had touched essence.
But, shaking his head, knowing that he could start with that later, he looked at his sister and asked,
"What about the weapon? Do you want your technique to be specialized in a certain weapon?"
Christian asked a few more questions, wanting to understand the specifics of the kind of technique Annabelle had in mind.
But aside from needing it to be based on the space attribute, her requirements was actually simple.
"I don't want any weapon. Fighting barehanded is enough for me. And for the other questions... I don't really have anything in mind," she said.
"Just make it strong. Very strong."
Christian, while nodding, simply responded, "Understood."
Annabelle, seeing that, smiled sweetly and stood up.
Then, without any hesitation, she walked toward him and sat down right on his lap, wrapping one arm loosely around his neck.
And, leaning in closer, so close that her breath brushed against his skin, she said in a low, "You finished talking about the essence technique, right?"
Christian had been planning to tell her that, even if she couldn't start training in essence immediately, he would still help her train through other exercises he had in mind… making her follow the same strict schedule he was preparing for Eva.
But, feeling the warmth of her body pressing against him, and sensing how she didn't seem to have finished with what she wanted to say...
He decided to delay it for now, and simply said, "I finished. If you have something you want to say, go on."
Annabelle smiled but didn't start speaking right away.
Instead, she nuzzled her head into his neck, and inhaled his scent deeply.
Her fingers lightly played with his hair, her whole body soft and warm against him, making it harder for Christian to stay composed.
After lingering like that for a while, she finally lifted her head slightly and spoke, "You know, Chris? Before you started to change, I used to think that I was someone who didn't really care about your actions, whether they were right or wrong."
'But that's not how things seem, is it?' Christian thought, while Continue reading more chapters on NovelHub for the best experience.
He met her green eyes, so vivid, so intense, and, in the end, decided not to say anything, simply letting her continue.
"But... when everything seemed so out of my control, by such a huge extent, and all those killing-related problems started happening..."
"That's when things probably started to go wrong with me. And I realized that my previous thoughts weren't completely true."
"They turned out to be wrong... or maybe just not my complete feelings."
"I don't care whether what you do is right or wrong... as long as I'm by your side.
If I'm your crime companion... I'm fine with either."
'Is that so?' Christian thought again, choosing not to comment on her words.
Still, he knew deep down that things were not this simple.
And most importantly... mentioning right and wrong now, especially after what Eva had said yesterday, couldn't help but make Christian think that Annabelle was far too conscious of Eva.
But, undeterred by his thoughts, Annabelle continued, "This was what I arrived at first, after thinking for a long time yesterday."
"But then it suddenly occurred to me. Was that really the case? Were those really my true thoughts?"
"I questioned myself... again and again."
"What is right and what is wrong? Who even decides that?"
"Is my action for your sake or for my own?"
"… What the fuck is a crime companion in the first place?"
"And most importantly... why am I even giving labels to your actions, judging them as right or wrong?"
"If I really didn't care... then there would've been no need for that, right?"
'That seems logical?' Christian thought, feeling a faint agreement with her reasoning.
But more than that, his attention was entirely on his sister, whose voice had started fluctuating for the first time since she began this conversation, and now, she suddenly paused.