I, the spiritual mentor of beautiful girls from all over the world

Repressed.

This was Lynn's only feeling at that moment.

He leaned against the cold car window, looking at the gray world outside shrouded in rain. Deep inside, an organ called "trouble radar" was frantically sounding alarms.

"World Anchor Point..."

"Soul annihilation..."

"Causing instability in the world line..."

Lynn rubbed her temples, feeling a sudden toothache.

He just wanted to be an ordinary teacher, teasing Yukinoshita every day, giving guidance to Pochi-chan, and then going home at night to train the vengeful beauty from another world.

Isn't this kind of leisurely yet fulfilling retirement life wonderful?

How did it suddenly jump from the difficulty of "providing warmth in the community" to the level of "saving the world"?

This broken system, isn't its business scope a bit too broad?

……

The funeral was held in an old Japanese-style mansion.

The house was old, and the air was filled with the musty smell of incense and tatami mats, as well as an indescribable, decaying odor that belonged to death.

As soon as Lynn stepped into the mourning hall, her [Emotional Perception] was automatically activated.

In an instant, the whole world in his eyes transformed into a bizarre and grotesque emotional feast that could be described as mental pollution.

The "relatives" who came to offer their condolences all had sorrowful expressions and uttered various polite words of condolence.

But in Lynn's perception, what emerged above their heads were colorful orbs of light, filled with the most genuine human desires.

A middle-aged man with a beer belly wiped away non-existent tears while staring intently at the pair of black and white portraits in the center of the mourning hall with greedy, almost greenish eyes.

It was a dark green, almost dripping with oil, color of "greed."

A well-dressed, middle-aged woman with exquisite makeup was covering her face with a handkerchief, her shoulders shaking with sobs, tears streaming down her face.

However, in her heart, a dark purple flower of schadenfreude, like lividity, was blooming and spreading.

Some younger distant relatives, on the other hand, were simply there to watch the drama unfold, whispering and gossiping amongst themselves.

Anxious impatience, curious gossip, indifferent numbness...

These most primal and ugly emotions, like a pot of overcooked, foul-smelling soup, surged and fermented unrestrainedly in this small mourning hall.

Lynn felt a wave of physical discomfort in her stomach.

He turned his gaze away expressionlessly, no longer looking at those disgusting faces.

Then, in the most inconspicuous corner of the mourning hall, he saw her.

That's a girl.

A girl who seems to belong in this dirty, hypocritical world.

She wore a plain black Gothic dress with delicate and intricate lace trim on the hem.

Her long, silvery-white hair, as smooth and lustrous as moonlight, cascaded down her back, creating a striking visual contrast with her deep black attire.

She sat quietly in the corner chair, her small body curled up, clutching a black, somewhat worn-out rabbit doll tightly in her arms.

The girl's skin was an almost pathological, bloodless paleness, like snow that had never seen the sun.

That small, delicate face was as exquisite as a work of art meticulously sculpted by the most skilled craftsman using the finest porcelain.

However, this artwork appears to be broken.

She just stood there with her head down, staring blankly at the rabbit doll in her arms with an empty, unfocused gaze.

It was as if the noise and ugliness of the whole world had nothing to do with her.

It was as if her soul had already drifted away with her parents to that cold world.

She is Kasugano Sora.

In Lynn's "emotional perception," the color emanating from this girl was a terrifying color he had never seen before.

That wasn't the violent, dark red of Shinobu Kocho, which burned with the flames of revenge.

It's not the cold, translucent, icy blue that represents rationality and loneliness, like Yukino Yukinoshita's.

Rather, it is a kind of... unfathomable, pure gray that can devour all light.

It was absolute silence.

It is an abyss of "despair" and "loneliness" that seems to freeze time and space.

For the first time, Lynn realized that a person's heart could truly die.

……

The funeral procession ended hastily in a hypocritical and oppressive atmosphere.

Then, the most exciting, and also the ugliest, part officially began.

The so-called "relatives" politely invited Lynn, the only relative they weren't very close to who worked in the city, to a side room for tea. Then they closed the door and, in the mourning hall, eagerly began a "family meeting."

Although separated by a thin shoji door, the undisguised and sharp arguments could still be clearly heard.

“That apartment must belong to our family! When my older brother was alive, I lent him 500,000 yen to tide me over!”

"Bullshit! You paid off that 500,000 a long time ago! If we're talking about contributions, our family is the biggest! Every time his daughter has been sick and hospitalized since she was little, we've always been the ones running errands for her."

"Stop arguing! The most urgent thing is what to do with that child! Which of you is willing to raise him?"

Upon hearing this, the mourning hall, which had been arguing heatedly just moments before, instantly fell into a deathly silence.

After a long while, a sharp and sarcastic female voice rang out again.

"I don't want to! Didn't you see? That child, he's been gloomy since he was little, never speaks or smiles, like a ghost doll! It's creepy to keep him at home!"

"Exactly, and her health isn't good either. She has to go to the hospital every few days. Who can afford her medical expenses?"

"I think we should just send her to an orphanage!"

"This won't do! If word gets out, where will the Kasugano family put their face?!"

Arguments, shifting blame, scheming.

They were like a pack of hyenas swarming around scraps, frantically tearing at the meager inheritance, yet desperately trying to avoid the girl who had lost everything, treating her as a hot potato, a burden they needed to get rid of.

In the side hall, Lynn held a cup of tea that had long since gone cold, her face expressionless.

He even felt a little bored.

This is human nature.

Greed, selfishness, hypocrisy, ugliness so blatant, so undisguised.

His gaze pierced through the crack in the door and landed on the girl who had remained silent throughout.

Kasugano Sora was still sitting in that corner.

The argument inside the door, the vicious words directed at her, seemed unable to penetrate her world.

She was like a delicate, fragile doll whose soul had been ripped away.

There was no expression, no reaction.

However, her small hands, which were holding the rabbit doll, tightened even more, and her knuckles turned bluish-white from the excessive force, revealing that she was not completely oblivious.

Just then, the sharp-tongued female relative, probably unable to win the argument, became enraged and turned her anger towards the innocent girl.

She pointed at Kasugano Sora, raised her voice, and her voice was so sharp it seemed to pierce one's eardrums.

"Look at her, all of you! Her parents are dead, and she hasn't shed a single tear from beginning to end! What kind of child is she? She's a cold-blooded monster! Who would want her?!"

These words, like a poisoned knife, plunged deep into the oppressive atmosphere.

The argument inside the door abruptly stopped.

All eyes turned to the still silent girl.

There was contempt, disgust, and fear.

The coldest and cruelest side of human nature was laid bare at this moment.

However, in this suffocating silence...

A calm, even somewhat languid voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

Instantly, the entire room fell silent.

"I'll take it."

"Squeak-"

The shoji doors were slowly pulled open.

Lynn had somehow already stood at the doorway, his tall figure blocking the only sliver of light coming in from the courtyard, casting a huge shadow on the ground.

He ignored the room full of bewildered, shocked, and dumbfounded "relatives".

She walked straight up to Kasugano Sora.

Then, under the gaze of the girl's lifeless, deathly gray eyes, he slowly squatted down to meet her gaze.

The rain soaked his trouser legs, bringing a slight chill, but he didn't care.

He looked into her empty eyes, which seemed capable of devouring everything, and spoke very softly and gently, as if afraid of disturbing a small, wounded animal that was wary of the whole world.

"Would you like to come with me?"

For the first time, Kasugano Sora's eyes, which were like stagnant, ancient wells, showed a very subtle, almost imperceptible ripple.

She slowly raised her head.

The man in front of me was very tall and handsome.

He was so handsome that he seemed out of place in the real world.

His hair was black, and his eyes were black, as deep as the night sky.

His expression was calm, even somewhat lazy.

But his eyes... were very clear.

She was so clean, unlike anyone she had ever seen.

There was no sympathy, no pity, and certainly no nauseating greed or scheming in those eyes.

There is only one pure, equal gaze.

It was as if, in his eyes, she was not a nuisance, not a monster, not a burden that needed to be given charity.

Rather, it is an equal entity that needs to be seriously consulted for its opinions.

It was just a simple glance.

But like a warm ray of light, it shone for the first time into her dark and lonely island of the heart, which had been frozen for countless days and nights.

A long time, a long time.

Lynn waited patiently.

The girl's small, almost bloodless chin nodded slightly with a barely perceptible motion.

Lynn smiled.

It was a very faint, almost imperceptible smile, yet it brought his entire face to life.

He stood up, turned around, and faced the group of relatives who were still staring in disbelief.

His eyes, which always carried a hint of weariness, were now sharp as two drawn swords, slowly sweeping over everyone present.

Those whose gaze swept over him felt a chill run down their spines and instinctively avoided his eyes.

Finally, Lynn spoke calmly, in an unquestionable tone, as if declaring the truth.

"From today."

He paused, his gaze falling on the woman's face, which was etched with bitterness and sarcasm.