She tilted her head. "…Are you lying to me?"
Her tone was innocent.
Her eyes were clear.
"No, I'm not," Rui replied, heaving a sigh.
"Then there's no problem, is there?" a cheerful smile bloomed on her face once more as she chugged on forward enthusiastically.
Rui facepalmed himself with exasperation.
It was no wonder Bodhisattva Maitreyi was worried sick about her granddaughter.
And yet, he couldn't stop a smile cracking at the edge of his mouth. "…You are awfully enthusiastic for someone who was just informed that they were informed that another person's memories were implanted in them," he turned, gazing at her. "Does the truth not bother you…?"
The air grew heavy as she paused, turning around at him with solemn eyes.
"It does."
He gazed at her silently.
"I suppose the truth hasn't sunk in yet." Her voice was uncertain and unfortable.
"When think of what was done to me, I…" Her hand rested atop her heart. "I don't feel good. But…"
She smiled at him with warmth and brightness. "I am grateful that I was left at the Gen Temple. Without that, I would have never met my grandmother. I would have never met my friends. I would have never met the family that I cultivated over a century within the walls of the Gen Temple. I would not have lived such a wonderful life if I hadn't been left at the doors of the Gen Temple. And so…"
Deep gratitude emerged in her eyes. "If I ever meet whoever did this to me. I will scold them for doing something as horrible as implanting another person's memories in a baby, but I will also thank them for leaving me at the Gen Temple!"
Rui stared at her with an awed expression.
"You…" he whispered. "You are amazing."
Her eyes lit up at his words. "Thank you! You are amazing, too!"
She turned around, continuing on with their journey with a light skip, humming to herself, leaving the speechless Rui behind.
"Don't just stand there, silly!" she insisted. "Let's go, we have places to be! People to meet! A world to explore!"
Rui smiled. "Yes, yes, we do."
He found her enthusiasm to be truly incredible. He had just informed her that she had been the victim of brainwashing and hypnosis as a tender, vulnerable baby, and she was still able to absorb and continue on, enjoying life and the world around her to the fullest.
When he had gained the revelation, it had almost broken him. Of course, he understood that there severity of his revelation was much deeper than it was her. For him, one of the most central parts of his identity, one of the core truths that he believed about himself, was that he was the very same entity known as John Falken, who resided back on Earth. That core truth had been destroyed.
For him, he felt as though his entire life was a lie.
She, on the other hand, had only discovered her sealed memories a few days ago, and they were not central to her identity and her life the way they were for him. Thus, the impact and the consequences of the truth were not as severe to her as it was to him. Even still, it was truly amazing that she was able to shake it off this easily.
"Onward to the destination!" she declared enthusiastically before pausing and turning to him sheepishly. "What is our next destination."
Rui shook his head, heaving a sigh.
"The Solaris Kingdom."
Her expression grew plicated. "I don't think the Gen Temple is friends with them."
Rui scoffed at her words as he walked past her. "Yeah, well, suck it up. I had to help my enemies for the greater good."
"I'm not saying we shouldn't help them," she plained, catching up with him. "We should help everyone. It's just that me being there might cause problems."
"I suppose this is why your grandmother wanted you to e with me," Rui replied, raising an eyebrow. "What's the deal with the Gen Temple and the Solaris Kingdom?"
"Well, they attacked us once," she murmured with a glum expression. "And then I killed one of the peak Masters of the current Royal Solaris Family. And ever since then, they have hated me."
"Hm, well, I killed tons of Martial Masters of my enemies, and they didn't do anything, so you'll be fine with my political protection," Rui replied nonchalantly. "Still, it appears that we are dealing with a hawkish imperialistic empire. Thankfully, I have experience dealing with that."
Rui hadn't done much research on the countless nations that he was going to visit.
He couldn't be bothered to. There were too many of them, and it wasn't worth delaying a crucial journey through human civilization, especially since people and nations fell every single day.
In hindsight, he regretted that.
And despite that, he knew that the Solaris Kingdom was a monarchic and Martialocratic nation led by Queen Lianiala.
The people of this nation were of a specific racial group characterized by a rare skin tone.
A light golden tone.
These people regarded themselves as the sol, descendants of the Sun God Solaris. The Kingdom was an ethnoracial polity that worshipped the Sun God Solaris, from whom they allegedly descended.
That was where his general knowledge of the nation ended. And yet, that was enough to give him a bad impression of it. "Things might get dicey with the Solaris Kingdom; it will be prudent to learn more about the nation during our check-ins to Master-level powerhouses and Sage-level nations en route to the Solaris Kingdom," Rui wisely decided. "I don't believe that anything will go wrong, considering the Sekigaharans and the Britannians hated me and still didn't dare do anything to me. Still, better safe than sorry."
His sharp mind had already detected potential problems that might arise as a result of his physical features. If his suspicions were right, then he would also be able to navigate these problems properly without making a mess of it as long as he prepared for it.
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