Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Eriri's life had been smooth sailing, with the sole exception of the "betrayal" of her childhood friend back in kindergarten.

But they were just little kids back then, and no adult would treat a child's change of heart as some kind of serious problem. Calling it a betrayal was a bit of an overstatement, anyway. You can't exactly expect a kindergartener to have unwavering principles and an independent spirit, can you? That would be asking far too much.

For Eriri, however, the current situation was far too tumultuous. After a great deal of hesitation and a long discussion with her parents, she finally called Noldrei.

Now that she knew he was such a powerful and influential figure, Eriri found that most of her confidence had evaporated.

"Hello? Hello? Wrong number? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Noldrei had initially thought Mrs. Sawamura was calling him about something again, but after answering, he was met with silence, save for the sound of faint breathing on the other end.

"Um, uh... thank you."

Noldrei shot a surprised look at Elysia, who was sitting beside him with two snacks she had just bought.

"See, Ely? She's actually thanking me," he said to Elysia, marveling at Eriri Sawamura's bizarre attitude. Instead of acknowledging her thanks, he shot back a question, "So? Have they caught the person who doxxed you?"

Eriri glanced at her mother. Only after Mrs. Sawamura nodded did she reply, "They've been caught. I don't know the exact details of the situation right now."

Noldrei was relieved to hear the culprit had been found. "Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly. "I really like the stuff you draw. From now on, you can draw this kind of content openly. I've already arranged for some online wizards to smooth things over for you. You can draw whatever you want in the future without having to worry about the risks of being exposed. You could even say it's a blessing in disguise."

A look of utter despair was written all over Eriri's face. She didn't think this was a blessing at all.

"Y-Yes, really, thank you. It's all thanks to you coming... to save me..."

She had meant to thank Noldrei for finding the medical team from Academy City.

"Don't worry about it. I was just trying to scare you a little. Who knew you were such a scaredy-cat that you'd go that far? Since things went south, I just helped clean up the mess for you. No need for thanks. Besides, you know your situation is rather complicated now. Just be a little more careful when you draw in the future. I'll give you a list of things from Academy City that are off-limits to draw. As long as you don't touch on those topics, you'll most likely be fine."

Eriri was still incredibly nervous.

"What about the small chance?" she asked fearfully.

"The small chance?" Noldrei took the snack Ely offered him and thought for a moment. "Something like what happened to Li Bai, I guess. You know how poets and writers often produce their most famous works after suffering some great tragedy? That small chance... should be a good thing for you, right?"

"A good thing?!"

Eriri's fingers, clutching her phone, turned white. No matter how she looked at it, this didn't seem like a good thing at all. It sounded like a heavy blow to a humble doujin artist like her.

"Can't you just find someone else?"

"In your dreams. At this point, you've been pushed into the spotlight. Who would have thought you'd end up in this situation just by drawing some stuff based on Academy City's urban legends? You want to back out? First, you should ask all those internet users who got proven wrong if they'll kick you while you're down after you quit."

Noldrei laid out the predicament for her, hoping Miss Eriri wouldn't be ungrateful and adopt a childish mentality of trying to fight public opinion and run away.

"Ely, you comfort her. I'm going to eat this first. Want some ice cream?"

"Strawberry!"

Elysia didn't stand on ceremony with Noldrei. She immediately requested her favorite flavor and took over the task from him.

What level was Elysia on? She was a veteran who'd lived for tens of thousands of years. With her deceptively charming appearance, she quickly broke through Eriri's defenses, making the girl on the other end lower her guard significantly.

This was also thanks to the power and influence of Academy City; otherwise, that Mrs. Sawamura would have been a handful for quite some time.

During her chat with Eriri, Elysia quickly picked up on the girl's desire to have her cake and eat it too.

"It's probably impossible for you to have a normal school life anymore," Elysia said. "My advice is... move to Academy City as soon as you can. They accept all sorts of people there. You're just an ordinary doujin artist with some... intense tastes."

"Although an outsider's help got you through this trouble for now, it's still better for you to go to Academy City if you don't want your school life to be disrupted. Seikou is already preparing to open up, so you can apply now and reserve a spot. If you decide you don't want to go after it opens, you can still back out."

"It's much better than hesitating like you are now."

Elysia gave the girl a solution: go and try to make a life for herself in Academy City. It could be a little dangerous there sometimes, but the danger usually didn't affect ordinary people.

This was especially true after Elysia observed the Tokyo area in the Far East and realized Academy City was practically a paradise in comparison.

There were no underage girls selling themselves, no middle-aged people drifting aimlessly without a future, no host clubs in red-light districts, and none of that other shady service industry stuff.

Although Noldrei was constantly centralizing power, he was also trying to make the world a much easier place to live in. If this were the real world, he'd at least earn the title of an enlightened monarch. Future corruption wouldn't be in the hands of the civil servants running society, but in the hands of the creators of the Stigma Space.

But what did that matter? At least it was better than the world outside, right?

After Elysia's coaxing, the girl on the other end began to waver, unable to make up her mind. From this, it was clear she was a rather naive girl.

"Here's your ice cream. How is she doing?"

"She said she's going to discuss it with her mother."

Noldrei nodded. "Then it's pretty much a done deal. Even her mother knows that the Far East is no longer a suitable place for her daughter."

Sometimes, you don't choose your future; the future chooses you. Eriri didn't have the power to change how people saw her, so her only option was to move to a place where it wouldn't have as much of an impact.

"I feel so sorry for this girl," Elysia said, a bit of strawberry ice cream still on her lips. "How did she end up running into a jerk like you?"

"Why do I have to do this tedious work for you?" she complained. "Is this any way to treat a pretty girl?"

Noldrei retorted, "Of course not. I'm actually getting ready to send you back to see Mobius. It's about time she made an appearance."