Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 1052: Section 665: Dreamin’_3

Chapter 1052: Section 665: Dreamin’_3

Pastor Zhang looked at the young girl before him and couldn’t help but furrow his brows: "My little teacher, have you truly never thought about yourself?"

"No, Pastor Zhang, I have thought about myself. If it weren’t for this matter, I could leave the order, perhaps even marry Mr. Malin as I mentioned before, because he could help us, and I would use myself to repay that debt of gratitude... But now, that’s no longer possible. My mentor is gravely injured, which means he could pass away at any moment. My three senior brothers are dead, which means I am now the elder of the Chaos Lineage of Sages. The disciples behind me are still so young—they can’t even comprehend what it means to uphold heavenly principle and extinguish human desire, let alone understand what it signifies to become a Sage... To send them to the operating table—the only way that would happen is over my dead body. I will not shirk my mission. Perhaps this is Fate’s test for me."

At this point, Chengshan turned to look at Pastor Zhang, who was seated on the ground: "Do not grieve for me. This is the Sage’s mission."

"But... you are too young. You’re even younger than my lay disciple’s daughter. Child, your youth shouldn’t be lived in suffering."

"But, Pastor Zhang, where in this world can mortals truly feel happiness? Be it happiness or joy, they are nothing more than fleeting moments of pleasure. But life, as it is, is marked by Chaos’s corrosion and the universal suffering of all beings—those are eternal. And we... have vowed to walk the path of ending that suffering."

The office descended into a deathly silence, broken only by the faint scratching sound of a steel pen against a sheet of paper.

After completing the last part of her work, Chengshan stood, walked to the window, and gazed at the fleet setting out to sea.

"He has departed."

"Yes, I heard the sound of the horns."

The conversation between the future Sage and the current Martial Monk Pastor ended there, as silence once again claimed the small room, until Chengshan turned back around.

"Pastor Zhang, you are a Martial Monk Pastor, a being who walks beneath the Legendary. Can you not harden your heart, like stone and iron?" The future Sage’s voice now carried a lilt of laughter as she shook her head at the man sitting on the ground: "I told you, do not weep for me. This is the mission of a Sage’s disciple. For us children sent away from our families, born into a world of missing fragments, deprived of the love of father and mother, we have stood by our mentor’s side since the moment we became aware. We endured so much pain and hardship, all for the sake of this day. But alas... given the current circumstances, when Subspace truly makes contact with our world, the Sage... may only exist as a tale from the annals of history."

As she spoke these words, the girl’s voice—shone upon by the light at her back—grew lighter, as if freed from a great burden. Her gaze once again fell upon Pastor Zhang: "Pastor Zhang, if one day the Sages can no longer pass on their legacy, would you inscribe a line upon our tombstone for us?"

"What words would you have me write, little teacher?" Pastor Zhang lifted his head. From his crouched position on the ground, he saw the girl appearing bathed in a soft halo of light.

She seemed as pure as a Sage, he thought to himself. Then, he knelt on one knee and lowered his head, offering the most humble reverence a Martial Monk could to this future Sage.

"We once existed." Her face was full of smiles, yet equally awash with tears.

Then, the voice in his auditory world grew even steadier than before.

"Because my mentor once told me, each and every person in the Sage lineage has existed within the scroll known as history. We Sages, though mortal, save the world while simultaneously drifting with the currents of the mundane world. We turn back the tides. We are powerless to stop them..."

Her voice faltered as she bowed her head, tears streaming from her eyes and landing on the dusty, wooden floor beneath their feet.

"So, please, I beg you—fulfill this wish of mine." Her voice quivered with sobs.

"Your wish will be my vow." This time, the man before her answered with the steeliest of tones.

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