In a relatively empty park, Eden and Lucius sat on a bench under the shade of a tree.
"To be frank, Eden, I need money. Quite a lot of money."
Hearing Lucius's words, Eden casually took out a gold card and handed it to him.
"Take it and use it. Contact me if it's not enough."
Looking at Eden's smiling face, her eyes undisguisedly showing affection, Lucius smiled.
"Although I'm a bandit, I'm a bandit with principles."
Although after saving Eden, with this huge favor, Lucius believed that given Eden's personality, she would never be stingy about repaying him.
But with sufficient bargaining chips for a trade, he still preferred to make a deal with her.
After all, Eden's favor was far more useful than money. Having gone through the trouble of saving her once, it would be too much of a loss to directly exchange the favor for money.
"So, I'll exchange something with you."
Lucius took out his communication terminal, added Eden's contact information, then sent her some things.
"This is..." Eden's fingers scrolled, looking at what Lucius sent her. "Some artistic works?"
At first, Eden didn't pay much attention to the trade goods Lucius mentioned.
But soon, she noticed something was off.
Her face first showed surprise, then she frowned, gradually becoming puzzled.
But ultimately, she was completely attracted by the content, her whole person immersed in it.
Her fingers scrolled across the screen, sometimes humming lightly, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes joyful...
Lucius wasn't surprised by Eden's reaction. What he sent Eden were various artistic works extracted from his previous life's memories, which he had compiled and sent to her.
Time passed bit by bit. Lucius didn't disturb her, just watching from the side as the sun rose high and then fell.
Finally, Eden came back to her senses.
"Sorry, I was too absorbed. I mean, this is incredible."
Eden's face showed disbelief.
"I never imagined that musical expression could have this kind of style. Drama, painting, film... these all give me a feeling that's both familiar and strange, as if..."
Speaking, Eden fell into thought. She was struggling to find the right words to describe her feelings.
Finally, she found a not-quite-accurate description.
"It's like an artistic system from another world, similar to ours yet completely different."
Lucius smiled and asked her: "So, my Eden, how do you feel?"
Eden's face was flushed, her expression extremely excited.
"Very good. An artistic system different from the one I know, but with the same understanding of beauty."
"It gives me considerable inspiration. Right now, I feel inspiration overflowing, my desire to express has never been so strong. Perhaps I can try to break through my own bottleneck."
Lucius wasn't very surprised.
For Eden, a person born for art, an entire artistic system from another human civilization, even if only a tiny part of it, was extremely precious.
She might be able to draw inferences from this and discover directions she had never considered before.
But Lucius was different. As a mundane person, compared to art, he cared more about how much money these things were worth.
The value of an item varies in different people's eyes.
Just like a bottle of water has completely different prices for people in a flood zone versus someone dying of thirst in a desert.
These dramas, music, scripts, sculptures, paintings... these memories from his previous life actually didn't have much value to Lucius, but to Eden, they were completely different.
"So, my Eden, what do you think these things are worth?"
To Lucius's question, Eden didn't even hesitate before giving her answer.
"To me, priceless."
"Then let's make a deal with these, Eden."
Eden smiled somewhat helplessly and said: "Of course, if you're willing."
"However, 'Ellie', I still have a question." Eden's eyes showed sincerity, her gentle tone carrying curiosity.
Lucius pretty much knew what Eden wanted to ask, so he said: "Please ask, my dear Eden. For you, I'll answer anything."
Just not guaranteeing whether it's true or false, Lucius added mentally.
"So then, who exactly are you? And what's your relationship with the Ellie I know?"
Here it comes, as expected, this question.
Lucius looked at Eden, silent. A pair of orange-red eyes seemed filled with sorrow.
"I am not Elysia."
"The past no longer has any meaning to me. Just call me the Faded Elf."
The sorrow Lucius showed on his face fell into Eden's heart, stirring ripples.
She thought of the artistic works this 'Ellie' provided, which had subtle differences from this world's artistic system yet truly existed. A guess emerged in her mind.
The birth of art must have its specific foundation. Eden guessed these works were definitely not born in her world.
Then, although it sounded extremely absurd, there was only one possibility.
"So these artistic works come from another world?" Eden said.
Hearing this, Lucius was surprised. He really didn't expect Eden to directly guess the answer.
But Lucius's surprise on his face instead made Eden confirm her guess.
"I see, I see... I completely understand now."
Looking at Eden's face full of sudden realization, Lucius wanted to ask what exactly she understood.
He just wanted to lay the groundwork for the Herrscher of Corruption that would appear in the future, so he threw out the Herrscher of Corruption's character setting first. But looking at Eden like this, she most likely misunderstood something.
However, unlike the confusion in Lucius's heart, at this moment Eden had confirmed her guess.
The same name, the same appearance, but completely different personality.
No wonder so similar yet different. The person before her eyes was probably an Ellie from another spacetime!
And these artistic works completely different from this world were actually works from that Ellie's world. This way, it all made complete sense.
Yes, I completely understand now!
After confirming this guess, Eden's thoughts diverged, and she thought of even more.
Faded... this word's first image for Eden was yellowed and faded photos due to time, representing precious memories that could no longer be recalled, regrets of being unable to return to the past.
Faded Elf—did it refer to an Ellie whose cherished things had all dissipated, who couldn't even recall the past?
Eden also thought of the personality this 'Ellie' displayed. Compared to the one she knew, it was so sinister, but Eden could feel that her underlying nature still pursued beauty.
Perhaps... at the very beginning, this Ellie was also as gentle as the one she knew?
Then, for this Ellie to become what she is now, how much sadness and pain must she have experienced?
"Yes, this must be an Ellie from a world that was destroyed, with only one person remaining to embark on a journey to a foreign land. It must be like this."
Lucius watched as Eden first pondered, then had a sudden realization, and finally tears welled up in her eyes.
Honestly, he was confused. Are all you artistic types this emotional?
But he didn't have a chance to say it, because he had already been pulled into the embrace of the tearful Eden.
"Ellie, my Ellie, you're unwilling to call yourself Ellie because you don't want to take away this world's own things?"
"Even after experiencing such pain, you're still so gentle..."
"Wuu! Wuu wuu!!!"
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Advanced 30+ Chapters of Honkai: Is this even the Prevoious Era