Holding her small figure, Mu Zhou stood still as his nose brushed against her soft, water-blue hair with a hint of sweetness.

    The evening light was somewhat dim, but it shone through the window and into the room, giving a touch of warmth.

“Um… Sir?” Talisa raised her head with a puzzled expression.

    Mu Zhou opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but didn't in the end.

    He remembered that he was currently a 【mute】.

    Helplessly, he lowered his head to look at the little girl in his arms. The feeling of not being able to communicate normally made him uncomfortable.

    Thinking about it, his previous actions seemed like those of a perverted lolicon, almost causing his chronic awkwardness to flare up acutely.

    【Ah… What have I done… I'm already so old…】

    Holding Talisa in his arms, he was at a loss whether to let her go or not.

    He was feeling somewhat irritated in his mind.

    “I'm… I'm sorry… Did I… do something to upset you?”

Looking at her raised, pitiful face close to his.

    And once again feeling her clear, pure thoughts, Mu Zhou's stiff body slowly relaxed.

    【Ah… This must be it… these thoughts are simply too overwhelming…】

    Because he couldn't understand the language of this foreign world, he had to rely on【reading thoughts】 to comprehend.

    Most of the time when he tried to interpret the thoughts of the villagers, the feedback he got was like a messy mix of overturned paint colors.

    But only her, and just her, was pure, clear. Whether it was her previous concern or her current apology, both were clearly conveyed to him.

    This kind of thought was like clear spring water, penetrating everything and reaching directly to his heart.

    It was precisely because of the inability to communicate that this feeling could touch the softest part of Mu Zhou's heart.

    Gently placing the little girl in front of him, he crouched down.

    Looking straight into her eyes, which began to fill with uneasiness again, he reached out once more and stroked her head. His lips moved, and he spoke two words using the clear language of his hometown:

    “Mu Zhou”

    Her originally uneasy eyes gradually widened.

    “S-Sir… You… you can speak?”

    Her voice, due to surprise, became a little high-pitched, and especially the last three words were spoken very carefully.

    Mu Zhou looked at her with a bit of heartache, and his movements became even gentler.

    He nodded.

    Pointing at himself, he said again, “Mu Zhou”

    “Mu… Mu Zhou… Sir?”

    Apparently not used to the intonation of Mu Zhou's hometown, she pronounced these two words a bit strangely.

    Then, as if thinking of something, she suddenly straightened up her thin body and carefully pointed at herself.

    “Talisa!”

    Mu Zhou smiled and followed her pronunciation:

    “Talisa”

    “Mmm!” Accompanied by a clear voice, Talisa finally showed a smile.

    Mu Zhou, for the first time since he came to this world, smiled so gently.

——————…——————

    Mu Zhou felt as if he had a very long dream. In his dream, he went back to the night before he arrived in the foreign world. He saw everything in that night – streets, buildings, people, earth, and sky – suddenly disintegrate.

    The whole world was like being thrown into a giant shredder, crumbling and dissolving. However, only he was unscathed. Even though the bed he was sleeping on had disappeared, and the earth had been extinguished, he remained safe and sound.

    Just as the whole world was about to be completely annihilated, countless points of light began to flicker and rapidly approached him. There were so many that they even formed a river, flowing into his body.Mu Zhou suddenly realized and understood that those spots of light were the fragments in his 'memory'. From those spots of light, he learned that the world itself needed to be 'rebooted'. To erase everything and then restart by rewriting the rules and setting everything in motion again.

This is a natural cycle.

But there are always some who are unwilling to just disappear like this.

The 'world' responded to this unwillingness.

As physical things could not be preserved, the 'world' 'stripped' all non-physical things.

These are 'skills', 'techniques', 'illusions', 'realizations', 'knowledge', and 'energy'.

The 'world' handed all of these as its legacy to its successor - Mu Zhou.

And then brutally 'thrown' him out.

-----------------------...

Blinking open his eyes and looking at the starless night sky outside the window, he reached out to support his slightly groggy head.

"Really... it's such a heavy legacy."

Mu Zhou finally figured out what was happening with his strange body changes. In order for him to be able to bear the enormous legacy of the entire world, the energy that had been originally used to maintain the operation of the whole world was constantly perfecting his body.

The attributes of that energy are 'balance', 'stability', 'appropriateness', and 'perfection'!

It seems that his initial judgment that his body was 'approaching perfection' was not wrong.

Moreover, this 'perfection' is still ongoing! Far from reaching an end.

Who knows what he will be able to do once he fully inherits this legacy!

This left Mu Zhou a little confused.

The petite figure beside him stirred, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and looked at Mu Zhou with questioning eyes.

"Lord Mu Zhou, did you have a nightmare?" Her ethereal voice came.

[Ah, I'm sorry, I disturbed you.]

Mu Zhou looked apologetically at Talisa and gently held her in his arms, shaking his head.

Although he still couldn't understand her spoken language, her thoughts were still so easy to understand, always able to clearly convey to him, this sincerity made Mu Zhou deeply touched.

"Well... I know you can't understand me, but I have no other confidant to talk to."

He gently stroked her slightly messy hair.

"I... inherited a very huge and heavy legacy all of a sudden."

"...And, I can't go back to my hometown anymore."

"I don't understand, why is it only me?"

"I have no great ambitions or lofty aspirations."

"Should I let it shine brightly in this world?"

"Should I use it to save the world and become a hero?"

"Should I become cold-blooded and conquer everything?"

"I...."

Mu Zhou felt something stuck in his throat and choked up.

His dark purple hair covered his eyes, and he bowed his head and bit his lip.

Talisa listened in a daze, suddenly thought of something, broke free from Mu Zhou's embrace, and ran outside the room.

Mu Zhou:"..."

He wanted to reach out and grab her, but eventually stopped.

[I'm sorry....]

["Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump."]

Talisa quickly ran back, panting slightly, holding a jug-like container in her arms.

She took out a small cup from her pocket, wiped it, and placed it in front of Mu Zhou, carefully pouring out the muddy liquid from the jug.

Mu Zhou stared blankly at it all.

He reached out his hand, picked up the cup, and took a sniff under his nose.【Is this... alcohol?】

Talisa showed a pure smile to Mu Zhou.

"Every time the villagers show this kind of expression to Lord Mu Zhou, they would drink this, and then their mood would become better."

"............"

Mu Zhou drank all the alcohol in his hand.

Lifting his head, as if not wanting to let anything flow down, the corner of his mouth raised.

"Talisa... you really are my angel."

PS:

Well... the early settings and foreshadowing have finally come to an end, the story is about to officially unfold. If you have any suggestions, please write them in the comments, I will definitely read them.

1~2 updates every day. Rest assured to enjoy.

Also, I shamelessly ask for various things...

I am deeply grateful! (Kneeling on both knees, four fingers together, fingertips pointing down in front of the body)