Starting from the Collapse World, I became the behind-the-scenes boss

"No, it's just a textbook."

Shihen shook his head helplessly.

"textbook?"

Tilting her head, the shrine maiden, who had only ever received family education, couldn't understand.

"It's about printing things out in a standardized way so that many people can learn them, thus ensuring that everyone understands the same principles."

We try to explain the traces of time using language that people from five hundred years ago could understand.

"Many people are studying it?"

Yae Sakura blinked, looking completely bewildered.

In her time, there was no such thing as basic education; the number of literate people in the entire Yae village was less than one hand.

“Times have changed. Books and paper are cheap now, so everyone has to receive education and learn knowledge.” Shihen explained, waving the textbook in his hand. “You’ve probably seen the library in the shrine, right? Those books aren’t actually expensive these days.”

"This is truly a wonderful era."

Yae Sakura smiled and nodded.

In her time, books were also a symbol of wealth.

When she first saw the bookshelves filled with books in the shrine's library, she was quite startled, thinking the boy was some kind of royalty or nobleman.

However, if we ignore those books... she used to have a shrine, only it was smaller and less popular than the one she has now.

If you round it up, her wealth is not much different from that of the boy.

The penniless witch suddenly felt a strange sense of confidence.

"But this is also the worst of times."

The traces of time are faintly visible in the tunnel.

In a few more years, the end will come.

"..."

The priestess was completely bewildered.

She deeply felt the generation gap between the two of them.

Seeing that the boy had no intention of explaining, Yae Sakura thought for a moment before continuing, "Does Lord Hen also need to study these... textbooks?"

She still wasn't used to that word.

“No, these are for other people.” Shihen shook his head, his pen continuing to move, a simple case of multitasking. “Remember those girls from a few days ago? Some of them aren’t doing well in their studies and need a little help.”

Seele's foundation is not at a high school level, while Kiana has no foundation at all.

For the past few years, he has been constantly on the move, and has had to work to support himself. He also has to occasionally play the role of a superhero to fight against the Honkai. The white-haired dumpling has no opportunity to study.

Even after settling down somewhat in Changkong City and the future St. Freya, Kiana, who had developed an aversion to studying, found it difficult to continue learning.

So it's at times like these that his close friend needs to step in.

Starting from the basics and gradually delving deeper, Shihen will completely reconstruct the knowledge system of the white fluffy dumpling.

"Is this also a way of deceiving them?"

Yae Sakura's tone was melancholic.

As one of the victims, she had a profound experience of the teenager's pretense and deception.

While in the Sacred Mark Space, she truly regarded the boy as the ray of light that would save her.

But it turned out that it was just bait.

What's even more terrifying is that even if she understands the truth now, it seems she has no choice but to accept it all.

"How could Miss Sakura make such malicious assumptions about me?" Shihen looked innocent. "I was just extending a helping hand to a friend who was in trouble. Everyone will be happy."

"Your Excellency... no, I mean Mr. Walter once said that you shouldn't judge a person by what they say, but by what they do."

Looking at the boy's innocent and friendly face, Yae Sakura frowned and pondered for a long time before asking, "Who is Welt?"

"Another idol of mine."

Shihen said earnestly.

Looking down at herself, the shrine maiden immediately understood.

This is a repeat offender.

"The gods have said that liars will go to hell and have their tongues pulled out after they die."

Yae Sakura kindly offered her advice.

She hoped the boy could get on the right path.

"It's okay, I won't die."

Shihen waved his hand dismissively.

Yaezakura: “…”

There was nothing she could do; the boy was clearly beyond her ability to persuade.

"With such ignorance of one's true nature, what is Your Excellency's purpose?"

Yae Sakura asked.

She had never met someone as contradictory as the boy.

On the one hand, Shihen lends her a helping hand and rescues her from danger.

On the other hand, the boy did indeed deceive her and had ulterior motives towards her.

She was almost unable to tell whether she should be grateful or angry.

"Hmm..." After thinking for a moment, Shihen replied, "If I had to say, it would be to save the world."

To save this planet from destruction, humanity needs a guide.

"..."

Yae Sakura blinked.

Do you think I would believe that?

"When everything is revealed, Miss Sakura will naturally find out."

With a slight smile, Shihen stopped being perfunctory.

The priestess would never understand that he had never gone against his own conscience.

"I will wait."

Yae Sakura nodded helplessly.

She had no other choice but to wait for that day to come.

"Oh, right, I'll be leaving tomorrow, and you'll have to practice swordsmanship on your own for a while from now on."

Shihen said.

The Honkai incident in the far northeast has been resolved, and even the cleanup work has been completed. It's time for him to return to ME Corporation.

Once back in the sights of Anti-Entropy, he couldn't keep disappearing.

That's highly suspicious.

Everything done under the identity of "Time Trace" must be subject to investigation.

He'll have to compete for the position of leader of the Anti-Entropy Alliance in the future.

Yae Sakura gave the boy a deep look and realized that he was about to lie again.

To this, the priestess could only nod slightly: "I understand."

After thinking for a moment, Yae Sakura added, "What about the shrine?"

Although she didn't appear directly, she had seen people reporting shrine affairs to the boy in the past few days.

"It's up to you." Shihen waved his hand directly. "For a shrine maiden like you, running a shrine should be a piece of cake."

He originally bought this for Yae Sakura.

"..."

The fox-eared girl's expression immediately turned strange.

She really wanted to say that she didn't know anything about business.

Back in Yae Village, the people who frequented the shrine were mostly villagers. Everyone knew each other well, so there was nothing to operate.

And this Inari Shrine... receives more visitors in a single day than the Yae Shrine does in an entire year.

As if seeing through the girl's thoughts, Shihen continued, "There are specific people in charge of the specific matters. You don't really need to worry about anything. Just do whatever you want."

As long as there is money in the accounts, this shrine will not collapse.

Even if it does fall, the marks of time can make it stand up again.

"Lord Hen..."

In an instant, Yae Sakura felt her eyes well up with tears.

By this point, how could she not understand that this shrine was simply a place of refuge given to her by the boy, in case she was unable to adapt to this era?

"As I said, since you've chosen to join, I'll naturally protect you." Shihen said calmly, conjuring a transparent, prismatic crystal in his palm. "Also, keep this with you for now."

As he spoke, Shihen flicked his fingertip, and the rhombus-shaped crystal flew automatically to the shrine maiden.

He's been involved in a lot of things lately, and he's worried that the scene from the Paradise of the Dead might repeat itself.

If he were to suddenly add a Herrscher Core in front of Kiana and the others, Shihen estimated that he wouldn't even be able to fool the white-haired ball of fur.

The other person is just a little silly, but not stupid.

"This is... the Herrscher core?"

Looking at the crystal before her, which was so transparent it was almost invisible, and feeling the terrifying energy fluctuations emanating from it, Yae Sakura's expression changed.

She had a premonition that once she fused with this crystal, the power she would possess would far exceed that of the period when she coexisted with the Herrscher of Corruption.

"Please keep this safe for me for a while, Miss Sakura. You can use the power inside as you please, but it's best if no one finds out."

Time's marks served as a reminder.

Even without a thorough examination, most people would assume that Yae Sakura is a pseudo-Ryūki, but that is still a troublesome matter.

"I will be careful."

Knowing that such treasures were always of great importance, Yae Sakura nodded solemnly.

"If you encounter danger, Miss Sakura, don't hesitate to help. You are more important than a Herrscher core."

Shihen added.

If you save people but lose land, you can save both people and land. If you save land but lose people, you can lose both people and land.

He understands this simple principle.

"Um……"

With a slight blush on her cheeks, Yae Sakura gently touched the core in front of her, and the rhomboid crystal instantly transformed into a beam of light that entered the girl's body.

In an instant, it seemed as if countless rays of light burst forth from the priestess's body.

"They're really restless."

With a helpless sigh, Shihen waved his hand, and a white flower instantly appeared, tightly enveloping the entire house.

If we don't cover it up, Durandal will probably have to jump out and get beaten up in less than an hour.

Let's give this strongest Valkyrie some face.

I'll hit her later.

After a while, the light gradually faded, and the pair of long fox ears on the girl's head also disappeared at the same time.

These fox ears are a product of the stigma being infected and mutated by the Herrscher of Corruption, so they will naturally know to retreat when faced with a more powerful force.

In fact, if Yae Sakura had a higher level of control over the stigmata, she could have easily concealed her ears, just like the boy's waist-length white hair.