Love Code at the End of the World

A huge claw was blocking me from my front side. It belonged to the monster. It seemed like she was protecting me like her own child.

The guy quickly pulled back his booklet, while he continued to look in front of him as he calculated. He then started scribbling once again with his right hand. As he stopped, he once again raised his booklet so I could read his message, “My name is Raffles. I am a Synesthete. I am calculating how many mirrors I would need so that our crops have sufficient sunlight. Please don’t think I’m weird. You are feeling fine, right?”

I looked at him dumbfounded as he raised the booklet, while he looked ahead and continued to calculate. It was as though, there was a huge blackboard in front of him and it was filled with complicated mathematical formulas. Although I didn’t quite understand what a synesthete was, I felt that he was giving a full play to multitasking.

He took back the booklet and scribbled again. Then, he showed it to me, “Don’t be afraid. Noah City doesn’t hurt girls. Our leader is Princess Arsenal. Her Highness is very worried about you and she sent me to check on you.”

Princess Arsenal—their leader here was a girl.

Somehow, I felt more secure. However, I didn’t dare to let my guard down. Even though Military Instructor Ceci had shown me kindness and friendliness… I had been terrified due to my last encounter with that venomous snake…

I calmed down.

He saw that I didn’t speak, so he raised his booklet again. It said, “Are you hungry?”

I looked at him and said, “Can you talk to me?” I was stunned as my voice had recovered. It was a girl’s voice, and not that hoarse voice that had resulted from the burnt chemicals. I felt much better. I wanted to face Raffles so that I could see his eyes when he talked.

He stiffened and then started calculating again. Then, he raised his booklet and showed me again, ”I’m shy.”

Huh? I was stunned. He looked very embarrassed.

He took back the booklet and flipped to another page. Then, he scribbled on the page before he raised the booklet to show me, “I am nervous around girls, but Princess and Captain Ceci wanted me to come. They said that I look delicate and you might not be as afraid. Do I… look delicate?”

I look at the side of his face. His face looked small because his hair partially blocked the side of his face. I could see that his nose wasn’t too long, but his eyelashes were long. His silver eyelashes fanned as he blinked. He looked… a little difficult to determine if he was a male or a female. In my dad’s terms, he would neither be a male or a female.

Plus, his body was weak and made people feel that he was fragile. When one living being sees another living being who was weaker than them, they would feel safe. Humans work the same way. When we see a brawny figure, we would be on a high alert. On the contrary, we wouldn’t keep our guard up when we see cute children.

However, this world had taught me a lesson the day before. Children might not be weak in this world.

I didn’t speak, so he took back his booklet and wrote. He looked a little angry. Then, he raised it up again, “I am not fragile at all! I am a strong man!”

“Pfft!” I couldn’t help but let out stifled laughter. It felt like he was just a kid, who was angry because someone had said that he was small.

He stopped jabbering but stole a glance at me. I immediately reined back my laughter and looked at him. He then quickly looked away and stared in front of him as he continued his calculations. The pen in his hand didn’t stop either.

“What’s your name?”

“Luo Bing.”

“Can you talk to me? After all, you are from Silver Moon City.”

“We’d like to know what is going on.”

I became quiet but I could understand. From the way Ah Xing had treated me the night before, the people in this world were on high alert to strangers. I was found in the escape pod of Silver Moon City, so they thought I was from Silver Moon City. This identity was much better than that of a stranger or a suspicious person.  

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.” He quickly raised his booklet again.

I looked at him, “I was picked up by a man from Silver Man City but they threw me away."

“Why!?” He even added an exclamation mark.

“Because… I am not a metahuman nor a girl. Oh yeah, they couldn’t tell I was a girl back then.”

Raffles took back his booklet but didn’t write anything else. It was as though, the half of his brain that was conversing with me had become quiet.

“What is this place and where am I? I have lost my memory. I don’t remember where I came from nor do I remember where my home is,” I used the excuse of memory loss again.

Suddenly, he paused and turned to look at me. I also saw a perfect mix of western and eastern features, and it was still hard to determine his gender.

He had a pair of beautiful greyish-blue eyes with double-eyelids... It was a color that I had never seen before, besides when one wore a cosmetic contact lens. The deep-set of his eyes made them look rather unfathomable. In their depths, they shimmered with wisdom and brightness of a vast universe. He had a sharp nose that was suitable for guys, which was rare; on the other hand he had a small delicate mouth that belonged to a girl. His lips were glistening and bright in color.

His Princess and Military Instructor Ceci were right. He did look delicate. Such an appearance wouldn’t make anyone be on high alert. One might even feel like protecting him instead.

A guy that made people feel like protecting him. I wondered if it was a pathetic thing for him or it was a happy thing for us girls.

He stole another glance at me and panicked. His ears under his hair became red. What he had said was true. He became nervous when he talked to girls. Some of his expressions couldn’t be fake because those were his first reactions.

He picked up the booklet again and scribbled. He seemed to be anxious, “This is Noah City. You are safe. We will protect you.”

I saw what he wrote and my feelings became complicated. I was touched. I had too many questions in my head. For example, what happened to the world? What was a metahuman? What was a radiationer? But I didn’t dare to ask. I was afraid that I would reveal the fact that I was from another world if I asked too many questions. I wondered how they would view that. Would I be in danger because of that?

I embraced my body and looked to the side. I found a question that I could ask, “What monster is this?”

He picked up the booklet, “This is a flying corpse— a human that was mutated and evolved into a monster. They are very strong in attacking! She should be the third generation.”

“What? They were humans!” I exclaimed in shock. I extended my hand to hold the claw that was protecting me. Her ancestors were once human. Human!? What terrifying force transformed their appearance and even… strengthened their barbarity to remove their humanity. She already couldn’t speak. Was it because her ancestors were human, that she could understand what I said? Maybe she really understood some.