I love time travel the most!

To be honest, he didn't know this wealthy man, and he always felt that the man had some connection with the Axis orphanage.

"Speaking of which, his daughter also asked me to pass on a message—Big brother, Fei will definitely grow into a proper lady, please wait for Fei."

"—!"

These words instantly brought Xiaolin's thoughts back to that afternoon.

Beside the derailed train, there was that adorable little girl, and the wet touch on her cheek.

I touched it without even realizing it.

"Wait, who is Fei?"

"Big sister, another unfamiliar opponent has appeared."

"Kobayashi...having an affair?"

"Wait, wait! You've misunderstood!"

The girls' harsh words, as if they'd caught him in the act, mercilessly berated Xiaolin. He hurriedly explained the whole situation, and in doing so, he successfully earned the girls' praise. Even he hadn't expected that his act of kindness would bring him such a reward.

Kimberly added, "Therefore, although you have lost your eligibility for the Night Party, you can re-enroll after a year."

Upon hearing her words, everyone burst into laughter.

"That's great, Kobayashi!"

A girl with pearly white hair rushed towards her with her broad chest. This made the petite little girl nestled in Kobayashi's arms appear even smaller, and she also had difficulty breathing.

Anri reached out to her sister for help, and Charlotte quickly went to pull Frey away.

Frey looked at Charlotte with a puzzled expression and said in a cute, blank voice, "Tyrannosaurus Rex... are you going to act cute towards Kobayashi too?"

"N-No way!" Charlotte denied haughtily. "I don't stoop to being cute! It's just that Anri... my little sister is being suffocated by you!"

"Enri?"

Frey looked down and saw the little girl in her arms. At this moment, Anri's eyes were rolling back slightly, and she was about to faint.

After she was rescued, she unconsciously said to Charlotte, "Big sister, what should we do? Those are bomb-sized breasts, the two of us can't win."

"...What are you saying, Anri!"

Charlotte tried to stop her outspoken sister, but everyone present had already heard her and gave her ambiguous smiles, which made her extremely ashamed and angry.

Kobayashi's gaze, in particular, was extremely offensive.

"W-Where are you looking?!"

"...It's okay, small ones are cute too."

"What did you say?!"

Charlotte's shoulders trembled violently as Sigmund received her magic and assumed a fighting stance.

"Wait, calm down, Ciel!"

"Yeah, you're right! You're the kind of pervert who judges a woman's worth solely by her breasts! Someone like you should just go play with those breasts over there!"

She pointed forcefully to the left.

Standing there blankly was Frey, who had been dragged over. She raised her eyebrows and glared at Charlotte with displeasure.

"W-What are you doing? Do you want to argue?"

"Hmm... even if it's big, it's not necessarily good, ah..."

"What's wrong with being big!"

"Taking a shower...is tiring, my arms are sore."

Frey bounced around as she washed herself; her chest was large and heavy, so her arms were definitely sore.

Charlotte's cheeks flushed instantly, steam rising from her hair, and she burst into tears, throwing herself into Anri's arms, her voice trembling with grievance. "Are you mocking me? Anyway, I don't have to worry about that kind of thing! Taking a bath is so easy! Waaah~~~"

I don't know why she reacted so strongly.

I clearly told her that being small is also cute.

However, after this commotion, the sadness of dropping out of school has dissipated considerably.

She thought she was leaving, but unexpectedly, someone came to visit her.

late at night.

Kobayashi slowly walked towards the balcony, where a mature beauty dressed in a brightly colored kimono appeared out of nowhere, with a steaming pot of sake in front of her.

She was all alone, with no one else by her side.

Good evening, kid.

"Good evening, Miss Shoko. Did you come here especially to see me off?"

"No, this is just what was sent."

Hanayagi Sai tossed him a small badge, a triangular stone engraved with intricate patterns. It was warm to the touch and occasionally flashed with a brilliant light; its appearance alone revealed its exquisite craftsmanship.

Xiao Lin's face lit up with joy.

"Is it finally finished? I thought I wouldn't get to see it."

"Look forward to it, kid. It has a heart even stronger than the Snow Moon Flower."

"Then let me look forward to it! ...That being said, shouldn't it normally be handed over to me before the battle? Why does it only appear after everything is over?"

"Hmph, your puppet can overcome difficulties even without it, so it doesn't matter whether it comes sooner or later."

"Thank you for such high praise for Ryuu-Zi by the world's best female doll maker."

"It is a fact after all."

……

There was a brief silence between them.

After a long pause, Hanayagi Shoko spoke again: "Kid, why don't you come to my place? The world's strongest female doll maker should be qualified to be your teacher, right?"

"...More than enough, okay?" Kobayashi pouted.

Anyone would be overjoyed to hear that, but he still refused, saying, "Sorry, I've already decided to go back to my hometown... I wonder how those guys are doing, I'm a little worried."

I'm worried they'll cause big trouble!

"Is that so? That's a real shame," Hanayagi Shoko said, though it was unclear whether she genuinely felt it was a pity.

……

There was another moment of silence.

Kobayashi looked at her and said, "Miss Shoko, you didn't come here specifically to take on apprentices, did you?"

“Not entirely.” The beautiful woman in the kimono shook her head.

"Is that to blame me?" Kobayashi said with a slight grievance, "Whether it's to protect the pride of the mastermind behind the scenes, or the burden that Charles felt he had to bear, or Anri's feelings, or even to prevent a major disturbance, I think I have already been very restrained."

Yes, they really restrained themselves.

If it were before, he would have gone straight to Alice to negotiate. Why would he play along with her and have to satisfy her perverse tastes?

"You've misunderstood. I've come to apologize to you."

"Apologize……?"

"Ah, I want to apologize for what I said about your arrogance before."

Hanayagi Shoko raised her glass, her large kimono obscuring her expression, but Kobayashi guessed she was probably embarrassed.

"The reason I said those things to you before was probably because I thought you were just like that kid. You both put your own comfort at the expense of others, putting yourself in dangerous situations, and always doing things that cause trouble and distress to others."

"Akabane-kun?"

"Yes. But then I realized I was wrong. You and he are completely different types of people. Asking you to restrain yourself would be a form of constraint. Wouldn't it be putting the cart before the horse if you let yourself get hurt? So..."

"so?"

"Go ahead and exercise your arrogance in carrying out your own will. Even if you're alone, even if you're not understood, even if you're not recognized, if you believe what you're doing is right, then go ahead and do it boldly."

"So, I don't need to worry about anything anymore?"

"Yes."

Hanayagi Shoko's words were not only a liberation for Kobayashi, but also a form of recognition, a parent's recognition that their child had developed independent judgment.

Xiaolin was slightly moved.

As if he had received approval, he became even more unrestrained after leaving the academy.

First, they found the Kingsford family, the source of everything, and intimidated and pressured them. After he left, the Kingsford family's mansion had disappeared, leaving only a huge pit, and around the pit were glass crystallized under high temperature.

Some say it was a giant fireball that fell from the sky and burned everything; others say it was a nuclear attack, otherwise there wouldn't have been such massive destruction; still others say it was an automaton that went out of control and exploded, causing the base to disappear.

Immediately, opinions were divided, and everyone searched for the truth. However, none of this mattered to Xiaolin anymore, because he had already left this world.

(The Machine-Doll, The End)

Not stopping updating is a success

(Some complaints)

I had some grievances to vent, so I wrote this.

A 50-word book can't be called a flop; it's just online garbage.

The "Machine-Doll" volume was difficult to write and agonizing to read. It was a mutual torment between the author and the readers. Sometimes I truly felt sorry for the readers who had subscribed.

So I wanted to find out why.

The first problem is likely the choice of topic.

Admittedly, as a work from 10 years ago, "Machine-Doll" was very successful, and even now people still make jokes about it. However, apart from that, whether it's the character design (in part), the background, or the plot, it's all a mess.

I know it's wrong to judge a work from 10 years ago with today's standards, but the purpose of writing this volume was to use elements from the other author to drive the entire novel. But now it seems to me that it was purely for the sake of this dish of dumplings wrapped in vinegar, wasting a great period of growth, and even causing a large portion of the readers to leave.

Of course, if it's just a simple mistake in choosing a topic, it's still acceptable, and readers will still subscribe even if they have to give it a try.

However, I made another mistake during that time.