Moreover, the format of this simulation seemed to be different from the previous ones. Previously, it was "such and such day" and "such and such day," but this time the simulation started directly from "0 years old." Yilan was afraid that the simulation process would be stretched out very long.
[When you were 1 year old, your family arranged a one-year-old ceremony for you. During the ceremony, you took everything into your arms, saying that you wanted them all. Your parents jokingly said that you would become an extraordinary person in the future.]
[At the age of 2, you began to show your intelligence. While other children were still learning to walk, you were already finding books from Inazuma to read.]
[At the age of 3, seeing your eagerness to learn, your parents hired an enlightenment teacher for you. However, when the teacher arrived, they found that you had already read most of the enlightenment books by yourself.]
[At the age of 4, your reputation for being gifted and intelligent began to spread, and many parents used you as an example to educate their children. This caused many children to become dissatisfied with you, and they teamed up to beat you up. As a result, you fought 1VS8 and defeated all eight of them by yourself, becoming the king of Inazuma's children.]
[At the age of 5, you began to strengthen your muscles and learn martial arts.]
[At the age of 6, your reputation as a child prodigy, both literary and martial, reached the head of the Kamisato family. He personally tested you and acknowledged your title as a prodigy, believing you would become the future pillar of the Kamisato family.]
[At the age of 7, your cousin, the heiress of the Kamisato family, Ayaka, turned one year old. The family held a banquet and invited many high-ranking people from Inazuma. Due to your outstanding performance, your family's status within the clan improved, and you were also invited.]
[At the banquet, you met your delicate little sister. Her cuteness conquered you instantly, and you vowed to protect everything about her.]
[At the age of 8, the main family took notice of your excellence and brought you to the Kamisato main family for education.]
"Uh… why do I feel like my parents were just tools?"
[At the age of 9, you were brought to the main family and became a study partner, responsible for accompanying Ayaka in her studies and swordsmanship. However, the head of the main family also began to instill in you the concept of loyalty to the main house. When Miss Kamisato Ayaka went out to play, you often followed her as her bodyguard. Sometimes you felt that they were not training an heir, but a loyal servant.]
[At the age of 11, Kamisato Ayaka's parents died.]
"…That was a bit sudden. But in the original story, Kamisato Ayaka's parents did die when she was very young, so this doesn't count as my fault, right?"
[The death of the Kamisato clan's head and the magistrate of the Yashiro Commission caused great turmoil in Inazuma. As one of Inazuma's Three Commissions, the Yashiro Commission held enormous power, and power has always been the most tempting poison.]
[People outside the Kamisato family sought to seize the Yashiro Commission's authority, while those inside the family set their sights on the young Ayaka.]
[Because they knew that controlling Kamisato Ayaka meant controlling the family and its power.]
[On the day of your stepfather and stepmother's funeral, all your relatives and friends gathered.]
[Entering somatosensory mode.]
The scent of fine sandalwood wafted into Yilan's nose. He opened his eyes and found himself kneeling on a cushion, with two spirit tablets placed before him.
Tilting his head to the side, he saw that the person kneeling on his right was his sister in this life simulation, Kamisato Ayaka.
Perhaps noticing his gaze, Ayaka turned her head away shyly.
Ayaka, who had just turned five years old, was still a little girl. She had long cherry-white hair, and her sad expression on her cute, delicate face made her look even paler against the white mourning clothes.
"Brother," she said softly, her voice trembling like a small animal's, "Mom and Dad are gone. From now on, there will only be Ayaka and brother in the world."
"——!"
Yilan felt like he had been directly hit in the heart. If this was a fighting game, his health bar would have instantly emptied.
"Don't worry. I will take good care of you from now on." Yilan couldn't help but gently stroke Ayaka's little head.
"Yeah." Ayaka nodded lightly and rubbed her head against his palm, a slightly relieved expression appearing on her cute little face.
My sister is so cute!
At this moment, the master of ceremonies in charge of the funeral began delivering a few words of eulogy, then invited the guests to come forward and burn incense.
Yilan withdrew his hand from Ayaka's head. She knelt back on the mat obediently, looking so well-behaved that Yilan felt a twinge of pain.
The guests approached one by one to burn incense, and occasionally, someone offered a few perfunctory words of comfort. Yilan watched coldly, feeling that all these people were disgusting.
They feigned sympathy while spitting out cruel words like "you deserve it," completely ignorant of how such words could distort a child's mind.
As if that wasn't enough, a strong man named Kamisato Ryuji, who served in the shogunate army, suddenly spoke up.
"Lil' Ayaka, your parents are gone. It's inconvenient for you to live alone. Why don't you come live with us? I'll take good care of you."
This triggered a chain reaction. The mourning hall, once solemn, erupted into noisy chaos. Those "relatives" who had been pretending to be sad could no longer maintain their facade and started arguing loudly over Ayaka's custody.
Because they knew clearly: controlling Kamisato Ayaka meant controlling the Kamisato family—and the Yashiro Commission's authority.
"Brother, why are they fighting? Ayaka is scared…" Ayaka threw herself into Yilan's arms, trembling.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here. No one will hurt you," Yilan whispered, gently stroking her head, his eyes coldly observing the vile nature of humanity.
Although he had known from the plot that the Kamisato family went through turmoil after Ayaka's parents' deaths, he had not expected the relatives to be so shameless—to quarrel right in the mourning hall!
"I'm the highest-ranking person here! Only I can take good care of her!"
Suddenly, Kamisato Ryuji rushed forward, grabbing Ayaka's small hand and forcibly pulling her out of Yilan's arms.
"Brother!"
Ayaka cried out, reaching back toward Yilan.
Yilan's blood pressure soared. He hadn't expected them to be so brazen. Without thinking, he rushed after them.
But he had forgotten that in this simulation, he was only 11 years old. No matter how precocious, an 11-year-old boy couldn't overpower a seasoned warrior.
He was easily shoved aside. He tried gathering elemental force, but this body was too fragile to endure it.
But retreat wasn't an option.
Strength wasn't limited to elemental power alone.
Yilan lunged like a hungry wolf, biting down hard on Kamisato Ryuji's hand—the one dragging Ayaka—his teeth sinking deep into the flesh.
"AHH! You little bastard!"
Ryuji cursed in pain and let go of Ayaka. Yilan seized the opportunity, snatching her back and shielding her behind him.
But the enraged Ryuji picked up a chair and swung it toward Yilan's head.
If it hit, Yilan would be seriously injured—or worse.
——
The tragedy seemed inevitable. Everyone foresaw the bloody scene about to unfold.
But then, a deep blue light erupted in the mourning hall.
The next moment, Yilan and Kamisato Ryuji passed by each other.
Blood splattered into the air.
But it wasn't Yilan's blood.
He sheathed the water blade in his hand. A blue Vision had appeared at his waist.
Behind him, Kamisato Ryuji screamed, clutching a severed arm.
Yilan slowly pointed at each of the "relatives" present, his eyes as cold and merciless as a beast's. None of them dared meet his gaze.
"From today onward, Kamisato Ayaka will be protected by me. Who agrees? Who disagrees?"
He didn't realize it, but to the young Ayaka watching him through tearful eyes, he looked just like the brave knight who saved the princess from the clutches of evil in the light novels she loved so much.