MTLNOVEL Chapter 8: What hit me!
Bronya turned to face Daziel, her gaze unwavering, filled with determination and resolve.
"Mr. Daziel," she began, her voice firm, "as a Trailblazer of the Astral Express, a true benefactor of Belobog, surely you cannot stand by and watch our city fall into danger, can you?"
"I…" Daziel started, but words seemed to fail him.
"So, please, help me," Bronya pleaded, a hint of desperation now softening her tone. "If you would only lend your aid… I… I would do anything you ask."
"Ugh, Miss Bronya, please stop saying things like that!" March 7th blurted out, her anxiety rising as she quickly cut Bronya off. She spun around, gritted her teeth, as if steeling herself for a momentous decision, and then shouted at Daziel, "Listen here, Daziel! We are helping Miss Bronya today, no arguments! And if… if you get any perverted ideas, you deal with me. Don't you even think about bullying Miss Bronya!"
[Target character March 7th's corruption value increased by 4%] [Current corruption value: 34%] [Keyword triggered: Devotion] [Please host, continue your efforts, just for my sake, use the big baseball bat on March 7th!]
March 7th's outburst truly backfired. As soon as the words left her mouth, Daziel felt a pounding headache erupt behind his eyes, his mind reeling. This was truly outrageous, he thought, utterly, completely ridiculous.
His face darkened, and a strained grin stretched across his lips as he turned to March 7th. "Little March," he said, his voice tight, "why do you always have to interfere? Seriously, can you just stop making things worse?"
"Interfere?! How am I interfering?!" March 7th retorted, her face flushing crimson, righteous indignation blazing in her eyes. "This lady might be a bit… naive sometimes, but I know right from wrong! I'm trying to stop you from going down the wrong path!"
…
"Wait… what are you two even talking about?" Bronya interjected, her earlier determination replaced by bewildered confusion. "Is there something wrong with offering to repay kindness? Why does it sound so… serious?" She looked between them, lost. "As Belobog's great benefactors, if you help us overcome this crisis, then no matter what future hardships we face, Bronya and all the citizens of Belobog will dedicate ourselves to repaying you, even to the death! Isn't that the right thing to do?" Her voice wavered slightly. "Why does Miss March 7th make it sound so terrible? And what does Mr. Daziel 'going astray' even mean…?"
Bronya's words hung in the air, and Daziel and March 7th froze, the realization dawning on them both. Unbelievable… unexpected… So that's what Bronya meant by "anything." It really was a 12+ Star Rail scenario after all! Daziel and March 7th exchanged a stunned glance. For a long moment, Clipoth Fort was eerily silent, the quiet so profound you could probably hear a pin drop on the Ambergyne floor.
"Ahem…" Daziel cleared his throat, the sound abruptly breaking the heavy silence. "Um… Miss Bronya, please be assured, we Nameless will never stand idly by when a friend is in trouble. Please, don't mention repaying us with your life, or anything like that." Just kidding, he thought wryly, the enemies we'll face later? Even if you gathered every fighter in Belobog, they'd barely register as a warm-up. Not that he looked down on Belobog, but he truly doubted their collective combat prowess. Of course, such thoughts were best kept to himself.
"Then… then I leave it in your hands," Bronya said, a slight bow of her head conveying her earnest plea. "Please, both of you, be careful."
"Thank you for your concern, Miss Bronya. We will," Daziel replied, offering a slight nod in return.
…
After seeing Daziel and March 7th out of Clipoth Fort, Bronya finally exhaled a long, weary sigh. Even with outside help secured, as the Supreme Guardian of Belobog, her responsibilities remained immense. This was, after all, a matter of planetary survival. With that sobering thought, she returned to her desk, sank into her chair, and attempted to focus on strategizing their next moves. However, as she settled, a strange sensation caught her attention – the feeling of her boots on the floor felt… off.
Bronya glanced down, her brow furrowing as she noticed a small puddle of sticky, transparent liquid spreading beneath her desk. Where had that come from? Strange, she mused, how could there be water stains inside Clipoth Fort? She paused for a moment, a flicker of unease in her eyes.
Then, with a deliberate shake of her head, she pushed the insignificant detail from her mind. There were far more pressing matters demanding her attention, far more critical decisions for a leader to make.
…
Daziel and March 7th emerged from Clipoth Fort and stepped out into the biting wind, snowflakes like icy needles whipping against their faces, sending a bone-deep chill through them. Even with the pale sunlight filtering through Belobog's upper district, it offered no warmth. The sun here was like a decorative bulb in a refrigerator – illuminating, perhaps, but utterly devoid of heat.
Without the ubiquitous Hearth-Core heaters humming throughout the upper district, the inhabitants would surely succumb to the relentless cold. "Phew… it's freezing!" Daziel muttered, instinctively hunching his shoulders and drawing his neck deeper into his collar. He was stuck with just this one set of clothes, and frankly, it didn't look particularly insulating. He glanced at March 7th, her legs bare in a short skirt and stockings, a significant portion of her upper body exposed to the elements, yet she seemed completely unfazed, radiating her usual vibrant energy.
Daziel couldn't help but sigh. Human physiology was truly unpredictable. Just like he was inexplicably immune to fall damage, March 7th seemed immune to the cold, and Dan Heng… well, Dan Heng shrugged off stab wounds like they were mosquito bites.
But then again, March 7th's cold resistance made a certain kind of sense. Her abilities were ice-related; controlling Six-Phased Ice probably came with a perk of being impervious to freezing temperatures, right?
Then there was Clara… running around barefoot in the snow. He'd actually texted her once, asking, quite reasonably, why she didn't wear shoes. Her answer? Apparently, shoes made her more prone to ankle sprains.
That's the kind of explanation a screenwriter throws in when they've run out of ideas, Daziel thought wryly. Forget it. This whole world defied logic, just like the underworld itself. Some things were best left unexamined, unjudged by the standards of common sense.
At that moment, Daziel decided to actively suppress any further attempts to dissect the illogical phenomena of this world, including, and perhaps especially, March 7th's… unique train of thought. Yeah, he mentally declared, let's just blame it all on the underworld system!
…
Oblivious to Daziel's internal turmoil, March 7th was currently fixed on him, her wide, watery eyes blinking, a curious, flickering gaze fixed on his face.
"Daziel," she asked, her voice soft, "what do we do next?"
"Let's go find Miss Topaz and have a chat," Daziel replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets, a confident smirk playing on his lips. He affected an air of complete control. "Didn't she give us a way to contact her? Let's text her and ask where she is now."
As someone armed with the 'script' of events, Daziel felt utterly assured. Resolving this whole incident? Child's play, as simple as reaching into his pocket for his phone. After all, no matter what minor hiccups occurred, Himeko would inevitably arrive to resolve everything. Fighting Topaz directly was completely unnecessary.
He just needed to brush aside a few Corporation grunts. The Supreme Guardian, on the other hand, had a whole city to consider. The actual danger for him was practically nonexistent! What naive Daziel didn't realize was that within mere hours, he would deeply regret such unfounded confidence.
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