Honkai, why do you only throw me into high-level battles? (Chapter 469-470)

Chapter 469: Their Respective Conversations

Although they had planned to leave by lunchtime at the latest, Seele knew that if "preparations" were to be made, they had to start earlier.

For example, convincing close companions to support and help her.

Convincing Bronya had been surprisingly and logically smooth.

As for convincing Sin to go along with her "shenanigans," Seele had no confidence at all. However, having experienced one loop, Seele couldn't bring herself to leave her behind.

So, she braced herself and gave it a try, only to be met with a cold shoulder, as expected.

"Hah? What nonsense is this coward spouting? Another world? Loops? Have you been scared out of your mind?"

Sin scoffed at Seele's explanation, even doubling over with laughter. "If it's really like you say, that some creature from who-knows-where has taken over Seele's body—then shouldn't I be tearing you, this monster, to shreds right now to see if I can free that pitiful Seele?"

Unlike Bronya, who had quickly accepted reality, Sin was instantly filled with malice towards Seele after hearing her story, even feeling the urge to make a move.

"Tch, hasn't this one learned her lesson yet?" Veliona said, annoyed. "I really want to let her taste some of the surprises she got in the original world!"

"Sin, don't talk nonsense. Seele is Seele," Bronya stepped in to smooth things over. "Look, the fact that Seele is willing to tell you this means she trusts both of us as companions, right?"

For stubborn people, a direct approach was best. Bronya was already an expert at handling Sin.

"...Tch."

Sin thought about it and realized it made sense, but admitting it was too much for her pride.

She turned her head away and said with feigned disdain, "If you're looking for an excuse to run away, then just the two of you go. Without you two eyesores here, Mother will have only me to rely on, hahahaha!"

She still didn't believe a word of Seele's fantastical story, just assuming she was lost in her own fairytale world again. It wasn't the first time she'd done something so stupid.

"You..."

Bronya was getting a headache from this stubborn girl. She was about to try and persuade her again when Seele, who had been quiet behind her, spoke up.

"Sin, you don't mean that. You're actually just trying to buy us time with Mother Cocolia, right?"

"..."

Sin's face instantly darkened.

Seeing this, Seele smiled. "Thank you for your kindness, Sin. But neither Bronya Oneechan nor Seele wants to see you take such a huge risk for us."

She slipped out from behind Bronya, grabbed Sin's hand, and said with sincerity and determination, "Come with us, Sin. Leave this place. Let's go to the sea, the grasslands, the high mountains, anywhere!"

"Ugh... alright, that's enough, you're creeping me out!"

Sin felt goosebumps all over.

She shivered and pulled her hand away from Seele's slightly cool grasp, looking at her with a mix of suspicion and uncertainty. "Looks like you're really not that crybaby—that girl who cries all day couldn't even speak when she saw me!"

After all that, she was actually starting to believe some of what Seele had said.

"Because Sin has always been Seele's companion," Seele said with a calm smile, her voice soft yet firm and sincere. "Neither Bronya Oneechan nor Seele wants to leave you here alone!"

"..."

A hot-tempered person like Sin couldn't handle this. Her face flushed with anger, and she glared at Seele for a long time before finally letting out a cold huff and turning to leave.

"Where are you going, Sin?" Bronya called out, thinking she was about to break ties with them.

"None of your business!" Sin snapped back. After a couple of seconds, she added in the same annoyed tone, "I'm going to find a vehicle! It's this cold, the snow is this thick, are we supposed to walk?!"

You two idiots!

Bronya was speechless. Seele smiled faintly. The two of them exchanged a look and went back to their rooms to change into warmer winter clothes.

Ten minutes later, an engine roared to life. A snowmobile crashed through the courtyard wall. Seele flashed forward and grabbed the back of the vehicle.

"Ptooey, ptooey... What is this piece of junk?" Sin jumped out of the driver's seat, fuming. "Does either of you know how to use this? If not, I'm tossing it!"

"I'll do it. I learned how before."

Bronya just gave a surprised glance at Seele, who had moved like a ghost, but didn't ask any questions. She strode forward and swung herself into the driver's seat.

Then, with a reluctant look, Sin squeezed into the back seat with Seele. "Hold on tight," Bronya called out, started the engine, and shot off like an arrow, driving with exceptional skill.

"Where to, Seele?" Bronya tilted her head slightly and shouted over the engine.

Bronya's question stumped Seele. She frowned in thought, then pointed to the distant, rolling mountains. "Into the mountains..."

This was the only clue she had heard from Bronya Oneechan in the last loop. She had said she found Lin Wei in the mountains.

And now that Lin Wei was nowhere to be seen, she could only follow this vague clue and try her luck...

---||---

There was a reason Lin Wei didn't meet up with Seele a second time.

"I don't recommend you act rashly again, Mr. Lin Wei," Schrödinger pronounced, her face expressionless. "You're sick."

Back in the bear cave, Lin Wei, wrapped in another freshly-made "bearskin coat," leaned against the crackling bonfire and let out a weak, wry laugh. "Heh, I know..."

The physical exhaustion from the battle with Otto, the hidden injuries from facing Durandal up close, the aftershocks from the uninvited enemy in the Sea of Quanta, the repeated onslaught of the severe cold on the snowy plains, Yae Sakura's continued silence, the disappointment of having found Seele, who could take him away from this godforsaken place, only to have it all fall apart at the last second, and the series of verbal blows from Schrödinger before that...

All these factors had piled up, and finally, after one more small disappointment, the body driven by willpower had completely collapsed.

The "finish line" was clearly right there, but Lin Wei truly couldn't take another step...

"What a mess..." Lin Wei laughed, looking up at the rock ceiling covered in stalactites, then turning to look at the vast, clean white world outside the cave. "If Otto knew I'd ended up like this, heh... that would be utterly humiliating."

"You still care about that?" Schrödinger asked.

"Yeah, I was so full of myself back then!" Lin Wei's smile widened. "Fu Hua, Rita, Durandal, the Divine Keys, the Godsbane armor... heh, to deal with me, Otto brought out almost everything he had, but he still couldn't do anything to me. And then, just like that... tsk, I end up like this."

Lin Wei chuckled and summarized, "It's... hilarious!"

The fall from heaven to hell had come too quickly, like a—a surreal comedy.

Separated by a Sea of Quanta and a thin world barrier, the two who had once been at loggerheads were now on opposite ends of the stage, each silently drinking the bitter wine they had brewed together.

"...Is that so? That must have been an unimaginably fierce battle," Schrödinger commented. As a former companion, she was all too familiar with the meticulousness of that battle and the power of Durandal.

"Lying here like this, I can't help but think—if only I had just blown up Otto along with his lair back then, I wouldn't be in this situation now."

Lin Wei raised a hand. The square-shaped object lay quietly in his palm, as if even the Divine Key had lost its former vitality. He laughed. "A little more vengeful wouldn't have been so bad..."

"There may be people in this world who can foresee the future, but that doesn't include you or me. At least, neither of us can see our own destiny," Schrödinger said. "Just as the cat in the box can randomly decide between completely different world lines, for you, since you didn't do as you just said then, even if you could do it all over again, you still wouldn't do it."

"Ha, this cat has really had a bad run of luck in your hands, dying and coming back to life," Lin Wei laughed, then coughed a couple of times before continuing to laugh.

"You're right. Character is destiny. Even if time really did rewind and I had to choose again, I would still spare that guy's life."

"Is that so?" Schrödinger replied, her tone showing no hint of emotion at his agreement.

"Hehe, yeah..."

An enigmatic smile hung on Lin Wei's chapped lips. He turned the object over and over in his hands and sighed. "You know, this box, and the Stigmata on me, were my first spoils of war in that chaotic original world."

Perhaps because there was nothing else to do but chat, or perhaps because he just wanted to talk to someone, Lin Wei began to tell Schrödinger his story, starting from the Honkai sickness that had changed his destiny.

"Sometimes, I think I'm a very unfortunate person, to be dragged into such a terrible vortex. Other times, I think I'm a lucky person. At least I still have a chance to fight for my own life, even if I have to face a Herrscher who destroyed an entire civilization..."

Lin Wei coughed lightly and said with a chuckle, "Oh, the irony. The guy who once defeated a Herrscher with his bare hands, who quelled a sky-covering disaster, who suppressed the arrogant Otto, is now trapped and helpless because of a little cold. Is there anything more ironic in this world?"

"Because you've been pushing yourself from the very beginning, giving it your all with every step. It's not surprising that you're exhausted and have collapsed now," Schrödinger said flatly.

"You are not a Herrscher. A mortal body cannot contend with one. To have held on for this long is already a miracle."

"Heh... is that so? I'll take that as a compliment."

Lin Wei smiled, then sighed softly. "Now... hehe, back then, I was just a desperate person fighting for my life, with no thought for the future. After all, if you think too much, you lose the courage to even face it. Who would have thought that now, I'd be sitting by a bonfire, lamenting about 'a dragon stranded in shallow waters'... hehehe, what an interesting thing..."

Since when did a former "nobody" start to grandly call himself a "hero"?

Perhaps, it was after that tsunami in Manila, Lin Wei thought.

"I have no interest in the future and destiny of humanity, and I certainly don't want to be some 'savior' or 'liberator.' That's why I had no interest in killing Otto, even though our conflict was irreconcilable from the start."

Lin Wei said with a calm expression, "You're right. I am an indifferent person. I watch most things from the sidelines, because most people and things in this world have nothing to do with me, and I don't want them to. Even that so-called 'heroic act' in Manila was just a whim on the spur of the moment."

If he hadn't been angered by Anti-Entropy's stupidity, if Ana hadn't been trapped there, if he hadn't seen person after person, group after group, still fighting when he went to save Ana, he might not have done something so futile in the end.

"That final battle with Otto, the reason I jumped into the Sea of Quanta... heh, I guess you could call it running away?" Lin Wei laughed self-deprecatingly. "The troublemaker is gone. Otto, everyone else, you can play among yourselves now!"

"Is that so?" Schrödinger said noncommittally. "The Sea of Quanta is not as simple as you think."

"Haha, yeah... I've made a fool of myself in front of you, haven't I?" Lin Wei smiled, then his expression slowly sobered. He sighed. "I owe Yae Sakura a life—though she doesn't like me saying that—so I had to come."

He just didn't expect to run into trouble as soon as he arrived...

"Yae Sakura, is that your Stigmata? You've mentioned her many times," Schrödinger said.

"People always have some irreplaceable, important companions. Like Seele to Bronya, or you, Doctor, to Einstein..." Lin Wei said with a smile.

"Otherwise, to live as a loner would be too sad, wouldn't it? Even if the 'human' race is not very likable, there are always some things worth cherishing."

"...Is that so?" Schrödinger said noncommittally. After a moment, she said, "It seems you have some redeeming qualities compared to Otto."

"...I'll take that as a compliment."

Lin Wei pouted. Perhaps he had talked too much. A wave of drowsiness washed over him. He pulled the bearskin tighter around himself. "I'm going to sleep... I hope you can still wake me up like before tomorrow morning..."

As he spoke, he drifted off to sleep, leaving only the crackling bonfire to cast its precious, warm light.

This place was not suitable for human habitation, yet someone had to make a temporary home here.

Outside the cave, the cold wind howled, tree branches swayed, and snow fell with a soft rustle. Inside the narrow bear cave, it was quiet, with only a thin wisp of smoke slowly drifting out of the entrance, to be instantly scattered by the wind.

After a while, perhaps ten minutes, perhaps half an hour, Schrödinger, who had not been there before, appeared in the narrow cave.

Half of her face was elegant, the other half a phantom, a look that was both strange and harmonious.

This was the first time Schrödinger had appeared in her true form in this world bubble. She stood by the "bed" and looked down at Lin Wei's restless sleeping face, lost in thought.

"..."

After a moment, she sighed softly, tightened the rough seams of the bearskin for him, and took off her own cloak to gently cover him.

Then, she walked lightly to the bonfire, added two more pieces of wood, and sat down cross-legged, gazing at the breathtaking scenery outside the cave, falling into an even longer silence.

Chapter 470: A Mutual Journey

When a proactive person becomes passive, it often comes across as lamentably bleak and lonely.

And when a person who has always been passive becomes proactive, the reasons behind it are often just as heartbreaking.

Why did Bronya, without any proof from Seele, still choose to believe and help her without hesitation?

Because she couldn't even imagine what kind of soul-crushing, painful experience it must have taken to make the Seele who always cowered, always carefully hid behind her, become the way she was now—trembling with fear, yet forcing a smile, summoning the courage to try and persuade her and Sin.

Seele, persuading others...

This was a girl who seemed to need to muster all her courage just to speak loudly.

For some reason, seeing Seele like this, Bronya felt indebted to her, as if she owed her a great deal for a very, very long time...

The roar of the engine cut through the quiet mountain forest, leaving a clear track in its wake as it sped away. Then, not long after the silence of nature had returned, it came roaring from another direction, and roared away again.

"This is so annoying! Bronya, why are you going in circles in this godforsaken place?"

In the back of the snowmobile, Sin, whose lips were numb from the cold, finally couldn't take it anymore and yelled, "Is the freezing wind that refreshing?"

She regretted it so much. Getting mixed up in this nonsense with you two was a huge mistake! My limbs are so cold they're almost numb!

"Sin..."

The snowmobile wasn't big. Even for three young girls, it was a tight squeeze. Sitting at the very back, Seele felt a pang of guilt hearing Sin's complaint. She pulled her arms, which were tightly wrapped around Sin, closer, trying to give her a little more warmth.

She's right. Trying to find a stranger in a densely populated town is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But isn't it even more ridiculous to be running around like a headless chicken in this boundless snowy plain?

"Don't touch me!"

Sin was ungrateful. She roughly shook off Seele's arms and snapped, "What, do I look pitiful to you?"

"Alright, Sin, calm down."

Bronya, who was focused on driving, turned her head to admonish her, then found a slightly more sheltered hollow and slowly stopped the vehicle. Being at the front, she was even colder than the others.

"Sss... hah..."

Bronya took off her gloves and rubbed her frozen, stiff hands. She started a bonfire under the cover of a few large boulders. As the warm, orange flames leaped up, the three of them huddled together, shivering and warming themselves by the fire.

This damn weather, why is it so cold...

"Seele, have you found any clues to the person you're looking for?"

Bronya was as accustomed to the harsh environment of the snowy plains as if it were her own home. She took out the food from her backpack, which had long since frozen solid, divided it into three portions, and placed them on the bonfire. Then she turned her head slightly and asked.

They had a clear division of labor on the way—Bronya was in charge of driving, while Seele focused on searching for clues, such as traces of someone having stayed, footprints, or anything else.

As for Sin...

She was just along for the ride, which was why she had been so dissatisfied the whole way...

"No..."

Seele shook her head, cowering, and smiled bitterly. "Last time, Bronya Oneechan only had time to tell me that he was in the wilderness. But... the wilderness is just too big..."

"Tch, Bronya..." Sin scoffed. "Look what you've done!"

"No, it's not Bronya Oneechan's fault!" Seele hurriedly explained, but was rudely interrupted by Sin.

"Alright, cut the crap. We're looking for someone, right?" Sin picked up a piece of not-yet-fully-thawed roasted meat from the fire, took a bite, frowned, and spat it out. She said sarcastically, "You and Bronya are both useless, one more so than the other. Tch... let me teach you!"

With that, she stood up from the bonfire, walked over to Bronya's other side, and crooked a finger at her with an arrogant and disdainful look. "That thing in your pocket, let me use it."

Sin would never deign to use the word "borrow."

"?"

Bronya was clueless. What on earth do you want?

"Tch, forget it. I'll get it myself!"

Seeing Bronya was so slow on the uptake, Sin couldn't be bothered to waste any more words. She just stuck her hands into the bottom of her clothes and rummaged around. Then, to Bronya's dumbfounded expression, she pulled out a round object and tossed it up and down smugly. "This piece of junk is enough for me!"

It was a hand grenade.

"Sin, you..."

Bronya was startled, realizing what Sin was up to. But before she could stop her, the smile on the girl's face turned ferocious and cruel. With a Click, she pulled the pin, casually tossed it up and down a couple more times, then turned and threw it with all her might into the open space behind them.

"Look out!"

It was too late to stop her. Bronya could only throw herself on top of her and Seele to protect them from the impending blast.

BOOM!

"Hahahahaha... get off!"

Hearing the deafening explosion, Sin laughed heartily in satisfaction. Then she pushed Bronya, who was lying on top of her, away with a look of displeasure and said smugly, "Since we're already going in circles in this godforsaken place, we might as well make a big scene. If that guy is really like Seele said, he should know where to go when he hears this!"

One loud boom, and she felt refreshed.

She had always preferred to solve problems with violence. What was the point of dilly-dallying? It was just annoying!

"..."

Bronya was a little helpless. She had just brought some weapons for self-defense, but she hadn't expected Sin to squander them like toys.

"What, not satisfied?"

Sin turned and glared at her, her face a warning.

"...Forget it. You have a point."

Bronya resignedly unfastened the harness hidden under her clothes, removed the pistol and two spare magazines tucked into it and put them away, then handed the harness, which still held three grenades, to Sin.

Compared to wasting time like headless chickens, making some noise to indicate their position was indeed one way to do it.

"Hmph, as long as you understand."

Sin snorted and took it, casually playing with it in her hands. Then, seeing Bronya's hesitant expression again, she shot her an impatient glare. "What, don't you trust me?"

I'm not stupid. How could I let something as dangerous as a grenade actually become dangerous?

Besides, there are only three or four of them. I'm counting on them to get things done. How could I waste them casually?

But you expect me to explain all this to you patiently?

Heh, in your dreams!

"...Sigh."

Bronya knew what kind of person she was. She shook her head helplessly and turned to Seele. "Seele, let's expand our search area a bit. Sin will make noise in different places, and then we'll circle around those positions and gradually narrow the area. How about that?"

"Okay."

Seele nodded, of course she wouldn't object.

Although it seemed fraught with problems, how could she not understand that both Bronya and Sin were, in the end, trying to help her?

It was just that some people were straightforward, and some were stubborn...

Ten minutes later, the bonfire was extinguished, and the snowmobile started up again, speeding away with a roar.

Just like before, the serious Bronya focused on driving, the meticulous Seele was in charge of looking for clues, and as for Sin...

Still with nothing to do. Only this time, depending on her mood, she would randomly pull the pin on a grenade and toss it behind her.

BOOM!
"Hahahahaha!"

Both the explosion and the laughter were left far behind by the speeding motorcycle, unable to cause them the slightest harm.

The three grenades were quickly used up. Sin smacked her lips, dissatisfied, feeling like she hadn't had enough fun. She casually threw the now-empty harness away, then stuck her other hand into Bronya's clothes again, grinning mischievously. "Hand it over!"

Bronya jolted, and the motorcycle nearly crashed into a tree. She quickly corrected her course, narrowly avoiding a tragic accident.

"Hey! That's enough!"

Sin ignored her and unceremoniously pulled the slightly warm pistol from between Bronya's legs. She turned sideways and casually pulled the trigger a few times, then looked bored. "No fun. Here!"

With that, she suddenly tossed it to Seele behind her. Seele also jolted and fumbled to catch it. She looked down at the piece of iron in her hands, then at the two people in front of her, completely bewildered.

This thing... how did it end up in my hands?

---||---

An army's collapse is like a landslide, but recovery is like drawing silk from a cocoon. Although he had slept soundly all night, Lin Wei still felt groggy and weak. If not for the need to regularly add wood to the bonfire, he wouldn't have even wanted to move.

Today, the Stigmata still hadn't responded to him. Yae Sakura remained silent, which cast an even darker shadow over Lin Wei's heart.

"You're not in good condition right now. It's best not to overthink things or act rashly."

Schrödinger had once again hidden herself in the shadows, her voice coming from the small beacon. "Compared to those grand plans, letting your body's immune system recover is more important, don't you think?"

"Heh, of course I know..." Lin Wei pulled the thick bearskin tighter, his bitter laugh sounding weak and faint. "But, recovering in a place like this? I'm not a real bear who can just find a not-so-terrible hole in the ground and hibernate through the whole winter..."

"That's why you need to be even more careful," Schrödinger said.

"Hehe, you're right. I do need to be careful," Lin Wei said with a helpless smile. "Seele... she's probably still waiting for me at the orphanage, right?"

What a pity, I can't go now...

To wait with such anticipation, only to be stood up so unceremoniously, Seele must be very anxious, right?

Lin Wei found a bit of dark humor in the situation. "Maybe if she gets anxious enough, she'll come looking for me here on her own?"

Outside the cave, the cold wind howled. In his weakened state, there was nothing he could do.

This feeling of being at the mercy of fate doesn't feel good... Lin Wei thought to himself. His eyes vacant, he couldn't help but think of himself more than a year ago. Even then, he had never been "at the mercy of fate"...

As he sat there quietly thinking, a heavy drowsiness gradually crept over him.

"Lin Wei, I think I hear something outside."

In a half-asleep state, Schrödinger's voice suddenly woke him up.

"Just the wind," Lin Wei mumbled, turning over, and told a cold joke. "It can't be that this bear I've killed three times has some old friends coming to visit, can it?"

Unlike more than a year ago, even if he was sick and weak now, he wasn't someone just anyone could mess with.

He was about to go back to sleep, but he suddenly opened his eyes. The faint sound, carried on the wind, how did it sound so out of place?

Pop...

It sounded like something exploding, very faint, almost inaudible under the cover of the howling wind.

"Would someone be setting off fireworks in this deserted place?"

Lin Wei thought to himself, holding his breath and waiting. After who knows how many minutes, certain that he had heard a similar sound again, he immediately tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by a hand just as he was about to push off his "blanket."

"I told you, it's best not to act rashly."

For the first time in this world bubble, Schrödinger revealed her form to the conscious Lin Wei, her half-real, half-phantom face still expressionless. "What do you want to do? I can do it for you."

"...Is that so? Thanks."

Lin Wei was only stunned for a moment, then he smiled slightly and pulled out a strangely shaped, pitch-black pistol from under the blanket. He turned it around and handed it to the renowned doctor. "Just go to the entrance and pull the trigger, aiming at the sky."

If that sound is Seele trying to send a signal, I have to respond in time.

"Okay."

Schrödinger nodded, took the projected Judgment of Shamash, and walked toward the entrance. As Lin Wei had said, she aimed at the sky and gently pulled the trigger.

What would it look like to use a Divine Key to send a signal?

Even a counterfeit Divine Key was no ordinary flare gun. A stream of red light shot out from the barrel, trailing a long tail of flame, piercing through the bone-chilling sea wind, and shooting straight up into the high sky.

BOOM!

It flew hundreds of meters high before exploding with a deafening roar, creating a sky-covering, brilliant firework. Even in the daytime, it was still dazzlingly bright.

"Hehehe, this way, Seele should be able to see where I am, right?" Lin Wei thought to himself. "To be able to act so proactively and find a way to get my attention so quickly, the current Seele is much more capable than I thought..."