Kalpas turned toward the pink-haired girl who had just spoken, his anger seeming to flare up another notch.
"Elysia, you actually dare to show up here too!"
"Mmm, at least you're more polite than before…" Elysia tilted her head slightly. "But Kalpas, it's not a good idea to start a fight here, you know?"
"Cut the crap!" Kalpas stomped hard on the ground. "You! And Silas! Today, you must both pay the price for what you've done!"
—Don't make it sound like Elysia and I committed some unspeakable atrocity! Silas complained loudly in his heart.
"Well, I guess there's no helping it. When faced with such an 'enthusiastic' greeting from a boy, I suppose I have to use some special measures." Elysia shrugged and winked at Silas. Silas quietly pulled out his gun and loaded tranquilizer rounds into it.
Why tranquilizer rounds, you ask? Well, if you need to stop people trying to break into Changkong City, but can't use lethal force, tranquilizers are a must-have.
A few minutes later, amidst a scene of chaos—Kalpas was completely down for the count!
"Oh my, that's just like Kalpas. It took so many tranquilizer rounds to bring him down…" Elysia crouched down and poked Kalpas's head, confirming that the great "Chef Kalpas" was indeed incapacitated.
Silas glanced at the now-empty magazine, idly wondering just how strong Elysia's combat ability was these days. At the very least… she could probably still handle Kalpas in a one-on-one fight just like in the previous era—he wouldn't even be able to touch her.
Elysia might not match Kalpas in raw physical stats, but she could kite him all day long.
"These tranquilizers probably won't keep Kalpas under for long. He'll be waking up before too much time passes," Sakura said with a frown. She knew Kalpas's constitution better than anyone—back in the previous era, even after she stabbed him clean through the heart, he just lay down for a bit before getting back up to fight her again.
"It's fine. By the time he wakes up, he should have calmed down," Elysia said as she stood up and looked at Silas. "Silas, wasn't our teamwork just perfect this time?"
Silas nodded. "Yeah, perfect…"
Before he could finish his sentence, a swift figure accompanied by a cheerful voice came flying toward him.
"Brother Silas!"
Silas instinctively took half a step back, shifted his weight downward, and caught the incoming figure—then his face…
The movement was so fast that neither Elysia nor Sakura reacted in time, since their attention had been focused on Kalpas, and the newcomer clearly bore no hostility.
That familiar voice…
Elysia was the first to realize. "Pardofelis?!"
What's going on? Why is Pardofelis here too? And just what kind of hug is that supposed to be?!
Pardofelis didn't notice anything odd. Hugging Silas tightly, she said tearfully, "Uuu… it's the real, living Brother Silas! I finally get to see you again!"
Silas: "…Let go first."
—Seriously, what do you mean "real, living"? I'm standing here alive, aren't I? Did you expect me to be dead or something?!
Also… he was about to suffocate.
If this kept up, he'd become the most humiliating Herrscher in history!
…Well, he hadn't awakened yet, so it didn't count. The Third Herrscher still held that title.
"Ah, okay…" Pardofelis obediently let go and stepped back from Silas.
"Pardofelis, shouldn't you be in Sundown Alley right now? How did you get here?" Elysia asked curiously, edging a little closer to Silas.
"Aiya, Sister Ellie, that's a long story." Carefree as ever, Pardofelis began to pour out her woes. "Originally, the moment I realized I'd been reborn, I wanted to find Brother Silas right away. But I didn't know where he was at this point in time, so I went to look for Sister Nia instead."
"Aponia? How is she?" Silas asked. His last memory of Aponia was of her going to the Elysian Realm, sacrificing her life to become one with it. Of course, there was also that farewell hug she'd requested before leaving.
"Don't even get me started. Sister Nia was saying something about how becoming 'Satan' was Brother Silas's fate or whatever, and then she just clammed up and wouldn't say anything else." Pardofelis pouted. "This time, I saw on TV that some huge disaster had hit Changkong City. I thought maybe it might be the Honkai… and that there was a chance you'd be here. So I came with Brother Kalpas."
So that's how it was—Pardofelis was the one who brought Kalpas along.
Well, with Kalpas around, it was no wonder no one dared to bother her on the way here.
Silas glanced at Kalpas, who had already sat up. Great—an entire magazine of tranquilizer rounds had only managed to keep him down for a short while.
"Hmph! That woman…" Kalpas muttered irritably under his breath. "In the end, it's still as she said…"
"Oh, right! Sister Eden also came looking for Sister Nia. She gave Sister Nia a lot of money, told her she could use it to improve the kids' meals. The money I used to come here was also from Sister Eden." Pardofelis continued.
"Eden, huh…" Silas rubbed his chin. He remembered asking Eden to compose a requiem for him, and she had agreed. He just didn't know whether she would still choose to meet her end together with this era, like in the original timeline.
He'd done his best to persuade her otherwise, but when an artist got stubborn, even putting a blade to her neck wouldn't change her mind. Just like a certain Beethoven born fifty thousand years later—even deafness hadn't stopped her from composing the Symphony of Fate.
Sigh…
Wait—now that most of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers' situations were roughly clear, what about Hua?
Silas thought of that girl who looked like a total introvert—so different from her self fifty thousand years later, yet at the same time… hardly changed at all.
Meanwhile, Pardofelis was still muttering to herself. "Didn't think Brother Silas would join Fire Moth so early… I was hoping to find you beforehand, but I still came too late…" Uu… She'd wanted to be a Robin Hood of Sundown Alley with Brother Silas.
Elysia: "…"
So in the last life, how had she not noticed there were this many girls who liked Silas? Could it be that Aponia and her dear Eden also…? No way, right?
"What about Kevin? Has that brat joined Fire Moth yet?" Kalpas asked in a low voice.
"Him? He should have just finished training by now." Elysia thought for a moment—if they went back now, they should be able to see a completely exhausted Kevin.
"Tch… fine, no other choice." Kalpas' words were directed at Silas, even as he spoke to Elysia. "Hey, Elysia, you can get me into MOTH, right? If I can't stop you from joining, then this time—I'll keep watch myself! Neither you nor him will disappear alone again!"
Elysia blinked in surprise, then smiled. "My, my, Kalpas, I didn't know you cared so much about me and Silas~ I'm so touched. What about you, Silas?"
Silas only looked silently at Kalpas. This… was something he probably couldn't promise.
Kalpas hadn't expected any assurances from Silas anyway. He'd already decided—this time, he was going to keep an eye on him. If Silas dared to go off alone on some suicidal mission again, he'd break his legs first!
Pardofelis pouted, shifting her weight to one foot while tracing circles on the ground with the other. "Mmm… Well, since I've seen Brother Silas now, I won't stay here any longer. I'm heading back to Sundown Alley."
"Hm? Felis, you're not joining Fire Moth?" Elysia asked in surprise.
"No, no…" Pardofelis waved her hands quickly. "I'm just an ordinary person, and I just want to live an ordinary life… Heroes and stuff… I can't be one."
What came to her mind was the Final Battle, when she'd stood alongside everyone against the End, and Brother Silas had taken a fatal blow meant for her. If it hadn't been for him, she probably…
She… really only dragged everyone down. She was probably the one among the Fourteen Flame-Chasers least qualified to bear that title.
Silas looked at Pardofelis. He could guess why she'd say such things—because he had changed the course of her fate, letting her survive the battle on the moon. And because of that… she would carry this guilt, questioning her worth as a Flame-Chaser.
Maybe in her eyes, her mortal courage had only been a burden to him, the hero.
So… what should he say now?
After thinking for a moment, he spoke. "Heroes have the way they live, and so do ordinary people. But there's no clear line between the two. A hero can be an ordinary person, and an ordinary person can become a hero."
"I can't… I could never be a hero like you, Brother Silas…" Pardofelis lowered her head.
Silas chuckled softly, stepped forward, and placed his hand on her head. "The moment you decided to fight for humanity, ready to sacrifice yourself, and boarded the moon with us—you became a hero."
He was just a mortal too. No hero. He'd slaughtered the innocent. Ignored the cries of the world. Failed to save even those beside him. What kind of hero was that?
"Brother Silas…"
"Of course, I won't force you to do anything. After all, the only one here today who tried to beat up a Fire Moth soldier is Kalpas…" Silas smiled. "If you really want to go back to Twilight Street, I won't stop you. Just remember to give Aponia my regards. And after that… if I have the time, I'll come visit you in Sundown Alley."
Elysia: "!"
Why did she feel like something was off? Silas was being way too gentle with Felis!
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