The massive explosion at the bar naturally drew a crowd, a significant portion of whom belonged to the three criminal factions that had been eyeing the area.
When they saw Durandal standing there, completely unharmed, accompanied by a magnificent black horse carrying a seemingly familiar girl, yet saw no sign of the drug dealers—their most ruthless and formidable leaders—they realized the truth: the worst of their lot had been taken down.
Just like that, any lingering illusions vanished.
They all accepted the grim reality that Sundown Alley was about to fall under the banner of Schicksal.
Some had already begun plotting their exit from the district.
With natural disasters occurring so frequently in recent years, "lawless zones" like Sundown Alley were popping up everywhere; there was no reason to go down with a ship that had already been claimed by someone else.
Meanwhile, Elysia and Eden were having a small tea party in their hotel when the blast shook them.
They hurried to the window, watching the explosion unfold in the distance; the shockwave was strong enough to make their window rattle in its frame.
"Was that the Leader's doing?" Eden asked, her voice tinged with genuine concern.
Elysia shook her head. "Bianka wouldn't cause such a scene just to deal with common criminals. It's more likely the other way around—they tried to use such methods against her."
"Then... will the Leader be alright?" The worry on Eden's face only deepened.
Elysia didn't doubt for a second that Durandal could handle herself, though she struggled to find the words to explain this blind faith to Eden.
Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. She pointed toward the street, where Durandal had just appeared atop Krishna. "Don't worry, look—isn't that Bianka returning now?"
Of course, as she spoke, Elysia narrowed her eyes. Her eyesight was sharp, and she noticed that Krishna was carrying a girl on her back.
"Wait, isn't that Pardo? Why is she with the Leader?"
Eden followed Elysia's gaze, her relief replaced by surprise. She recognized the girl as Pardofelis, the one who had snuck into the nursing home earlier that day to scout the situation.
"Is this that kitten-like girl you mentioned earlier?"
Hearing Eden say that, the sudden spark of jealousy in Elysia's heart dimmed slightly, replaced by a fresh wave of curiosity.
Could it be...?
Elysia knew Durandal's secret.
Seeing her head out and return with a girl, it was hard not to draw parallels to how she had been recruiting members for Schicksal. Was this girl, too, destined to be a warrior against the Honkai?
"Eden, let's go down and greet them!"
With no time to overthink it, Elysia beckoned to Eden. The two left the room and hurried down to the hotel entrance just as Durandal arrived, Krishna carrying a slumbering Pardofelis.
Seeing them, Durandal waved. "Eden, come here and give me a hand."
Eden stepped forward, and Durandal entrusted her with the task of carrying Pardofelis to her room to rest. Eden didn't hesitate.
While Elysia and Durandal were certainly more powerful, they needed to avoid potential rumors; Eden had no such concerns.
Besides, having seen Pardofelis earlier, she knew the girl was still just a child, malnourished and thin. As someone who maintained her figure through constant training, Eden found the girl light as a feather.
As she lifted Pardofelis from Krishna's back, her thoughts were confirmed. The girl was even lighter than she had imagined; through the thin fabric of her clothes, Eden could almost feel the sharp edges of her bones.
"Leader, what happened to her?" Eden asked once she had the girl settled in her arms, looking at Durandal with concern. Elysia, standing nearby, mirrored her expression.
"Let's head back to the room first. You must be tired of holding her like that," Durandal replied.
She snapped her fingers, and Krishna dissolved back into her body.
Her powers retracted, and her outfit shifted back into the standard Schicksal uniform designed by Eden. The group returned to Eden's room.
Eden carefully placed Pardofelis on her bed. Only then did she notice the charred, gaping hole in the chest area of the girl's clothes. Had she not smelled the lack of blood, she might have assumed the girl was already gone.
Durandal signaled for Eden to check the chest bag on Pardofelis. Inside, they found the coin that had successfully stopped a bullet. Durandal then recounted what she had seen.
"I found her unconscious just as I was about to leave. She must have arrived at the bar even earlier than I did, only to be spotted by a gunman. They likely tried to silence her, but the coin in her bag saved her life. In her panic, she must have played dead on the floor."
"Later, when the explosion happened at the bar, she was too close. Even though she wasn't hit by debris, the shockwave knocked her unconscious. It's fortunate she ran into me; otherwise, at such close range, the internal trauma from the blast alone would have been enough to kill her. As for the rest, we'll have to wait until she wakes up."
Before returning, Durandal had already used Abyss Flower to mend the girl's internal injuries.
Her continued unconsciousness was simply her body's natural defense mechanism kicking in; she would wake up soon.
After giving the briefing, Durandal entrusted Pardofelis to Eden's care and took Elysia back to their room.
The moment they were inside, Elysia looked at her. "So, you've known her for a long time, haven't you? This Pardofelis."
Durandal nodded. "That's right."
She hadn't intended to hide it. Back in the other room, she had called Pardofelis by her name without hesitation—despite the fact that, by all accounts, they should have been meeting for the first time.
Elysia, having suspected as much all along, had caught it immediately.
And, she suspected, Eden had likely figured it out by now as well.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL