"Was it just… a dream?"
The gray-haired girl rubbed her eyes and muttered to herself as she stared out the window at a world of ice and snow.
Even though she had been born for less than three days,
She had served as a tester for Herta's Simulated Universe. So dreams, virtual worlds, all that stuff were not completely foreign to Stelle.
A talking trash can, plus an absurdly cute white-haired girl. That double-layered happiness was basically heaven for her. The only downside was that, in the dream, she had turned into a cat.
As long as you fall asleep here, you can cross over to your original world and see your companions on the Astral Express. Same goes the other way around. If you fall asleep there, you can come here and see me and this Elysia Cat.
That beautiful girl had said something like that.
But this time, she had slept too well. And in the other world, she had been adventuring for half the day. If this were a dream or a virtual simulation, she should have woken up feeling exhausted.
That was exactly how the Simulated Universe worked.
In theory, your body rested. In practice, your brain was still pulling overtime inside the simulation. You woke up feeling just as tired as before.
So, by common sense and universal reason…
It had to be a dream, right?
Just as Stelle-chan was trying her hardest to engrave the image of her beautiful girl owner and the talking trash can into her brain, hoping she could dream about them again next time,
She heard the sound of military boots outside. Heavy footsteps, metallic clanks, and then rapid knocking at the door.
Her instincts screamed danger. She immediately went out to check.
Standing at the door was a dark brown trash can.
Stelle-chan: (⊙_⊙)
A sturdy, muscular trash can body. A garbage bag peeking out, decorated with a bow like a hair accessory. It had arms and legs.
It looked exactly like the "talking trash can" from her dream.
"You're… the Trash Can Hero?"
She asked uncertainly.
"That's right! I am—"
The trash can spoke at lightning speed.
"I was responsible for transporting waste to an ocean planet, but the Order-aligned trash station suddenly shut down! My fellow trash cans turned their blades on me!
To prevent precious garbage from falling into the hands of those Madness-afflicted trash cans, I was prepared to fight to the death and uphold Order to my final moment!
Who could have expected that Tatalov and Jin Lajitzde would arrive just in time to save me? In short, I am now the Order-aligned Trash Can, second-generation guardian of the Trash Can Principality!"
Stelle-chan: (⊙_⊙)
The voice was different from the one in her dream!
But the long-winded self-introduction, the meaningless rambling, it was exactly the same vibe as the Pure Beauty Trash Can and the Gang Trash Can from her dream. Naturally, Stelle-chan linked them together.
"Do you know the Pure Beauty Trash Can and the Gang Trash Can?"
She asked.
"Ah… I once met the Pure Beauty Trash Can in the Principality. What he loves is spreading Pure Beauty to new planets after the Path of Trailblaze concludes. What he hates is all forms of ugliness."
Before the Order Trash Can could finish speaking, March 7th and Dan Heng noticed the commotion outside the hotel and came to wake Stelle-chan.
"Stelle-chan, this is…"
March 7th stared at the endlessly chattering trash can in shock. Since when did trash cans talk?
Dan Heng was just as troubled. Even with all the books he had read, this scene was far beyond his understanding.
"This insignia of the Trash Can Principality, the train ticket, there is no mistake. You are companions of Tatalov the Second, correct?"
The Order Trash Can removed its lid. The lid transformed into a sacred shield, and a knight's sword appeared in its hands.
"I have already investigated. The people outside mean harm. Their leader is a treacherous villain who betrayed my lord, ignored Order, and deserves divine punishment! Young ones, do not fear! Watch your senior carve a path out for you!"
The Order Trash Can stormed off noisily.
March 7th and Dan Heng both turned to look at Stelle-chan with (⊙_⊙) expressions. Stelle-chan, meanwhile, wore an utterly clueless (O_o) face.
"I didn't dig through any trash cans. The trash can came to me on its own, meow!"
"Who cares about that!"
March 7th jumped up and smacked Stelle-chan on the head.
"What is going on with that trash can? It keeps babbling. Explain, now!"
"Stelle-chan doesn't know anything."
Stelle-chan played dumb with an (O_o) expression. If March 7th found out about the Trash Can Hero, it would be no different from admitting she had been secretly messing with trash cans. March 7th would definitely get mad.
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough not to tell you're pretending?"
March 7th puffed out her cheeks.
"She might genuinely have no idea. Seeing is believing. Let's go down and see what's happening."
Dan Heng cut off the idiots' mental duel. Judging from the noise, the ground floor was already in chaos. Rather than expecting Stelle-chan to explain things clearly, it was better to see it themselves.
…
"A moving trash can?"
"This trash can is actually a Pathstrider!"
"Careful, everyone, stay alert!"
"Stay calm! Hold the line! To think there's sorcery that turns trash cans into Fragmentum monsters. Mother's judgment was correct. Those Outworlders are enemies of Belobog!"
When the Trailblaze team arrived downstairs,
They saw Silvermane Guards in total disarray, and a dark brown trash can weaving through the formation with a lid-shield raised high.
All three of them froze with (⊙_⊙) expressions.
"Take this chance and get out of here!"
The Order Trash Can shouted loudly as it darted around. Because it was using encrypted trash-can communication, and trash cans technically did not have thinking brains, the Synesthetic Beacon was useless.
Aside from Stelle-chan, no one could understand the trash-can encryption.
Stelle-chan suddenly understood something.
The Trash Can Sage, Jin Lajitzde, had once said: "Trash cans can only move freely for a limited time. Combat mode lasts five minutes. Non-combat mode lasts thirty minutes."
"Dan Heng, March, let's go! The Silvermane Guards are clearly targeting us!"
Stelle-chan clenched her fists.
"Huh? What? Are we on the run again? But where do we even go? Plan, plan, plan!"
March 7th spun around anxiously. If she were a cat, she would probably be chasing her own tail right now.
"Over there!"
Dan Heng picked a direction for retreat.
Before leaving,
Stelle-chan glanced back at the Order Trash Can drawing enemy fire in the center. For a brief moment, she thought the trash can was glowing with golden light.
A trash can like that surely would not fall here so easily.
…
Elsewhere.
The black trash that Stelle-chan had picked up was destroyed.
The cat bed that had held the trash was thrown away. New custom-made beds were ordered for Elysia Cat and Stelle-chan Cat.
After finishing everything, Kiyono Inori decisively used the 1600 cat biscuits she had just obtained to purchase the Scepter φ-ln7 Computational Coordination Unit.
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.