Chapter 81: Don’t Break Young Tina’s Heart
The night had deepened.
Most buildings had already turned off their lights, leaving only the street lamps to gradually illuminate the street, casting a silvery white light that briefly brightened the silent night.
When Hiltina snapped out of her conversation with Rast, she realized they had wandered far along an unknown side path off the main road of the academy.
After rounding a corner at the end of the street, they came upon a four-story dormitory with white tiles.
Hiltina stopped in her tracks, pausing before the bronze dormitory door.
She instinctively turned to look at Rast.
If she wasn’t mistaken, their seemingly aimless stroll around the campus had actually been subtly guided by Rast, who was deliberately leading the way.
In other words…
Rast had intentionally brought her here, to this dormitory with white tiles.
“Rast, do you know this place?”
“Mm.”
Rast nodded.
“This is the dormitory where you lived when you first started your freshman year.”
“Or, in other words, the student apartment where you used to live with Fran… right?”
“How do you know all this?” Hiltina blurted out.
“Well… you shouldn’t underestimate the dedication of a host.”
Rast couldn’t help but smile.
“If I hadn’t done my homework on my clients’ preferences, relationships, and relevant information beforehand… how could I have provided them with flawless service?”
Of course…
And don’t underestimate the allure of the “Infinite Sword” Night Blade you carry.
He silently added in his heart.
…
On the other hand, Hiltina’s gaze had already completely fixed on the dormitory before her.
This building, with its white walls and green roof, appeared rather humble compared to the other dorms in the academy, especially the standalone villas provided for the Twelve Seats of the Round Table like Hiltina.
But this was indeed the place where Hiltina once lived.
In her early days at the academy, she had spent a relatively warm time in this dormitory, attending classes inseparably with Fran, venturing into the Night World, and making new friends here.
Although, that time did not last long.
Thinking this, Hiltina’s eyes fell on two adjacent windows on the third floor near the edge of the dorm.
While the windows on the other floors glowed with the warm orange light of indoor lamps, those two windows had their shutters down, their interiors pitch black, long devoid of any signs of life.
This was to be expected.
After all, one of the former residents of those adjacent rooms had become the target of public scorn, moving alone to a dorm provided by the Lionheart Court.
And the other had, not long ago, eternally fallen asleep in the Night World.
After moving away from here, Hiltina had passed by countless times, but each time she had subconsciously avoided this place that brought back unpleasant memories.
She had never thought she would return here again.
And all because of a boy who had nothing to do with this dorm.
“Why did you bring me here?”
Hiltina turned to Rast beside her and asked softly.
Then, she watched as he shrugged.
“Because I thought, since you’ve chosen your current path…”
“Then this is something you must face, something you must reconcile with.”
“Only by thoroughly saying goodbye to the past can you embark on a new journey without any regrets.”
“Also—”
Rast’s words paused briefly.
“According to my research.”
“Miss Fran seems to have left something here for you.”
“Fran?”
As Hiltina uttered these words with a look of confusion, she saw Rast walk up to the bronze door and gently knock on it.
The sound of knocking echoed through the night.
After a brief moment of silence, the door creaked open.
A middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties stepped out.
“Are you… Rast, the student who contacted me earlier on the chat app?”
The middle-aged woman exchanged a few short words with Rast.
Then, she looked past Rast and saw the girl who had instinctively hidden behind him.
“Hiltina.”
The moment she saw Hiltina, the woman’s expression became complex.
This was a development that made sense.
This middle-aged woman was the dorm supervisor, and she had been close to Fran and other members of the raid team.
And anyone who saw the person rumored in the academy to have caused the d*ath of their dormmate would likely find it hard to greet them with a smile.
Seeing the matron turn and walk back into the dorm after noticing her, Hiltina couldn’t help but feel a tinge of disappointment.
Previously, because she didn’t expect anything, she hadn’t cared.
But now, having resolved to reconcile with the world, her expectations had risen again… so when someone who had once been familiar with her reacted this way, her heart could no longer remain as steadfast as before.
However, after a few tens of seconds.
The matron came back out, holding a small box.
Then, to Hiltina’s surprise, she placed the little wooden box in Hiltina’s hands.
“Take it. This is what Fran asked me to leave for you.”
“Something Fran left for me?”
“Mm.”
“Every time Fran entered the Night World, she would leave a small wooden box with me, saying that if she didn’t return, I should find a way to pass it on to you.”
“And this time, that lively, likable girl really didn’t come back…”
The middle-aged woman’s voice trailed off slightly: “I originally intended to pass it on through the student council, but at noon today, Rast contacted me, saying he would bring you here to get it.”
“I was half in doubt, but I didn’t expect you to really come back… because of a boy I’d never heard of.”
She placed the box in Hiltina’s hands, then turned and left.
Just before reaching the door, the matron stopped and looked back at Hiltina with a complex expression.
“Also, I don’t know how much of the rumors in the academy are true. I’m old, and I don’t have the sharp judgment you youngsters have.”
“But I know… at least Fran never once held any resentment toward you in her lifetime. Even when faced with those malicious rumors, she often took the initiative to defend you.”
After saying this, the matron’s somewhat plump figure disappeared through the dormitory door.
On the empty street covered by the night, only Hiltina and Rast remained.
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
Rast’s soft voice accompanied the evening breeze.
Almost simultaneously, Hiltina eagerly opened the wooden box.
Inside the box was a pure white letter.
[Hiltina, by the time you read this letter, I should already be dead, perished in the Calamity Echoes of the Night World.]
[Because if I had survived, I had planned to take the opportunity of the 900th Anniversary Celebration to apologize to you in person and give you this gift… regardless of whether you accepted it or not.]
[This Calamity Echo raid is undoubtedly dangerous, so even if I and many others d*e in there, you don’t need to blame yourself… we entered knowing the risks, not because of you, but by our own decisions. Before going in, we had already prepared ourselves for d*ath.]
[This might sound strange to you. Perhaps in your eyes, the reason we parted ways was because my cowardice and fear of d*ath made it impossible for me to keep up with your pace.]
[But that’s not the case. I’m not afraid of d*ath. If I were, I wouldn’t have chosen to join Starry University in the first place, nor would I have become a member of the raid team.]
[The reason I fought with you back then was that I disagreed with your philosophy. You cared too much about the result but neglected the process itself.]
[You never forced me or the other members to follow you; we could have left at any time… but I was more worried about you, Hiltina, because you never learned to take care of yourself, repeatedly putting yourself in dangerous situations.]
[You are like a sword that has been through countless battles, full of cracks and damages, its metal fatigue long past its limit, yet you never rest… if this continues, there will come a day when you shatter.]
[I didn’t want to see that moment come, so I wanted to make you understand the importance of rest, to protect you with the team, to make you realize that the process is as important as the result… that’s why I had that big fight with you at the time…]
[But I never thought that the heated words we said then would be taken out of context and spread by those with ulterior motives, eventually evolving into the terrible rumors now.]
[I’ve tried countless times to speak up for you in the News Agency and the campus newspaper… but it was useless. Once a storm of public opinion forms, people only believe what they want to see, turning a deaf ear to the truth.]
[This is the crime I committed. Because of my careless words, such a terrible consequence occurred.]
[I’m not saying this to beg for your forgiveness. I know nothing I say can undo the harm caused to you.]
[But even so, I must apologize for this and try to make amends.]
[I’ve set up a mechanism. Once this box is opened, the statement I’ve prepared will be forwarded to the News Agency and other places…]
[If my explanations went unheard while I was alive, perhaps now that I’m dead, my words will carry some weight.]
The evening breeze brushed past the street, flipping the page of the letter to its back.
[Sorry, I’ve rambled on for so long. I know you’re not the type to care about others’ opinions, but I can’t be like you. I still can’t help but care about these trivial matters that mean nothing to you.]
[Actually, this letter should have ended here, but during the pre-raid meeting for this Calamity Echo, I happened to notice a change in you.]
[Perhaps even you haven’t realized it, but to me, this change was so striking… aside from raiding the Night World, you’ve started to care about something else. Even during the raid meetings, you would occasionally zone out.]
[That’s something you never did before.]
[I tried using my connections to investigate the root of your change, and my conclusion is… it’s all because of a new freshman named Rast.]
[You changed after entering a certain part of the Night World, and he just happened to appear there for the first time, completing a psychological evaluation and entering the academy.]
[How disappointing~]
[I always hoped you would change… but it’s a shame that the person who made you truly cherish yourself is not me.]
[Looking at the student records, he seems like a very handsome guy… but based on my experience, the more attractive the guy, the more likely he is to become a j*rk, whether actively or passively. So, Hiltina, you must be on full alert, don’t give any other bad women a chance.]
[Oh, and I’ve left you a gift.]
Ding.
A small emblem fell silently from the letter, landing in Hiltina’s palm.
The emblem was not embossed with a star piercing the sky, but with a serene night sky dotted with faint stars.
Hiltina’s heart stirred slightly as the small, delicate emblem transformed into a flowing stream of night.
In Hiltina’s hand, it condensed into a slender sword with a deep blue hue.
[I’ve wanted to say this for a long time, Hiltina. Your “Twinkling Morning Star” is good, but it’s too extreme.]
[Like a fleeting meteor… the brilliance of the Morning Star is dazzling, but the price is that it burns out as it falls to the ground.]
[Just like your style, all aggression and killing, never caring for your own safety.]
[This new Emblem Armor, I’ve named it the “Night Sky Sword.”]
[I hope you can use this sword to gently protect your wounded self and the person you now care about, like the night sky.]
[And the stars I’ve become on the Obelisk will silently watch over you in the night sky.]
[Finally, finally.]
[Take care of yourself, Hiltina. You’re too prone to getting hurt.]
[And that guy named Rast, you’re reading this, aren’t you?]
[Don’t break Hiltina’s heart, don’t make her cry, don’t deceive her feelings, don’t toy with her and then abandon her…]
[Take good care of her. If I find out you’ve betrayed Hiltina, I’ll haunt you even as a ghost!]
(The end of this chapter)
