Chapter 22: As Expected of Me
Night gave way to dawn. The land welcomed the warm morning light as it did every day.
Inside a tiny cottage.
Star Night, with messy hair, sat up in bed and rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“Ugh… hmm… what time is it?” she murmured groggily to herself.
A voice answered her almost instantly.
“It’s nine in the morning.”
“Still early… let’s keep sleeping,” Star Night mumbled, closing her eyes again and snuggling into the soft, fluffy quilt.
But just as she settled down, she snapped her eyes open.
“Huh?”
Who was that talking just now?
Scanning the room, Star Night quickly spotted the ghost girl by the bed, grinning adorably.
“Good morning, Star Night.”
“Oh, it’s you… good morning.”
Interrupted by Ephar, all of Star Night’s drowsiness vanished. She was wide awake now.
Star Night slowly uncovered the blanket and stepped off the bed with her tender, pale feet.
“When did you get here?” Star Night asked while slipping on her slippers, preparing to head to the bathroom. The cheerful Ephar followed closely behind.
“I was here last night while you were asleep.”
“Wait? So you’ve been here all this time?”
“Yeah.”
Star Night paused, shocked at the answer.
“What have you been doing all this time?”
“Watching you sleep,” Ephar replied casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Ah… that must be pretty boring…”
Star Night was speechless. She felt her cheeks heat up, realizing Ephar had watched her sleep through the entire night.
“Whatever.”
She assumed her sleeping posture couldn’t be too bad and didn’t babble in her sleep, so having someone watch her sleep wasn’t really embarrassing.
It just felt slightly eerie.
“Not even you need to sleep… sounds a bit sad though.”
“Why? Not sleeping means more time for other things, right?” Ephar tilted her head, puzzled, with her hair quills forming a perfect question mark.
“Sleeping is actually quite blissful and comfy. What would you do with the extra time anyway? Just watch me sleep? Better yet, why don’t you go to sleep yourself?”
“Uh…” Ephar mused.
Ignoring her, Star Night began to tidy herself up. She thought about breakfast—nothing greasy or bland; some preserved egg and lean meat congee sounded good. She hadn’t had that in a while.
“Rumble… spit —”
After brushing her teeth, she gargled and washed her face with cold water—refreshingly cool.
As she picked up her comb to brush her hair, deep in thought, Ephar spoke up.
“Star Night, I’ve prepared breakfast for you. It’s on the table outside.”
Who knew what wild thoughts Ephar had been entertaining, but her topic jumps were utterly ridiculous.
Perhaps she’d given up thinking.
With her hair in order, Star Night stepped outside, surprised by Ephar’s words.
“Really? Good, what is it?”
“Just go take a look.”
Star Night put down her comb and walked out.
But halfway there, she paused, perplexed.
“Hold on, how could you prepare breakfast when you’re supposed to be intangible?”
Hearing her own silly logic, Ephar chuckled.
“Hehe~ I tricked Star Night!”
Seeing Ephar’s hair quills bobbing happily, Star Night realized another prank was at play.
Ephar was incorrigible.
But such pranks were forgivable, making a lovely girl smile. Being a little teased was worth it.
What was this? Heroism!
No, she did have a few redeemable qualities.
“As expected of me.”
Her lips curved in a slight smile, exuding cuteness and slight smugness.
Ready to enjoy her meal with a happy heart…
—
Meanwhile…
In a nearby cottage, a black-haired man opened his window, gazing contentedly at the azure sky with a smile.
“Today’s weather is great.”
Mo Tu inhaled deeply, planning to start baking something sweet.
He enjoyed desserts.
But then his communicator rang. Picking it up, he saw it was his fishy-eyed colleague Yao Can.
“Yes, what’s up?”
“How’s your investigation? Anything crucial found?” Yao Can’s tone was casual.
“This…”
Mo Tu glanced out the window just in time to see a silver-haired girl stepping out, accompanied by a slightly odd ghost girl.
“Heh.” Mo Tu chuckled softly into the receiver, “Nothing.”
“Seems like you’re shirking responsibilities. We didn’t call you here to sightsee.”
“I know. I’m working my own angle. Wandering around aimlessly isn’t productive, right?”
“…Yao Can remained silent.”
Mo Tu wasn’t wrong. The current state of the Shanghe City Night Watchers was aimless and ineffective. Even thorough searches yielded nothing useful, which was quite alarming.
Imagine finding insects buried underground.
This showed how difficult finding an extraordinary star was, especially one concealed deeply during his latent phase.
Yao Can underestimated the difficulty.
With September nearly over, the supernova event was approaching steadily. Disaster could strike tomorrow, today, or any second.
Time was critical; apart from preparation, the Night Watchers could do little else.
However, compared to the future, they were well-prepared now.
“Phew…”
Sighing softly, Yao Can resumed command.
“Now, continue with your search, and the other Solar-night watcher in Yun Chang is here. Got anything to relay?”
“No, tell him to eat, drink, and live life normally.”
“Okay.”
The line disconnected.
Putting down the communicator, Mo Tu still planned to bake.
Perhaps he could use this to build rapport with the silver-haired girl. A two-for-one deal.
Better than his colleagues running around town.
What does fishing mean? This was strategy, not loafing.
Nobody made more sound choices better than him.
Occasional failure? That was fate’s choice.
Right now, Mo Tu knew his path—to perhaps…
help someone change their destiny?
“I hope this land can finally reach its rightful ending, even if it’s just for a moment…”
Mo Tu muttered to himself.
