Hen had rarely been seen lately. He was probably busy looking after his child? Kevin, on the other hand, had become much more active. Rumor had it he would soon be promoted to vice-captain, but he had also been speaking less and less, and had even seen a psychologist once or twice... He really was still a student, with too little battlefield experience. Still, I thought he would get used to it after going on a few more missions.
Around noon, I ran into Sakura and traded a bag of candy with her. She still gave me pink cherry blossoms. They tasted somewhat different from the usual white stars, but I liked them too. She must have run into something—she was always hesitating... She was always like this. She hid so many things from me, yet refused to tell me about them. It was worrying...
At this point, Xi Wang paused. He took out the Candy box and popped a white star into his mouth. Only after changing the 39 he had written to 40 did he continue.
While taking a walk with Sakura in the afternoon, Dr. Mobius caught me again. She seemed to know about my special constitution and was always thinking of taking me away for research... To be honest, I found it a little repulsive. It reminded me of unpleasant things.
In the evening, I saw another team leaving. They were probably going to deal with Honkai again. Though I did not know anyone on that team, I still wished them good luck.
Poison Chrysalis had not made any moves lately. I did not know whether they had encountered some obstacle or something major had happened. I only hoped they could continue providing me with information on "those people." It would be best if I could find the coordinates of "the island."
But... never mind. The past few days had been quite peaceful, and I had been very happy. I hoped things could stay this way in the future.
At that point, Xi Wang put down his pen. As usual, he glanced over what he had written, then tore off the completed page along with the one behind it and set them alight with a lighter.
He stared blankly at the flames for a while. Once the paper had burned to ash, Xi Wang took out another white star and stuffed it into his mouth along with the ashes.
That made forty-one today.
Xi Wang corrected the number in his mind once more, then got up and returned to his bedding to rest—he still had sparring practice with someone tomorrow morning, so he could not be late.
He wondered when Elysia would return.
Before closing his eyes, Xi Wang saw that pink figure flash through his mind. He shifted his arm, touched the Candy box he had placed beside him, and took one last look at the white stars inside.
Perhaps he should eat a little less.
Thinking that, Xi Wang decided to reduce how often he ate candy from now on. Well... the process would probably be painful.
But he would stick with it.
He closed his eyes and gradually fell asleep.
...On an island somewhere...
What was it like... outside?
The girl clung to the tiny window, gazing out at the early morning as she wondered.
Birds... were so nice.
She saw several birds soaring again and heard a few cheerful chirps, and she could not help thinking so.
They could fly freely, soaring through that beautiful, dazzling blue sky. That was the birds' "home."
How nice... she thought. She wanted to live there too.
Clearly, none of them were human, yet she alone could only stay here.
The girl turned back to look at the dim room. Only the tiny window she clung to allowed her to see outside and be touched by the light beyond.
This place was nice too. When she was hungry, there was food. When she was sick, there was medicine. When she was in pain, someone gave her painkillers. She never felt cold or anything... No one stopped her from doing anything. Even if she lay in bed sleeping all day, no one scolded her. Even if she imitated a bird and flapped her arms, no one laughed at her. She was quite free—so long as she stayed in this room.
She should have been happy, right? Surely she was happy, right? After all, she did not have to worry about anything, and even her work was arranged for her.
But... she still wanted to go outside. She wanted to live in that dazzling, beautiful blue sky like the birds.
She thought of the person she had received a few days ago. He had been very gentle and patient, at least far more patient than most of the people she had met while working before.
He had taken her to eat many things she had never tried before, things more delicious than what she usually ate. He had also taken her around the area, danced with her at the dinner ball, and even brought her to watch a movie—a film about people pursuing birds, longing to fly, and finally breaking free from the shackles of the ground.
Although he had been as rough as everyone else at night, she had truly been happy then.
Birds... were so nice.
That was what she thought.
"Rustle—"
A faint strange sound made the girl come back to herself. In a daze, she discovered that she was not in her room, but in an even more enclosed secret chamber. In the darkness, only the light reflected from the projector screen faintly illuminated the surroundings, just like the tiny window in her room.
Several medicine bottles sat on a table nearby, their caps already removed. There were also several used syringes, cotton swabs that smelled of disinfectant, several bloodstained cotton balls, and bandages that had just been changed.
She gradually regained feeling in her body and slowly curled herself up, but her gaze remained fixed on the screen.
"Have you come to your senses?"
Someone asked from the darkness.
"Birds... are flying..."
"..."
The person in the darkness made a gesture. Seeing it, the doctor beside her plunged a prepared syringe into the girl's neck.
The girl did not resist and remained very quiet. After a while, her consciousness seemed to have only just returned, yet it also felt as though something had been lost. Her eyes were filled with bewilderment and confusion.
"...What did you mean when you said some people do not deserve to be human?"
"...I explained it before."
"I forgot..."
Her memories seemed to have stopped at some moment in the past, or perhaps she had lost all memories from then until now.
"It is not a complicated principle. I will explain it one more time—"
The person in the darkness spoke patiently and calmly.
"Every person has their own inherent nature, and those natures are divided into superior and inferior grades."
"The superior are destined to be noble, while the inferior are destined to be lowly."
"Lowly people have many traits, such as hair that is too long and unwillingness to groom it."
The girl unconsciously touched her somewhat messy long hair.
"Such as enjoying low-class entertainment."
The girl looked at the looping short film playing before her.
"Such as poor skin."
The girl touched her forearm, where she seemed to feel a somewhat rough texture.
"Such as refusing to accept the education of the upper class, and countless other such traits."
The girl vaguely remembered that someone had said these words to her before, but she could not remember who...
"And these inferior people cannot be called human. They do not deserve to be human. They are merely consumables wearing human shapes."
"Now, do you know what you are?"
"So... that's how it is..."
The girl replied groggily, her consciousness seeming to blur again.
The doctor beside the girl slowly wrote memory impairment, impaired consciousness, difficulty concentrating, severe hallucinations... on the paper. In the end, even the doctor could not help clicking his tongue before speaking.
"If this is not dealt with soon..."
"It does not matter. The people who come to the island like this sort of thing."
The person in the darkness waved a hand, interrupting the doctor, then continued questioning her.
"Now, do you know what you are?"
"I am... an inferior person..."
The girl murmured softly.
"Not human... unworthy of being human..."
"Yes."
The person affirmed her answer.
"But even so, you do not need to feel sad or think it cruel. Even those born inferior, so long as they learn to accept and obey, will have many, many happy and joyful things fall into their arms, just as before."
"Yes... yes... just like before..."
The girl was in a daze.
Beep beep—
It seemed to be the sound of some communication device.
"Look, isn't a guest here?"
The person said with a smile.
"You can be happy with the guest."
It was time to work—the girl instinctively thought.
The girl slowly rose and, supported by that person, staggered out of the dim secret chamber and into the sunlit outdoors.
All kinds of decadent sounds came from every direction. Some were utterly unrestrained, others quiet, but there was no escaping them wherever she went.
"Coo coo..."
She heard birdsong again. She slightly raised her vacant eyes toward the rising morning sun, where several seagulls were flying through the sunlight.
Birds... were so nice...
They could live in that beautiful, dazzling blue sky...
I want to go see it too... I want beautiful wings like the birds', wings that can fly freely...
That was what she thought.
Then azure wings spread behind her. The breeze blew, dyeing them emerald green and lifting her into the air.
"Ha..."
As that azure sky drew closer and closer, she could not help smiling. She stretched out a hand, wanting to touch it.
"Ah..."
Only when she rose level with the flying birds did her expression suddenly stiffen, her body stopping in midair.
She reached toward the azure sky and touched it, but felt nothing. Then she instinctively grasped at it, but caught nothing.
So the sky... could not be touched...
The girl's consciousness froze at that moment.
Then a violent gale swept through, dragging in all the birds flying around her and tearing them apart.
Before you continue