She Will Fly Freely, but There's a Price to Pay / Amid the Malice of the World, the Herrscher of Wind Was Born

Who would have thought that a little boy possessed such talent...

Perhaps this was the legendary gift?

Rita stared quietly at the screen, silently evaluating him.

At that moment, with the streamer's touch, the story on the screen continued.

Mei: So that means Miss Wendy should possess tremendous power, right? But she looks very weak right now.

Wendy had been the most outstanding Valkyrie in the Oceania Branch at the time, once considered likely to become the fourth S-rank Valkyrie of her generation. Unfortunately, she had also failed to control its power.

After Himeko finished explaining, Wendy began blaming herself.

My power wasn't enough... Not only couldn't I control the Gem of Desire' power, but because of the crystal, my legs can't move either.

How could this be... Then why not remove the crystal? Is that why Miss Wendy can only sit in a wheelchair now?!

The one who voiced the question was Mei, who had only just met Wendy.

After hearing her question, the more experienced Himeko patiently began explaining things to the rookie newcomers.

In almost all mediums, the Gem of Desire was extremely unstable, yet it had stabilized inside Wendy's body.

"This... is so unfair... Why would they do something so cruel?!"

If anyone in the Live Stream found that answer hardest to accept, it was undoubtedly Seele.

She had never even left the orphanage and had always been sheltered beneath Bronya's wings.

She could not imagine that an organization fighting a catastrophic disaster as destructive as the Honkai... would do such a thing!

"Fairness... indeed." Beichen replied calmly, but he also poured cold water on Seele's hopes. "But this world was never beautiful."

"Big brother, you... made me feel a little sad..."

"I was only stating the facts."

Beichen had not repeated the Herrscher of Sentience's famous line merely to look cool.

He was giving Seele a warning, preparing her mentally in advance.

Otherwise, when Wendy was captured by Anti-Entropy later...

This girl might be devastated into shutting herself away.

As for the others in the Live Stream, they were adults and had stronger acceptance, so their reactions were pitifully few.

Of course, there was one exception...

"How pitiful. May this girl named Wendy be able to move freely in the future, even without the use of her legs..."

A pink comment drifted elegantly across the screen...

Though it was a blessing from Fairy Miss, the Herrscher of Human, it also happened to predict the coming events with unfortunate accuracy...

Beichen shook his head, then replied, "I think she will..."

"Hehe~ You really know how to make girls happy!"

After that pink comment floated past, Beichen tapped the screen again, and the game's story resumed.

What appeared before everyone was Mei questioning Himeko: So Schicksal used Miss Wendy's body as a container in order to preserve the crystal? That's... too much!

And her words happened to perfectly represent Seele's feelings at that moment...

She Would Fly Freely, but She Had to Pay the Price

There's no point arguing about this here. Now, bring Wendy back to the Hyperion.

Himeko did not argue or refute Mei's clearly insubordinate tone.

"She... apparently does not approve of this behavior. That is a commendable quality. But... it does not seem like something a Valkyrie should be considering."

After seeing Himeko speak, Hua, who had been silent for a long time, finally opened her mouth.

Before this, she had merely thought Himeko looked very much like Himiko and had happened to join a force fighting the Honkai.

Only after gaining a deeper understanding of the game's story did Hua realize that Himeko was not simply similar to her... She was practically Captain Himiko after a complete transformation, living inside a game called Honkai Impact 3rd.

If the world depicted by this game truly existed, that would be wonderful...

"Mm..." After seeing Hua's comment, Beichen guessed that she had probably overlapped Himeko with someone from her memories. "But no matter what, Himeko is a qualified teacher."

"A teacher... I do not know about that, so I will not deny it."

After sharing her thoughts, Hua fell silent again.

She did not know the later story of the game, nor had she watched the Last Lesson PV, so naturally, she could not understand just how heavy the words "qualified teacher" truly were...

Beichen fell silent for a moment, then tapped the screen again.

What appeared next was a conversation between Wendy and Bronya.

Are we going back... But I'm in a wheelchair... It's a little inconvenient to move around...

It won't be! Bronya does not think Miss Wendy will hold us back. Project Bunny, activate.

This is... a robot? It appeared just like that!

Project Bunny, carry Miss Wendy. Look, this way you won't move so slowly.

"Um... Why is Bronya taking such good care of Wendy?"

Although Seele sympathized with Wendy's experience, when she saw her beloved Bronya being so protective and caring toward a strange girl, she could no longer sit still.

Toward Wendy, Bronya displayed an enthusiasm that went beyond what one would show a stranger.

It might not sound very nice to say it, but it made her... a little jealous...

When Beichen saw Seele's childish comment, he could not help laughing as he replied, "Well... haha, who knows?"

He was quite curious whether Seele would be surprised if he said it was because of her.

But that would involve spoilers, so he should let it go.

Huh? We're flying!

At the end of Bronya and Wendy's conversation, Kiana, still full of energy at this point, jumped in to join the excitement.

That's amazing! Bronya, I never thought your robot could do something like this. Let me try it next time too.

Unfortunately, faced with her companion's suggestion, Bronya merely stated blandly—

Kiana, denied.

After that line, the game displayed the stage results screen.

Beichen glanced at the experience bar and found that he was still just a little short of level 18.

No time to waste. He should level up quickly and then go have some fun in Yae Village.

With that thought, Beichen tapped the stage again and began farming. Two stages passed in a row without any story.

It was basically just grinding monsters. A weapon skill here, another weapon skill there, and the monsters' health bars vanished.

That sort of Musou-style mowing-down-the-enemies spectacle was quite satisfying to watch.

"Streamer big brother..."

Just as Beichen was enjoying the thrill of mowing down enemies, a comment drifted across the Live Stream screen.

He practically did not need to look at the commenter's name. Just from the tone, he knew Seele had something to say.

"What is it? Is there something you don't understand that you want to ask me?"

"I don't really understand. Could it be that Bronya and Kiana have a bad relationship?"

Huh? A bad relationship?

No, no, it was actually pretty good. How should he put it... They were both still too young, so they were a little tsundere?

"...Not really. Just think of it as friends bickering."

"Bickering between friends? If they are friends, then shouldn't they understand and care for each other?"

After seeing Seele's comment, Beichen was about to casually say something to brush her off.

But unexpectedly, a pink comment floated splendidly across the screen...

"Nope~"

Elysia had always been very active in the Live Stream. She was the sort of person who drew attention no matter what she did, and few people could dislike her.

Seeing her join the discussion, Beichen stopped interrupting this understanding big sister as she guided an innocent girl and peacefully continued playing the game.

"Huh? No?"

"Of course not! Hehe, I have a friend who has been cold lately. Just standing beside him makes you feel chilly~ Sigh, I don't know when it started, but no matter how I try to make conversation, he always keeps a stern face around me."

Elysia spoke freely. Though she did not name exactly who this friend was, for some reason she described him so vividly.

"What a pity. His smile used to be so beautiful, but now... I've been seeing fewer and fewer expressions on that face... Still, I can feel that he actually cares deeply about all of us!"

"Is that so... Then Fairy Miss's friend must have gone through many sad things?"

Though Seele did not know who Miss Pink Elf's friend was, she could sense the emotions revealed by this enthusiastic viewer through the comments...

She was not the only one who felt it. Even Beichen, who was busy clearing stages, felt it too.

Elysia's friend who had begun growing cold...

Wasn't that Kevin, the current leader of World Serpent? She had to be talking about Old Ancestor Kevin!

Though Beichen knew who it was, he did not interrupt. He merely opened the next stage.

This stage covered the events before the trio escorted Wendy to the Hyperion.

What appeared on the screen was a conversation between Bronya and Mei.

We will return to the battleship in four minutes. The facts prove that Wendy has not affected our movement speed.

After hearing her analysis, Mei and Kiana, who were traveling with her, both looked curious.

It feels like Bronya is especially enthusiastic today.

Sigh~ Has Bronya's data system been infected by a virus called "enthusiasm"?

After the two companions showed their curiosity, Wendy also joined their conversation.

Um, Bronya, thank you.

You do not need to thank Bronya. This is what Bronya should do.

Also, Wendy, do you see the armor on Bronya's legs? In the past, Bronya injured both legs during an experiment and spent a long time in a wheelchair as well. But in the end, Bronya regained the ability to walk with this exoskeleton armor.

That's amazing! Is Bronya saying Wendy might recover one day too? That she could walk freely, and even fly through the sky like Bronya?

"That should be impossible..." Seeing Wendy's question, Seele posted a doubtful comment.

"No, I think she can. It's just that she may have to pay a rather heavy... price..."

Having seen the script, Beichen rather wistfully predicted Wendy's future...

Amid the Malice Bestowed by the World, the Herrscher of Wind Was Born

"A heavy... price? Why did big brother suddenly sound like someone who had been through it all... as if you understood everything..."

"Ahaha, how could that be? I was only guessing."

Beichen hurriedly laughed it off, brushing Seele aside to keep her from pressing the question further.

"So it was only a guess? But I think big brother may be overthinking things. Look, isn't Miss Wendy already being escorted back to Schicksal? That means everything is moving in a better direction!"

Seele spoke innocently, never considering what the later game story might be like.

Her neatly written comment drifted across the screen. Though comments could not be played aloud,

Beichen could still imagine Seele's expression and movements from that long string of text.

It was as though she were standing right in front of him, speaking with a cute little pout.