Chapter 267

"..." This time it was Kai'Sa's turn to be stunned.

Almost instinctively, a look of doubt appeared in her eyes, and her head tilted slightly to one side without her noticing.

"What... did you just call me?"

"Miss Kai'Sa, isn't that a bit too presumptuous of you to address me?" Chen Ce scratched his head. "Then... Ms. Kai'Sa? Or should I just call Kai'Sa?"

"..." Kai'Sa paused again, pursing her lips. "To be honest, you're the first person to call me that."

"Isn't this normal? What else should we call it?"

"They all call me a monster..."

"I've never seen such a beautiful monster before, Miss Kai'Sa."

"Beautiful...?" Kai'Sa was taken aback again.

She looked down at her body, which was enveloped by the Void Symbiote.

It was pitch black... with some eerie purple light streaming through it, and living creatures were constantly surging around... monsters from head to toe.

Everyone who sees her curses her as a monster and then screams and runs away.

Even the passersby she rescued often showed extreme fear in their eyes—they didn't shout "monster" perhaps because they were afraid of angering the monster and being killed.

Why would anyone call a monster "Miss"...?

And they said... beautiful? It's been so long since I've heard that word... The last time was when my mother praised me as a child...

Kai'Sa wasn't embarrassed, just found it strange—to be honest, she didn't believe what the other person was saying.

The pricking sensation in my skin intensified, as if in response to this perfectly valid idea.

"You can't survive in this desert with a glib tongue." Kai'Sa shook her head. "Praising a monster's beauty... that's really a bit hypocritical. Instead of thinking about such useless things, you should think about how you're going to cross this desert."

"I'm telling the truth." Chen Ce gave a kind smile, his tone very sincere—he was indeed telling the truth.

The girl in front of me absolutely deserves the word "beautiful".

Those who call her a monster and say she's ugly are simply frightened by the Void symbiote on her—people have transferred their fear and hatred of Void creatures onto Kai'Sa, so naturally they find her disgusting and ugly.

But if we put aside prejudices, in terms of facial features alone, how many people in the entire Runeterra can be more beautiful than her?

"Miss Kai'Sa, please don't worry about what others think. At least in my eyes... you are beautiful."

"..." Kai'Sa paused for a moment, not answering the question. "Let's stop discussing such meaningless topics. Have you figured out how you're going to cross the desert?"

"We'll leave at dawn. What's the plan?" Chen Ce asked with a smile.

"It seems you haven't witnessed the horror of those monsters... You picked up those corpses, didn't you? You have no idea how terrifying they are."

"Really? I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"Sigh... alright, what about food? One piece of candy might only last you through the night. And then there's the need for water."

"No need to worry." Chen Ce stepped aside, revealing several large wooden barrels behind him. "Look, I have several barrels of fine wine and purified water."

"Alright then... seeing this, Kai'Sa didn't say anything more. "Then be careful, I'm leaving—there shouldn't be any other monsters in this area, you can set off as soon as it's light tomorrow."

After saying that, she immediately turned to leave.

However, Chen Ce was not about to let this "treasure chest" that had been delivered to his mouth so easily.

"Wait, Miss Kai'Sa..."

"What's wrong?" Kai'Sa tilted her head slightly, seemingly wanting to leave—she didn't have anything to do, she just didn't want to stay with strangers any longer.

She was afraid... that her monstrous appearance would frighten others.

"How about staying tonight?" Chen Ce smiled and pointed to the wooden bucket behind him. "At least have some water before you leave."

"..." Kai'Sa fell silent again, then said coldly, "No need, I'm not thirsty."

"Would you like something to eat?"

"You're so poor you're eating monster flesh."

"Hey, I can still afford to treat you to a meal."

"No need, I'm not hungry."

"But that piece of candy was your last meal, wasn't it?"

"..." Kai'Sa, who was not good with words and even less able to lie, fell silent again.

A moment later, her stomach gave a disapproving growl—and of all times...

"I knew it. Someone as kind as Miss Kai'Sa would definitely not have given me just one candy if she had other food." Chen Ce smiled and gestured to a nearby rock, indicating that she could sit down.

This time, Kai'Sa didn't insist on her opinion and sat down silently to the side.

"If you have any extra food... we can do an equal exchange. Give me some food that's equivalent to the value of the candy."

"That's not enough!" Chen Ce rummaged through his backpack.

"One thing for another, I won't take advantage of you..."

"Then you can exchange your labor for food."

"Labor force?"

"You stay here tonight to protect me, and I'll give you food. Isn't that fair?"

"... You mean you want to hire me for one night?"

"If Miss Kai'Sa is willing, we can hire you tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that... and from now on."

"I'm afraid you don't have that much food left." Kai'Sa pretended to look in the other direction, but her eyes kept glancing at the dark cloth bag.

She was actually really hungry.

I'm so hungry.

I'm so thirsty.

"I think I should have enough food." Chen Ce smiled and handed over a large piece of dried meat—he had brought some dry rations with him beforehand, and today he received "reward" from the caravan, so he certainly wouldn't lack food and water for the time being.

If all else fails, go find Void creatures to eat.

Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!

"Th... thank you..." Kai'Sa couldn't remember the last time she had said that word, and her voice came out somewhat awkwardly.

She took the jerky offered to her, initially taken aback by its size, then deeply attracted by its enticing aroma.

"You clearly still had food, so why did you eat the Void creatures before? Were you curious? Those things are poisonous; you can't just eat them."

After enjoying the long-awaited aroma of meat, Kai'Sa's mood improved considerably, and she became much more talkative.

She tore the jerky apart piece by piece, chewing each strand for a long time, as if she was reluctant to finish it all at once... She had really been hungry for a long time.

"Haha, maybe." Chen Ce didn't answer directly, but just asked with a smile, "Then, Miss Kai'Sa, can you stay and protect me tonight? And tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that?"

"No problem tonight, but in the future..." Kai'Sa pursed her lips and said in a threatening tone, "If you want to hire me, I charge a very high price."

How tall?

"Well... um..."

The girl pondered for a long time, and finally, from her limited imagination, came up with what could be considered a very, very high price:

"With a piece of jerky this big, I can only protect you for two days at most."

After saying that, she turned her head to the other side, as if she was convinced that the other party would be scared off by her price.

But Chen Ce just silently looked at a wooden barrel behind him.

Inside... it's full of dried meat...

Even small pieces like the Kai'Sa has are hard to find...

"Okay, let's try protecting it for two days first."

"..." Kai'Sa remained silent, eating her jerky.

The temperature difference in the desert is huge, and you can clearly feel the cold in the latter half of the night.

Chen Ce lit the campfire again, and the bright firelight shone on Kai'Sa's calm face.

It's really beautiful.

And this girl is truly kind.

She was robbed of her home by the Void when she was young, and she herself was parasitized by Void creatures in the abyss... After going through countless hardships, she escaped from the Void alive, but what awaited her was not the cheers and applause of the people.

Instead, they were met with curses, fear, and disgust.

People couldn't understand her, regarding her and her second skin as monsters, driving her away with stones and mud... Unable to live like a normal person in the towns of Shurima, she could only wander the desert, struggling to survive.

She could have left this desert, but she...

She refused to leave in order to protect humanity.

She didn't want to see anyone else lose their loved ones and homes to the Void like she had, so she guarded this desert day and night...

Even though she was misunderstood, even though she bore the dirtiest infamy... she still protected everyone in Shurima without hesitation.

Her kindness shines brighter than the stars in Shurima.

Chen Ce naturally also had strong feelings for her.

"Miss Kai'Sa, where did you get that piece of candy from earlier?" Chen Ce asked casually.

Kai'Sa, however, was visibly taken aback—clearly, she hadn't expected the other person to initiate a conversation with her—or rather, she had never been the one to be approached by someone before.

This made her feel a little uncomfortable for a while.

"Um... I saved a little girl before, she gave this to me... What's wrong?"

"No, I just thought that candy was delicious." Chen Ce smiled. "Have you tried it?"

"Candy... I ate it when I was little... I don't quite remember."

"So... would you like to eat it?"

"What difference does it make whether I want to or not? There's only one candy left, and I don't have any more."

"I'm really sorry I ate your only candy." Chen Ce then handed over a large piece of jerky.

Kai'Sa hesitated before accepting it, then added, "This... can protect you for another three days."

"Then I'll have to trouble you?"

"Um..."

The two sat in silence for a while longer.

Then it was Kai'Sa's turn to strike up a conversation—well, she hadn't tried initiating conversations much before, so she was also a little unaccustomed to it.

"Your name is... Chen Ce? From Ionia? If I remember correctly... what kind of place is Ionia? Are there many monsters there?"

"If you're talking about those monsters that jump out of the ground and eat people... no, Ionia doesn't have those kinds of things," Chen Ce said. "But Ionia also has many strange creatures, like deer with human upper bodies, foxes with nine tails, humans with animal ears... many of these."

"Oh... that sounds amazing." Kai'Sa looked at her with longing, then suddenly remembered something.

"Is it because you've seen so many strange creatures that you're not afraid of me? You've seen plenty of monsters like me already?"

"No, no, no..." Chen Ce waved his hand, "It's not that I'm used to it, it's just that I never thought Miss Kai'Sa was some kind of monster."

"... I don't understand. I don't understand why you added a suffix to my name either."

"I think you're very pretty, and you're about my age, so of course I'll call you Miss Kai'Sa. Isn't that easy to understand?"

"No... that's hard to understand, because I'm not pretty at all..." Kai'Sa lowered her eyes, looking very insecure—ever since she became symbiotic with the Void, everyone who saw her called her an "ugly monster" or a "damn monster."

Pretty... impossible...

"Why can't you trust me?" Chen Ce shrugged and moved half a body's distance away from the girl.

Then, he stared intently into the girl's beautiful purple eyes.

"You have very beautiful eyes... Purple is the color of violets, and black is the deep black of the starry sky."

"..." The sudden praise left Kai'Sa somewhat bewildered—she would only think flattery if it was just a simple compliment, but if it was specific to a particular part of her body... even if she didn't believe it, she would feel embarrassed.

Her second layer of skin contracted again, and the pricking sensation made her feel itchy from the inside out.