The Bait and Switch

"Though I've always wished I could just be an ordinary student."

Standing nearby, Mo Bai heard the helplessness in Lin Nai's voice.

He glanced at the Drifter.

The Drifter was staring hard at Lin Nai, as if afraid she might suddenly vanish before her eyes.

Clearly, Lin Nai's words had not moved her.

"Have you ever thought about it? About throwing away all those endless goals and responsibilities, letting go of every complicated way you've learned to think, and just being a student who enjoys her youth?"

As Lin Nai spoke, the students chatting nearby between classes suddenly seemed impossible to ignore.

They were doing nothing remarkable. They were simply laughing and talking about amusing things that had happened at school.

"..."

The Drifter did not answer Lin Nai's question.

Perhaps she was considering why Lin Nai had asked it. Or perhaps...

She did not know how to answer Lynae.

As for Mo Bai...

In the past, he would have said no without hesitation.

Neither academies nor schools were places he associated with fond memories.

Strip away the rosy tint of memory, and even the happy times he had spent at school amounted to making the best of a bad situation.

But in less than a day at Star Torch Academy, he had seen something different.

The students' smiles.

They were not making the best of a bad situation. Whether they were in class or relaxing between lessons, these students held on to a simple, genuine enthusiasm and joy.

Just as Mo Bai had said when he raced Lin Nai earlier, the atmosphere here had rubbed off on him a little.

"Just kidding. I know there are things that are hard to say aloud, whether or not you've ever thought about them."

When neither Mo Bai nor the Drifter answered, Lin Nai sighed softly and led them toward the rooftop.

But before they went upstairs, she said one more thing. Mo Bai heard sadness in her voice, and... loneliness.

"I envy the people... who get to study at this academy."

Tap, tap, tap.

Once they reached the rooftop, Lin Nai jogged a few steps ahead and spread her arms, welcoming the breeze against her face.

"Mm. This really is where I feel safest."

Then Lin Nai turned and smiled at the Drifter.

There was a hint of mischief in her smile.

"You want me to reveal who I really am so you can get to the bottom of this incident, right?"

Mo Bai saw the Drifter give a slight nod, and his brow furrowed.

"What you're talking about sounds pretty serious. Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?"

Granted, he had already seen things he probably should not have, like Lin Nai speaking with that mysterious student earlier.

Seeing his expression, the Drifter showed neither impatience nor confusion. She smiled instead.

"But you chose to come here with Lin Nai and me, didn't you?"

At her words, Mo Bai gave a helpless, wry smile.

"Yeah..."

What else could he do? These two classmates with complicated backgrounds were the only people he knew at the academy.

So he had come along. Mo Bai figured he had done it simply because he instinctively wanted to stick with the people he knew.

"Go on, Lin Nai."

Seeing that Mo Bai had decided to stay, the Drifter turned back to Lin Nai.

Sometimes other people understood you better than you understood yourself.

"Mm. An exchange. I'll put myself in your hands. In return, I want to keep studying here, so I hope you'll grant me that wish."

Lin Nai held out a hand to Mo Bai and the Drifter.

Her meaning was simple. She would tell the Drifter what she knew, and in return, the Drifter would not report her to the academy.

The Drifter lowered her gaze, apparently considering Lin Nai's offer, then looked up at her again.

"Is staying at this academy that important to you?"

Instead of agreeing outright, the Drifter asked her another question.

Mo Bai did not know what the New Federation, Lin Nai's birthplace, was like.

But judging by how candid she sounded now, this was probably the real Lin Nai.

Her sunny, cheerful manner before must have been an act...

Did that mean the Lin Nai who had raced alongside him and the Drifter earlier had been a fake?

It was a strange feeling, almost like being betrayed by a close friend, even though he had known Lin Nai for less than a day.

Mo Bai figured the problem was his. The Drifter, who had been with them too, showed no sign of feeling the same way.

"Mm. It's very important," Lin Nai answered.

"..."

When the Drifter folded her arms and lowered her head, Lin Nai withdrew her outstretched hand and smiled at her again.

"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes."

For a moment, that reply made Mo Bai feel she was the same cheerful Lin Nai he had met earlier.

"Have you heard the story of the commoner who took the prince's place?"

After asking Mo Bai and the Drifter, Lin Nai took out her tape. A voice began to play.

"Headquarters... this is Lin Nai..."

"Sorry... to report... we were suddenly... attacked..."

"Don't worry... we'll make it to Lahai Luo... reach Star Torch Academy..."

"We'll complete... the mission the chairman... gave us..."

The voice on the Tacet Disc cut in and out. The recording seemed badly damaged, but the weakness in the speaker's voice was still clear.

"Spoiler: they didn't complete their mission."

With that, Lin Nai had all but confirmed the speaker's fate.

What caught Mo Bai's attention was the speaker's name. She was called Lin Nai too...

Unless...

Mo Bai looked up at Lin Nai, remembering the story she had just mentioned.

"The Remnant Star Society..."

The Drifter murmured the organization's name.

Mo Bai had heard of the Remnant Star Society. The Drifter had told him about it earlier.

In short, they were a bunch of lunatics who never stopped causing trouble wherever they went.

"Professor Verlaine said I came from the New Federation, but he doesn't know which part."

Then Lin Nai began telling the Drifter and Mo Bai about her past.

A city that devoured people, a bleak lawless district—that was where she had once lived.

She had been a mercenary employed by the New Federation government when, one day, she came across something that changed her life.

A corpse, and an admission letter lying beside it.

An admission letter from Star Torch Academy.

For a girl who had seen blood almost every day in the New Federation, it was a gift that had fallen from the sky.

And so the girl took the place of the Remnant Star Society's dead undercover agent and set out for Star Torch Academy.

She became Lin Nai.