As one of Europe's first-tier cities, Berlin, at its heart, was naturally thriving.
But just as light will always cast shadows, there were, in truth, many more places in Berlin like this one.
Here was a quiet path shaded by trees.
A few dead leaves were scattered across the street.
Parts of the pavement bore small cracks and remnants of repairs—some sections dipped, others jutted out unevenly.
There wasn't much traffic passing through. Sometimes, it took minutes for a single vehicle to appear.
Led by Seele, Bronia arrived here.
The two walked side by side.
Along the way, Bronia had wanted to approach Seele several times.
But every time she did, Seele would quicken her pace.
Gradually, Bronia realized that this was Seele's silent way of expressing her rejection.
The girl didn't know Bronia.
She simply had an intuition—a strong aversion to Bronia's attempts to get close.
Bronia saw that, too.
So after a wave of quiet sadness, she stopped trying.
Or rather, perhaps she had already known that these actions were wrong, but...
In any case, for now—
"This is it."
Seele stopped in front of a small iron gate that opened in one direction.
As Bronia came to a halt, Seele shot her a glare. "Remember—don't say anything unnecessary."
"Mm, okay!"
Bronia nodded.
At this moment, she glanced around.
It seemed she already knew what kind of place this was.
She couldn't help it—her childhood memories were stirring.
Of course, not the dark period when she had been trained as an assassin.
But later.
The architecture here and the atmosphere inside—
This sense of "home" was all too familiar.
This should be an orphanage.
Just as she thought—
"Seele~ sis~ sis~!"
As soon as Seele opened the creaking iron gate, all the children in the orphanage turned their attention to her.
And at that moment, Bronia, standing off to the side, saw it clearly—
The girl who had just moments ago acted all fierce and unapproachable—
Could actually smile.
That smile was achingly familiar.
Gentle, caring—like being bathed in the soft morning sun. Warm. Tender.
"Seele..."
Bronia murmured instinctively.
Seele didn't hear.
She had crouched down and was instantly surrounded by the children.
What she heard—what she wanted to hear—wasn't some murmured whisper.
But the pure and sincere voices of children.
"Big sis Seele, did you bring presents today?"
"I want something tasty!"
"I liked the strawberry cake last time!"
...
Among the children were some well-behaved ones and some a little mischievous.
But judging by the overall mood—and perhaps the good influence of those who cared for them—they were all well-mannered.
None of them were really demanding anything from Seele.
But once they started chattering, they clung to her, begging her to play.
Unfortunately—
"Sorry, you greedy little kittens. Can you wait for me a bit?"
"There's a guest today."
Seele pointed at Bronia, standing off to the side.
Seeing this, the gray-haired girl—now calm again—smiled as well.
The children's attention shifted toward Bronia.
Among them, a few spotted the powered armor covering her legs.
"Wow, so cool!"
"Big sis, are you a future warrior?"
"The kind that beats up big bad guys?"
...
A chorus of chirps rang out around Bronia.
Seeing this, Seele simply curled her lips and said nothing else.
Maybe, just maybe—it was because she had sensed Bronia wasn't a bad person that she brought her here.
"Hey!"
Seele called out to Bronia.
Her attitude instantly reverted to that fierce, grumpy tone from before.
All that could be said was that she truly understood the art of the Sichuan opera's face-changing.
Now—
"Don't you have other business? Talk after we're done here."
"Right!"
Bronia nodded and, after soothing the excited children around her, followed Seele to the orphanage's backyard.
As they walked—
"This orphanage isn't built on land we own."
Once they were away from the children, Seele spoke suddenly. "Soon, the land's developer is planning to build apartments here."
"And we can't afford the sudden rent increase, so we have to move before the deadline."
"The land belongs to them, and they have every right to do what they want with it—we can't say much."
She tilted her head toward Bronia. "But it's because of this that I need money. I want to find another place for the kids."
Then—
Seele, having arrived at the backyard, walked to a window and gestured silently to Bronia.
Seeing that Bronia understood, she pointed toward the window.
Bronia looked in—and saw a single, neatly made bed inside the room.
Lying in it was a woman, brows furrowed in sleep, with long, dark-gray hair.
"!!!"
Bronia recognized that face.
Even now, though the woman looked extremely haggard, and her hair lay scattered weakly—
"Raven?"
Bronia nearly cried out.
But recalling Seele's warning just moments earlier, she held her tongue.
The two walked away from the window together.
Only then did Seele continue: "Nata is the head of this orphanage."
"Originally, aside from some government support, most of the orphanage's funding came from her... and also from some older kids who've grown up and now work—they pitch in too."
"But not long ago, Nata fell ill."
"No local doctor could give a clear diagnosis—they had no idea what she was suffering from."
"All we can do is watch her get weaker by the day."
"Maybe if she went to a big hospital downtown..."
"Honkai infection."
Bronia suddenly uttered the unfamiliar term.
"What?"
Seele was stunned.
Then she instinctively grabbed Bronia's shoulders. "You know what illness Nata has?"
Seeing her so agitated—
"Mm."
Bronia nodded.
Just now, she had caught a glimpse through the window.
But she had already seen the strange "tattoo" on the woman's frail body.
That was the sign of erosion—a mark that appeared on ordinary people who couldn't withstand excessive exposure to Honkai radiation.
Once this condition manifested, it was almost impossible to treat with conventional medicine or procedures.
But now, under Seele's gaze—
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Bronia's silence gradually sent Seele into a panic. "Hey, don't tell me it's some kind of terminal illness!"
...
Bronia didn't know what to say.
Was there a cure for Honkai infection?
There was. Absolutely.
But the cost—
The average person could never afford it.
Because it wasn't simply a matter of paying money.
But—
"!!!"
Hair standing on end, a chill ran down her spine.
Bronia suddenly had a terrible feeling.
Without thinking—pure instinct—
She pinned Seele to the ground.
At the same time—
"Hey, you—"
Buzz~
Just as Seele opened her mouth, the quantum robot "Reinstalled Bunny 19C" appeared in her field of vision.
Its sky-blue frame stood out, with massive mechanical arms at either side and twin shoulder cannons mounted on those arms.
Clearly, even though Bronia had lost her Herrscher of Reason powers, the upgraded Bunny had not "regressed" to its older model.
However, due to the lack of Reason's energy, it could no longer clear terrain by flying, nor deploy the floating turrets—the "Key of Truth"—for large-scale fire coverage.
Still, the heavy Bunny could now transform into a sleek motorcycle, and more importantly—
"Block Matrix—Deploy!"
At Bronia's command, a spherical blue energy shield composed of countless hexagonal crystal panels instantly formed around her and Seele.
And just then—
Ding ding ding~
A barrage of needle-like projectiles rained toward the two of them.
All were intercepted by the shield.
Bronia narrowed her eyes, examining them carefully.
"Anesthetic darts?"
She looked sharply ahead. "Who was the target?"
"Was it Bronia..."
She glanced down at Seele, pinned beneath her.
"Or... was it her?"