"Oh, that's possible?"
After listening to Lynelle's description, a clear look of interest appeared on Herta's face.
By now, two hours had passed. After roughly touring the station with Asta, Lynelle was promptly dragged off to the Curio Collection Room by Herta upon her return. After all, Lynelle still had unfinished business back in the Honkai world and didn't have much time to rest.
Of course, Lynelle immediately reported her previous gains to Herta—the addition of a new character to the character pool.
"If you could turn into Peppy... that would be quite amusing. What a pity you can't transform here."
"I don't think it's a pity at all, hey!"
Lynelle put her hands on her hips and protested, "What kind of weird play is turning into a dog? Are you trying to make the enemies die laughing?"
"Don't you go thinking Peppy is just an ordinary pet. In fact, I seriously doubt you could even beat Peppy in a fight."
Herta glanced over Lynelle's somewhat slender, delicate frame and gave a slight nod. "Hmm, you really do look like you'd lose."
"Hey!"
"Haha~"
Seeing the girl beside her bristling like a cat, Herta's mood, which had been slightly ruffled by Ruan Mei's teasing earlier, instantly improved.
"Alright, let's get down to business."
After her usual round of teasing Lynelle, Herta quickly switched into work mode. As she walked forward, she explained to Lynelle, "Most of the Curios contained in the Herta Space Station aren't particularly destructive."
"After all, even if I don't particularly care about the people on this station, I'm still responsible for their safety. I'd hate to see headlines like '[Massive Casualties as Space Station Crashes Due to Improper Handling of Dangerous Curios by Madam Herta of the Genius Society]'."
"Among these Curios, the most dangerous is a Stellaron. Of course, you can't touch that thing anyway. As for what it actually is... I'll tell you another time, if we get the chance."
"As for now..."
Herta pressed the switch to open the cabin door. "Considering your time is limited, I've done a preliminary screening of these Curios. Just point out whichever one catches your eye, and I'll unlock it for you."
"Of course, there are also some recreational Curios in here. While I don't object to you adding them to the card pool, given the current situation, I'd advise against touching them for now to avoid polluting the pool. You can test their uses after the trouble in your other world has blown over."
"Don't worry, I'm well aware of that... It's just this card pool is so user-unfriendly. It's already learned to be like this, so why didn't it also learn things like the Paths and guaranteed pulls..."
Lynelle grumbled about the system's gacha mechanics as she walked along, looking at the display cases.
The first things that caught her eye were some old acquaintances—the same Curios placed in the game maps from her previous life, like Joy Filtration Set.
Although, according to Herta, even these recreational Curios might not be useless if added to the pool, Lynelle resisted the itching urge to complete her collection.
"Hey, Herta, what's this?"
"Hmm?"
Herta glanced over and then showed an 'as expected' expression. "That's the Rating Pistol. You didn't think it was some kind of attack weapon, did you? Don't worry, that thing has zero combat capability. All it does is give everyone a score, and its grading criteria are still a mystery to this day."
"Can it give me a score then?"
Lynelle looked eager to try.
"Go ahead. If you want a score, just stand in front of it."
"Alrighty!"
Lynelle hopped over to the Rating Pistol. Then, like a queen facing a magic mirror, she drawled in a singsong voice, "Oh Rating Pistol, Rating Pistol, tell me, what's my score~"
The strange gun's closed eye suddenly snapped open, spun around for a moment, then fixed an unkind stare on Lynelle.
"...?"
The Rating Pistol's eye widened abruptly. It trembled violently, calculating desperately, but it was all in vain.
"Cannot be determined!"
After a stalemate lasting a few moments, the Rating Pistol wearily closed its eye.
"Huh?"
Lynelle turned back to look at Herta, her face full of confusion.
"Probably because you're carrying an Emanator's power. That piece of junk is a coward; it doesn't dare test Emanators, and it can't test them either."
Herta said dismissively, "Forget it, don't mind that. Come here quickly and take a look at this. What do you think?"
Lynelle looked as directed, and then her eyes widened just like the Rating Pistol's had moments before.
"Wait, this is... a Wind Glider?!"
To be honest, Lynelle had always thought the Wind Glider in the game was just an easter egg placed by the Honkai: Star Rail development team. She truly never expected Herta to have the real thing here!
"You know what this is?"
Herta asked curiously, "I found this pair of wings in a fractured spatial rift. I've never been able to pinpoint their origin... So, it's something from your world?"
"No, I just recognize it... If I had to say, back where I'm from, this thing is just a game item."
Lynelle shook her head decisively.
"Is that so... No matter. Go on, touch it. If my guess is correct, this Curio's rank probably isn't very high, so the pull rate shouldn't be low. Plus, this thing should grant you pretty good mobility."
"Okay, but the feel of it... it's really strange."
Lynelle gently stroked the Wind Glider, and then a sudden thought struck her.
A question occurred to her.
If the Wind Glider was one of the real Curios Herta collected... didn't that mean she also had...
"Herta! Herta!"
Lynelle's gaze swept around the room and immediately landed on the specific 'Curio' she was looking for. Instantly, the girl became intensely excited. "What's that Curio?"
Herta followed the direction of Lynelle's pointing finger. There, inside a Curio display case, floated several pieces... of a broken red sword.
--+--
"Siegfried."
At the Schicksal Headquarters, inside a particularly cozy small western-style house.
"You don't need to try and talk me out of it. I know what you're worried about... It's just, if we really allow the Second Herrscher to come to Schicksal for revenge, no one can predict what the outcome will be."
"So, even if the Overseer hadn't requested my assistance, I would have gone to Siberia myself."
"..."
Siegfried fell silent.
He knew Cecilia's temperament all too well. Although usually gentle and soft, once Cecilia made up her mind about something, not even he could stop her.
Moreover, Cecilia's trip to Siberia this time wasn't for the purpose of [subjugation], but rather because she wanted to [save].
"In that case, I'm coming with you."
After a long pause, Siegfried finally managed to force out the words.
"The day before yesterday, after Welt returned from the moon, he showed me some information about the Previous Era he obtained from the Moon. It contained a method that could allow me to break through my 'limits'. I'll go with you; it'll at least add another card to our hand."
"And also... Welt told me that on his way back from the moon, he encountered Sirin."
"He wanted to tell her that Lynelle's body hadn't been taken by Schicksal, but she didn't give him the chance. She just vanished from his sight."
"Since both you and Welt believe that child can still be saved, then I naturally can't fall behind... It's just, I doubt Otto sees it that way."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.