Volume 3, Chapter 16 – Night Will Eventually Fall

Anran’s room was on the second floor. It had originally been a storage room cleared out temporarily, but after Eudora cleaned it, it was as spotless as a brand-new room.

She set down her backpack and lined the mechanical switchblades up neatly along the wall.

Then she went downstairs to find Colin.

Because she was poor, whenever Anran did anything that could make money, she always displayed extraordinary initiative.

After all, she was not exactly rich. If she did not handle things personally, how could she improve her efficiency at making money?

“You want Aila to help you run a stall?”

Colin was stunned by Anran’s proposal.

Good grief…

Sometimes he truly understood this girl less and less.

She had clearly just been a poor girl selling cakes around the neighborhood before, yet step by step she had begun to reveal baffling talents that left people unable to make sense of her.

Colin was starting to wonder whether this was even the real Anran.

“Actually, this would be very good for Aila too.” Anran looked at Colin with a serious expression. “Aila learns incredibly fast, but if you keep her shut up at home like this, without letting her go out or have contact with the outside world, there are many things she simply won’t be able to learn. She only knows concepts, but she doesn’t know how to handle problems properly in practice. That’s very bad for her development.”

“…”

Colin said nothing.

The more Anran spoke, the more energized she became. “You have to be very careful with a child’s education. Strictly speaking, Aila is still just a child who doesn’t understand much. You can’t let her learn only through television and your lectures. Only by letting her experience life firsthand can she gain more useful experience.”

“…”

Colin rolled his eyes.

So this is the line of nonsense you’re feeding me so Aila will go help you sell cakes?

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This was complete rubbish.

Sure, it was important for children to experience life, but what did that have to do with making Aila go sell cakes?

It was not as though I was planning to raise Aila to be a merchant.

“Aila lacks life experience. She can’t even bathe by herself, so she absolutely needs to participate more in real-world practice. After all, she’ll have to live on her own someday. You can’t protect her for her entire life,” Anran continued.

She still had a hundred more lines ready to throw out.

But Colin’s expression suddenly froze.

“After all… you can’t protect her for her entire life!”

The atmosphere had been somewhat light before, but after those words came out, Colin slowly lowered his head.

Because he really could not protect Aila for her entire life.

It was a problem he could not avoid.

In the thirty-two years since it had fallen under the Empire’s rule, No. 1886 had developed all kinds of grim anomalies.

In the northern hemisphere, where the Morningstar Resistance was active, the average lifespan of No. 1886’s residents was fifty-two, and Colin was forty-six this year.

He had already gone through “death” twice.

Although he had survived each time by sheer luck, the price he paid had been enormous.

The first time cost him Aila’s life, the destruction of his family, and the end of his career.

The second time cost him his right leg.

If there were a third time, he might truly not survive it.

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The suddenly oppressive atmosphere made Anran frown. “Sometimes I don’t really understand your feelings. But Aila isn’t an ordinary child. There’s unimaginable energy hidden inside her body. Rather than growing up under your protection, she ought to learn how to protect herself.”

This was something Anran said from the bottom of her heart.

The game rated Aila at level 16. Judging from the many kinds of strength Aila had shown, she could absolutely become a super soldier.

And yet when Morningstar’s people invaded the repair shop last time, Aila had done nothing.

She could easily have subdued everyone there and turned the situation around.

Colin had never told Aila what to do.

Maybe, deep down, he still subconsciously treated Aila as an ordinary weak little girl.

But that was unrealistic.

As long as there was no excessive interference, the overall direction of the game’s plot would not change.

As the outcome born from a hidden quest, Aila’s fate was bound to be extraordinary.

The designers had already built a larger stage for her, merely waiting for the audience to fill their seats and for the plain opening act to end.

Aila was far too mysterious.

…

Learn to protect herself!

Colin closed his eyes for a while.

It was not that he failed to understand what Anran meant.

But the emotions of an old father who had gone through despair were complicated.

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“What’s your dream?” Colin suddenly asked.

Anran froze for a moment.

How had this suddenly turned into something so lofty?

She blinked. “World peace, of course!”

The corner of Colin’s mouth twitched. “Can you be serious for once?”

“Uh… all right then.” Anran said, “In the short term, I want to make more money and save up enough travel expenses to get to Sea Blue Forest. In the long run, I want to become strong, the kind of existence those Outlanders wouldn’t dare provoke.”

Anran had no intention of deceiving Colin again.

Colin nodded. “Fine. I’ll allow you to take Aila out to play, but you absolutely can’t let her get hurt, and you also can’t let her show anything unusual.”

Hearing Colin say that, Anran was instantly overjoyed.

“Really?” The smile on her face was impossible to suppress. This would make winning over Aila much easier, but there was still one more restriction. “There’s one more thing. Can the rule that I can’t say more than ten characters in a single sentence when talking to Aila be lifted?”

“There was such a rule?” Colin looked at Anran in surprise.

“…” Anran was speechless. “Hey, wasn’t that something you specifically told Aila? Otherwise, why do you think I sometimes have to write things down to talk to her?”

“I thought you were doing some kind of performance art.”

“Hey, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Anran said in dissatisfaction.

“If you dare teach Aila any bad habits, don’t blame me for being rude,” Colin warned.

Anran immediately defended herself. “As if I would!”

…

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Night fell.

In Twinmoon City’s old district, if there was one place that looked deserted on the outside and lively on the inside, it was Little Gold Tooth’s restaurant.

The front doors were closed, but the restaurant, already shut for the day, was exceptionally lively inside.

Little Gold Tooth and his men were in the middle of a passionate drinking session.

Little Gold Tooth downed a huge mug and said with a laugh, “Lennard is a real stand-up guy. This booze is good!”

The wide glass mug was full of beer crowned with foam.

“Boss, how much did we make this time?” one flushed-faced underling asked as he staggered over, nearly throwing himself against Little Gold Tooth.

Little Gold Tooth did not mind in the slightest. Instead, he casually set down his glass and clapped a hand on the underling’s shoulder. “This time it wasn’t a small amount at all. The pressure from above is tight, and he needs something from me. If I don’t squeeze out more benefits now, when will I? Ha ha.”

Little Gold Tooth’s other hand brushed across the underling’s chest without seeming to mean anything by it.

“Boss, hic, hehe, hic…” The underling’s face turned even redder.

“I’m telling you, dealing with people like this is way more satisfying.” Little Gold Tooth’s head was spinning. His hand slipped and slid all the way down from the underling’s stomach. He immediately shook his head. “Sorry about that.”

“Boss~” The underling swayed.

Little Gold Tooth said with a grin, “Working with Morningstar can get you some things you can’t get otherwise, but it’s dangerous. That kind of work is like hanging your head from your belt, scary as hell. Like those two last time, they died for no reason at all. Luckily, Morningstar’s people got beaten back, or the blame would’ve landed on us. Doing business with someone like Lennard instead…”

“Oh? Which two are you talking about?”

Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open, and two people walked in from outside.

“Hm?”

Little Gold Tooth’s pupils suddenly contracted.