Drip.
A turbid raindrop fell on the helmet, sliding slowly down the visor. The person sitting on the steps was like a boat moored on a rainy day, swaying ethereally amidst the churning waves.
The pulse of the wind blew through his sleeves; the rustling of his hem was the only other noise in a quiet world besides the rain.
An umbrella was held over Lin drenched head, shielding him from the patter of the rain.
"The seasons are changing, and the mist and rain are continuous. Even if you cannot feel the cold, please take care of your health."
The raindrops merged into lines, lengthening at the edge of the umbrella.
"...What is your purpose this time?"
Lin tightened the straps of the weapon case on his back. The muffled sound inside his helmet was drowned out by the pitter-patter.
What was the true purpose—or rather, the ambition—of this artificial lifeform that had been "helping" him?
"To witness this process—that is my entire purpose." Unlike his posturing yet mocking dialogue with Sakura, Gray Serpent communicated with Lin in a steady, gentle manner, giving him sufficient respect. However, he never looked at Lin, instead gazing into the distance where the rain poured down.
He placed the umbrella entirely over Lin head, standing motionless as half his own body was washed by the heavy rain, silent and calm.
"If you are tired, you may rest," Gray Serpent suggested. "Or you could abandon some of your principles that provide no help."
Lin lowered his head, staring at the water droplets bouncing off his boots, gathering at his feet and flowing into a sewer somewhere.
"You must become a hero for humanity."
"...No."
Gray Serpent's breathing beneath his mask was light—one couldn't even tell if he was breathing. His crimson eyes looked through the holes in his mask at Lin, whose hands were crossed.
"Understood. This should be the last time."
A chip was placed in Lin hand. Lin clutched the chip, which stored the location of his next destination, shook the rain off his boots, and slowly stood up.
The last time?
Gray Serpent didn't explain. In the time it took for Lin to stand up, only the umbrella left on the ground remained. Lin watched it as it drifted away, buffeted by the wind and rain.
"When is a person most in pain?"
"When I was still ignorant and just an ordinary person, I would have said failing a gacha pull was the most painful. Haha, back then, I'd dump all my living expenses into pulling for a 'waifu' and when she didn't come home, I felt like the world was ending. Afterward, I'd want to chop my hands off, only to want to chop off the other one to sell for more top-ups the next time I saw a new waifu."
"After I joined Fire Moth, I thought being on the battlefield was the most painful. Monsters three stories tall standing there, baring fangs and claws wanting to swallow humans alive. The constant risk of contracting the incurable Honkai disease. Comrades who, in the next moment, might turn into fragments, ice statues, ashes... or something else."
"Now I think that perhaps the most painful thing isn't fighting the Honkai, but standing in a crowd and being unable to tell if the person smiling next to me is still human."
After writing the last sentence in his electronic diary, Erwin took a sip of cola and then sprayed it all over the screen.
"Pffft—cough cough..."
He uncomfortably wiped the cola from the corner of his mouth, his eye twitching as he looked at the still-fizzing plastic bottle in his hand.
Cherry Cola...
He didn't look closely when he grabbed it. Just his luck.
He sighed, picked up a tissue to wipe the drink off the screen, and looked at the words he had written, which stood out glaringly against the white background.
"When did I become so sentimental?" Erwin turned off the computer and turned toward the full-length mirror nearby, forcing a smile that didn't look very good.
In his old diaries, he wrote about trivial good things—finding a dollar on the street, seeing a funny post on the internal forum, finally being able to go after being constipated for a long time... Even if missions were many and exhausting, he could feel better just by looking at these large and small bits of happiness he had recorded.
But at some point, the phrasing in the diary had become solemn, and every line was filled with insights honed through his various experiences.
Perhaps this was what they called... growing up?
"I'm in my twenties or thirties, and I'm still 'growing up'." Erwin sighed and capped the cola, throwing it into the trash. "But a man is always a boy at heart, so he's always growing up. I guess that's not wrong?"
"..."
In the empty room, there was only his own self-muttering. After laughing for a while, Erwin helplessly relaxed his face.
If Nuwa were here, she would definitely have something snarky to say.
"Well... let's go then." Erwin adjusted his expression and picked up his standard short blade and rifle.
He was now going to investigate events concerning the dark side of Fire Moth. Although it sounded noble, filled with the flavor of ancient resistance literature, he knew that in reality, he was no different from a traitor.
After all, even Lin had "betrayed" them, so there was no need to say more about the nature of such behavior.
Moreover, Erwin had made a discovery.
Ato.
That night, he had pretended to be groggy and looking for food, but in reality, a storm was raging in his heart. If Ato had looked closely the moment he turned around, he would have seen that Erwin's back was completely drenched in cold sweat.
What kind of person was Captain Ato—once serious, now kind?
Was he pretending for the sake of Dr. Einstein's plan, or had he been pretending to obey Dr. Einstein from the very beginning?
The complexity of the human heart made Erwin feel as if he were in a bottomless abyss. He kept watching the light above shrink, yet he couldn't tell if he was moving downward or upward.
He had no answers.
He didn't know who he should continue to trust.
And Dr. Einstein didn't know all this yet. Erwin worried that if he told her directly and Ato really was a traitor who found out through other means, Dr. Einstein's safety...
Ultimately, Erwin quietly left clues for Einstein, hoping her brilliant mind could see through his clumsy hints.
Erwin himself began to quietly investigate the truth behind Lin betrayal. He now had some leads.
"These coordinates... so it really is the Aerial Fortress?"
He looked at the coordinates and gave a bitter smile. Although he wasn't the smartest, he wasn't stupid either. Finding an answer from clues was something he could manage. After getting this information, he could guess the origin of the Aerial Fortress quite accurately.
Unknowingly, he had transformed from that shivering little soldier into an idiot chasing the truth.
Ignorance isn't bad, but... as expected, his heart just felt uneasy. If he was wrong, he would correct it when the time came.
Come to think of it, why did he become like this?
"..."
Was it because he was always chasing someone's back?
To some, perhaps. But for Erwin himself, he felt that was too one-sided.
That person was just a catalyst. When Erwin survived that frozen wasteland, seeing the white snow and the blood spilled upon it, he had involuntarily taken Lin, standing at the very front, as his life's beacon.
But as expected... he still wanted to be his own "beacon." Whether it was Ato or Lin, a mistake was a mistake. He would only observe with his own eyes to discover the truth, and at that time, decide the direction of his life.
Rather than being "lucky"... he still preferred the ordinary title of "Private."
"Yeah, let's go, Private Erwin." A smile curled on his lips as he stepped out of the room.