"Is this... a ghost?"
"Oh right, I remember now, March. It was this female ghost, and a Grim Reaper who..."
Stelle, who had just woken up, was evidently not quite lucid yet. She first spotted Tsukishiro Yuki floating beside Suke and muttered groggily to March 7th.
"Ghost, your head!"
Before Tsukishiro Yuki could speak, Suke grabbed Stelle's cheeks and pinched them hard, rubbing them vigorously to help her sober up.
Calling her a ghost and a Reaper? Although Tsukishiro Yuki did have female ghost attributes and Tripoka had Grim Reaper attributes, that clearly wasn't the point!
"Is this the attitude you show your savior, little Stellaron Spirit?"
"You ran to my farm, wasted my chance to recruit an employee, and even rummaged through my trash cans, taking my stuff and using my things."
"And now that you're awake, you call your savior a ghost? Didn't your parents teach you any manners!"
"Eh? Farm..."
Being rubbed on the face by Suke sobered Stelle up considerably.
"Oh right, I remember... March, did you know? Just now, I went to a small town on the edge of a farm!"
"There were so many trash cans in that town, and unlike other trash cans, there were actual treasures inside!"
"I dug out gold bars, gems, and so many valuable things!"
"Where did I put them? Let me look... Oh, oh, found it! I knew it wasn't a dream!"
Stelle stood up abruptly. While speaking excitedly to March 7th and the others, she fumbled around in her bosom.
Soon enough, a glittering yellow gold bar, the size of two palms stacked together, was pulled out by Stelle!
That golden glow symbolized humanity's primordial desire for wealth. Produced only by supernova explosions, it was a hard currency second only to Credits, even in the universe!
One didn't need to look closely to know that such a large chunk was worth a lot of money!
"There really is stuff?!"
Upon seeing Stelle pull out such a huge gold bar, March 7th's expression changed as well.
According to the current gold price announced by the Interastral Peace Corporation, this single gold bar was enough for her to buy a thousand of the latest cameras she had wanted most!
"Umm, Mister, are you saying your place is that rich?"
March 7th looked at Suke blankly, although she still hadn't figured out what was going on with the farm and town Stelle mentioned in this space.
"This is gold. Gold! And it's just casually thrown in a trash can?"
"Could it be a storage chest that just looks like a trash can? Stelle, you'd best return the item to them..."
"No!"
Stelle shook her head like a rattle drum. She instantly became alert, distancing herself from Suke, the suspected owner of the farm and town.
"I swear I found this rummaging through a trash can! It's definitely stuff others didn't want!"
"I'm just recycling waste. March, didn't you want to buy a camera? Later, I'll sell the gold bar and buy it for you!"
"That... wouldn't be very good, would it..."
Although she said that, March 7th hesitated, especially since Suke and his companion didn't look particularly anxious.
If this gold bar were truly a lost valuable of theirs, the other party would surely have spoken up immediately.
But now...
"Since it is a valuable item, even if it was picked up from a trash can on someone else's turf, you cannot claim it as your own. What if someone lost it unintentionally?"
"Return the item to him, Stelle."
Welt Yang spoke up. After all, the Astral Express had just been repaired by the other party, and they hadn't even had time to repay the favor yet.
As a result, Stelle picked up a valuable item from their territory; this was truly unjustifiable.
"Ah... Uncle Yang..."
"Fine, I'll..."
Stelle appeared quite reluctant, but she obediently picked up the gold bar, preparing to hand it to Suke.
However, Suke pushed back the hand Stelle extended with the gold bar and said:
"Stelle."
"Wh... What?"
Seeing Suke call her name, Stelle shrank her neck back.
Although she didn't even know the man's name, for some reason, she had the feeling of a mouse meeting a cat.
It was like a bloodline suppression, making her inexplicably cowardly in front of Suke in his farmer attire.
"Take out everything you dug out of the trash cans and show me. Don't worry, these things aren't important to me. Just consider them obtained by your own ability."
"I just want to confirm something."
Confirm whether it was just your accidental dog-sht luck,* Suke added in his mind.
"Really?" Hearing this, Stelle's previously dejected expression instantly revived.
"Then wait a moment, Uncle!"
Compared to the Chaotic Evil Gudako, Stelle could be considered pure and kind; after all, she was a child not even three years old.
Only after hearing that Suke didn't want the things she had painstakingly rummaged from the trash did she fish out the items she had picked up from her clothes.
It was fortunate that her outfit had plenty of pockets; otherwise, it would have been tough to stuff so many things in.
Iridium Bar, Ruby, Aquamarine, Fire Quartz...
As one shiny, obviously valuable item after another was fished out by Stelle, it wasn't just the Astral Express crew—Suke's eyelids were twitching too.
Seriously, sis?
It wasn't as if Suke hadn't rummaged through the trash cans in Pelican Town.
It was just that every time he did, it was real trash like driftwood, waste paper, or broken glasses.
Aside from taking up backpack slots, their use was truly limited.
So, afterwards, Suke basically couldn't be bothered to dig anymore.
Elysia and the others didn't seem like the type to rummage through trash cans either. By calculation, the trash cans in Pelican Town probably hadn't been touched by anyone for two years.
But why is it that the moment you, a Stellaron Spirit, dig through them, all sorts of valuable goods come out?
"What a beautiful gem!"
Girls are naturally fond of shiny things, and March 7th was no exception.
"Stelle, can you give me this Aquamarine? I want to use it to custom-make a necklace!"
Although items like gems were far less valuable than metals in this space age, it didn't stop them from being pretty.
"Heheh, if you like it, take it, March!"
"See if you guys say I'm wasting time digging through trash in the future. Now you're envious, right!"
Stelle enjoyed the sense of accomplishment in this moment, as if her long-misunderstood merits had finally been vindicated.
Leaving only Suke questioning his life. Suddenly, he didn't really want to let Stelle return to the Honkai: Star Rail universe.
How about forcibly taking her back?
Looking at her, her build was quite sturdy too. Aside from specializing in rummaging through trash cans, she was also of top quality as a piece of farm equipment.
"It seems you have taken a liking to this child, Animus."
"Do you need me to knock her out again and take her back?"
Just by looking at Suke's eyes, Tsukishiro Yuki understood what was on Suke's mind. She pinched her fingers together, her eyes narrowing slightly. That gaze, sizing Stelle up like an object, made Stelle feel a shudder of cold fear.
"Wh... What do you guys want to do?"
Her sixth sense, symbolizing danger, flared up, and Stelle vigilantly shrank back.
Sensing the aura released by Tsukishiro Yuki, Dan Heng, Welt Yang, and the others also took a step forward, shielding Stelle behind them.
"Friend, we are very grateful that you repaired the train, and also grateful that you brought Stelle back for us."
"If you want repayment, friend, our Astral Express crew will do our utmost to provide it."
"But we hope you will not force the members of our Express to do things against their own will."
Welt Yang spoke up, attempting to negotiate. If possible, he didn't want to engage in conflict with this exceptionally mysterious farmer faction.
Especially regarding the white-haired woman floating behind Suke. Welt Yang could not mistake that look she gave them.
That was a gaze that only monsters like Herrschers possessed when looking at humans!
That young girl viewed them completely as lower life forms; she did not seem like a benevolent sort!
"I forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Suke. As you can see, I am a Farmer operating a farm."
"The one beside me is my fiancée, Tsukishiro Yuki. She is a Great Witch of the Witch clan."
"Because of some rather unpleasant events, she has some opinions regarding humans. I hope you won't mind."
Suke called a halt to the conflict before it could erupt.
"Witch..."
"This... Big Sister is a 'Witch'? That's incredible. It feels like she walked right out of a fairy tale..."
After hesitating for a moment, March 7th finally decided to address Tsukishiro Yuki, who appeared much younger than them, as "Big Sister."
After all, Suke's words implied inside and out that Tsukishiro Yuki was not human, so they certainly couldn't judge her age by human appearances.
"Witch? Is she the same as Herta?"
Stelle, on the other hand, suddenly became interested, the fear she showed earlier vanishing in an instant.
"Then why doesn't this Big Sister wear that kind of Witch Hat that makes the head look pointy? This sun hat is totally less recognizable than Herta's!"
"No, that's not right. Listening to the Farmer Uncle, he means this Big Sister's race is 'Witch', so it must be that Herta took it for granted and got the Witch's appearance and dress code wrong!"
"Wait until I go test the Simulated Universe next time; I definitely have to remind her. And she calls herself a genius? She isn't even particular about costumes!"
Stelle expressed skepticism about Madam Herta's gold standard as an Emanator of Erudition. If she couldn't even get the clothing of the Witch race accurate, what kind of genius was she?
"By the way, Farmer Uncle, speaking of which, can I go into that small town again?!"
"I still have so many trash cans I haven't had time to check. In the end, I was forcefully summoned by that girl dressed as a Grim Reaper using some method, and then knocked out by her..."
Stelle scratched her head in embarrassment and tentatively asked Suke:
"Since you said you're a Farmer, Uncle, are you still short of hands there?"
"As long as you let me go rummage through the trash cans I didn't get to, I'm willing to work for you, Uncle!"
Well, Suke had still underestimated the uniquely large heart of this Stellaron Spirit.
He should have thought of it earlier. For someone like Stelle, who would happily run three hundred and sixty-five miles for twenty Stellar Jades, inducement was definitely more suitable than coercion.
"Done!"
"Actually, there's something I didn't tell you. The trash cans in the town on my land 'refresh' every other day."
"Refresh?"
"That's right, just as you imagine, Ah-Star."
"You mean...?!" Stelle's eyes widened, and her mouth fell slightly open, as if she had heard some incredible news.
This was the reaction Suke wanted.
To gain a tool-person with ultra-high work motivation without spending a slot in a Cabin.
He only needed to pay out the opportunity to rummage through trash cans daily, which was useless to him and didn't even affect him.
As for the things Stelle found earlier, although they were indeed quite valuable, to Suke, they were just a drop in the bucket. After all, the Iridium Bars in his warehouse were counted by the hundreds.
So what if he gave them to Stelle?
This business was a guaranteed profit with no loss!
It was just a pity that the season in Stardew Valley was currently winter, so there wasn't much work for Stelle to do.
Otherwise, Suke couldn't wait to test her production efficiency!
"Yes, you just need to..."
"Hey, peddler, how much for this purple metal?"
Before Suke could continue luring Stelle, who had already fallen into a state of envisioning the future, a woman's voice asking for a price suddenly came from beside him.
Turning to look, he saw a female figure wearing a large, pointy hat appear at some unknown time.
She pointed at the items in front of Stelle, which she had dug out and hadn't had time to put back yet, and asked Stelle the price of that purple metal (Iridium Bar).
"Of course, you can also choose to give this thing directly to me, and I won't pursue the matter of someone criticizing my clothing just now."
"What do you think, my little Simulated Universe tester?"
____
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