Night World Players

Chapter 59 Brother Rast, do you think I can become a shore keeper? (Two in one)

"Hourglass in the fire?"

Through the spiritual connection with Rast, Hiltina gazed at the world in front of her that was outlined by spiritual strokes.

"Ah."

Rust nodded: "I'm not sure what form it exists in. Maybe it's a ghost, maybe it's a phantom, or maybe it's some kind of doll or puppet..."

"But I know very well that if she were still the normal Fran, her spiritual manifestation would never look like it does now."

"There is no doubt that Fran's true soul has disappeared... What you saw was just an empty shell."

Hiltina stood there, watching the hourglass that symbolized Fran gradually disappear in the firelight until it completely disappeared from her spiritual vision.

She closed her eyes gently.

After a long time, when Hiltina opened her eyes again.

In those beautiful light brown eyes, all the confusion, reluctance and complexity faded away, returning to calmness, like the bright stars sinking at the bottom of the lake.

"I understand."

Through the spiritual connection, Rast heard the voice of Hiltina, a clear voice without a trace of gloom.

"Where do we go next?"

"Go to the mayor's house in the center of town... follow the guidance of the "Eye of Secrets", and the clues to Frozen Water Town may be there."

……

When Rast and Hiltina found the small building belonging to the mayor, they were immediately warmly received.

"It's actually Mr. Shore Guardian!"

The old mayor with a gray beard opened the door and greeted them warmly: "I believe you two are the shore keepers of the lighthouse outside Dongshui Town. It is my honor to receive you two."

"I never thought that I would be able to see Mr. Guardian again in my lifetime."

See you again?
Laster captured the meaning of the old mayor's words.

He thought of the shore keeper named Foden who left a diary on the lighthouse.

At the end of his diary, Foden said that he was going to Frozen Water Town to investigate potential pollution incidents.

"As far as I know, our organization doesn't like to be in the spotlight...Have you ever seen anyone wearing this kind of badge before?"

Rust pointed to the wing emblem on his chest.

"Hmm... I can't be wrong. It's this kind of badge."

The old mayor adjusted his reading glasses, stared at the wing emblem for a long time, and his expression became a little excited.

But what he said was very different from what Last expected: "When I was young, I served as a sailor on the ocean routes between the surviving countries of mankind."

"Once I fell into the water during a huge storm, and was rescued by several people wearing these badges. I later learned that they were called shore watchers, and their mission was to protect the Broken Coast and maintain the last route."

"When the lighthouse was built outside the town, I knew there would be shore guards stationed there, but I was worried that it would interfere with your mission, so I never visited you... I didn't expect that you two would take the initiative to visit me. Your humble abode is truly honored."

As he spoke, he enthusiastically pulled Hiltina and Rast into the mansion.

Rast and Hiltina looked at each other.

There is no doubt that the old mayor has no memory of ever meeting the owner of the diary, Forden, or the other shore watchers played by the traveler.

If the records in Ford's diary are true, then the old mayor in front of him should have also lost some of his memory due to some kind of confusion in time and space.

The moment the old mayor led him into the living room, Rast felt as if he was being watched.

He followed his gaze and saw a little gray-haired girl who timidly poked half of her head out from the backyard of the mansion and secretly looked at Rast and Hiltina who walked into the mansion.

Or to be more precise, he was looking at the winged emblem of the Shore Guardian worn on his and Hiltina's chest.

"Xiao Hui, stop standing there like an idiot. Go call your friends to come for dinner."

The old mayor greeted her, and the gray-haired girl bowed politely and retreated to the backyard.

Her footsteps gradually faded away, and a few childish cheers could be heard faintly from the direction of the backyard.

After saying all this, the old mayor apologized to Rast and Hiltina and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you two."

"Has the mayor adopted a lot of children at home?" Hiltina glanced in the direction of the laughter coming from the backyard.

"Yes." The old mayor nodded. "You two also know that in today's world, who knows if a safe town yesterday will be occupied by the Iron Cross and turned into a disaster the next day. Many children have lost their parents when they are only a few years old."

"Most of the children I adopted were orphans from the town, and there were also street kids like Xiao Hui who came from outside the town."

"Because I was saved by the shore guard when I was young, I wanted to do something within my ability. After getting off the boat, I returned to Dongshui Town to help the town develop. I was elected as the mayor by the townspeople and adopted orphans. I did everything with this in mind."

"Of course, these little things I did are insignificant compared to the heavy mission that the shore guardian shoulders."

The old mayor looked at the children playing in the backyard and said, "I am ashamed to say that I often tell the children the story of the shore guard. Although most of the children just listen to it as a bedtime story, Xiao Hui takes it seriously and often pesters me to ask about the shore guard."

"I only met your organization once when I was young, so I don't know that much about the shore keepers... So I could only rely on my vague memory and some rumors I heard by chance to tell her half-guessingly. Xiao Hui listened very carefully every time."

"If Xiao Hui says something offensive later, please don't be offended."

……

Dinner time came very early. The old mayor wanted to open a separate table for Hiltina and Rast, but Hiltina declined and pulled Rast to sit at the table with the children.

Although the dinner was not sumptuous, the atmosphere was very lively and everyone enjoyed the meal very much.

"Sister Hiltina, Brother Rast."

"Can you take me back and make me one of the shore keepers?"

"I am very hardworking and obedient. I will never cause any trouble to you."

When dinner was almost over, the gray-haired little girl suddenly stood up and asked Hiltina and Rast in a playful tone.

Hiltina was stunned. Before she could figure out how to refuse without hurting the little girl's self-esteem, Last had already spoken.

"I'm sorry, we are just ordinary junior members of the organization and do not have the authority to recommend new members."

"And from what I know, the selection criteria for shore guards is quite strict. Not even one out of ten thousand people will be selected."

"Is that so?" A trace of regret appeared on the face of the gray-haired little girl. But she still stood up obediently and bowed to Rust and Hiltina to apologize: "I'm sorry to bother Brother Rust and Sister Hiltina."

After dinner, Hiltina took out a silver coin, crushed it into small pieces, and distributed them to the children present.

After receiving the change, the other children ran away happily.

Only the little girl with gray hair thanked Hiltina obediently after receiving the change from her: "Thank you, Sister Hiltina. I will definitely use this money to study hard, learn knowledge, and work hard to become someone like Sister Hiltina."

"No need to say this."

Xiltina touched the little girl's head and said, "You can use this money to buy candy, new clothes, or treat your friends to toys or eat delicious food in restaurants. As long as you think it's worth it, it's fine."

"In this world—"

“No matter if you are rich or poor, weak or strong, everyone has the right to enjoy life.”

In the dim candlelight, her eyes flickered.

Next to Hiltina, Rast took in everything that happened, and the ice-blue light in his eyes flashed and disappeared.

Rast picked up the wine glass, and as the bright red liquid surged, he drank a glass of homemade wine from the mayor's family.

……

Night always falls early in rural areas.

This is true for Canaan and also for Dongshui Town.

Just after nine o'clock, most of the lights in the town were turned off.

Hiltina and Rast did not choose to return to the lighthouse to spend the night, even though according to the description in the diary on the lighthouse, it should be a safe zone that would not be affected by the "time and space disorder".

However, staying in the safe zone also means that they will never have the opportunity to find out the truth about Frozen Water Town and the fog.

Fortunately, the mayor's house seemed to have more than one spare room to accommodate orphans. After tidying up, Rast and Hiltina slept in the adjacent room.

Time passes quickly in the darkness.

At about eleven o'clock, there was a very faint sound of footsteps and paused at the door of Rast's room.

Then, a few seconds later, the door of the room was opened silently.

A thin figure tiptoed into the room and glanced at Rast who was sleeping soundly on the bed.

Then, the footsteps paused beside the wooden table, on which was placed the windbreaker that Rast had taken off before going to bed.

She stared at the windbreaker for a long time.

Or to be more precise, he stared at the sterling silver shore guardian wing emblem on his windbreaker for a long time.

After a long silence.

Just when she finally made up her mind and reached out to hold the shore guardian's wing emblem in her palm -

"Can you tell me why you are so interested in becoming a shore watcher?"

In the silent darkness, Rast's calm words were heard.

Almost at the same time as the words rang out, she quickly pressed the wing emblem back to its original place and pretended to pick up the entire dress with her other hand.

The gray-haired girl seemed to be frightened, her slender shoulders trembling slightly: "Brother Rust, the mayor asked me to pick up your and Sister Hiltina's clothes and take them to be washed."

"Originally I should have come to get it before you went to bed, but I accidentally played too much and forgot about it. I was afraid of being scolded by the mayor and worried about disturbing your sleep, so I thought of sneaking in to take it away."

She lowered her eyes, her frail body trembling uncontrollably, and coupled with her timid voice, she looked like a little girl who had accidentally done something wrong and was worried about being scolded by her elders.

"Don't perform this in front of me. It's a pure waste of time."

"I know you are good at acting and you are also good at disguising yourself with false masks."

"You know in your heart that most adults prefer children who are sometimes innocent and cute, but also well-behaved, sensible and polite at other times, so you put on a mask and disguise yourself as this kind of person who does not exist in reality but is the most likable."

"Your acting skills are very good. Not only did you fool your playmates and the old mayor, but even Hiltina didn't see through it."

Luster's voice was calm: "But unfortunately, you met me."

“No one knows more about acting and wearing masks than I do.”

There was a brief silence in the room.

After more than ten seconds, the gray-haired girl raised her head slightly, as if she had finally confirmed that Last was not lying to her.

She still looked thin, but the childish timidity was no longer in her grey eyes. Instead, there was a kind of numbness like a young animal.

"So, can you tell me now?"

Luster stared at the little girl in front of him: "Why did you steal the shorekeeper's badge?"

"Because I want to be one of the shore keepers."

Luster frowned. "Do you think you can become a member of the Shore Watch as long as you get the badge?"

"As long as I get the badge, I can say that this is the last legacy my parents left me... Even if I am not selected, the Shore Guard Headquarters will definitely accept me out of basic courtesy."

Good man, are you going to directly reserve me and Hiltina as your spirit rings?
Luster's voice couldn't help but pause for a moment. "Why do you want to join the Shore Watchers so much? Don't tell me those fake reasons you used before."

"Because I want to live." An inexplicable gleam suddenly flashed across her numb eyes.

"Stay alive? Don't you like life in Frozen Water Town?"

"I was not born in Dongshui Town. Before I came to Dongshui Town, I had wandered through five cities and four villages... But those places were all destroyed without exception. Some were submerged by tsunamis, some were transformed into people who eat people, and some were devoured by wild beasts."

"I have lived in Frozen Water Town for a year and a half. The mayor and others have treated me very well, but I know that this place is not safe. Only a place with the most powerful people is safe enough."

The girl raised her head and said, "I heard from the mayor that the Shore Watchers are a very powerful and great organization... and the Shore Watchers' headquarters has the most powerful person among humans. All the people in a small town combined are no match for them."

"So I must become a shore keeper, because only by joining the shore keeper can I be safe and continue to live."

She looked at Luster with some hope: "Brother Luster."

"Tell me, can I become a shore keeper?"

(End of this chapter)