Night World Players

Chapter 81 Don't Abandon Little Tina
The night is already deep.

Most of the buildings had begun to turn off their lights, leaving only the street lamps which were being lit one by one, emitting mercury-white light, briefly illuminating the silent night.

When Hiltina came back to her senses from her conversation with Last, she found that they had walked a long way along an unknown fork in the main road of the academy.

After turning a corner at the end of the street, what comes into view is a four-story dormitory covered with white tiles.

Hiltina stopped and stood in front of the bronze door of the dormitory.

She subconsciously turned her head and looked at Rast.

If I remember correctly, they seemed to be wandering around the campus aimlessly just now, but in fact, it was Rast who was consciously guiding the direction of their progress.

That is to say-

It was Rast who took the initiative to lead her here, to this dormitory with white tiles.

"Laster, do you know this place?"

"Ah."

Lust nodded.

"This is the dormitory where you lived when you first entered college as a freshman."

"Or in other words, it's the student apartment where you and Fran once lived...right?"

"How do you know all this?" Hiltina asked subconsciously.

"So... don't underestimate the awareness of a gigolo."

Luster couldn't help but smile.

"If I don't investigate the customer's preferences, interpersonal relationships, and even relevant intelligence beforehand...how can I possibly provide a zero-negative-review service to the customer?"

certainly--

Don't underestimate the appeal of your own Infinity Blade Nightblade.

He added silently in his mind.

……

On the other side, Hiltina's sight was completely fixed on the dormitory in front of her.

This house with white walls and a green roof looks quite simple compared to other dormitories in the college, especially the single-family villas specially provided for the twelve seats of the round table like Hiltina.

However, this is indeed where Hiltina once lived.

In her first days at school, she spent a relatively warm time in this dormitory. She went to class with Fran inseparable, went on adventures in the night world, and made a group of new friends in the dormitory.

Although, that time did not last long.

Thinking of this, Hiltina set her gaze on the two adjacent windows on the third floor of the dormitory.

The windows on other floors of the dormitory were all letting out warm orange light, but those two windows had even the rain shields down. It was pitch black inside the windows, with no signs of life left.

This is a matter of course.

After all, the former owner of these two adjacent rooms had become the target of public criticism and had moved alone to the dormitory provided by Lionheart Court.

As for the other person, he had already fallen asleep forever in the night world not long ago.

After moving out of here, Hiltina had passed by the area countless times, but each time she subconsciously avoided this place that would bring back bad memories for her.

She never thought that she would come back here again.

Because, a young man who has nothing to do with this dormitory.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Hiltina looked at Rast beside her and spoke softly.

Then she saw the person in front of her shrug.

"Because I think, since you have chosen this path."

"Then here is what you must face and reconcile with."

“Only by saying goodbye to the past completely can we embark on a new journey without any worries.”

"and--"

Luster paused for a moment.

"According to my investigation."

"Ms. Fran, it seems that she also left something here for you."

"Flan?"

As she uttered these confused words, Hiltina saw that Rast had walked to the bronze gate and gently knocked on the door of the dormitory.

The sound of knocking on the door echoed in the night sky.

Then, after a moment of silence, the door creaked open.

A middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties walked out.

"Are you...Laster, the classmate I made an appointment with on the chat app earlier?"

The middle-aged woman had a brief exchange with Rast.

Then, the middle-aged woman passed Rast and saw the girl who subconsciously hid her body behind Rast.

"Hiltina."

The moment she saw Hiltina, a complicated expression appeared on the middle-aged woman's face.

This is a logical development.

This middle-aged woman is the dormitory manager of this student dormitory, and she has a good relationship with Fran and other members of the strategy group.

Anyone who saw the culprit who was rumored to have killed the students in his dormitory would probably find it difficult to greet him with a smile.

After discovering her, the dormitory manager turned around and walked into the dormitory. Hiltina couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

Because she had no expectations before, she could not care at all.

But at this moment, because she had made up her mind to reconcile with the world, her expectations arose again... So when someone who was originally familiar with her showed such an expression, her heart could no longer be as unshakable as before.

However, after a few seconds.

The dormitory manager came out with a small box.

Then, in front of Hiltina's surprised eyes, she put the small wooden box into Hiltina's hands. "Take it, this is something Fran asked me to leave for you."

"What did Fran leave for me?"

"Ah."

"Every time before Fran entered the night world, she would give me a small wooden box and told me that if she couldn't come back, she would ask me to find a way to pass the box to you."

"And this time, that lovely and lively girl really didn't come back..."

The middle-aged woman's voice dropped a little: "I originally wanted to hand it over through the Student Union, but at noon, classmate Last contacted me and said he would bring you to pick it up."

"I was a little skeptical at first, but I didn't expect you to actually come back... because of a boy I've never heard of."

She placed the wooden box in Xiltina's hands, then turned and left.

When they were almost at the door, the dormitory manager stopped and looked back at Hiltina with a complicated look.

"Besides, I don't know whether the rumors in the academy are true or false. I am old and don't have the sharp judgment like you."

"But I know... at least when Fran was alive, she never resented you even once. She even often took the initiative to defend you when faced with those malicious rumors."

After saying this, the dormitory manager's somewhat bloated figure disappeared into the dormitory gate.

On the empty street shrouded in the night, only Hiltina and Last were left.

"Why don't you open it and take a look?"

Rast's faint voice rang out along with the evening breeze.

Almost at the same time, Xiltina opened the wooden box impatiently.

Inside the wooden box was a piece of white letter paper.

[Hiltina, by the time you see this letter, I should have already died, buried in the remnants of the disaster in the night world.]

[Because if I could come back alive, I actually wanted to take advantage of the 900th anniversary celebration to apologize to you in person and give you this gift... It doesn't matter whether you accept it or not, little Tina.]

[This time, the Echo of the Disaster Raiders will undoubtedly be very dangerous, so even if I and many others died in it, you don’t have to blame yourself, Little Tina... The reason why we entered the Echo of the Disaster despite knowing the danger was not because of you, but out of our own decision. Before entering, we had already prepared for death. ]

[This may make you feel a little strange. Maybe in Xiao Tina's eyes, the reason why I parted ways with you is because I was cowardly and afraid of death, which made me unable to keep up with you. ]

[But that’s not the case. I’m not afraid of death. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have chosen to join Star University from the beginning, let alone become a member of the Raiders Group.]

[The reason why I broke up with you was actually because I didn’t agree with your philosophy. You cared too much about the results but ignored the process itself.]

[You have never forced me, and there are other members who must go with you. We can withdraw at any time... But compared to them, I am most worried about you, Hiltina, because you have never learned to cherish yourself, but put yourself in danger again and again.]

[You are like a sword that has been through many battles, has countless cracks and gaps, and has reached the limit of metal fatigue, but has never been able to maintain itself... If you continue like this, sooner or later you will break into pieces.]

[I don’t want to see the moment when you fall apart alone. I want you to understand the importance of rest. I want to use the team to protect you. I want you to understand that the process is as important as the result. That’s why I had that big fight with you…]

[But I didn't expect that the angry words at that time would be taken out of context and spread out, and then fanned the flames by various intentional and unintentional people, and eventually turned into the terrible rumors that they are today. ]

[I have spoken and explained for you countless times in the news agency and on campus newspapers... but it is completely useless. Once the storm of public opinion is formed, people are only willing to believe what they want to see and turn a deaf ear to the truth.]

[This is a crime I committed myself, because my unintentional actions led to such bad consequences. ]

[I am not saying this to ask for your forgiveness, Little Tina. I know that no matter how much I say, it will not undo the harm I have done to you.]

【But even so, I still have to apologize to you for this and try to make amends. 】

[I have set up a mechanism. Once this wooden box is opened, my explanation statement will be forwarded to news agencies and other places...]

[No one cares about the explanations I made when I was alive, so when I die, what I say should have some weight.]

The evening breeze blew through the street, folding the page of letter to the back.

[Sorry for rambling so much. I know you are not the kind of person who cares about other people's opinions, but I can't be like you. I still can't help but care about these trivial things that you think are insignificant.]

[Actually, this letter should have ended here, but during the pre-war meeting of the Echo of the Disaster, I unexpectedly discovered a change in you.]

[Perhaps you haven't even noticed it yourself, but in my eyes, this change is so obvious... In addition to conquering the night world, you have begun to care about things. Even in the intervals between the conquering meetings, you will occasionally be in a daze. ]

【That's something you've never done before.】

[I tried to use my network to investigate the root cause of your change, and the conclusion I came to was... it was all because of a freshman named Last.]

[You changed after entering a certain night world, and it was there that he first appeared, completed psychological testing, and entered the academy.]

[I feel so lost~]

[I have been expecting you to change... but unfortunately, the person who can make you truly cherish yourself is not me.]

[Looking at the student information, he seems to be a very handsome boy... But according to my experience, the more handsome a boy is, the more likely he is to become a scumbag, whether he becomes one actively or passively, so Xiao Tina, you must be on your guard and don't give other bad women any chance to take advantage of you. ]

[Oh, by the way, I also left a gift for you, little Tina. ]

jingle.

A small emblem fell quietly from the letter paper and landed in the palm of Hiltina's hand.

The pattern engraved on the emblem is not the morning star breaking through the sky, but a silent night sky dotted with faint starlight.

As Hiltina's mind moved slightly, the small and delicate emblem turned into a rushing night.

In the hands of Hiltina, it condensed into a rapier with a deep blue color.

[I've wanted to complain for a long time. Little Tina, your "Twinkling Morning Star" is good, but it's too extreme.]

[Like a fleeting shooting star... The morning star's brilliance is indeed dazzling, but the price it pays is that it will be completely annihilated when it falls to the earth.]

[Just like your own style, Little Tina, you only care about aggression and killing, but never care about your own safety. ]

[I named this new emblem "Sword of the Night Sky"]

[I hope you can use this sword to protect yourself, who is covered in wounds, and the person you care about now, as gently as the night sky.]

[And the stars that I have transformed into on the obelisk will also quietly watch over you in the night sky.]

【The last one. 】

【Take care of yourself, little Tina, you get hurt too easily. 】

[And that guy called Rust, are you watching? ]

[Don’t let little Tina down, don’t let her cry, don’t deceive her feelings, don’t abandon her…]

[Take good care of her. If I find out that you betrayed Little Tina, I won’t let you go even if I become a ghost! ]

(End of this chapter)