Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

"Alright, you’ll be safe here. My workshop has pretty good soundproofing, and barely anyone comes in."

Dragged along by Serval, they found themselves within a room with tools and materials haphazardly lying around.

"Just what crime did you commit exactly? They recalled a bunch of Guards from the front line to track you down — it’s unprecedented. Now they’re patrolling the whole city and everyone’s in a panic."

March opened her mouth.

"Oh, we just—"

Dan Heng cut her off.

"Not yet, March."

He looked towards Serval.

"Bronya said we could trust you completely."

The blonde woman raised her brow.

"You mean to say that you don’t trust me completely?"

Dan Heng nodded.

As they spoke, Sunny slightly frowned. After a few moments, he realized that she must have been an Ascended — the same Rank as Cocolia and Sampo. How did someone like that end up working in a workshop of all things?

He could have understood if it was anywhere else, but considering that Belobog needed all the strength that it could get, he found it surprising that she wasn’t assisting in any way. After all, the survival of Belobog directly affected her own.

Considering that he didn’t know enough, he simply stayed silent.

Serval smiled at Dan Heng’s confirmation.

"Good! That’s smart of you. But you needn’t worry, Cocolia and I aren’t even on speaking terms. It was her that ejected me from the Architects — I refuse to stand with her."

A small scowl appeared on her face as she spoke Cocolia’s name.

"I don’t believe you guys would do anything bad, and the Architects are gonna need conclusive and publicly available evidence for me to think otherwise. Besides, I know the Architects, and if they did have any evidence, they would’ve released it by now. I know Cocolia’s style — get everyone into a frenzy first."

She sighed.

"...Most people in a frenzy don’t stop to ponder the details."

...Sunny found that she seemed quite lax about three wanted criminals appearing in her workshop.

His mind locked on to the manner in which she casually referred to Cocolia.

"Do you know Cocolia well?"

A dry chuckle escaped her lips.

"Hehe, you could say that... We were like sisters once — inseparable. Of course, that was all before she became the Supreme Guardian..."

Considering that Serval was a Master — just as Cocolia was — he was able to make a couple deductions.

The two of them were close in the past. As such, it would make sense for the two of them to challenge the Second Nightmare together. However, this closeness only lasted until Cocolia became the Supreme Guardian. This meant that they Ascended before that period of time. It could be said that Cocolia became a Master in preparation to become the Supreme Guardian.

Serval turned to look around her workshop.

"These days I just spend my time fixing things in this workshop and playing music. It’s a pretty carefree existence."

She paused before sighing.

"If I’m not careful I’ll start boring you all with sob stories from the past. Let’s get back to you guys. If long-lost Bronya told you to come here, you must have something important to tell me? You can trust me. I know our paths have only crossed once before, but my intuition tells me you guys are good people. And I’ve got good intuition by the way."

Sunny blinked at the last sentence. Was she insinuating that she had an Aspect Ability or Attribute that was related to her intuition? No wonder she was so relaxed despite the possible danger that they carried. She had already confirmed that it would be safe to let them in.

Anyways, they explained everything they knew about the situation. Their time in the Underworld, what they knew about the Stellaron, and had showed her Bronya’s letter.

She sighed as she returned the letter to Sunny.

"So that’s what’s been happening — no wonder we hadn’t heard from Bronya recently. After all these years in isolation and without a single word from below, this is what’s become of the Underworld... I believe you, there’s no way you could have invented all those twists and turns. What’s more, we have Miss Seele here as living proof. As for the Stellaron... heh, I know why Bronya got you to find me."

Seeing their curious expressions, she explained:

"...When I was still one of the Architects working in the Scientific Research Division, I was researching the Stellaron. I never thought I’d hear that word again after being expelled by the Architects... I’ll tell you everything."

’A researcher?’

That was also a strange occupation for an Awakened... most of the time at least. In fact, Sunny was starting to believe that her Aspect wasn’t combat-related whatsoever. It was probably an information-gathering Aspect instead — mainly due to the fact that she seemed to have an uncanny intuition — which would make sense for a researcher. However, it would be strange to bring a person who’s Aspect was unsuitable for combat into a Nightmare Seed.

He assumed that Cocolia must have valued the improved decision-making that Serval’s Aspect must have given, which meant that she wouldn’t be deadweight within the Nightmare.

Of course, this was all speculation. For all he knew, he might have been completely far off when it came to Serval’s Aspect.

She spoke, explaining what she knew.

"Only a very few people in Belobog know of the existence of the Stellaron. Those that do would never associate it with the Fragmentum or Eternal Freeze. But according to the data recorded in that robot, Svarog... the Architects dug out the truth long ago. The research results were purposely hidden away to ensure that the outside world would never know of them."

She sighed again.

"Just my luck... Out of all the research topics I could’ve chosen, I insisted on the Stellaron. It’s clear now that anyone who wanted to get closer to the truth would have been expelled or ’abandoned’. Maybe I should be thanking Cocolia. All she did was push me out... She could’ve decided to take a more permanent measure."

’Uh... how permanent are we talking about?’

Slightly unnerved by how casually Serval spoke of her own possible demise, Sunny asked:

"How much do you know about the Stellaron?"

She recounted the results of her research.

"I figured out that the Stellaron and the Fragmentum were linked, so I was already close to the truth. It’s a shame that the Architects ejected me before I could discover that the source of the Fragmentum was the Stellaron itself."

She turned around, opening up a drawer. She dug around in it, pulling out a folder. She handed it over to Dan Heng, who opened it to find what seemed to be past records.

"Before I lost my position, I was applying for permission to survey the Stellaron directly. It was my research topic, but I’d never even set eyes on it. My research was all based on historical data and lab simulations. Not long after I submitted my preliminary report and application, I received my punishment. It was obvious that somebody didn’t want my research to continue."

Staring at the extensive data within the folder, Sunny curiously asked:

"How did they let you keep this? Wouldn’t they have... you know... make sure that no information gets leaked?"

A mischievous grin appeared on Serval’s face.

"Those aren’t the original documents. I just copied down everything I remembered after a year of not being monitored. My memory is pretty good."

Sunny’s lips parted slightly in astonishment at the sheer audacity of this woman.

Dan Heng coughed into his fist, clearly thrown off by the sudden admittance of counterfeiting.

"Do you know what Cocolia’s end goal is?"

A wistful sigh escaped her. It seemed that she had a tendency to do that.

"Cocolia... It’s been so many years since we last spoke. We were great friends once — there was nothing we wouldn’t share. She became a completely different person when she took on the Supreme Guardianship. The convictions she once held, her enthusiasm... it was like they were drawn out of her by some mysterious force."

Her eyes flickered over to the folder Dan Heng held.

"She gave the order to expel me herself and refused to see me... I never understood that behavior, and I gave up trying to use logic to work it out a long time ago. Sometimes I even wonder whether she really did become a different person... is that possible? Perhaps there’s a single guardian’s consciousness that gets handed down from generation to generation... and the real Cocolia has already vanished. Is she being compelled by previous generations of guardians to make such baffling decisions? Who knows... but this might make for good songwriting material."

The last portion was spoken with a wry grin.

Remembering that Bronya spoke of Gepard in her letter, Sunny asked:

"Can we talk to Gepard?"

Serval blinked. She shook her head.

"Gepard? Not a chance... He’s a decent guy, but also famously uncompromising. For my brother, orders are more important than anything. Even if you stuck Bronya’s letter to his forehead, he wouldn’t be swayed."

’...Could his Flaw make him really stubborn? If not, then he might just be an idiot.’

Serval continued:

"You need to choose your words carefully if you want to persuade him of something. It might be best if I talk to him... though I’d need a strategy first."

Sunny was slightly disappointed. After all, he had witnessed Gepard’s strength during the scuffle between him and March. If they were able to convince him to assist them...

’Then I would have a decent meatshield... uh... fighter! Yes, a completely normal combatant who wouldn’t be used to take hits...’

Lastly, Sunny asked the most important question.

"Do you know where the Stellaron is?"

Serval nodded.

"Yes. I never observed it directly, but I used lab simulations and outbound surveys to establish a rough location. According to the survey results, the Stellaron is likely to the north of Belobog... somewhere near, or even on Everwinter Hill."

Dan Heng placed a hand over his mouth, deep in thought.

"...We must locate it as soon as possible — ideally before Cocolia takes action. Can you tell us the way?"

Serval paused.

"I’m afraid telling you might not be enough. The area to the north of Belobog has been more or less swallowed up by the Fragmentum. If you want to get to the northern Snow Plains, you’ll need to get past the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone on the front lines first. Even if you get past the restricted zone in one piece... you’ll have a whole heap of Fragmentum to deal with."

Sunny blinked.

"Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone?"

Wasn’t the place they had escaped through also a restricted zone? Were they different?

Serval replied:

"Yes. That’s where the main force of the Silvermane Guards is stationed. They’ve consolidated their position there in order to resist the encroaching Fragmentum. Er... considering that you’re not from here, it’s probably a bit confusing. After all, every Fragmentum is called a restricted zone."

From what Sunny could get from that, a ’restricted zone’ was an umbrella term for every area that has been corroded by the Fragmentum. The Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone was located at the border between the Fragmentum and the rest of Belobog.

’What redundant terminology...’

A look of concern appeared on March’s face.

"It sounds like... The three of us and Seele might not be enough. Why don’t we go back underground and get Wildfire to come with us?"

Sunny clicked his tongue.

"Are you an idiot? What are a bunch of malnourished foot soldiers going to do? If it was that simple, then the Eternal Freeze would have disappeared centuries ago!"

The two of them glared at each other. Serval cut the tension as she spoke:

"Hey, enough pessimism! Back in my ’official capacity’ days, I spent a lot of time in the north — I got to know the soldiers and officers on the front line very well. This calls for brainwaves, not ’brawnwaves’. How about I take you over myself?"

March’s expression brightened up.

"Really? Great! Phew, it’s less scary if someone you know is leading the way!"

Serval laughed.

"I wanna see the Stellaron too, y’know — it was my research topic for over a decade. You don’t get that many decades in life."

The moment she finished speaking, a knocking sound reverberated from outside — where the front door was. An alarmed expression appeared on Serval’s face.

"D—Darn it! I forgot my brother said he’d be around today... Find somewhere to hide — quick — I’ll handle him!"