[Snezhnaya, Late At Night]
“Great, so you haven’t gone to sleep yet either, Neo.”
When Neo sat up in bed in a daze and pulled open the curtains, the girl outside stopped singing and smiled.
“Lady Columbina, is there something you need this late at night…?”
Neo raised a hand and rubbed his eyes, asking the girl standing in the courtyard outside the window with a somewhat resigned expression.
The girl had long hair that faded from black to purplish-red.
A thin white hollow-patterned mesh blindfold covered her tightly closed eyes, and behind her head were three pairs of small wing-shaped hair ornaments.
At this moment, she was wearing the coat of a Fatui Harbinger and quietly standing in the moonlit courtyard.
“No, I just wanted to sing for you. It’s great that you’re still awake.”
The girl under the moonlight nodded lightly, looking somewhat happy.
“…”
Hearing this, Neo raised a hand and covered his forehead.
He understood now.
It was all because he had praised her singing earlier that day, saying that she sang beautifully.
Although Neo really did think she sang beautifully, it was the middle of the night.
He had only just finished training not long ago, and he was exhausted and really needed to rest.
“Lady Columbina, I think Lady Sandrone seems to enjoy listening to you sing too. How about you go sing outside her door as well? She’ll definitely be happy.”
Left with no choice, Neo could only divert the trouble elsewhere, making this suggestion to the girl named Columbina outside the window.
“Really? I’ve gone there before, but she didn’t seem to like it very much.”
“But since you said so, I’ll go find Sandrone and try again later.”
Hearing Neo’s suggestion, Columbina nodded seriously in agreement.
“Mm, if you’re not asleep yet, Neo, could you do me a favor?”
After agreeing, Columbina did not leave.
Instead, she came up to the window and asked Neo, who was still sitting on the bed in his pajamas.
Neo liked the feeling of being woken by sunlight after dawn, so the bed in his bedroom was right beside the window.
“Of course. Lady Columbina, what is it…?”
Unable to hold back a yawn, Neo could only force himself to stay awake.
“Snowy is hungry. Do you have anything to eat here?”
As Columbina spoke, she suddenly lifted a white Treasure Hoarder Weasel from beneath the window with both hands.
This was a wild Treasure Hoarder Weasel that Neo usually fed, and he had named it Snowy.
Columbina occasionally came to see Neo, so she also knew this Treasure Hoarder Weasel.
“Ah… so I forgot to feed it?”
“I still have two biscuits here. Let’s see if Snowy will eat them.”
Seeing the Treasure Hoarder Weasel being held up by its forelegs in Columbina’s hands, Neo finally remembered.
He reached over to the bedside table, took two biscuits, and handed them outside the window.
“Mm.”
Columbina freed one hand and took the biscuits.
She then opened the package, handed one of them to the Treasure Hoarder Weasel, and ate the other herself.
“Now it won’t go hungry. Neo, make sure you get some rest. I’ll go find Sandrone first.”
Having solved the Treasure Hoarder Weasel’s hunger problem, Columbina placed it on the windowsill with one hand.
She then said goodbye to Neo while chewing on her biscuit before turning around and leaving.
“Good night, Lady Columbina…”
Neo watched Columbina’s back as she left.
Once she reached the courtyard gate, she simply disappeared.
Clearly, when she came to Neo’s courtyard, she had no need for a key.
“Snowy, did you fail to beg for food again? What a fool.”
After Columbina left, Neo finally reached out and poked the Treasure Hoarder Weasel on the head with a finger.
He only fed this Treasure Hoarder Weasel occasionally and had never actually adopted it.
Normally, it wandered around the city begging for food, but it was not nearly as clever as other Treasure Hoarder Weasels and often went hungry.
The Treasure Hoarder Weasel quickly dodged away and ran to the other side of the windowsill.
After finishing the biscuit in its paws, it raised its forelegs and bowed to Neo before turning around, jumping down from the windowsill, and disappearing into the flowers and plants in the courtyard.
Seeing that the Treasure Hoarder Weasel had also left, Neo closed the window and crawled back into his warm blanket.
Not long afterward, Columbina’s singing could be heard outside the residence of one of the Harbingers in Snezhnaya.
The next morning, although he had been disturbed last night, Neo was still full of energy after waking up.
After a quick wash and getting dressed, Neo left the house.
Ever since becoming Columbina’s only long-term direct subordinate, Neo had become one of the two most idle people in all of Snezhnaya.
The other was Columbina.
Because the Tsaritsa never assigned any work to Columbina, the Harbinger did not have any other soldiers stationed under her who were ready to respond at any time.
As a result, Neo also basically had no missions.
But Neo could not stay idle.
After discovering that Columbina and Sandrone had a fairly good relationship, as well as for another important reason, he would go over every so often to help Sandrone test her equipment.
Today happened to be another testing day.
Neo casually bought some bread from a roadside stall to fill his stomach and soon arrived at Sandrone’s residence, an extremely large mechanical research institute.
As researchers among the Harbingers, compared with Dottore, Sandrone had a particular fondness for mechanical creations.
“Columbinaaa! This is my final warning! If you dare come sing outside my house in the middle of the night again, I’ll snap your neck! I’ll knock your head right off!”
Not long after taking out his pass and entering the Puppet’s research institute, Neo heard Sandrone’s voice.
“Alright, sorry, Sandrone. I thought you would like it.”
Neo walked closer in that direction and also heard Columbina’s regretful voice.
‘Tsk…’
‘Lady Columbina didn’t tell her that I was the one who suggested it, did she…?’
Before reaching the door, Neo’s footsteps stopped for a moment, and he felt somewhat worried.
“Hmph. Then hurry up and eat. Once you’re done, go back. I don’t have time to keep you company today.”
“Thank you, Sandrone.”
After listening to the conversation inside, Neo hesitated for a while before raising his hand and knocking on the door.
“Who is it?!”, Sandrone was clearly still angry.
Hearing the knock, she responded impatiently.
“I-it’s me, Lady Sandrone. Today is the testing day…”
Neo carefully opened the door a crack and stuck his head inside.
As he answered, he looked toward Columbina, who was sitting beside the table with her back to the door, as well as the other girl sitting opposite her.
The girl was rather petite.
Her long flaxen hair was tied behind her head, leaving only two strands hanging over her shoulders in front.
She wore a headpiece and was dressed in a Harbinger coat similar to Columbina’s.
Her blue eyes were glancing toward the doorway.
“Oh, it’s you. Perfect timing. I finished the thing I mentioned last time. I’ll use you for testing today. Let’s go straight to the testing grounds.”
Seeing Neo, the girl named Sandrone immediately stood up and walked outside.
“Ah, Sandrone, wait for me…”
Columbina turned around and looked at Neo and Sandrone, then at the lavish breakfast on the table, even though she had not opened her eyes at all.
After hesitating for a while, Columbina first picked up a small cake and held it in her mouth.
She then picked up a plate of pastries in each hand before getting up and following them.
After catching up with Neo and Sandrone, Columbina handed the pastries in her two hands to them.
“What?”, Seeing the plate of pastries she offered, Sandrone crossed her arms and spoke somewhat irritably.
“Mm…”
With a piece of cake in her mouth, Columbina could only look at Neo and gesture with the plate in her other hand.
Neo immediately understood and took the plate from her hands.
Only then did Columbina free one hand and grab the cake in her mouth.
“Neo said breakfast is something you have to eat. Sandrone, you haven’t eaten yet, so I brought this for you.”, Only after taking the cake out of her mouth did Columbina explain to Sandrone.
“You’re so troublesome. I’ll just go back and eat after the test.”
Sandrone turned her head and continued walking toward the testing grounds without taking the pastries Columbina offered.
Seeing this, Columbina could only eat the cake herself first.
Then, with her hand free, she picked up the pastries and pushed them toward Sandrone’s mouth.
“Hey! Columbina, that’s enough. I… Mmm?”
Sandrone turned her head left and right to dodge for a while.
Just as she angrily opened her mouth to curse Columbina, Columbina took the opportunity to stuff the pastry into it.
Nearby, Neo silently ate from the other plate of pastries, taking the attitude of watching the show and not disturbing them.
Just as Sandrone was about to lose her temper, the three finally arrived at the testing grounds.
There were already quite a few soldiers here, adjusting the equipment according to Sandrone’s instructions.
Seeing this, Sandrone could only glare fiercely at the innocent-looking Columbina before looking toward Neo.
“I installed the new device on Anti-Neo III yesterday. Go stand in the middle of the testing grounds. We can start right away.”
“But don’t blame me for not warning you. Anti-Neo III’s power is different from the previous two models. If you don’t want to suffer, pay attention.”
Sandrone raised a finger toward the testing grounds and reminded Neo.
“Understood, Lady Sandrone.”
Neo had already finished the pastries on the plate.
He answered and casually placed the plate on a nearby table before walking toward the middle of the testing grounds.
“Was Sandrone worried about him just now?”
Columbina followed Sandrone to the platform with the best view at the highest point of the testing grounds and asked curiously.
“Huh?”
“I’m just afraid he’ll fall too soon and I won’t be able to get the data I want, that’s all.”, Hearing Columbina’s words, Sandrone immediately denied it.
To Sandrone, Neo was a rare volunteer.
Other people did not dare let her test the power of new devices on them.
Meanwhile, Neo walked to the edge of the testing grounds, took off his military coat, and handed it to a Fatui soldier nearby for safekeeping.
At the same time, various devices for monitoring his data were attached to his body.
These devices were fairly light and did not affect Neo’s movements much.
After finishing all this, Neo walked to the center of the testing grounds and looked back at Columbina and Sandrone on the platform.
‘This should be the last test…’, Neo muttered to himself.
“Why are you looking at us? Anti-Neo III has already entered the field.”
Noticing Neo looking over, Sandrone pressed a button on the table in front of her on the platform and reminded him through the loudspeaker.
Neo immediately turned his head.
Sure enough, he saw a giant machine nearly three meters tall slowly enter the testing grounds.
The bottom of the giant machine moved on tracks like a tank.
Its thick armored top was equipped with four flexible mechanical arms, each loaded with various weapons designed specifically against Neo.
Anti-Neo III, a siege-type machine manufactured by Sandrone based on Neo’s data, was a mobile fortress with extremely terrifying defensive and offensive power.
Back when it was still Anti-Neo II, it could already independently clear out ten Ruin Guards or two Ruin Graders.
“Testing begins.”
Following Sandrone’s command, the core on top of Anti-Neo III instantly lit up red, locking onto Neo as its target.
But it did not choose a ranged attack, because the first test was close-combat data.
It therefore increased its power and charged toward Neo, aiming the huge drill spinning rapidly on its left arm at him.
“A drill? Could it be trying to break through my defense with a drill…?”, Neo muttered as he gathered the power of his Vision into his right hand.
“Stand Behind the Bronn!”
As Neo’s voice fell, a huge, thick ice shield formed in his hand and was raised directly in front of him, intending to clash head-on with Anti-Neo III.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Stand Behind the Bronn! (Indestructible): LV1]
[Raise an ice shield that can block ranged attacks from the front. The first time you use the ice shield to face a frontal attack in the same battle, Absolute Defense is triggered. Afterward, you gain 35% frontal damage reduction.]
[Upgrade condition: Has a chance to trigger after the shield is shattered]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
“…You thought this move would work?”
Seeing Neo’s actions, the corners of Sandrone’s mouth curled into a smug smile.
The instant Neo raised the shield, Anti-Neo III’s drill had already slammed into his ice shield.
However, the terrifying force was instantly canceled out.
Neo stood where he was without moving at all, and the huge drill spinning at high speed could not even scrape a chip of ice from the surface of the shield.
Just as Neo thought he could easily block the first wave of attacks as usual, Anti-Neo III’s other three arms rose above the ice shield and aimed their weapons at Neo.
“…Weren’t you supposed to be collecting close-combat data?”
“Weaklings, begone!”
Seeing this, Neo froze for a moment before immediately using his next skill, raising his left hand and swinging it forward.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Weaklings, Begone: LV2]
[Can form a dark shockwave that knocks back enemies within a fan-shaped area in front, and can knock back enemies whose physical attributes are weaker than your own by a greater distance. At this time, the enemy will cause a brief stun effect to all enemies struck along the way. The range increases with the skill level.]
[Upgrade condition: Has a chance to trigger when pushing away weak enemies and causing a stun effect to powerful enemies along the way]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
As Neo’s voice fell, the dark shockwave instantly passed over the ice shield and swept forward in a fan-shaped area, crashing into Anti-Neo III.
Bang!
The enormous impact instantly sent even Anti-Neo III, a heavy siege machine, flying into the air.
Although it did not fly very far, it still gave Neo some temporary distance from it.
However, seeing this, Sandrone remained completely unperturbed with her arms crossed over her chest.
‘Hm…?’
Just then, Neo also noticed the problem.
Although Anti-Neo III had been knocked back, its drill had remained lodged in Neo’s shield.
It turned out that the mechanical arm carrying the drill also had a clamp-like device.
Although the drill could not destroy the shield, the clamp had directly gripped both sides of the shield to secure it.
There was also a chain connecting the drill to Anti-Neo III’s mechanical arm.
By the time Neo discovered the problem, Anti-Neo III, having landed, immediately began retracting the chain.
Neo instantly felt an enormous force trying to pull the ice shield in his hands away.
Neo hurriedly steadied himself and held onto the ice shield, but Anti-Neo III used this opportunity to give full power and rapidly charged toward him.
“Hmph. I didn’t just input all your data into Anti-Neo III. The new device added this time is a specially designed voice recognition system.”
“And your biggest weakness is… every time you use a move, you always have the habit of shouting the corresponding line.”
On the platform, Sandrone smugly brushed back her hair, as if she had already foreseen Anti-Neo III’s victory.
Bang!
Anti-Neo III, having closed in on Neo again, slammed heavily into the ice shield.
Having lost the Absolute Defense from the first attack, this attack made Neo slide backward for some distance, leaving dents in the floor of the testing grounds that should have been solid.
“Voice… recognition?”
Neo could hear Sandrone’s voice from the platform, leaving him somewhat stunned.