On the bustling streets of Kolosten, an out-of-place carriage appeared.
Its appearance was plain, yet the details were exquisitely crafted; a brief glance was enough for anyone to tell it apart from the ordinary.
In this place gathered by wealthy merchants and nobles, the local residents had long since developed a reliable set of criteria for judging carriages of various styles.
Take merchants for instance; they were often keen on decorating their carriages, as if those sparkling gems could make up for their own shortcomings.
Such carriages were usually high-profile, acting just like a series of mobile jewelry boxes.
As for the nobles, they each had their own tastes.
The vast majority of them had already transcended the vulgar hobby of using carriages as a platform to display their wealth, turning instead to unique and original designs.
Therefore, most of their carriages were luxurious yet equally artistic.
Unsure of the identity of the people inside, the crowds and passing carriages subconsciously chose to steer clear, leaving an empty zone in the middle of the slightly crowded street.
“Otto, have you ever come out alone? How does it feel?”
Unaware of the situation outside, Vester pulled open the curtains, exposing her face and Otto’s clearly to the people outside.
‘So they’re from the Apocalypse family.’
There was no other reason for this judgment; the pair’s characteristic blonde hair and green eyes were simply too recognizable in Kolosten.
“Vester, is shopping what you wanted to do?”
Otto found it somewhat hard to understand.
Shopping and buying things—it was completely normal for young girls to enjoy such activities.
However, based on Otto’s understanding of Vester, her hobbies were clearly different from the flashy noble misses he was familiar with…
Could it really be, as the elders said, that all females were bound by this inescapable convention?
“Ah, right, right.”
Vester said this while glancing to the side, her face already wearing a “plan’s a success” expression.
In fact, ever since she met Otto and decided to ride on his coattails, an idea had already formed in her mind.
As everyone knows, Otto’s image in Honkai Impact 3rd is extremely contradictory.
He is both a fool striving for an illusory hope for five hundred years, and a wise man treating the world as a chessboard and manipulating people in the palm of his hand.
He is an egoist who stops at nothing to achieve his goals, yet he is capable of placing his very existence on the scale for the sake of others.
He is a villain who tramples on ethics and morals to fulfill his wishes, yet he is a grandfather who can cast aside benefits to dote on his granddaughter.
To borrow a phrase from netizens of a past life:
This world is not simply black and white; Otto is that stroke of exquisite gray.
Placed in reality, a person like Otto would definitely become a heavily featured figure in history books.
People might call him inhumane, think he is overly cold-blooded, and attack him for violating human ethics.
Yet, no matter what, people could never say he was “wrong”.
Because what he did genuinely protected humanity’s future.
But then again, this didn’t stop most players from wishing Otto would hurry up and die.
After all, this is Honkai Impact 3rd, not the real world; the 2D world has its own rules.
After all, Otto had schemed many innocent people and Captains’ wives to their deaths.
The enmity of killing one’s wife is irreconcilable!
Moreover, Otto’s personality directly led to many subsequent tragedies: his split and eternal farewell with Kallen, Anti-Entropy’s defection, the human experiments at Babylon Tower…
The list goes on and on.
These were all to fight Honkai, or so they said, but didn’t Emperor Kiana next door still shout about friendship and bonds, using a single positive-energy flying kick to directly suppress Honkai and rule through the ages?
If Otto became like Kiana—always talking about friendship and bonds, entering flashbacks in desperate situations to burst out with positive energy and blast out his purity—then Honkai would have been sweating profusely long ago, scared away by Otto into carrying trains to escape the Milky Way overnight.
Hence, Vester’s verdict was that Otto still needs more practice.
‘Otto, I’m going to ruthlessly correct you!’
Vester was basically playing a raising simulation game here.
The first step in this was to give him a great dream.
“Otto, this is the feeling of peace, looking at them, don’t you have the idea of wanting to protect their smiles?”
“Uh, yes, yes there is?”
Seeing Vester’s serious expression, Otto didn’t react for a moment and stuttered out a response.
Seeing this, the blonde girl didn’t waste any words, grabbed his hand directly, and jumped off the carriage:
“Aiya, just come with me and you’ll see.”
As for Otto, Vester’s abrupt action made his face flush red instantly.
‘Vester’s hand, so soft!’
“Otto, look at that family over there…”
‘Flower fragrance, Vester’s body actually has this kind of scent.’
“Uhm, everyone is working hard to live…”
‘So soft, so fragrant.’
The scene shifted.
The two walked down the crowded street.
One looked anxious, like a test-taker racking their brains and making far-fetched connections to elevate the theme of an essay fifteen minutes before collection time, while the other simply zoned out, even associating it with some decadent, less-than-family-friendly things.
…
“How is it, Otto, do you have any thoughts?”
“Aba aba.”
Otto didn’t speak, just nodded blindly.
“Hajio, you guy.”
You brat really are completely impervious to reason!
After talking for over an hour, Vester’s throat was dry, yet Otto acted like a total bot the entire time, driving her to the point of overheating.
“Otto, are you listening?!”
“Eek!”
Vester placed both hands on Otto’s shoulders, thrusting her face right up in front of his, instantly startling him into a scream.
“S-Sorry.”
“I’m asking you, do you really not feel anything at all?” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Facing Otto, whose attitude toward admitting fault was good, Vester merely sighed and didn’t blow up.
“None.”
Otto answered honestly.
“Empathize you can, do you have things you like?”
“This…”
Hearing this, Otto was at a loss for words for a moment.
It wasn’t that there wasn’t anything he was interested in, but making him give an answer right away was something he truly couldn’t do.
“Is this question that hard?”
At this, the blonde girl merely shrugged.
“Things that make you feel happy are what you like, I see you are very interested in flying machines, don’t you like flying?”
“Like… seems to be the case.”
However, why?
Otto suddenly fell silent.
In a daze, he realized he seemed to have forgotten the reason why he started researching “flight” in the first place.
“Why make such an expression, soaring above the blue sky, isn’t this very romantic?”
Seeing Otto’s strange expression and thinking he was finding it hard to speak of, the blonde girl encouraged him thus.
‘Flying, flying, soaring into the skies…
I see.’
Looking at Vester’s face, he finally remembered the reason why he had first stepped out of his room and walked into the unfamiliar outside world.
The flying birds outside the window, and the sickly youth residing deep within the grand mansion—this scene surfaced once again in Otto’s mind.
‘Birds flying in the sky, how free, how enviable they are.’
It was precisely because of this envy that he had decided to leave his room.
‘How do they fly, and where are they going?’
‘And where is the end of flight?’
It was precisely because of this contemplation that he had decided to craft wings capable of flight.
As long as he figured out why birds could fly, perhaps he could find the answer—harboring such a thought, he became obsessed with flight.
Thousands of thoughts welled up in his heart, finally condensing into a single sentence on Otto’s lips:
“Why do birds fly?”
“Wrong!”
You damned beast, what on earth have you realized?!
A white-haired, blue-eyed, cold-faced murderer immediately appeared in her mind.
Vester’s vision went black, her legs went soft, and she almost fainted right on the spot.
“Are you alright?”