Star Rail: Starting with a Lyre, Living off Busking [37]
Seele cut the conversation short, frowning as she surveyed the street, mentally calculating her best escape routes and countermeasures if they were ambushed.
Escorting two outsiders wasn't exactly her idea of fun. If not for having had to train rookies a few times under Oleg's orders, she'd have dismissed their plan from the start.
Bronya followed Seele's lead, searching the area for any possible clues, while Venti tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something only he could hear.
Then, his gaze shifted to the end of the street, where a junkyard lay tucked around the corner.
A faint breath of long-buried history drifted on the wind from that direction.
It only needed a voice to become a story.
Following this pull of memory, Venti retraced the steps of the girl's older sister, arriving at the same place. Seeing him separate from the group, Bronya and Seele wordlessly followed.
At the end of the street, all three of them heard a soft, snuffling sound.
In front of them stood a small creature with a glossy, black-and-white body, plump and pig-like, with tiny golden wing-like ears flapping idly.
It was a creature known as a Warp Trotter. Next to it lay a beetle-shaped automaton with a nearly shattered forcefield, cornered by Fragmentum monsters.
"Pascal?" Venti recognized it instantly—this automaton, blessed with emotional intelligence, had spent a decade scavenging parts to help repair the town and occasionally "borrowed" parts from the Robot Settlement.
Its thefts had always been minor, and after Clara had managed to communicate with it, Pascal was allowed to remain, though it had to promise to stop swiping parts.
Svarog had made it clear with a threat of a system reset, so Pascal had reluctantly agreed.
Having failed to spot it on his previous visits, Venti had wondered where it was. Now it was clear: Pascal had gotten stuck here.
"Hey, stop standing around! We've got enemies up ahead!" Seele barked, tightening her grip on her scythe.
"Busker, get to the back! And you, princess, focus. Didn't you say you've fought these Fragmentum creatures before?"
But this encounter hadn't gone unnoticed by their opponents. The Everwinter Shadewalker, poised to strike its axe against Pascal, halted, turning its attention to the trio.
Despite its featureless, icy face, all three of them could sense its intent. Its companions, other Everwinter Shadewalkers and Frostspawn Constructs, quickly turned to surround them.
Several Frostspawn Constructs began beating their crystalline wings, their humming growing louder as they built up momentum.
They darted forward, blue frost trailing through the air as they honed in on Seele.
At their speed, the distance would be closed within moments.
"—Look out!" Bronya warned as the razor-edged wings of the Frostspawn Constructs hurtled toward Seele.
But before they could make contact, Seele gave a short scoff, fingers tightening on her scythe.
The lead Frostspawn was hooked by her blade, yanked sideways to collide with a second, and both fell in two with a swift slash, their buzzing stilled.
The third Construct hesitated, wings frozen mid-beat. But it was gone in a flash of blade light, scattering into icy dust.
Not pausing for even a breath, Seele threw herself into the fray, her scythe carving through the cluster of creatures with ease.
The sight set Bronya's nerves on edge; she wanted to call Seele back, but Seele's skill was undeniable. Seele's every move reminded her that, unlike in the Silvermane Guards, down here survival meant relying on oneself.
Pain and blood were part of life. And while some might fear fighting, Seele had honed a resilience to pain that allowed her to move freely, ignoring minor cuts and bruises. Even in a bleak battlefield, she fought like a dancing butterfly, cutting down her enemies one by one.
She fought with a precision and grace that made the creatures look less like a mortal threat and more like bundles of wheat waiting to be harvested.
At this rate, Seele could probably clear the entire mob on her own.
However—
Something seemed off in the chaotic scene.
The Warp Trotter, round and unbothered, was still digging at the grass, snuffling at roots without a care in the world.
It was as if it had decided the three humans posed no threat to it. Or perhaps… it saw them as food too?
As Bronya noticed this peculiarity, the faint sound of a drawn bowstring vibrated through the air.
She instinctively turned toward Venti, only to find that he wasn't holding his weapon. Instead, he was gazing at the rooftop behind her.
A jolt of danger raced down her spine.
Almost automatically, she shouted, "—Watch out! There's an enemy above!"
Her warning came just in time. Seele, who had sensed the shift in the air, leapt back from the monsters' ranks.
A silent arrow, laced with a current of wind, struck her former position, piercing an unfortunate Everwinter Shadewalker.
The arrow unleashed a burst of wind on impact, scattering monsters and debris alike!
Seele raised her scythe to shield herself, though the blast of air still whipped her clothes and left shallow cuts on her skin as pebbles scraped her exposed arms.
She glared up at the creature responsible—a half-man, half-horse centaur. Its upper body was humanoid, while its lower half was that of a powerful stallion.
A stream of swirling wind energy flowed around its agile, sinewy frame, while a massive winged shield covered its left foreleg. Its right foreleg was poised mid-air, light and quick.
Fragmentum creatures weren't supposed to have real intelligence, yet this one exuded a strange sense of amusement, almost as if it was playing.
Its head tilted slightly, unperturbed by the missed shot, wearing an expression that suggested it didn't take them seriously at all.
"Ha. Just another Fragmentum corrupted monster who thinks it's invincible, huh?" Seele sneered, unwilling to retreat. With two others relying on her, she had no choice but to stand her ground and finish it here.
But then a figure stepped up beside her. Seele assumed it was the princess, ready to call out a last-minute "be careful," but to her surprise, it was Venti—the one she'd thought of as nearly useless in battle.
He gently plucked his lyre strings, the instrument's crystalline notes resonating like a bubbling spring before transforming into a hunting bow.
"—All tuned up. Sorry to keep you waiting! How about we get a little warm-up together?"
The smile on Venti's face was pure and calm, so much so that Seele couldn't tell if he was joking or genuinely serious about joining the fight.
Either way, with the princess joining her side as well, this had gone from a solo struggle to a true team effort.
Sure, she could probably handle it alone, but fighting alongside trusted allies—now that was something that fired her up—
Seele's grin turned wide and fierce.
"Just remember, don't you dare slow me down!"