He Who Feels Guilt [Honkai: Star Rail]

Narrator's Pov

"So..."

Seele gave a small pause as she walked on the roof of a building, Ryan was walking behind her as they both returned to Boulder Town after Seele had gotten that message from Oleg.

"Who are you really? You seem strong..." she stopped and looked at Ryan a while crossing her arms above her chest. "I saw you fighting before I joined...you started to slack off after I joined you..."

"I'm not strong Seele..." He walked past her and stopped at the edge of the roof. "Besides, I wasn't slacking off, I just didn't want to spend more energy than I had to, you helped me a lot."

"He's totally lying..." She sighed and walked to the edge getting ready to jump.

"And what about you?" He asked and a magical circle appeared on the space between both buildings acting as a bridge. "I saw you doing some interesting things"

"Uh..." She looked at the magic circle and slowly started to walk on it to the other side. "It depends, will you tell me about that fire you use?"

He smiled a bit and also walked to the other side of the magic circle. "Magic, your turn now"

"Magic? Really?" She rised an eyebrow and Ryan simply smiled as a response. "Fine...I have Quantum powers, manifested as a child, never knew why...but they come in handy." She spoke and again started to walk.

"That sounds ominous" he walked behind Seele. "Never thought about how you got them?"

"Stopped caring a long time ago...but tell me, what were you doing here? This is off limits for regular people." She questioned him and Ryan simply sighed.

"Needed to...blow off some steam, so decided to come here and kill something" he explained.

"I see...well, next time you want to blow off steam...try to at least warn Wildfire, for a moment I thought you were a new monster from the Fragmentum." She joked a bit but Ryan simply sighed.

"Sorry, I'll try to be more cautious and look less monstrous next time."

"What do you know of that Silvermane Guard? You said her name was...Bronya, right?"

"Not a lot really...I only know her name, I haven't really talked to her personally..." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "With how things seem down here...I don't think it's a good idea to tell her that Bronya is Cocolia's daughter..."

"Uhm...well, If she's like other's Silvermane Guards, I'm sure she'll be-" she stopped when her phone vibrated and taking it, she frowned a bit. "Problems in the mines...the Chief went there...I'll probably have to take the Silvermane Guard with me"

"Do you want me to help?" He asked a bit curious.

"Your help would be appreciated...but not for now, we're reaching Boulder City...do you know where that Silvermane Guard is?" She looked at Ryan.

"Not really...when I left she was unconscious, my companions did said they were looking for her...so she might have woken up and left" he sighed a bit tired but then frowned.

"People down here is suffering..."

"She's close..." He spoke softly grabbing his head.

"How can you-?" Seele was about to question him but she heard a commotion and quickly ran jumping between buildings.

Ryan quickly followed her, having just heard Bronya's guilt, which PROBABLY meant she was close...he really needed to check if that new power had either a filter, or a distance limit...

Seele stopped on the edge of a building and looked down, a small group of men seemed to surround a girl, the Silvermane Guard she guessed, one of them shot at her, so Seele quickly dashed down using her powers and quickly split the bullet in half with her scythe.

"You dare attack someone on our turf?" She growled a bit.

"Damnit, quick! Disperse!" The man spoke and quickly tried to run away.

A wall of Ice quickly surrounded the group of men trapping them, the walls started to slowly close more making them barely squeeze inside of the space leaving them completely trapped, Ryan landed on his feet and crossed his arms above his chest.

"If you squeeze them more, blood will spurt up like a fountain~" the voice of the woman in black sounded inside of his head.

"Shut up." he mentally growled.

"Thanks Ryan, those spineless thugs won't run away." She crossed her arms and then looked at Bronya.

"Ah! Miss Seele!"

Sampo's voice echoed as he got close to the small group, having Stelle, Dan Heng and March 7th behind him.

Sampo kept talking. "it's a good thing you showed up when you did, These vagrants have got some nerve looking for trouble in Wildfire terri-"

"Ugh, shut it, I already know you have part of the fault in this, Wildfire already has trouble, we don't need a side order of Koski" she frowned at Sampo who simply backed away a bit, she then looked at Bronya."you're the Silvermane Guard, uh?"

"You kidnapped me and brought me here, what are your intentions?" Bronya asked with a small frown.

"Hmph! Listen to her 'what are your intentions?', she still thinks she's an Overworld princess." She frowned towards Bronya rising the tone of her voice a bit. "Do you know what's become of us down here while you live the easy life? Did you even consider the fate of the Underworlders?"

"The Silvermane Guards aren't living the 'easy life'! We are constantly risking our life to confront the monsters and protect the people above and below the surface!" She responded equally rising her tone.

"Are you even hearing yourself? Redeploying all the guards to the Overworld is protecting the underworld? Sealing off the only passageway? I'd say you're only protecting the so-called Architects" the venom in Seele's voice was quite evident.

"Madam Guardian...has her reasons." She seemed to doubt her own words backing away a bit.

"Hmph! Enough chat, you're coming with me, Chief Oleg wants to see you, and he seems to have a lot of questions" Seele looked at the silver-haired girl crossing her arms.

"Ah perfect~!" Sampo got between both girls with a smile. "We were just in our way to make Chief Oleg a visit, room for more?"

"Fully booked" Seele replied almost immediately but then looked at the three Trailblazers. "Uhm...I suppose these are your friends, Ryan?"

"They are Stelle, Dan Heng and March 7th..." He presented the others.

"And why are they here exactly?" Seele asked looking at the three a bit curious.

"Oh! We came here to search for a Stellaron, it's the source of all the disasters and-" March was cut off by Sampo.

"Ahahaha! I don't think sharing the story with everyone would be okay" Sampo laughed nervously. "Besides, Miss Seele right here might not understand it, let's save it for Chief Oleg"

"He's right for once, I don't understand it, and I don't plan on passing the message, Wildfire has troubles in the Great Mine, the Chief is busy, if you really want to meet him, meet me at the mine entrance, and bring the Overworld princess too" she spoke and then turned around. "I'm leaving"

Seele gave a small curious glance towards Ryan, who simply crossed his arms, she soon left leaving the group alone and Stelle immediately walked to Ryan grabbing one of his cheeks pinching on it.

"Where were you? Natasha told us you simply left" Stelle looked at him a bit angry.

"I just went out of the city to kill a few Fragmentum monsters" Ryan replied a bit in pain from the pinching.

"No matter, at least we're together again! Natasha told us you brought us here alongside Sampo" March spoke a also getting closer alongside Dan Heng.

"Yes...I don't like Sampo, he's a weird one, hard to read...but at least bringing you here wasn't really a bad idea" Ryan sighed a bit.

"Speaking of Sampo, where is he?!" March asked a bit angry looking around them.

"He ditched us again...he just disappears like Batman, how does he do it?" Stelle groaned a bit rubbing her forehead.

"It doesn't matter...Are you okay, Ryan?" Dan Heng spoke looking at the boy.

"Uh, why?"

"You look...tired, I guess, have you gotten any sleep?" He asked crossing his arms above his chest.

Ryan seemed to hesitate a bit before replying. "Yes, I've been getting enough sleep, I'm fine Dan Heng" he quickly smiled and Dan Heng nodded with his head. "I'll go and speak with Bronya...tell me when you guys are ready to go to that mine"

Ryan quickly walked away from them, going towards Bronya, Dan Heng frowned lightly looking at him leave and then sighed before looking at Stelle and March 7th.

"He's starting to worry me"

"Why? He looks fine to me" March looked towards Ryan a bit confused.

"I can't put my finger on it...he just seems off" he closed his eyes thinking.

"I mean...we don't really know him, he could just be lacking sleep? He told us he had woken up early last time..." Stelle crossed her arms above her chest.

"Anyways...if he's going through something, we have to help" he spoke and March quickly nodded.

"Yeah! He's our friend now"

"If he's feeling down, we can always tell him about 'Kizma' " Stelle smiled and March looked at her.

"What is Kiz- Stelle no!"

"Kizma Bal-"

Ryan looked to the group of three, seeing how March had just facepalmed Stelle so hard he threw her onto the floor...whatever Stelle did, it was probably one of her jokes, he looked towards Bronya, who seemed to be a bit conflicted.

"How are you feeling?" He asked and the girl looked at him.

"It's you...talking with me won't change my orders, I'll still arrest you" she crossed her arms above her chest.

"I'm not here for that..." He spoke and Bronya seemed to relax a bit. "You're...starting to doubt, aren't you?"

She immediately stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Bronya...you're doubting the Supreme Guardian orders, you don't really know what you have to do anymore, do you?"

"I have to follow orders...I can't let myself be clouded by doubt, my orders are more important" she closed her eyes.

"That's what I thought at first too..." He started to talk. "You feel guilty for what is happening...soldiers dying, people down here suffers...the Fragmentum is getting closer and closer and the Silvermane Guards are not stopping it at all... you're starting to see the wrong in your superior orders, doubt fills your mind, and that just makes it worse, doesn't it?...is it okay to sacrifice a few to save thousands?"

"My job is to follow orders..." Bronya spoke looking away.

"And if you don't agree with those orders? Would you feel bad for following them? Would you keep your words and thoughts for yourself and follow those orders? Even if it meant doing something you hate?"

"Orders...are orders, even if I did start to doubt, that's not what is expected of me..."

"Then don't follow the expectations." He spoke and Bronya looked at him in silence. "Forget about what people expect from you...do what you think is right, the guilt you feel...means you can still stop yourself from becoming a mindless puppet."

"... Gepard told me you wanted to speak to me...because you thought I felt bad for not being able to help more people...you're bad at this..." She looked slightly away

"I know...the others are better than me at dealing with people..."

"But...thanks, your name is Ryan, right?" She asked and he nodded with his head. "A...pleasure, I propose a truce, you're right...I have indeed started to doubt, something feels...wrong, about the Architecs, about my mother and the Silvermane Guards, and I feel like going with you might dispel my uncertainties..."

"Good...let's go with the others, I'm sure they also have a few questions for you...I haven't really fully catch up on their situations"he chuckled a bit before starting to walk towards his companions.

"The way he spoke about following orders...was he a soldier or something?" Bronya asked herself but then sighed and slowly started to walk following him...

Seele was standing at the mine entrance, speaking with Oleg through her phone to get more information about the situation, Vagrants and Miners had started to fight over Geomarrow, nothing unusual, but this time the fight was just...much more violent and big.

"Seele, we are here"

She looked slightly to the side seeing how the small group of the Trailblazers alongside Ryan and Bronya approached.

"Good, you're here, that was fast" Seele looked at them calmly.

"What trouble is Wildfire having?" Stelle asked a bit curious.

"For some context...the Underground used to have a lot of mines, but because of the Fragmentum, many of them became obsolete and got ruined, the one we're about to enter in is barely affected, a bunch of Vagrants made it their home after their old one got affected by the Fragmentum."

"I suppose that those Vagrants are causing problems?" March asked with a little frown.

"They are mostly calm...but a few of them cause a lot of problems...the original plan was for Chief Oleg to come here with part of Wildfire and leave me defending the city...but things escalated, and now I have to back him up..." Seele explained and frowned a bit. "I still don't have all the details, but enough chatting, we have to go..."

"Good, I've been wanting to meet the leader of the underground." Bronya spoke and Seele simply groaned lightly.

"Let's go" Seele spoke and she started to walk into the mine.

As the girl started to walk, the others quickly started to follow, Ryan looked around as they entered the mine...it was way bigger than he thought, the few mines he had seen were basically very long tunnels, this looked more like a huge cave, it even had a few houses, proof of what Seele said about Vagrants using the mines as their home.

"Hey! Isn't that Natasha?" March spoke pointing to the side.

"Uh? If she's here then thing could've gotten worse..." Seele muttered and quickly walked towards Natasha who seemed to be speaking with some people. "Nat! I didn't think you'd be here...where's Chief Oleg?"

"Hey Seele and...Sampo's guests, looks like you've already met..." She smiled a bit but then sighed. "I haven't seen Oleg, but miners said that he took a group of Wildfire deeper into the mine."

"Who are these people?" Dan Heng asked looking at a group of people behind Natasha.

"Some miners and their family members...they want an explanation from the instigators" she sighed and then crossed her arms above her chest.

"What exactly happened? Chief Oleg didn't give me all the details." Seele looked at Natasha and the woman nodded her head.

"The first mining team found a vein of Geomarrow...a huge deposit, the initial estimate put it as tje biggest discovery in 30 years"

"Wait, really? That's big news, how come I didn't know about that?"

"They weren't in a hurry to let everyone know...they were afraid that everyone would overwhelm them and take it all to themselves...but the Vagrants have keen eyes and blackmailed the mining team to keep their mouths shut...and that was the finsl straw" she sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead. "Now both sides are suffering heavy losses..."

"Why is this Geomarrow so important?" Stelle asked and Seele immediately replied.

"We give Geomarrow to the Overworld in exchange of supplies...it's basically the only kind of communication we have with them...if they hadn't blocked the passageway" Seele frowned at Bronya and she simply looked away.

"Are you here to stop the conflict?" Natasha asked with a little smile.

"They are here because they need a favor from Chief Oleg...but since they need a favor, why not help us in exchange of that favor, uh?" Seele asked looking at Ryan who simply smiled.

"Of course we'll help!" March quickly smiled. "We care about other people too."

"Well, looks like you've found kind-hearted people, Seele" the doctor smiled warmly looking at the group.

"You guys can go on ahead..." Ryan looked at his companions. "I'll stay here and help Natasha with the wounded."

"You have medical knowledge, Ryan?" Natasha asked a bit curious.

"Not really...but as long as it's a common wound, I should be able to take care of it, I'm unable to treat sickness though..." He sighed a bit and Natasha simply shook her head.

"No matter, I'd really appreciate your help Ryan, you'd make miners and their families a big favor" the woman smiled.

"It's decided then" Seele nodded her head. "You help Natasha, if you finish quickly you can join us."

"Pfff" Stelle looked away covering her mouth.

"Shut it" March deadpanned at the girl.

"I'll be sure to join you later."

"The area ahead is full of Vagrants...be careful please" Natasha warned the group. "The entrance is sealed, so you might have to take a detour..."

"We'll be careful Nat, don't worry, let's go, the sooner we stop this, the sooner you'll get to meet Chief Oleg." Seele looked at the others ask then started to walk away.

"Ryan, tell us when you're coming." Dan Heng spoke to the boy.

"He~" Stelle smiled...

"Stelle!" March grabbed the girl's cheeks pinching them.

"Ou! Sorry sorry" she tried to free herself.

"Don't worry guys, I'll be sure to tell you" Ryan smiled a bit.

"Good, let's go"

Dan Heng immediately started to follow Seele and the other three quickly followed him, Bronya gave a small glance towards Ryan before simply following the others.

"I have to be of help too..."

Hearing the girl's voice inside of his head, Ryan smiled lightly before looking towards Natasha.

"Miss Natasha...where is the dying people?" He asked with a smile.

"You're...not good with words right?" She looked at him a bit nervous. "Try to not talk too much with the patients..."

"...sorry"

★ ★ ★

A/N: And that's today's chapter! Ryan got a small talk with Bronya, they got into the mines and Ryan will help those extras who got wounded off-camera.

Daddy Svarog is approaching, and Ryan will officially be part of the Clara Protection Society.

But anyways! Hope you enjoyed.