Honkai Star Rail: I must live a peaceful life

"Really now..." Milo watched Leon's hasty retreat with a slight chuckle. Why was that child running so fast? It's not like he was some villain who would do anything to him.

"Debts must be paid to their rightful owner. I'll just have to settle this score with your boss, young man."

Next time if that fellow dares to use his authority against him again, he'll have to upgrade the severity of his counter-measures by one level.

Milo picked up the black box from the table with a smile, then without hesitation filled in "Tom Riddle" in the password field.

The customized Pandora's Box served as the perfect envelope - one wrong password would cause it to completely lock down. But Milo wasn't worried about entering the wrong password at all.

In fact, even if he entered something like "Lester is a moronic idiot times two hundred," the password would still be accepted.

Because Lester needed the fact that "Milo successfully opens the Pandora's Box" to exist, so the answer would always be tailored to Milo's current input.

Logically speaking, Milo entering the password was the "cause," while Lester setting the password was the "effect."

Since Lester could see the future and Milo knew this, Lester could only create the puzzle based on Milo's answer. After all, knowledge implies responsibility, and future sight attracts all the blame.

Back in the early days of the Astral Express Council, there was a consensus: "No matter what happens, all blame goes to Lester."

Though this consensus was somewhat unfair, it was Lester's own fault for being such a devious character.

Using his powers to build relationships and curry favor, only to reveal "all this goodwill was just an illusion I created!" when the time was right, then bringing up old grievances - this was among his more benign accomplishments.

His average misdeeds involved using his powers to dig up private information and then threatening "You wouldn't want these dark secrets getting out, would you?" - the kind of high-risk behavior that could easily get someone killed.

At his most outrageous, Lester was particularly radiant. Why? Because everyone else's dark histories made him shine in comparison.

Even now, Milo thought it was a miracle that Salsa didn't just kill him outright back then.

After going through a series of unlocking procedures, the black box opened its lid. Two items lay in the metal recess.

An identification authority card connected by a fine chain to a gold star model engraved with intricate patterns, and a one-time chip for message transmission.

Electrical light flickered at Milo's fingertips as he decomposed the chip into virtual light and shadow, reading the information contained within directly.

[Welcome back, Venus.]

[Though this isn't good news, I still need to inform you.]

[Your vacation is over.]

[The Venus ID card has been delivered. Please advance to Tier 4 quickly to unlock remaining privileges.]

[Your exclusive satellite has been prepared and is standing by in the Seventh City awaiting your summons. I'll help her with final adaptation adjustments during this time. You should be able to meet her after you arrive in the Seventh City. Hope you get along well.]

[Handle some matters as you see fit. The organization is busy with confrontations and can't spare more power to intervene here. York City will remain in a gray state during this period, with no high-level powers interfering. Good luck.]

[I await the day you become one of our kind. This is both prophecy and blessing.]

[P.S.: There's a very popular fan novel about Miss Mira. Link below. You might want to chat with the author when you have time.]

[Sample attached.]

Damn it... Milo's face darkened again. Next time he really should change the countermeasure plan to fight to the death.

Those sample CGs were all erotic images. Though admittedly high quality and moving, it was precisely because they were so moving that Milo suffered more psychological damage.

After all, this was a genderswapped version of himself - Milo couldn't get over that mental hurdle.

Fighting back his inner discomfort and unease, Milo searched the intercity network for this fan novel titled "Days When The Traveler Lady Moved In Next Door" as Lester suggested.

The author's name was "Demon God from the Northern Ice Region," quite popular and focused on pure love and yuri content. This provided Milo with a tiny measure of comfort.

Roughly equivalent to discovering that the mud pit you fell into actually contained mud rather than certain negative bodily productions.

But that author name, "Demon God from the Northern Ice Region"... Milo fell into thought while fingering the golden star pendant on his ID card.

Though Lester was usually a devious bastard most of the time, he rarely did things without purpose. His reason for sharing this information couldn't have been just to mock him.

Demon God from the Northern Ice Region... Northern Demon God... Northern Lord Asmodeus? The Demon God of Lust?

Combined with the fact that this person was drawing these kinds of books, this was likely the message Lester wanted to convey.

Lust... Original Sin? Milo felt he had touched upon the edge of something massive, but due to lacking crucial information, he could only grasp at it blindly like the proverbial blind men touching an elephant.

But it didn't matter. He could get a proper explanation after returning to the Astral Express.

"You know, I don't really care about these things," Milo said casually as he lay back in his recliner. "But since it involves me, I suppose I'll look into it when I have to."

Meanwhile, on the wasteland still far from York City, a black-robed figure wearing a bird-beak mask suddenly sensed something. Their voice, distorted by a voice changer, was both eerie and alluring, like a rotting sweet apple.

"The Mark of Lies has reacted. As expected, my choice was correct."

"That old city called York will become the perfect sacrifice for those great ones."

The masked figure in black robes let out a series of strange laughs. "Now then, let me think about what kind of deity I should create for the harvest?"

"Power? That's troublesome. Longevity and health? Used that last time." The black-robed figure hopped forward like a schoolchild, yet each footstep fell in complete silence.

The air danced silently yet joyfully, scattering the shape of sound waves.

"How about... charm and beauty?" The black-robed figure suddenly had an inspiration. "Focus on interpersonal relationships, use this gift as a wedge for the sacrificial array."

The bird-beak mask laughed coarsely, like a crowing death bird. "I'm starting to look forward to the day of sacrifice."

End of Chapter