Honkai Star Rail: I must live a peaceful life

"Ahem, so what would you like to play?" Eureka turned her head, trying to maintain composure as she asked. She quickly straightened up from her slumped position in the chair.

"I have no objections," Milo nodded in agreement to Miss Jessica's inquiring gaze.

"Since everyone's worried, why don't we play a truth game?" Miss Jessica pulled out a multi-functional electronic chessboard she had hidden behind her back, clearly having prepared for this. "We'll use the 14th Era entertainment mode, three players and one NPC making it a four-player match. Whenever someone takes damage and loses HP, they must answer a question from another player. If the questioner takes damage, they must prioritize answering their own question."

"I see... but what happens if someone lies?" Milo put on a thoughtful expression, deliberately drawing out his words despite knowing the answer.

"That's why I hope everyone can be as honest as possible." Jessica spoke casually, looking at the two across from her with hopeful eyes. "So, can we agree to only tell the truth?"

"That's certainly no problem for me," Milo nodded with a smile.

Not noticing any issues, Eureka nodded along with Milo. "Same here."

"Excellent, since everyone agrees, the contract is established." Miss Jessica clapped her hands together with delight. With the crisp sound of palms meeting, a simple magical formation emanating a faint white light materialized in the void, transforming into multiple rings rotating around a central axis.

At that moment, both Eureka and Milo felt themselves connect to a fragile binding.

"If anyone lies, the color of this formation will change. Like this..." Miss Jessica pointed at the slowly rotating concentric rings, speaking in a clear voice. "I am a person of average appearance."

The rotating formation suddenly flashed red.

About two seconds later, the red light faded. Eureka looked at Milo with a slight headache. "Is this formation's judgment still objective?"

Jessica was undoubtedly beautiful, but the key issue was that from a physiological standpoint, Jessica herself believed what she was saying.

Damn it, this kind of judgment system is going to be lethal. If she accidentally lets slip something about work, I'll have to grab you both and run, covering your living expenses for the rest of your lives.

As for how long that half-life would be, and whether those accommodations would be in the Unity Department's re-education facility or the Imperial Guard's staff dormitory, well, that would depend on the two's fate with the Empire.

Eureka's face was full of confusion and distress as she looked helplessly at Milo, her eyes urgently conveying her inner panic: Isn't your classical mysticism a bit too ridiculous? Some things are really troublesome to reveal!

"Can't be helped, that's just how classical mysticism works." Milo nodded with a smile, apparently unconcerned about this situation that would expose their backgrounds.

"We can begin." Milo pulled up his account and selected his only character, placing an orange-based piece on the grid. "This is my only character."

The Craftsman squinted, concealing his gaze while maintaining a calm demeanor as he made a welcoming gesture. However, a closer look at Milo's character attributes would reveal that he had adjusted all customizable attributes to focus on evasion and resistance, clearly aiming for immovability.

Jessica casually picked her character and placed the piece down, its base merely purple, but the attributes focusing on perception and accuracy clearly exposed her intention to uncover the other two's secrets.

Since exploration mode only has points and no elimination, it doesn't matter if this character is fragile. Might as well go with whatever hits the hardest.

Eureka looked helplessly at her guest account, which only contained a bunch of unremarkable gold cards, truly unimpressive compared to the two monsters across from her.

With no choice, she selected a character with single-target shielding, hoping to at least avoid environmental damage and stay away from Miss Jessica's clearly sharpened blade once the game began.

As the game started, Eureka with her turtle shell and the slippery Milo proved their choices' effectiveness against environmental effects, proceeding with close calls but no disasters. Miss Jessica, who paid the least attention to self-protection, naturally became the first to take damage due to triggering a trap.

"Go ahead, ask." Miss Jessica remained composed and calm, completely unconcerned about what her answers might lead to, even actively offering suggestions to the two. "Whether it's about romantic history or anything else, feel free to ask."

"Then what did you do before?" Milo casually tossed out the question, his calm tone concealing deeper meaning.

"Ah..." Miss Jessica put on a troubled expression, then looked to Eureka for help. "Is that what you want to know too?"

Eureka didn't refuse, figuring this question would come up sooner or later anyway. Even if she declined, Miss Jessica would bring it up again.

"Alright then." The previously troubled face quickly bloomed into a smile as Miss Jessica winked at the two, her voice crystal clear. "I suppose you could say I was a temporary event planner before. After the event ended, I resigned and came here. Recently, I've been trying my hand at making desserts, with Mr. Tom as my main taste-tester."

The respondent showed no guilt, and the truth-detection formation remained pure white. After all, a riot could be considered an event, and being a military strategist could count as planning.

While speaking, Miss Jessica's actions didn't pause, using a reward to launch a precise long-range strike against the other two participants.

The damage was pitiful, with the extreme distance and the others' stacked evasion and defense reducing the effect to nearly nothing, but even single-digit damage counted as being wounded.

Miss Jessica smiled like a mischievous sprite who had successfully pulled off a prank, tilting her head and extending her hand in invitation. "Your turn, you two. Who'd like to go first?"

"I'll go first." Milo, seeing Eureka still hadn't recovered from the shock of her survival dream being shattered, sighed and stepped up. "I used to be a secretary and accountant at a small company, but I left because the pay was low and the work was overwhelming. Now I'm flexibly employed, with taste-tester as my main job and workshop master as my side job."

Well, a company focused on rebellion was still a company, and Milo's former boss was now the newly enthroned Emperor of the Empire. The only thing that had surprised Milo was how quickly his boss had risen to power after he'd jumped ship. The penetration was too high, the damage devastating.

Holy crap, are you two trying to fool ghosts? Eureka's gaze clearly carried a sense of astonishment.With your level of power, you're telling me you were just an event planner and a secretary-accountant, that's just... brilliant!

I've learned something valuable, these bullshitting methods will definitely help me get through the upcoming crisis!

End of Chapter