They Call Me Daddy (Honkai Star Rail)

Before they could reach the defensive line, the four members of the squad heard a loud shout from the other side of the line. Soon, a large group of Silvermane Guards emerged from the trenches, aiming their guns at them!

“Ugh! Are you blind? How can you mistake such a kind, gentle, and cute girl like me for those shabby monsters? This is too much!”

March 7th said indignantly.

“Don’t be so agitated. The monsters have retreated. It’s safe here now.”

Wende raised his hands and slowly approached the trench, speaking calmly despite the guns trained on him.

“Quick, lower your guns! They’re our saviors from earlier! Lower your guns!”

The sergeant from the second squad, who had just been treated by Wende, looked at the four approaching figures and immediately shouted to the other guards, also lowering his own rifle.

“This…”

The armed Silvermane Guards looked at each other, uncertain about what to do. On one hand, there were their saviors; on the other, they were under orders from the Supreme Guardian. The men were caught in a dilemma.

“Lower all your guns.”

Bronya Rand, the acting commander of the Silvermane Guards, had arrived at the front line without anyone noticing. She commanded them with authority.

“Yes, Lady Bronya!”

Seeing Bronya, who represented the Supreme Guardian’s will, give the order, the guards simultaneously put away their rifles and looked at the young girl with respect.

“Thank you all for coming to help the Silvermane Guards. Without you, the second squad would have been wiped out…”

Bronya's lips were pursed, her tone heavy and restrained.

The sergeant of the second squad clenched his fists, his teeth gritted, tears welling in his eyes.

The first squad... what remained of it had been lost due to heavy injuries. Now the second squad was left with only a few members...

Those were his comrades! His brothers! Watching them fall was more painful than being stabbed with a knife!

The atmosphere on the battlefield suddenly became sorrowful. Many young guards, seeing the loss of so many familiar faces, couldn’t help but shed tears. But soon, they were slapped by their older comrades, who were also suppressing their emotions.

“Ha... please... come in, let’s talk.”

Bronya took a deep breath, placing her hand on her chest as she invited the exploration team.

“Alright.”

Wende nodded and followed Bronya with the other three.

The previously lively atmosphere at the defensive line was completely replaced by a gloomy mood. Even the usually cheerful March 7th was subdued, looking dejected.

“…”

Stelle didn’t know what to say but unconsciously focused on Wende in front of her.

Dan Heng shook his head, remaining silent.

Wende glanced back at the Silvermane Guards. After they left, the guards did not show their emotions. They simply picked up their weapons and continued to defend the line made of blood and tears.

Snow... had started falling again, landing on the guard’s armor and melting from their warm bodies.

As Bronya led them into the Silvermane Guards' camp, it was quite rudimentary. Although there were a few delicate teacups on the table, the tea inside had long gone cold.

In front of the table was a strategic map of the perimeter, but the numerous red crosses on it created an oppressive feeling.

Bronya placed her weapon aside, brushed off the water droplets on her shoulders, and invited the group to sit at the table while she took the seat of honor.

“Thank you all for your help. If it weren’t for you, we might have lost this line…”

On the strategic map behind Bronya, only this location remained unmarked with a red cross, indicating that it was the last defense line of the Silvermane Guards.

Wende looked at the map covered in red crosses and frowned.

The Astral Express had arrived only a week later than the original plot…

As if sensing Wende’s gaze, Bronya’s attention was drawn to the map.

In reality, it was more of a defensive map than a strategic one. The red crosses marked the areas that had been taken by the Iron Guards.

Seven days ago, Supreme Guardian Coccolia Rand had summoned Bronya and instructed her to lead several squads of Silvermane Guards to recapture the lost territory on the perimeter. Another Iron Guard officer, Gepard, was ordered to the front line to defend the outermost edge of Belobog…

Although Bronya had strongly advised the Supreme Guardian against this, she was still convinced by the Supreme Guardian’s arguments. Despite knowing that no one had been able to reclaim lost territory within the fragmentum in centuries...

At first, she and her guards achieved astonishing results in the fragmentum. Even she naively believed she could accomplish something unprecedented, reclaiming lost ground and driving the enemy away.

But she was unaware that she and her Silvermane Guards had fallen into a dark trap.

In just two days, a tide of creatures suddenly emerged from an unknown source. They rapidly breached one defensive line after another until only this last one remained...

And the number of guards she led had now dwindled to a fraction of what is was...

But she hadn’t retreated. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to preserve the remaining forces!

If she retreated! If those monsters breached the Silvermane Guards' blockade and entered the city, the massive casualties would destroy all of Belobog!

The front-line battle was also dire. All available combat automata and large-scale weapons had been mobilized, leaving her with only a few ineffective mortars and transport units…

“I’m sorry… I must have put up an embarrassing display…”

Bronya’s tone was heavy. She felt that these capable individuals were perhaps “foreign experts” from elsewhere, coming to help due to her incompetence.

“No, you’ve done very well, Miss Bronya.”

Wende shook his head, looking at Bronya, who had been shaped by failure, and softly spoke, then pulled out a photograph from his pocket.

It was a photo taken by March 7th on the train before landing. He had asked for a copy and kept it in his chest pocket.

“This is…”

Bronya looked at the frozen planet in the photo, her pupils shrinking.

“This photo is of the planet we’re on…”

Bronya remained silent, just staring at the white planet in the photograph.

“We are not of this world. We are nameless trailblazers from the Astral Express…”

At this point, Wende paused his speech, noticing a flicker of surprise on Bronya’s face before continuing.

“A thousand years ago, we opened the Astral Rails for you, the planet we call Jarilo VI. Thanks to that, this place became a land of longing for everyone.

A thousand years later, we have returned and will remove the threat of the eternal freeze and fragmentum erosion, bringing new life to this world. That is our goal.”

Wende crossed his arms and looked at the thoughtful Bronya with a serious expression.

“I know you have many questions and doubts, but I can assure you that the root cause of Jarilo VI’s tragedy is something called a stellaron. It brought the eternal freeze and fragmentum, gradually tightening your living space. To resolve the these issues, the stellaron must be reclaimed!”

As the heir to the Supreme Guardian, Bronya, who had been well-read from a young age, could not be unaware of the grandeur of Jarilo VI a thousand years ago! It was precisely because she had a mental image of the planet from a millennium ago that Wende dared to speak so candidly.

Wende’s words also brought a glimmer of hope to Bronya’s previously despairing heart!

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to see the Supreme Guardian.”

Bronya’s eyes were filled with determination.

“Vice Commander, you and the remaining Silvermane Guards must hold this position until we return!”

Bronya gave a stern order to the vice officer in the tent and then looked at Wende and the team.

The fate of Belobog might rest on these four individuals.

“Yes! Lady Bronya! We, the Silvermane Guards, will defend this line!”

The vice commander saluted Bronya immediately, his eyes filled with hope.

“Alright, thank you. The fate of Belobog is in your hands.”

Bronya nodded to the vice commander and then addressed the exploration team.

If it had been seven days ago, she would have had doubts, still adhered to the Supreme Guardian’s authority, and cared about so-called “etiquette.” After all, these four were strangers she had just met, and she had no idea about them or their intentions. She had invited them to the camp just because they had saved the front-line.

But now, after experiencing such a brutal battlefield, how could she continue to trust that “mother” unconditionally?

Her actions were now pushing Belobog to the brink of destruction!

It was time for her to make a choice.

She was stuck between a rock and a hard place, needing to choose between a chance at survival with the trailblazers or the guarantee of destruction her mother seeks.