Honkai: Star Rail – Banner Character, Delivering Knives to the Player [15]

As Himeko’s figure disappeared down the corridor, Welt leaned closer to Lingzhou and said quietly:

“Be sure to warn March 7th… to stay cautious about tomorrow’s coffee.”

Dan Heng? He could drink it without flinching. No need to worry about him.

“Probably won’t be necessary,” Lingzhou replied. “We’re setting off on the next journey tomorrow, after all.”

He took a sip of the coffee in front of him, feeling the intensity of the flavor spread across his tongue.

Yep. Lethal as ever.

Without a word, he quietly stashed the cup into his system inventory.

Himeko’s coffee expertise fell into two extremes:

One: when it was good, it was masterpiece-tier, rich and flavorful beyond belief.

Two: when it was bad, it was fatal-tier—culinary black magic.

The Express’s logs had records.

March 7th once drank one of Himeko’s experimental brews and spent the next hour visiting the porcelain throne more than a dozen times.

Of course, Himeko never found out.

No one had the heart to hurt her enthusiasm.

“…Fair enough.”

Seeing Lingzhou’s small sleight of hand, Welt casually conjured a miniature black hole and disposed of his drink without a trace.

The two exchanged a glance, sharing the unspoken understanding only adults could muster.

“By the way, where’s Stelle?”

Welt suddenly remembered—today was the day the Express welcomed a new passenger.

“Maybe checking out one of the trai—”

“Waaahhh! Help!!”

Lingzhou stopped mid-sentence as a muffled, familiar cry rang out from somewhere above.

“That was March!”

“Sounds like it came from the party car. I’ll go check.”

Lingzhou blinked out of sight, heading up toward the source of the commotion.

The party car was empty—except for the drink mixer robot that liked to tell dry jokes.

Then Lingzhou looked up. His gaze locked onto the ventilation duct overhead.

March’s voice rang out again.

And Stelle’s, too.

Seriously?

He unfurled his wings and flew up to the duct’s opening, peering inside.

“March? Stelle?”

“Help, Lingzhou! I’m totally stuck!”

Turns out—they were both wedged inside the duct.

Lingzhou barely held in his laughter.

“…I can’t fit into the ducts myself, so I’ll have to go the long way—blow you out from the other side.”

Despite appearances, his frame was too broad for the vent. Wings aside, he’d never fit.

Without delay, he flew around to the far end and summoned a concentrated gust of wind, blasting it through the duct.

Inside, a certain pink-haired girl suddenly experienced a wind pressure usually reserved for mountain ridges.

The kind that chilled you to the bone…

But the next second, all thoughts were blown away—literally.

The wind intensified, pushing them forward until—

“Augh—!”

March’s forehead smacked right into Stelle’s head, and stars exploded in her vision.

Hearing the chaos, Lingzhou maintained the wind for a few more seconds, then returned to his original spot.

Just in time to catch two girls—one gray-haired, one pink—who slid out of the duct like socks on a hardwood floor.

He deposited them gently onto a nearby couch.

Both were absolutely covered in dust.

“Thanks, Lingzhou…”

Stelle clutched her head, wincing slightly as she glanced at March.

“I thought for sure you’d passed out.”

Lingzhou fought back a smile at the corners of his lips.

Stelle puffed up her chest.

“I’ve got a hard head. Not so easy to knock me out.”

“……”

Lingzhou couldn’t hold it in anymore and chuckled, then leaned over and pressed a few points on March 7th’s shoulders.

“Lingzhou… Stelle… why are there so many of you now?”

Still dizzy?

After a moment’s thought, Lingzhou turned and retrieved a cold drink from Shut Up (the robot barista).

He pressed the icy bottle to March’s neck, and she jolted upright like she’d been zapped.

“Don’t you use Ice as your element? What, suddenly afraid of the cold now?”

Stelle gave her a deadpan look.

“That wasn’t ice, it’s more like some kind of cryo… congealed—uh, crystal!”

March mumbled, her voice getting quieter and her cheeks redder by the second.

After a brief moment of awkward silence, she suddenly threw a little pink fist at Stelle.

“This is all your fault!”

“How is it my fault? You were the one who—”

“No more words!”

“…Okay, fine. I’m done talking.”

Stelle shrugged, putting on her best “mature adult ignoring childish nonsense” face.

Lingzhou laughed silently to himself.

“You two should shower and change. You look like soot-covered alley cats.”

“Once you’re done, meet me in the observation car for a quick meeting.”

With that, Lingzhou turned and headed downstairs, leaving the two girls staring at each other.

...

“I’m just curious—how exactly did the two of you end up stuck at the same time?”

Lingzhou asked thoughtfully.

At his question, March 7th instinctively covered her backside.

Catching her little motion, Stelle raised her chin proudly.

“I couldn’t see my toes when I looked down. That’s why I got stuck. Unlike March.”

“…What do you mean you couldn’t— Hey!”

March caught on, glaring at her.

She had plenty going on too, thank you very much!

Welt shook his head, exasperated. He decided to move things along.

“So what were you doing in the ducts in the first place?”

“I… I heard something weird coming from inside. Thought maybe something suspicious was hiding in there…”

March 7th tapped her index fingers together, looking sheepish.

“So I climbed up to check… and got stuck.”

“Heh. And did you find anything strange?” Himeko asked with a soft laugh.

“I did. It was Stelle, stuck right there with me.”

All eyes turned to Stelle.

She stood tall and answered without hesitation:

“I was exploring.”

“What a promising little Trailblazer.” Himeko’s smile grew warmer.

She didn’t mind young people poking around and making trouble. It was part of growing.

“Alright then. It’s a good day today—so let’s skip the lecture.”

Pom-Pom cleared their throat.

“Let’s get back on topic. The conductor has an announcement to make, pom.”

“It’s truly my failing to have let Passenger Stelle go so long without a proper room.”

“She looked like she was having fun, though,” March teased.

After a bit of friendly banter, Pom-Pom got to the point—formally asking Stelle if she wished to become a Nameless.

“Of course I do.”

Stelle answered without hesitation—and recited the creed Lingzhou had taught her earlier.

Even if paths rise and fall, a Trailblazer must hold their own beliefs.
Even if waves surge and crash, the crew must stand as one.
Even in life or death, we must defy injustice.
Even when forgotten by the world, we must not dwell on the aftermath.
Even if the galaxy darkens, we must shine light into the long night.
Even when chaos reigns, we must look ahead—and break through it.

When she finished, she realized several stunned eyes were staring her way.

“Uh… do I have something on my face I didn’t wash off?”

“No, not that. We just didn’t expect you to recite the whole Trailblazer’s Creed. Out loud. In front of everyone.”

March 7th looked honestly impressed.

“I mean, I got so embarrassed just reading mine silently.”

“Well done, Passenger Stelle,” Pom-Pom beamed. “That’s the old custom of Trailblazers. Passenger March 7th, take note.”

“Now then—March, why don’t you show Stelle her room?”

---

T/N: THERES A CREED? and so stelle is stacked also? unfair...

This is a fan translation of 崩铁：卡池角色，给玩家发刀 by 三十度幻. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!