"Care to explain?"
After parting ways with Kafka, Clara prepared to return to her room. But right at her door stood a Herta puppet, seemingly having waited there for quite some time.
Seeing Clara approach, Herta crossed her arms, her expression neutral, and posed a question in a tone that betrayed no emotion.
At this, Clara wore a puzzled look. "Explain? Explain what?"
"Clara loves Sister Herta the most. What is there to explain?"
"Heh." Herta let out a cold laugh before continuing. "Less than one system hour ago, three despicable scoundrels broke into my collection chamber and stole one of my Stellarons."
"Does dear little Clara happen to have any clues about that?"
"Oh my! Something like that happened?" Upon hearing this, Clara instantly feigned shock, as if this matter had absolutely nothing to do with her.
Then, with an indignant expression, she swore to Herta, "How outrageous, to dare lay a hand on Sister Herta's belongings! Don't worry, Sister Herta. As your dearest little sister, I will definitely catch those three villains and bring them to justice!"
Clara's earnest, furious act was so convincing that if Herta didn't hold irrefutable evidence, she might have actually been fooled.
"Is that so? The hidden surveillance in my collection chamber captured some lovely close-ups of the culprits. I'll leave it to you then, dear little Clara." Herta produced several photos and handed them to Clara, sneering as she did so.
"Funny thing—these people belong to the organization little Clara is part of, the Stellaron Hunters."
"And you know what's even funnier? One of them looks exactly like dear little Clara."
"Quite the coincidence, wouldn't you say, little Clara?"
Clara took the photos and looked them over, then declared with absolute certainty, "I know every single member of the Stellaron Hunters extremely well, and these people are definitely not among us!"
"It must be some faction in the universe that holds a grudge against the Stellaron Hunters, impersonating us to steal the Stellaron!"
"…" Listening to Clara, Herta couldn't help but feel speechless. Even with the evidence right before her eyes, Clara could still spin black into white.
"Forget it." Herta sighed. "It's just a Stellaron. Take it if you want. Consider it a welcoming gift to you Stellaron Hunters."
"Hehe, thank you so much, Sister Herta~"
"Hmph, showing your true colors now, aren't you?" Herta instantly wore a smug, knowing look.
Clara: …
"However… since you've already installed the Stellaron into that vessel, I won't take it back."
"But…" Herta paused briefly here before continuing. "I need you to let me study her. Don't worry, I won't pose any danger to her."
"She is already a separate life, an independent individual, and has nothing to do with us Stellaron Hunters anymore." Hearing this, Clara shook her head. "If you wish to conduct research on her, you'll need to seek her personal consent."
"If she has no objections, then neither will we."
"I see… In that case, you…" Herta lowered her head in thought for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Clara.
Clara immediately understood what Herta was thinking and gave a light laugh. "Don't worry, I'll keep my earlier promise to you."
"After all… I still want you to keep being my maid~ Hehe." As she said this, Clara even winked at Herta, as if hinting at something.
"Heh." Leaving those two syllables behind, Herta turned and walked away.
"Hmm?" Clara hummed lightly, pushed open her room door, and stepped inside.
…
"Strange? This person's coordinates weren't transmitted from the space station. So, she…"
"Ah, come on, why worry about that now? A living person is lying right in front of us. We can't just leave her, right?"
"Mmm… what… noise?" Stelle's eyes felt heavy as she slowly opened them. What met her gaze was a pink-haired girl and a dark-haired, aloof young man.
"Wow, look, she's awake." The pink-haired girl tugged at the young man's sleeve excitedly.
"Hey, hey, can you hear me? Do you know who you are? Do you know how you ended up on this space station?" The pink-haired girl fired off several questions in one breath.
"Alright, March, you're asking so many questions at once, she won't know which one to answer." The dark-haired young man stopped the overly excited girl, then turned to Stelle and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Mmm… the back of my head… ouch… hurts…" Stelle slowly sat up, touching the back of her head. The moment she made contact, an intense pain shot through her nerves.
"Are you okay? Whoa! That's one huge lump." The girl asked with concern, letting out an exclamation when she saw the fist-sized bump on the back of Stelle's head.
"My goodness, what in the world did you do to deserve this?"
"I… don't know… ouch…" Stelle felt like lying back down and passing out a while longer. Her head ached, the back of her head hurt even more… and her mind felt dizzy and blank.
"Uh… then do you at least remember your name?" Seeing Stelle's state, the girl decided to change the subject.
"My name is… Stelle."
"Stelle? Nice to meet you. I'm March 7th, and this guy next to me is Dan Heng. We're Trailblazers from the Astral Express." March 7th blurted out all their information in just a few sentences.
"…" Upon hearing this, Dan Heng facepalmed and sighed.
"Ah!" Hearing Dan Heng's sigh, March 7th suddenly realized her slip and quickly waved her hands. "I'm not March 7th, he's not Dan Heng, and we're not Trailblazers from the Astral Express!"
Dan Heng, Stelle: …
"This space station has been invaded by the Antimatter Legion. We were requested by Station Head Asta to come and provide support." Dan Heng pulled March 7th back, stopping her from saying another word.
"Let's go. We'll take you to the Master Control Zone. It's relatively safer there."
"Mmm…"
"Two passengers from the Astral Express, and the Stellaron vessel~ How interesting~"
Just as the three were about to leave, a clear, lilting voice reached their ears.
"Who's there?!" Dan Heng reacted swiftly, raising his spear. Beside him, March 7th was a bit slower to respond, taking a moment before drawing her bow, leaving Stelle weaponless, looking left and right, unsure what to do.
"My, my, no need to be so hostile with your weapons. We're not enemies~"
Under their watchful eyes, a twin-tailed girl wearing a mask appeared before them.
"Hello there~ My name is Sparkle, and I'm a Galaxy Ranger~"
…
Sparkle: Regarding the Galaxy Ranger appearing aboard the [Clara] Space Station.
Huh? What does a Galaxy Ranger appearing on the space station have to do with me? You want me to blow up the space station?
Hmm… but this is a space station named after my dear friend.
How could I bear to destroy her?
What I mean is…
The price has to be right~
…
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