Chapter 33: If It Weren’t for Shiltina, I’d Still Be a Host Right Now
“Na.”
“Rast.”
“Age.”
“Can’t quite rember. Probably two or three hundred years old. But if you want to write down seventeen, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Gender.”
“Probably not an attack helicopter?”
Behind the one-way mirror, Ishta paused mid-question.
The Starfall University uniform she wore, adorned with the Starfall emblem, traced a taut curve that rose and fell with her breath.
She stared through the mirror at Rast, who looked innocent and harmless inside the inquiry room.
Taking a deep breath, she reached into a jar on the desk and stuffed a big handful of teddy bear cookies into her mouth.
Only then did the curve of her chest finally stabilize.
Ishta glanced down at the paper in her hand. “Rast… Is that your real na? No surna?”
“No idea. Why would you think soone who’s wandered the Nightworld in a daze for hundreds of years could still rember his real na from back then?”
“But since soone calls that, then that’s my na.”
“Hmm?”
The ahoge on top of Ishta’s head twitched. “Who’s the one that calls you that? When and where did you hear this na?”
“In a dream.”
“……”
Ishta fell silent and reached into the tin for another handful of teddy bear cookies.
“By the way, I’m not being interrogated as a suspect right now, am I? I don’t see you guys putting handcuffs on .”
Rast adjusted his posture in the chair, reclining as comfortably as he could.
“Though I’ve done countless evil deeds in the Nightworld, enough to deserve being executed a hundred tis, and even blew up half a city before I left…”
“All of that was forced upon .”
“Besides, Shiltina did it too. If you’re going to pin this on soone, she’s the mastermind. I’m just an accomplice.”
“If I hadn’t t Shiltina back then, I might still be working as a host in so Nightworld hotel right now…”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with being a host. But becoming a Night Traveler really opened up my world.”
“You and Vice President Shiltina are, of course, not suspects.” Ishta cut off Rast’s rambling. “This is just routine questioning and registration.”
“You should know that due to possessing Sequence abilities and Night Blades, every Night Traveler holds extrely destructive power.”
“And because the lingering echoes of the Nightworld’s history are so oppressive and suffocating, Night Travelers who spend long periods there often beco ntally unstable to so degree.”
“They are highly unpredictable factors.”
“Plus, due to the Nightworld’s confidentiality clauses for civilians, according to Granwell’s national laws, every Night Traveler within the borders must be registered, their whereabouts tracked, and their ntal state regularly observed.”
She picked up a tablet-like device from the table and swiped it lightly.
In the next mont, a holographic light screen appeared in front of Ishta.
As her fingers glided across it, the contents on the screen changed accordingly.
“Allow to introduce myself. I’m Ishta.”
“A third-year at Starfall University, ranked 78th on the Obelisk, a Tier 3 Hermit, currently serving as a psychotric analyst for the Starfall Student Council.”
Ishta took a bite of her cookie.
The teddy bear on the cookie instantly lost its head.
“Next, I’ll be conducting a psychological asurent using profiling to assess your ntal condition and stability index.”
“Just sit however you’re most comfortable. Please relax your body and mind as much as possible and cooperate with the assessnt.”
“Okay.” Rast nodded obediently.
He adjusted his posture and stretched lazily.
As he stretched, Rast discreetly ford his right hand into the shape of a gun and pointed it at his temple.
Click.
……
Inside the narrow inquiry room, a brief psychological assessnt was underway.
Ishta asked questions while Rast answered.
Sotis, the headset-wearing analyst paused to jot notes down on her tablet.
It looked exactly like a scene from Rast’s previous life when he visited a psychologist.
But in reality, this was just Ishta’s cover.
Conventional test questions and standard assessnt scales could gauge the ntal state of most ordinary people.
But when applied to Night Travelers, things weren’t that simple.
Sequence abilities, Night Blades…
There were too many variables that could disrupt the psychological results.
Because of this, for Ishta to serve as a psychotric analyst at Starfall University, specifically tasked with evaluating Night Travelers, her thods couldn’t rely solely on textbook assessnts and scripted dialogue.
She had her Night Blade.
As she used ordinary questioning and note-taking to gradually ease Rast’s mind and body, Ishta quietly activated her Night Blade.
Her consciousness rose to a higher level.
She no longer viewed the world through the lens of material reality, but with spiritual perception.
Night Blade — 「Eye of Secrets」.
It allowed her to open a spiritual vision, directly perceiving a target’s spiritual essence, observing their ntal embodint, and even, to so extent, reading fragnts of their mory.
Of course, for 「Eye of Secrets」 to achieve mind-reading or mory-reading effects, many conditions had to be t…
Which was why the blade’s effectiveness in combat was limited.
Unless there was a rank disparity between the user and the opponent, it couldn’t usually be used mid-battle.
Ishta felt a third eye open at her brow — her spiritual eye.
She was ntally prepared.
The symbolic embodints of Night Travelers’ minds ca in all shapes and forms.
So people, despite looking like elegant noble heirs on the outside, had transparent slugs as their ntal manifestations.
Others, outwardly bold and boisterous musclen, had delicate little chrysanthemums for theirs.
So ntally unstable or extre Night Travelers had ntal symbols that defied description — absolute aberrations.
However, when Ishta used her spiritual eye to gaze upon Rast’s ntal embodint, she froze.
It was a pitch-black kitten.
Its silky fur glead like fine silk, and its eyes were ocean-blue.
It flicked its slender, graceful tail, yawned, glanced at Ishta, and let out a soft, weak “ow.”
So cute!
Ishta felt her heart lt.
The trauma from witnessing so many grotesque, indescribable manifestations was, in that instant, healed.
After seeing nothing but monsters and demons, she hadn’t expected to find sothing so adorable among a Night Traveler’s spiritual manifestations.
Almost subconsciously, her spiritual projection leaned in, wanting to pet the kitten.
Then, the adorable little black cat suddenly opened its maw wide.
From within burst countless pitch-black tentacles, which imdiately swallowed her projection’s head and upper body.
Ishta instantly turned into “I)(shta”, following the sa fate as that poor teddy bear cookie.
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