Collapse, but Stand users

Faced with the savior who saved her daughter's life, the blonde woman didn't want to answer too casually, so she carefully considered her words and fell into deep thought.

The others at the table also stopped what they were doing, as if by unspoken agreement.

The whole room fell silent instantly, except for the occasional chirping of cicadas and calls of unknown birds coming from outside the window.

The woman remained silent for a long time, as if 40 days had passed.

But just as she was about to speak, several coughs came from Desdobia's room.

The topic was dropped once Ellie and the woman entered the room.

......

After comforting Desdobia, the group arrived at the inn where they would rest.

Ellie leaned on the railing of the hotel balcony, looking at the town under the night sky, and couldn't help but recall Vostok.

"Toulong, how are things in Vostok? How is Father Joseph's health?"

[Toulong remained silent, gently patting Aili's head. "Miracle, you already offered flowers at the priest's grave on his and Aili's behalf."]

[Ellie seemed to sense something, and looking at the stars in the sky, she asked with a touch of sadness.]

"Toulong, tell me, what is death?"

[I never expected Airi to ask such a profound question; even Toru hadn't considered it before.]

But he just said it casually.

"Death is like a cool summer night."

"...What kind of answer is that?"

[Toulong doesn't know, maybe it's because the wind is really cool tonight.]

"Go to sleep early, and stop thinking about all that nonsense."

【"oh."】

Nothing more was said that night.

......

[The nameless town is, after all, just a small town, and under the impact of the collapse, it is difficult to maintain its former peace and order.]

[Aili plans to stay here for a few days to treat the Honkai disease of the residents still remaining in the town.]

Desdovia's Honkai disease has healed, but because her body has been inactive for too long, she will need a few more days to fully recover.

Seeing that Kosmo was taking good care of her, Ellie gave up the idea of ​​restoring Desdovia's body.

One day, Ellie and Toulong were strolling around town when they ran into Kosmo, who was also strolling around, and greeted him.

"Hey~ Kosmo, are you taking a walk too?"

Kosmo shook his head.

【"patrol."】

As soon as they finished speaking, the three of them faintly heard someone calling for help.

Without hesitation, Kosmo rushed towards the source of the sound. Ellie and Touryu exchanged a glance and followed.

But the two seemed to have arrived too late. By the time they got there, Kosmo was already on top of a man, while in front of them was a thin woman tightly clutching a cloth bag in her arms.

The man pinned beneath Kosmo stared intently at the cloth bundle in the woman's arms. "Hand over the bundle! That's my last bit of food!" he roared, his voice hoarse as if rubbed with sandpaper. "My daughter is waiting at home. If she doesn't have any food, she'll starve to death!"

The woman's voice, trembling with tears, replied, "This isn't your food! I found it in the rubble; I have a family to feed too!"

Upon hearing this, the man forcefully pulled his hand away from Kosmo's grasp, then produced a small knife from who-knows-where.

The knife wasn't used to stab Kosmer; instead, it was thrown at the woman.

Kosmo reacted quickly and stopped the knife, but accidentally cut his hand.

Kosmo frowned slightly, subdued the man again, and was about to argue with him when Toulong stepped forward and kicked him unconscious.

Seeing this, Kosmo got up from the man.

Ellie went over to check on the man's condition and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he hadn't been killed by the dragon kick.

"The Honkai infection is so severe, they're practically turning into suicide soldiers."

[Aili sighed, treating the man's Honkai disease.]

Not everyone will come to her for treatment of Honkai disease; in such an environment, trust is a rare commodity.

Seeing the two fighting over food, Ellie realized that Daisy's family probably didn't have much food.

"Okay, he should wake up in about three minutes. Let's go."

[Aili said to Toulong, "The woman who was fighting with the man for food has long since disappeared."]

After a moment's thought, Alice decided to contact Mebius, hoping she could get the Firemoth to help the people of the town.

[Mebius sighed on the other end of the phone, saying, "Don't bother me with such trivial matters anymore," while agreeing to Ellie's request.]

The next day, the supplies for the Fire-Chasing Moths arrived, but very few people came to collect them.

"Everyone's gone," Kosmo said as he walked over to Toru and Ellie.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Leave after Desdobia recovers."

The young man was always so resolute, his eyes showing not a trace of confusion.

"We're leaving this afternoon. Good luck."

As Toulong spoke, he did not invite the boy to join them, knowing that Kosmo would eventually meet them.

【"Bon Voyage."】