Erwin sat there with a feigned air of elegance, nibbling on a piece of exquisite cake. He didn't actually care for sweets; he had simply grabbed something to mask his little act of tailing someone.
Allow me to introduce him: Erwin, an ordinary soldier of Fire Moth. He joined in the same period as Kosma, but while Kosma had already climbed several ranks, Erwin remained a private. He had no glittering achievements to his name; he was the type whose resume would elicit the most perfunctory "Ah, not bad" from anyone reading it.
He had no strange hobbies. Usually, he enjoyed playing games and browsing forums, occasionally obsessing over women he could never reach or those who were simply fictional "waifus." He liked the stars everyone liked and the songs everyone loved. He didn't have any eccentric habits, no symptoms of light-phobia or bloodlust, and he didn't feel the need to read every word on a torn-off label, nor did he walk around wearing a helmet every day.
In short, Erwin was a man so ordinary he was the definition of average, with a height and weight that matched the exact mean for males at Headquarters. In a novel, he would be the passerby brushed over in a single sentence, devoid of psychological depth or physical description.
Naturally, Erwin was self-aware. He did his duties as prescribed, never attempting to be the protagonist of the story or looking for trouble. If luck was on his side, he hoped to survive until the end of the Honkai, marry, have children, and live out a comfortable life.
Then again, his luck was actually quite good. Of his peers, only he and Kosma had survived to this day. He had participated in every Large-Scale Honkai Eruption and somehow managed to come out alive. It seemed Lady Luck truly favored the ordinary.
Erwin had come to the ball alone today. Although he was on decent terms with Nuwa and Fuxi—sharing common ground in their "otaku" interests—they were clearly the "frenemy" type; dancing with them was out of the question. However, he hadn't planned on finding a partner anyway. He was here to see one person.
Lin.
Most people were looking forward to Kevin attending the ball. One could say this gala was also a victory celebration held specifically for Kevin, but many didn't realize Kevin had arrived in a cold-resistant suit and assumed he wasn't attending. Meanwhile, Lin had unexpectedly made an appearance.
Erwin was different from the masses. He didn't mind if he saw Kevin, but he desperately wanted to see Lin. He felt he admired Lin. It was a difficult feeling to explain. If it was about heroically sacrificing oneself for the MANTIS project, Kevin had done the same and was the successful subject. If it was about Lin merits... those were a matter of much debate and uncertainty.
It was a complex emotion, and the fact that he had never actually interacted with Lin only deepened that complexity.
"...Mm." Seeing Lin finish his conversation with Hua, Erwin quickly turned back to attack the sweets on his plate, terrified of being noticed tailing him. He had picked up Lin trail halfway through the ball and seen some... well, very curious scenes.
But none of that mattered. Even if the Lin in his mind and the real Lin had some discrepancies, it wasn't enough to shatter his admiration. To put it simply... seeing that Lin was "fine" made him breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn't a distorted or fanatical emotion; just seeing a person worthy of respect still living strongly gave Erwin the courage to keep fighting.
But just as he prepared to leave—
"Hey, wait a second."
A smiling Elysia, pulling Pardo along, blocked his path.
"I feel like Lin has turned into a male incubus overnight," Vil-V said, pinching a straw with two fingers and taking small sips. "Does a grieving man radiate a different kind of charm?"
"A normal person attracts normal people, and an abnormal person naturally attracts abnormal ones," Mei countered, reaching out her hand. "Dr. Vil-V, give it to me."
"Now? We're still at the ball, aren't we? Tomorrow isn't too late."
"I want to review it tonight."
"How diligent."
Vil-V pulled a storage device from her... collar? From a bizarre angle, anyway, and handed it to Mei. Mei glanced at it and put it in her pocket.
"Still, it's surprising that Dr. Mobius would be interested in something outside her experiments and life goals. Logically, the ideological conflict between her and Lin should be a blood feud, shouldn't it?" Vil-V drew an Ace from her deck and placed it on the table, then shuffled with expert ease. "Could it be that Dr. Mobius isn't as obsessed with research as she appears?"
"...Humans have no resistance to 'resonance'." Mei gazed blankly at the bustling crowd, her hands propped on the table. "It is precisely Mobius obsession with her goal that allows her to 'resonate' with Lin, who has a vastly different ideology but is so similar to her."
"Hmm? Mobius and Lin are similar? I don't see it." Vil-V blindly drew another Ace. It was a simple card-handling trick, yet she seemed to be using pure memory rather than sleight of hand to find the cards.
"Eccentric behavior, unpopular, idiosyncratic personalities... and it just so happens that Lin is someone who, even with different ideologies, is willing to validate others. Even if he holds to an absolute difference, he's willing to validate the opposite extreme. To Mobius, that must be an irresistible 'scent'."
"An interesting way to put it." The third Ace was flicked out by Vil-V and placed in the third position. "What about the assassin lady?"
"Sakura?" Mei gave a low laugh. "I'm not exactly a master of emotional puzzles."
"You sound like you're analyzing it perfectly well."
"Because I have a boyfriend?"
"...Come to think of it, haven't you only ever had one relationship?" Vil-V looked at Mei in surprise. "Why do you know so much?"
"It's a necessary skill for the position I hold."
"Oh... being 'all things to all people'?"
"To be precise... insight into the human heart, and manipulating benefits." Mei gave a bitter smile. "Back to the topic. Sakura is actually easier to understand than Mobius. She was an assassin; her sense of identity makes her instinctively place herself in a lower position compared to Lin, with whom she shares a close history."
Vil-V listened with interest while rubbing the cards, finding the final Ace by memory.
"Coupled with her unilateral belief that there is a conflict between her and Lin, it's not hard to imagine that Sakura feelings are mostly guilt. Once Lin, as the subject of that guilt, alleviates it, the emotion transforms into something positive."
"Wow, as expected of Dr. Mei. You handle manipulating hearts with ease." Vil-V drew the final card and placed it face down. "You're actually quite sentimental, aren't you, Dr. Mei?"
"That's not exactly a compliment, Dr. Vil-V."
"Then... what about Elysia?"
Vil-V flipped the card. It wasn't the last Ace, but the JOKER sitting at the apex.