Chapter 127: March: Am I Going to Die Soon?
A heavy silence had fallen over the Astral Express's parlor car. The usual lively chatter was gone, replaced by a tense quiet as everyone gathered around the unconscious March 7th, their brows drawn in tight knots of concern.
Though Dan Heng's speculation about the unactivated chat group mission had offered a sliver of reassurance, the challenge of finding the missing part of March's very being remained a monumental one.
Just then, a calm, elegant voice cut through the thick atmosphere.
"Everyone," Sunday began, standing slightly apart from the anxious huddle. His posture was impeccably composed, his gaze sweeping over the worried faces before finally settling on the still form on the couch. "Since Mr. Zhongli's information indicates that the two separated parts should be able to act independently, and Mr. Dan Heng has also judged that Miss March's body is fine—that she merely fainted from the mental trauma…"
He paused, letting his words sink in. "Then, why don't we wait for her to awaken naturally before we discuss our next steps?"
"Oh, right!" Stelle slapped her forehead, a look of dawning realization—and a hint of self-annoyance—flashing across her face. "Zhongli said they can move independently! March was just knocked out by that attack. She should be able to wake up!"
"Worry makes fools of us all…" Welt pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the lenses catching the light. His tone was laced with a touch of self-mockery. "We were so intimidated by the enemy's power and the sheer strangeness of their methods that we overlooked the most basic facts."
Dan Heng gave a slight nod, the tension in his expression finally easing. "Sunday is right. Once she wakes up, understanding her own feelings might provide more direct clues."
Just as the crew began to adjust their mindsets, buoyed by Sunday's logic, Stelle felt her phone buzz. She glanced down and saw a notification from the chat group—someone was pinging her.
Lumine: [@Stelle @Dan Heng Is something wrong on your side? Do you need help? I still have quite a few Rejuvenation Pills left. They're very effective for healing. I've put them in the group warehouse. Take them anytime if you need them!]
Belle: [Sister Lumine is right! Just say the word if you need anything!]
A warmth spread through Stelle's chest.
Stelle: [Thank you, Lumine! March has fainted, she really needs this!]
Without a second's hesitation, she accessed the group warehouse and materialized a small, elegant jade bottle. She pulled out the stopper with a soft pop, and a refreshing herbal fragrance immediately filled the air. Tilting the bottle, she carefully poured out two round, emerald-green pills.
"It's a healing medicine from Lumine," Stelle explained to the others. "She said it's very effective." She gently supported March 7th's head and carefully placed one of the pills into her mouth.
The Rejuvenation Pill lived up to its name. Less than two minutes after it was swallowed, March 7th's long eyelashes began to flutter. A few muffled murmurs escaped her lips.
Then, she slowly opened her eyes. They were hazy with the confusion of just waking up, struggling to focus on the ring of solemn faces staring down at her.
"Whoa!" The sight sent a jolt through her, and her heart nearly leaped out of her throat.
She instinctively shrank back, her mind still a bit dazed. "Wh-what's going on? You… why are you all surrounding me? Did I… did I do something bad again and get caught red-handed?"
She tried to recall what happened. She remembered a terrifying force tearing through a protective shield, a blinding flash of light, a massive impact, and then… nothing. It seemed like she'd seen a blurry figure, but before she could get a clear look or even react, she'd lost consciousness.
'Did I accidentally break something on the Express before I fainted? Or did I accidentally freeze someone?' The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt, especially seeing the serious expressions on everyone's faces.
An even more terrifying thought began to bloom in her mind. "Wait… wait a minute… your expressions are so heavy… and are you sighing? Did I just hear sighs? Could it be… could it be that I'm seriously injured? And I… I don't have long to live?!"
Her voice took on a sob, and her eyes instantly welled with tears.
The crew looked down at March 7th, who had been awake for less than a minute and was already staging a full-blown melodrama. A complex mix of emotions washed over their faces. Seeing her familiar, vibrant—if slightly unhinged—demeanor made the tense strings in their hearts loosen just a little.
A collective, gentle sigh escaped them all, a shared sound of helplessness and fond indulgence.
At least this part of her was fine. Her mind was clear, and her personality was unchanged.
But to March 7th, that synchronized sigh was ironclad proof of her "not long to live" theory.
"Waaah—!!" Her wail almost tore through the roof of the Astral Express.
"No way! You're still sighing! And all at the same time! It's over, it's over, am I really going to die?! I'm still so young! There are so many sights I haven't seen, I haven't even fully mastered how to release the power of Sode no Shirayuki! Waaah…"
The more she thought, the sadder she became, tears pooling in her eyes. Just as she was about to burst into a full-on sob to mourn her "short but brilliant" life, a hard object pressed painfully into the palm of her left hand.
"Hmm?" She instinctively lowered her head to look.
She saw that her hand was clenched in a death grip around something. It wasn't her own Sheep Talisman, but… a talisman that had been cleanly broken in half, one piece black, the other white.
It's broken!?
Time seemed to freeze for a second.
And then—
"Ah—!!!!!!!!!!"
A sharp, piercing shriek, a full eight octaves higher than her previous wail, echoed through the entire Express.
"It's over, it's over, it's completely over! This is completely ruined, ahhh!"
March 7th shot up from her seated position, all thoughts of "not having long to live" instantly forgotten. She held the two halves of the talisman, her face a mask of apocalyptic despair.
"The Tiger Talisman! The Tiger Talisman Mr. Zhongli lent me! How… how did it break?!"
She stared at the broken artifact, and a horrifying realization dawned on her. "So… so you were all sighing because I broke such an important item?! I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to!"
"I just instinctively wanted to grab my Sheep Talisman, but who knew I grabbed the wrong one! And who knew it was so fragile! Waaah waaah waaah… Mr. Zhongli, I'm so sorry!"
March 7th spiraled into a vortex of self-reproach and anxiety over compensation, completely oblivious to the fact that the broken talisman hid a truth far more serious than any debt—a truth tied to her very existence.
Looking at the pink-haired girl clutching the two halves of the artifact, panicking over "sky-high compensation" while utterly unaware that her soul was missing a piece, the crew felt their grave worries about a top-tier Emanator and soul-splitting replaced by an even more absurd and helpless sense of powerlessness.
"March," Dan Heng's calm voice cut through her impending "declaration of bankruptcy."
His gaze was direct and steady, without a hint of hesitation. "Mr. Zhongli is already aware that the Tiger Talisman broke. He is not pursuing the matter. This isn't serious, and you do not need to compensate him."
"Huh?" March 7th's sobbing stopped abruptly, as if someone had hit a pause button. Her pink and blue eyes blinked, a little bewildered. "No… no need to compensate? Mr. Zhongli is that generous?"
"It's not that you don't need to compensate; it's that this item isn't broken at all," Dan Heng immediately corrected, his gaze growing sharper as he changed the subject. "But that's not the point right now. What's important is, how do you feel? Is there anywhere on your body that feels uncomfortable? Or…"
His next question went straight to the heart of the matter, pulling everyone's attention back to March's condition. "Do you feel anything… different?"
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