Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

François, not entirely reassured, took apart the seemingly new deck and washed it for a long time.

“What are you worried about? I, Nino, never lie.”

Nino patted his chest.

"Ask the people at Metis University, when has Nino ever lied?"

"Okay, okay."

Although François felt something was amiss, he agreed anyway.

"Hmph, kneel down and beg for mercy, you she-devil!"

……

Half an hour later

"Peng."

"I...I can drink more..."

With a loud "bang," François, who had lost seventeen consecutive games, collapsed onto the table, unconscious.

Vanessa looked at the cards over and over, her lips twitching slightly.

Then, she pulled Melutina and Nino aside and gave them a thorough dressing-down.

"You never lie, right?"

Vanessa poked Nino's nose helplessly, then looked at Melutina.

"A fair fight, huh? Cheating, you guys are really something."

"This guy's already won the heart of a beauty, and he won't let us mess with him? That won't do."

Nino suddenly leaned close to Vanessa's ear and said something.

"Ah, ah? What happened to you..."

"Boom."

Nino took advantage of her inattention and kissed her on the lips.

"Ni...?!"

Melutina was dumbfounded.

"Nino, you stinking woman, what are you doing?!"

François, who was standing nearby, sobered up instantly and then collapsed on the ground, vomiting violently.

"Ugh, ugh..."

"Hahahaha... So I've been cheated on with two people now?"

Nino, the instigator, laughed so hard he could barely breathe, lifted Vanessa's chin, who was completely dumbfounded, and said with a seductive expression,

"Vanessa, how about we get together?"

"no!"

"Don't even think about it! Ugh..."

Where they couldn't see, the Minister of Information quietly put down his camera.

.........

A corner of Melutina's room—

In the photo, the blonde girl is embracing the somewhat dazed brown-haired French girl, their smiles as warm as the winter sun.

Chapter 101 Neither Right Nor Wrong, Neither Good Nor Evil

Life is noble because people consider it noble.

In fact, we have no evidence to prove its value, nor any reason to believe it.

But people always cling to this idea; it's not a rational thought, but a form of self-comfort.

The truth is often simple yet cruel; life is noble because of humanity, and also base because of humanity.

—Excerpt from Nino's *The Noble Lowly*

……

This is the story of a nun.

She was born into a wealthy family and did not know what poverty and cold were in her childhood. She was proud, arrogant, and even haughty.

Those who are in high positions are often dragged down to lower places, and their circumstances are often more tragic. This is because their enemies are more powerful and ruthless.

His father was imprisoned, his mother died in despair, and he himself was disliked because of his arrogance.

She doesn't know when it started, but she suddenly realized that she couldn't go on living.

While she was still basking in her pride, her family's wealth had already been divided up by her relatives, and no one wanted to leave her a single penny.

Perhaps the only mercy was that they hadn't taken her house yet, which gave her a brief respite.

He willingly degenerates and is vain.

Her deep-seated flaws had been ingrained in her for years; she had sold her soul and her body, and though she was human, she did not live like one.

The result of currying favor with the powerful was nothing but the burden she carried within her, yet she remained undeterred, which made her extremely ugly in front of everyone, but in the end she only received some compensation.

Good and evil will eventually be rewarded, but she was the only one who received the punishment.

This world doesn't really punish evildoers; it just depends on who's lucky.

Anger and sorrow were useless, and her remaining dignity had been trampled on. She was not a person worthy of pity, but she was not so bad as to be beyond redemption.

She saved her child and entered a convent. People around her were still ashamed to associate with her, but she had no intention of giving up.

“Abandon that child, and you can live with dignity.”

"I've already made too many mistakes, I can't afford to make them again."

She spoke frankly in response to the monastery's questions.

Her frankness touched the most senior priest in the monastery at the time, and he accepted her.

Time washes away all resentment and sin. Gradually, people no longer held prejudices against her, and her children grew up to be increasingly handsome and dashing.

But she was worried all day long, simply because this child, like her, had impure thoughts.

"Your son is so outstanding, why do you always beat and scold him?"

A nun asked.

"I don't expect him to become a talent, I only hope he becomes a good person."

Tears streaming down her face, she knelt before the icon, begging for forgiveness.

As it turned out, she was right.

Soon, her child left her. He was unwilling to support her and only wanted to make his own way in the world and enjoy wealth and luxury.

He was arrogant and hated poverty. His mother never mentioned their past wealth, but he learned the truth she was hiding through various unorthodox means.

"Hey, who's in front of me? A fallen lady of noble birth, a... promiscuous woman who got pregnant out of wedlock."

He even made a mocking remark, then turned and left.

"If it weren't for your incompetence, I should be living like a young master! But now I'm practically a beggar!"

Shameless, selfish, and vain.

This child resembles both his mother and his father.

"noble?"

But she remained unmoved and did not try to stop him.

"That's the funniest joke in the world."

She is not noble, for it is not in her birth, but in her soul.

……

Years later, the boy grew into a man, and a few years after that, he died a violent death.

For ten years, he did not return to visit his mother.

"You're going to be childless!"

A nun, who couldn't keep her mouth shut, couldn't help but say...

"Don't you even care about him?"

“I have given him everything I could.”

She looked coldly at the gossipy woman.

“Ignorant people don’t need to pretend to be kind. I’m old, but my eyesight is still pretty good. I’ve seen many evil people, but you’re not even an evil person. You’re just a petty person.”

The nun who asked the question was not acting out of kindness; she was simply jealous.

She wanted the position she had now attained as a nun, so it would be easier to portray her as a cold-blooded person.

Unfortunately, her methods were too despicable and naive; they were all things she had already done when she was young.

"You... I was just showing concern for him..."

She ignored the explanations and didn't feel particularly sad.

It was only a matter of time before that child would suffer this fate, but if that was the case, why did she save him? Even if it was her own child.

……

"Every cause has its effect. If you protect him and support him, your sins will be washed away."

On his deathbed, the old pastor held her hand and said,

"As for the path he takes, that is his karma. Riesfia, that child, he has a daughter who is living on Twilight Street."

"daughter?"