"So... because her family went on a trip, this girl Stelle just ended up homeless? And Sister Acheron, you're planning to find her a place to stay?"
Listening to Acheron's explanation, Mo Xi's gaze drifted toward Stelle, who was swinging her legs nonchalantly. The corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Let's not even talk about that irresponsible family. They went on a perfectly normal vacation, yet somehow managed to create the impression that they had embezzled funds and fled, leaving behind an empty house.
The key point was that this girl was squatting on the lawn, plucking foxtail grass to tease ants, wearing an expression that seemed to say, "Homelessness? Who cares? I'm still living my best life."
It was truly enough to make Mo Xi lose her composure.
"Achoo!"
Silver Wolf suddenly let out a loud sneeze, yet her fingers didn't stop operating the game for even a second.
Firefly walked over carrying a cup of freshly brewed hot milk and tilted her head in concern.
"Silver Wolf, did you catch a cold?"
"It's fine. According to typical plot tropes, someone is probably badmouthing me behind my back."
Firefly nodded slightly, but her brows soon furrowed again, her tone tinged with uncertainty.
"Are you sure we don't need to go back early? After all, Stelle is over there all by herself..."
"Don't worry. Isn't Acheron there taking care of her?"
Silver Wolf rolled her eyes, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the controller.
"Instead of worrying about other people, why don't you worry about me? By the time you have time to play with me again, I'll be an old shut-in gamer!"
As she spoke, she shoved another controller into Firefly's hands.
Firefly's gaze darted between the controller and Silver Wolf's focused profile. She gently rubbed the hem of her clothes, her hesitation written all over her face.
After a long while, as if she had finally made up her mind, she slowly lowered her eyelashes and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz,
"Then... okay, let's continue."
"You must be Acheron's sister, right? Hello! My name is Stelle!"
Stelle's eyes sparkled as she leaned toward Mo Xi, her tone filled with undisguised enthusiasm.
"Huh? Oh... hello, I'm Mo Xi."
Mo Xi was caught off guard by her sudden friendliness and responded instinctively.
After chatting for a while, the two of them officially got to know each other.
Before long, they had already become quite familiar with each other.
Setting aside Stelle's somewhat dazed yet adorable appearance, she was actually surprisingly likable.
During the conversation, Mo Xi also took the opportunity to ask Sister Acheron something.
"Since you two already know each other, why not let Stelle stay at our place for the time being? Isn't Mo Xin's room empty right now?"
Mo Xin (⊙_⊙): Huh?
Acheron replied, "Finding a place for Stelle to stay isn't difficult, so there's no need to trouble our parents."
Acheron and Stelle clearly had a good relationship, and Mo Xi's first impression of Stelle had been unexpectedly positive.
So, she had originally intended to put in a good word for the girl.
But when her gaze drifted over and she saw Stelle squatting nearby, clutching that familiar trash bag, her eyes sparkling as she rummaged through it with complete focus and excitement...
Mo Xi immediately swallowed the words that had reached the tip of her tongue.
"Actually, I think what you said makes a lot of sense, Sister Acheron. I'll just have Mo Xin keep an eye on things instead, so there's no need to trouble my parents over such a small matter!"
Forget it.
Judging by this girl's condition, she could probably live happily anywhere.
Having one Sister Acheron at home—who loves eating peaches and constantly gets lost—was already more than enough.
Stelle (◐o◑): "Babo bo eh?"
Afterward, Acheron and Stelle officially bid farewell to Mo Xi and set off once again for their appointment.
Mo Xi had originally wanted to give them a ride, but Acheron declined.
Hearing that, Mo Xi didn't insist. After all, wasn't Stelle tagging along with Sister Acheron?
She then naturally headed out once more to deal with the trash Stelle had swiped.
Not long afterward—
Yunli and Mo Xin, who had arrived at the meeting spot ahead of time, had already been waiting for quite a while.
"Master Yunli."
"What is it?"
"Um... how long has it been since the agreed meeting time?"
"Hmm... about twenty minutes, I suppose."
"..."
"..."
About half an hour later—
On the other side, Acheron and Stelle had also very smoothly managed to get lost.
Stelle frowned and scratched the back of her head, muttering with a puzzled expression,
"Hey, Acheron, haven't we been here several times already? Why does this place feel so familiar?"
Acheron raised her eyes upon hearing that. Her purple orbs slowly swept across the surrounding shops and streets before she gave a slight nod a moment later.
Stelle (๑˙ー˙๑): "..."
"Have we already missed the appointment?"
"Mm. About half an hour late." A voice came from not far away.
Reality had successfully exceeded even Mo Xi's expectations.
After all, Acheron couldn't remember the route in the first place, so how could Stelle, who had inherited Acheron's memories, possibly know the correct way?
"So the two of you are both directionally challenged and just wandered around relying on luck, making us wait here for over half an hour?"
Yunli stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the two of them in dissatisfaction.
Stelle immediately shook her head like a rattle-drum, straightened her neck, and retorted righteously,
"We weren't relying on luck! We were relying on the unreliable navigation on our phones!"
Mo Xin (๑•̌.•̑๑)ˀ̣ˀ̣: "Then why were you so late?"
Stelle (ᕑᗢᓫ): "Hehe, because I thought Acheron knew the way at first."
Mo Xin (;o_o): "..."
Seeing Stelle, Yunli rubbed her chin in surprise.
"Yo, long time no see, Stelle. I didn't expect the person Acheron mentioned to be you!"
"Yeah, long time no see, Yunli!"
Stelle greeted her just as naturally.
Seeing this, Mo Xin immediately realized that the two of them seemed to know each other.
But the problem was... wasn't Master Yunli from another world?
Why would she know Stelle?
As the question surfaced in Mo Xin's mind, she suddenly noticed that the styles of clothing worn by Stelle, Sister Acheron, and Master Yunli were all slightly different from those of the people around them.
A flash of inspiration suddenly shot through Mo Xin's mind, racing from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head, instantly enlightening her.
At the same time, Stelle's attention gradually shifted to the girl standing beside Yunli.
Yunli smiled and introduced them.
"This is the Trailblazer from the Astral Express—Stelle. And this is my newly accepted disciple..."
But Stelle didn't hear a single word that came afterward.
Her gaze was like a magnet, firmly locked onto the two swords hanging at the girl's waist.
These familiar swords... this familiar aura...
Stelle's brain accelerated to light speed in a single second, as though it had experienced dimensional collisions, the birth of the universe, and the collapse of galaxies...
Then, with a ding, she arrived at a conclusion!
Her golden eyes instantly shone like two supernovas, and she waved excitedly.
"Hello, March 7th! I'm Stelle, and I'm two years old this year!"