Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

On the mountain, at night, by the campfire, a handsome young man and a graceful young woman are alone together, creating an atmosphere that seems quite romantic.

However, upon closer inspection, the girl, who is resting her chin on her hands, is completely oblivious to the romantic tension between a lone man and a woman alone together. Instead, she is struggling against the powerful call of sleep.

After a full day of activity, having finally eaten and drank enough while sitting by the warm campfire, Ruo Manni sits with her legs crossed, propping up her chin with her hands, fighting off drowsiness while remaining vigilant for any unusual sounds. She is too tired to focus on anything else.

The call of sleep is indeed overwhelming, and Ruo Manni, unable to keep her chin up, almost toppled forward before realizing she had dozed off.

Hebrew Adam, sitting across from her, couldn’t help but suggest, “Why don’t you go back and sleep? I can keep watch on my own.”

Ruo Manni immediately straightened up and said, “No, I need to fulfill my duty.”

Hebrew Adam looked at her and did not say anything further. From Ruo Manni’s expression, it was clear that she had no intention of engaging in casual conversation with him.

Even though Hebrew Adam and Ruo Manni had been teamed up for a month, training together daily, they were definitely no longer strangers. Especially during this training exercise, they had become partners who had shared life-and-death situations.

Hebrew Adam had hoped that Ruo Manni’s attitude toward him might change, but seeing her now, it seemed that some deeper aspects of their relationship remained unchanged.

Hebrew Adam had noticed before that, apart from official matters, Ruo Manni had never discussed any personal topics with him, which was in stark contrast to Sheila, who frequently approached him with personal matters.

It was clear that Ruo Manni had drawn a line; she would be a good classmate and a reliable comrade, but she would not develop any relationship beyond that.

Previously, Hebrew Adam thought of Ruo Manni as very perceptive and intelligent, believing that such a rational partner was worthy of being by his side.

But for some reason, tonight, seeing her calm and distant expression and the way she maintained the same distance from him as before, Hebrew Adam felt an inexplicable frustration rising in his heart.

Ruo Manni had always been very clear about her position. Even though her dramatic background was now known by the Crown Prince and Hua Deqi, and even some members of the Hua De family, she had not changed her own self-perception.

No matter how the situation might force her to return to the Hua De family, her ideals remained unchanged.

Ruo Manni was determined to return to Topaz Star after graduating from military school. That place was her “home” in this world, and she wanted to protect her “home” in the face of impending disasters.

So even though she had developed a bond of life and death with these companions, she had no intention of changing her mind to integrate with them.

She and Hebrew Adam and Sheila are not on the same path; after graduation, they will go their separate ways. Getting too involved with them privately could easily lead to unnecessary trouble.

Just like the mutated fourth-level psychic core wood they encountered during this exercise, when Hua Deqi appeared, Ruo Manni didn’t ask, but it was clear there was some kind of conspiracy involved. As a minor character, she almost got caught in the crossfire.

For a small person like herself, it’s better to stay away from the main characters to avoid being used as cannon fodder.

Before today, Ruo Manni had put effort into maintaining good relations with these talented individuals from the Imperial Capital Star, hoping for their support when she returned to Topaz Star.

However, now that she has secured the support of the Crown Prince’s cousin and Hua Deqi’s cousin, she no longer needs to force herself to maintain relationships with classmates, as long as she manages to get by.

Ruo Manni felt that she could be more relaxed and free in the future, so she decided not to speak if she didn’t want to. She had no desire to converse with Hebrew Adam.

In fact, apart from topics related to training or tasks, Ruo Manni genuinely didn’t know what to talk about with Hebrew Adam, as she had never had a personal conversation with him.

To avoid the awkwardness of sitting in silence and not wanting to look undignified by dozing off, Ruo Manni decided to use her light brain. She had downloaded quite a few literary works, which were perfect for passing the time now.

Seeing Ruo Manni’s clear attitude, Hebrew Adam kept his thoughts to himself and remained silent, watching the campfire.

By nature, Hebrew Adam was proud and accustomed to others flattering him and engaging him in conversation. Apart from his family and elders, few people made him take the initiative to chat. Since Ruo Manni didn’t want to talk to him, he also chose not to speak.

To be honest, Hebrew Adam had never met a girl like Ruo Manni before. In the two months he had known her, every time he thought he had figured her out, she would refresh his understanding.

Tonight was no exception. No girl had ever interacted with him alone in such a manner, without any sign of awkwardness, completely absorbed in her own world while using her light brain, as if he were invisible.

The two of them stood guard for three hours. No students from the military academy had come down the mountain, and on the icy, snowy night with no food, it was a real ordeal.

When Tino Venamoinen and Tamaki Kazia came out to take over the shift, they were the second team.

After the shift change, Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam entered the capsule apartment, one after the other.

Inside the capsule apartment, Sheila was sleeping in a small room, while Su Forty-Three was sleeping in the common area. This arrangement was planned in advance; the boys slept in the common area as the second line of defense, and Hebrew Adam would also be sleeping there.

Ruo Manni entered the small room to sleep.

Although she felt very sleepy and wanted to rest by the campfire, she didn’t fall asleep immediately once she lay down. It took her several minutes before she dozed off.

In such an environment, she couldn’t sleep soundly. Even in her half-asleep state, she could sense unfamiliar people arriving outside the capsule apartment.

However, Ruo Manni didn’t sense any danger, and her teammates hadn’t issued any alert signals. She vaguely thought that these strangers were probably other military academy students, so she continued to sleep.

When Ruo Manni’s light brain vibrated silently, she woke up, knowing it was time to get up.

She sat up and used her external mental power to “check” around the capsule apartment. She “saw” that several simple capsule apartments had been added on either side of theirs, indicating that military academy students had come down from the mountaintop in the middle of the night.

Yesterday, Adam’s team had agreed to descend the mountain at first light, so when Ruo Manni left the small room, she found that her teammates had gathered in the common area.

Ruo Manni stepped out of the capsule apartment and immediately spotted Aoi Dan. She saw Aoi Dan sitting next to the campfire that Adam’s team had set up. When Adam’s team members emerged from the capsule apartment, Aoi Dan was shyly glancing at Hebrew Adam.

After a shiver ran down her spine, Ruo Manni recalled that since their meeting at Xuan Gu First Military Academy, Aoi Dan had proven to be completely unremarkable, lacking any traits of a scheming female antagonist. Over their two encounters, Aoi Dan had changed significantly, becoming more like an innocent and bashful young woman.

Becoming an innocent flower wasn’t the real issue; the real concern was that Ruo Manni noticed this innocent flower casting shy glances at Hebrew Adam.