Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Bronya's work had become much more manageable recently, thanks to the help of the other Valkyries and Seele.

Seele's abilities were truly exceptional; no current mechanical surveillance method could detect her. The only possible way was Anti-Entropy's quantum monitoring, but the only person with a comparable ability was Dr. Schrodinger, making such surveillance unnecessary.

Able to phase through walls, move stealthily, and eavesdrop at will, Seele was a rising star in the world of assassination.

But under Bronya's strict orders, Seele was not to be involved in the act of killing.

"Bronya-Oneechan, I met another strange person today... he's so pitiful."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Bronya continued to tidy up her work, making another note of Seele's accomplishments.

As their blockchain-based work deepened, their execution efficiency had significantly improved. With the addition of AI agents, Bronya alone could now manage the entire security system of Academy City.

She no longer expected Academy City to be a place that wouldn't tarnish Seele's innocence; she just hoped that through her work, Seele would understand her big sister's painstaking efforts.

Little Bronya was completely unaware that she was using their excellent emotional bond to make Seele work for her for free. After all, Noldrei didn't pay her a salary either. Most of her income came from her own cooperative ventures with various research institutes and pharmaceutical companies.

In short, she was treating Seele the same way Noldrei treated her.

The effect? It was remarkably effective, of course!

Seele, believing she could truly help her Bronya-Oneechan, threw herself into her work day and night with gusto, contributing her light and heat to the construction of Academy City's security.

Now, as was her routine, she was chatting with Bronya about what she'd seen and heard in the city.

"With the opening of Academy City and the use of Honkai Crystals, a lot of people have gotten their hands on them. Thanks to the Honkai minerals mined in the Middle East, more people can participate in the creation and use of Honkai Energy."

"But, just as you said, Bronya-Oneechan, security has slipped to a certain extent. Someone used a Honkai Crystal to kill another person. When I went to arrest him, he was still playing the piano, with no intention of running away."

Bronya temporarily put down her work. She was suddenly interested in hearing what this person who didn't flee had to say.

There were many who didn't run. This was because these criminals knew just how tight Academy City's surveillance was. So when they decided to kill, they were already prepared to die themselves.

The punishments in Academy City were peculiar. If a person deprived another of their rights by their own means, then Academy City, as the organizer of society, would deprive that person of the same rights within society.

However, there were still some distinctions.

If the majority of people believed that the killing was in line with their moral code, it was difficult for them to feel an impulse for revenge. Many would even consider such an act to be righteous.

A person who avenges their mother and a person who kills an innocent child are both stripped of the societal protection of their lives. The latter would be beaten to death by the onlookers, while the former would be praised by many for his righteous deed.

Academy City didn't practice primitive talionic retribution; it emphasized a system of rewards and punishments based on equal rights and responsibilities.

Therefore, it was not uncommon for murderers in Academy City not to flee.

These people either believed they couldn't escape the mob or that their actions were in line with the public's sense of justice and they wouldn't actually be beaten to death by a hateful crowd.

"So, what did he say?"

"He said that the person had saved up enough points and would likely have a good life because of Academy City. So he had to kill him before the city could fully establish control over public order." Seele's expression was a little strange as she recounted this.

"Oh? So it was a grudge from before Academy City was established, back when its legal foundations hadn't been set?" Bronya found this was getting interesting.

"Yes. He was a good student in high school, but after someone from another school injured his fingers, he could never play the piano again. So, he gave up and started drifting through society. It was then that he learned the person who attacked him was a delinquent from another school, paid by someone else to do the deed."

Seele truly hadn't expected such a backstory. The most ridiculous part was that the delinquent had no idea who he had even attacked.

"He said that at the time, the delinquent was just jealous of his good family background and better life, and attacked him in a fit of envy. Afterward, it was just ruled a minor injury and the case was dropped."

Seele sighed and sat down beside her, saying helplessly, "He said he couldn't wait any longer. He believed the delinquent who ruined his life didn't deserve to have a good future. Ordinarily, that delinquent would never have found a good wife, had a good job, or any real future. He might have even lived from hand to mouth."

"It was all because of Academy City... it gave that kind of person a chance to turn his life around..."

Bronya was slightly taken aback. She put herself in the student's shoes and found that she couldn't accept it either.

"He said that in a little while, that punk would have used the money he earned from working and the knowledge he gained to participate in the Kengan matches, or even audit classes at a school. He could have healed his scars, changed his chaotic past, put on a better-looking skin, and cast off all the dust of his past. It would be as if all his past wrongdoings had never even happened..."

"He could even have an android and live the happy life that ordinary people dream of, as happy and blissful as a normal family. But what about the people he had harmed? The students he robbed, the girls he tricked, the people he bullied and played with?"

"So, to prevent that kind of person from having a happy ending..."

"He took the initiative to... take care of him."

After Seele finished speaking, Bronya fell completely silent.

She felt her scalp tingle, a chaotic feeling of yin and yang being inverted washing over her.

The reason for the murder was so powerful that it left Bronya at a complete loss for words.

Bronya could think of countless reasons why this person could have chosen a better way to resolve his pain. But what if she were in his position?

She probably couldn't forgive her enemy for living a so-called happy life, especially at the crossroads of two different worlds.

Murder was the only way this person could resolve his own suffering.

"Bronya-Oneechan, do you... think what he did... I just feel sorry for him... He's already been detained, and the rest will be decided by the upcoming trial to determine what rights he'll be stripped of."

Seele didn't think the man was right, but she couldn't coldly call him an evil person either.

But how could Bronya give an answer? She wanted to know, too.