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ArabicHonkai Star Rail: My Death Feeds Their Madness — Chapter 8
Chapter 8: A Girl’s Early Morning Visit
After finishing his morning meal, Kagashi stepped into the deepest spatial fold of his laboratory.
Here, hidden away from the world, rested the unfinished works he had poured his soul into. The faint, metallic tang of solder and synthetic lubricant lingered in the chilled air. Bypassing a row of heavy machinery with their standby lights pulsing like slow heartbeats, he paused before a wide alloy workbench.
Under the harsh glare of cold white overhead lamps, the prosthetic limb he had left half-finished the night before took on an almost lifelike sheen. The rigid, unforgiving metal had been carefully interwoven with high-strength composite bone and synthetic bionic muscle fibers. A specialized polymer formed the knuckles, ensuring flawless flexibility, while the delicate sensory skin stretched over the fingertips was designed to perfectly mimic the warmth and sensitivity of human touch.
The lines of the arm flowed smooth and unblemished. Its internal, independent transmission system remained entirely silent.
With a quiet breath, Kagashi initiated a diagnostic sequence to test the arm’s articulation.
Grasping, clenching, striking, flicking, elbowing. Every conceivable motion a human could execute, the mechanical limb replicated with terrifying precision. Even movements impossible for flesh and blood—like bending the knuckles ninety degrees backward—posed no challenge to the reinforced joints.
Watching the flawless execution, Kagashi gave a slow nod. A faint trace of satisfaction settled over his features. Once the final micro-adjustments were made and the last stress test cleared, the design could be pushed into automated production.
“Now then…”
He shifted his gaze to the lower limb resting on the opposite side of the bench.
Testing the leg was a far simpler affair compared to the complex calibrations required for a five-fingered hand. The diagnostic results scrolled across the monitor, all exceeding his initial projections.
After carefully storing the completed prosthetics in their stasis pods, Kagashi looked toward the far corner of the bench.
A mechanical skull sat there in the shadows.
Its cranial cavity was split wide open, exposing a dense, complex web of neural interfaces and dormant circuitry. Suspended from a stand just to the left hung a translucent crystal core, catching the stark light.
To Kagashi, this particular component presented the least amount of technical difficulty. He was not, after all, attempting to forge a highly intelligent inorganic lifeform that perfectly mimicked organic logic and emotion. He only needed it to serve a specific, functional purpose.
Stepping out of the hidden spatial fold, his communicator chimed with a message from Clarice.
“Good morning, Mr. Kagashi. A vendor at the market yesterday brought in a batch of really delicious fruit. I bought a few pounds. Let’s see if it suits your taste~”
Reading the subtext was effortless. She was already planning to visit today.
A soft smile graced his lips as he typed out a brief reply.
“Aren’t you going to ask when I’m coming over?”
“Knowing that a friend is traveling from afar is enough.”
“It’s really not that far. At least a car can drive right up to the Crossing Moon River…” Clarice’s reply carried the distinct image of her bright, shallow smile.
The Bamboo House where Kagashi lived in quiet seclusion was nestled deep within the mountains, separated from the rest of the world by a rushing river. No bridges spanned those waters to accommodate modern vehicles. To cross, one had to rely entirely on a small ferry.
“Keep warm, and be careful on the road.”
After sending the final message, Kagashi gathered his things. It was time to head to Ruan Mei’s house for his routine cleaning. A home entirely devoid of the warmth of daily life always seemed to gather dust much faster than a lived-in space.
Outside, the pale winter sunlight filtered through the sparse canopy of bamboo, casting fragmented shadows across the forest floor. In the bitter depths of the season, the leaves that had yet to wither and fall had darkened from their vibrant emerald to a deep, solemn green.
A thin layer of white frost clung to the stalks, slowly weeping into clear dew under the morning sun, washing the quiet world into a state of crystalline purity. The silver-clad, blue-and-white bamboo grove looked like a living ink painting.
A crisp fragrance, mingling the scent of damp earth and morning dew, drifted past him. It felt sharper and purer than the heavy, blooming scents of spring or summer.
Kagashi took a slow, deep breath, letting the freezing air fill his lungs. For a fleeting moment, his body—already quietly rotting away from the inside out—seemed to draw a fragile wisp of vitality from the frozen landscape.
The underbrush lining the dirt path had fallen into a deep, silent slumber, much like hibernating animals. In this season, he didn’t need to worry about clearing away overgrown weeds.
As he approached the fork in the road, he spotted a slender figure standing elegantly amidst the silver-white frost. A gentle smile touched his face.
“…You silly girl. You were already here.”
“I just arrived~ I mostly wanted to give Mr. Kagashi a surprise, hehe…”
Clarice’s voice was soft and melodic, her smile carrying a naive, endearing charm as she hurried over to close the distance between them.
In truth, she had been standing out in the cold for quite some time.
As she drew near, Kagashi took in her attire. She wore a light purple, academic-style fitted sweater, paired with a dark, fine-velvet scarf wrapped snugly around her neck. The dark fabric perfectly accentuated the delicate, snow-white curve of her chin. A matching pleated skirt fell just past her knees, revealing slender calves wrapped in thick, warm white stockings.
Very few eighteen-year-old girls could pull off that particular shade of purple. Yet on Clarice, it looked remarkably natural. Rather than appearing old-fashioned, the color lent her an indescribable elegance without masking the bright, inherent vitality of her youth.
Her bright eyes sparkled with spirit, and as her long eyelashes fluttered, she exuded a quiet, captivating charm.
“You’ve been waiting for at least ten minutes, haven’t you?”
Judging by the faint redness of her fingertips and the dusting of frost on her shoes, Kagashi made a highly accurate deduction.
“I really haven’t. I got here right as I sent that message…”
Clarice shook her head in rapid denial, quickly changing the subject by lifting the transparent container in her hands.
“Here, Mr. Kagashi. Have a taste while we walk~~”
She knew he would be heading to that empty residence to clean today, so she had deliberately come early to help him. Waiting out in the cold for an extra minute simply meant one more minute of eager anticipation before finally seeing him.
The fruit inside the box was peculiar. It resembled a peeled apple but was only about the size of a plum. The most striking feature, however, was its coloration.
It was split perfectly down the middle—half crimson red, half deep blue.
The flesh looked incredibly plump and juicy, with tiny, crystal-clear water droplets clinging to the surface. She had clearly washed them with careful care before coming.
“The vendor said the name is pretty straightforward. It’s called a Red-Blue Crystal Fruit. It doesn’t have a pit, and it comes from a world called Vonwacq.”
“The shell is really strange, too. Peeling it felt exactly like peeling a shrimp. I took all the shells off in advance so you can just eat them directly~~”
Clarice’s fingers twitched slightly. She desperately wanted to pick one up and feed it to him herself, but she forced her hand to stay still. Perhaps, in Mr. Kagashi’s heart, they hadn’t quite reached the level of intimacy where such an action would be welcome.
“Thank you, Little… Clarice.”
Kagashi reached into the box, picked up a Red-Blue Crystal Fruit, and placed it in his mouth.
Catching his mid-sentence correction and seeing the relaxed, gentle expression smooth out the lines on his brow, the sweet curve of the girl’s smile deepened significantly.
“It’s delicious, right?”
“Mm… very sweet.”
Hearing his quiet praise, Clarice stared at him, momentarily stunned by the warmth in his eyes, though she quickly brushed the daze away.
“…If Mr. Kagashi ever wants to eat these again, just send me a message. I will… buy them for you as fast as I can.”
“That isn’t necessary. It takes you over half an hour just to travel out here. Running back and forth like that is too inconvenient.”
“How could it be? Let alone half an hour, even if it took half a day… I would be perfectly willing…”
The moment the words slipped past her lips, Clarice realized how blatantly obvious she sounded. Panic flashed in her eyes, and she hurriedly tried to cover her tracks.
“Mr. Kagashi is a great benefactor to my entire family! A drop of kindness should always be repaid with a gushing spring!”
The two of them continued walking side by side down the frost-covered path, stepping into a shaded stretch of the woods where the morning sun had not yet managed to reach.
Yet, despite the biting winter chill, a quiet trace of warmth blossomed in Kagashi’s chest at the young girl’s flustered words.