"Huff… huff… huff…"
As she ran, Sigewinne continuously adjusted her breathing, which Valerius found rather amusing.
"As expected of the Head Nurse."
"You really know what you're doing."
Taking a few quick steps, Valerius caught up beside her.
"Come on."
"Hurry up."
"I'm catching up again."
"Don't mess up your breathing."
"And don't breathe through your mouth."
"That's right."
"Keep a steady rhythm."
"Y-You…"
"Don't talk."
"You'll mess up your breathing."
Sigewinne wanted to cry.
You're unbelievable.
Can't you see I'm already exhausted?
After running a while longer, she finally couldn't continue.
Her pace slowed from a run to a walk.
"You're not running anymore?"
"Huff…"
"I… I'm done."
"If you're going to eliminate me…"
"Then just do it."
"You haven't bought enough time for everyone else yet."
"And you're giving up already?"
"Huff…"
"Y-You…"
"You knew…"
"I was stalling for time?"
"Of course."
Valerius took out a small pill and handed it to her.
"Take this."
"It'll help steady your breathing."
Sigewinne accepted it and popped it into her mouth.
Almost instantly…
Her labored breathing settled down.
"What a great medicine."
"It is—"
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"Where do you think you're going?"
Valerius grabbed the back of Sigewinne's collar and pulled her back.
"I only gave that to you because I thought you'd given up."
"And now you're trying to run again?"
"…Can't you be gullible just once?"
Sigewinne looked at him pitifully.
"Afraid not."
Valerius reached out and gently patted her little head.
[Attention: Player Sigewinne has been eliminated.]
"Huff…"
"Huff…"
After eliminating Sigewinne, Valerius took a moment to steady his own breathing before heading toward the final remaining arrow.
The livestream chat continued.
[Ruan Mei: That pill is quite interesting. It works remarkably fast.]
[Serval: Wait… why didn't Valerius eat one himself?]
Serval couldn't understand.
Both of them had been running for a long time.
Why give the pill to Sigewinne instead of taking it himself?
[Jing Yuan: Sigewinne was already destined to be eliminated, so Valerius gave it to her. But if he'd used it himself… that would've been unfair.]
[Herta: Didn't expect him to stick to the rules this strictly.]
[Bronya: He's always been like that.]
[Keqing: That's definitely something worth acknowledging.]
Many people noticed another side of Valerius.
He might be full of tricks during the games…
But he never actually broke the rules.
After chasing Sigewinne around for so long…
No one believed he wasn't tired.
Yet…
He hadn't used anything to recover himself.
[Gepard: Wait… why was Miss Sigewinne trying to buy time for everyone else?]
[Luka: Yeah. What does she gain from doing that?]
[Ruan Mei: Anyone who avoids Valerius until the time limit wins a reward this round.]
[Boothill: Doesn't that make helping others even more pointless?]
He simply couldn't understand.
What was the point of helping everyone else without any benefit?
Lisa had even handed her item to Hu Tao earlier.
None of it made sense to him.
[Jing Yuan: They're preparing for the Total Battle.]
[Seele: What do you mean? Aren't we divided into factions now?]
[Zhongli: Although we've been divided into camps, young Valerius has never said there won't be another Total Battle.]
[Topaz: Now that you mention it… you're right.]
[Zhu Yuan: Total Battle? What's that?]
[Xiangling: It's an event where both factions fight together. Everyone on the winning side gets rewards. Oh… and last time Teyvat won.]
[Yun Jin: Um… you didn't really need to add that last sentence.]
[Feixiao: So proud, huh? If it weren't for Hu Tao, you'd have been crying instead.]
[Jane: So that's how it works… But don't we have too few people?]
Only then did Jane realize.
If another Total Battle happened…
Their faction would be heavily outnumbered.
[Jing Yuan: You'll probably be assigned to our side.]
[Ruan Mei: Most likely.]
[Wise: Looks like we've found ourselves a powerful ally!]
"This is the last one."
Following the final arrow…
Valerius arrived at the trampoline hall.
The moment he entered…
He heard cheerful laughter echoing through the building.
"Huh?"
"That voice…"
"Bailu?"
He found it rather strange.
Why isn't she hiding?
Picking up his pace…
He entered the hall.
"…Huh?"
A tiny figure bounced happily on one of the trampolines.
Laughter echoed throughout the entire venue.
Walking over to the trampoline…
Valerius stared at the endlessly bouncing little girl with a thoroughly puzzled expression.
"Bailu."
"Hahaha!"
"Bailu."
"Huh?"
"It's Valerius!"
"Come play on the trampoline!"
"It's so much fun!"
Seeing Valerius…
Bailu showed absolutely no awareness that he had come to catch her.
She just kept bouncing happily.
"Hold on."
Valerius stopped her.
"Aren't you supposed to be hiding?"
"Hiding?"
Bailu tilted her head and thought for a moment.
Suddenly…
Her eyes widened.
"Oh no!"
"Oh no!"
"Oh no!"
"Valerius's here to catch me!"
She turned to run.
But Valerius simply reached out and picked her up by the back of her clothes.
"Waaah…"
"Valerius…"
"Please don't eliminate me yet."
"Let me play a little longer…"
Those pitiful eyes tugged at Valerius's heart.
He suddenly remembered…
Bailu spent almost all her time confined within the Alchemy Commission.
Now that she had finally been allowed out for some fresh air…
Sending her right back seemed rather cruel.
But…
He had already caught her.
Showing favoritism wouldn't be fair either.
"How about this?"
"I'll eliminate you…"
"But you can stay here and keep playing."
"Really?!"
Bailu's eyes immediately sparkled.
As long as she didn't have to go back right away…
She was perfectly happy.
"Really."
Valerius gently patted her little head.
[Attention: Player Bailu has been eliminated.]
"All right."
"Go have fun."
"Mmm…"
Biting her finger thoughtfully, Bailu looked up.
"Then…"
"Will you play with me?"
"Heh."
"You little rascal."
Valerius flicked her forehead with a finger.
"I still have other players to catch."
"I don't have time to play."
Still…
He could always find Bailu some playmates.
After tapping a few buttons…
Valerius appeared in the livestream chat.
[Valerius: I've opened a portal. Anyone who genuinely wants to come keep Bailu company is welcome.]
After saying that…
He immediately closed the livestream again.
[Klee: Me! Me! Klee wants to come!]
[Diona: Me too! Me too!]
[Hook: Hook's coming too!]
In an instant…
The trampoline hall filled with little kids.
Bailu beamed with delight.
She grabbed her new friends by the hands and led them onto the trampolines.
Bright, bell-like laughter soon echoed throughout the hall.
[Sampo: Huh? Why can't I get in?]
[Seele: Were you really trying to keep Bailu company? I don't even have the heart to expose your real intentions.]
[Herta: I can't enter either. Looks like if your intention isn't genuinely to accompany Bailu, the portal won't let you through.]
[Sampo: Wait! Then why can Miss Jingliu enter?!]
[Jing Yuan: Well… someone has to supervise the children… right…?]
Inside, Jing Yuan silently prayed.
Master…
You're not exactly young anymore.
Please just watch them from the side.
Please don't start jumping on the trampolines too…
To Read 60+ ahead advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146