The Worst Thing Durandal Could Do Is Actually...

"I'm not... her..." Durandal's eyes trembled slightly. The old monk had lowered his head after speaking, but he wasn't chanting sutras. It was as if he had fallen asleep.

Durandal, on the other hand, looked at her own hands. To her surprise, her hands were trembling uncontrollably at this moment.

She wasn't her... she knew... she had always known...

She didn't know when it started, but it seemed that not long after her life began, she had suddenly shouldered such a burden.

Everyone was amazed by the talent she showed. Praise and sighs surrounded her. She was excellent, she knew she was excellent, and everyone understood that she was far more excellent than most people!

Everyone was like this... they lavished her with praise without reservation.

--||--

"You mean you lost to a new recruit? Have you been training all this time just to fill your stomach? And you call yourselves MOTH's Titan pilots? You might as well give up your Captain Shu-signed Titan mech to the newcomer sooner rather than later!"

"No! Captain Himeko! Big Sis Himeko! I've bled and sweated for the Titans... no, for the MOTH! You can't touch my Captain Shu-signed Titan mech!!"

"Then get back to training! Are you waiting for that newcomer to squeeze one of you out?"

"But Big Sis Himeko... that new recruit... she's really not ordinary!!"

"Yes, yes, yes! She feels almost like Senior Kiana of the Finality back then!"

"Like Kiana? Wait, who's that?"

"I heard... her name seems to be Durandal?"

"Oh, it's her. Then it's fine. In fact, it's quite impressive that you guys held on for so long..."

---||---

Because it was her, everything was a matter of course. "As expected of her," "It's her, then it's fine"... She had heard these words too many times. Every time she heard them, she would work even harder.

Not because of everyone's expectations, but because she understood that the "her" everyone was talking about...

Didn't seem to be her.

Lord Overseer Otto, Senior Theresa, Senior Himeko, Senior Kallen... everyone had another "her" in their eyes. The things she had worked so hard to achieve were only in line with their expectations.

No one would say to her, "You're actually this amazing?"

No one would be surprised by her. In everyone's eyes, she already had a fixed shape, and her best efforts had not brought any "surprises."

She couldn't feel any surprises either, as if the option of "surprise" was missing from her life. Everything was a matter of course.

So when Rita proposed forming a city exploration team, she was excited... she was really excited!

That was a path she had never imagined, a path she had never walked! It was unknown, a brand new kind of stimulation!

So she agreed to Rita's request without hesitation and tried everything she could to achieve Rita's idea.

When she took Rita to see Otto, Durandal saw the surprised look Otto gave Rita, and she was envious. She wanted to receive such a look too.

Perhaps at that time, she had already wanted to break out of the frame everyone had set for her?

Unfortunately, she still hadn't broken out. The formation of the team still became Otto's mission. There was still no one around her who would be surprised by her...

...No...

Durandal's lowered eyelids lifted slightly.

She remembered... it seemed there were two people around her who would show such emotions to her...

The person who had given her his blessing, but whom she had almost forgotten, and...

Rita.

Yes, Rita.

Only in Rita's eyes was the real her... not the "her" that others expected. So in front of Rita, she would have some small thoughts to make herself special, to do some things she usually wouldn't dare to do.

For example... trying to complain...

Was she really nervous? Maybe, but definitely not when facing a battle. So that night in Sapphire City was actually the first time she had told a complete lie.

She had succeeded. She had really deceived Rita, making Rita comfort her. She had finally seen a completely different life!

...She had found her safe haven.

Could this be rebellion... After that, Durandal would always think about this. She felt that she might have done something terrible. After all, she had lied and done something "bad."

Could this... make others disappointed in her?

She didn't know.

"It seems the benefactor... has already found her problem?" The old monk's voice sounded at the right time, pulling Durandal back from the brink of a vicious cycle.

"Such a problem may be difficult for one person to solve in a lifetime. The benefactor does not need to be anxious about this moment." The old monk showed an aged smile. "How about a cup of tea, and then listen to this old monk tell a story of a rebellious disciple?"

Durandal was stunned for a moment. Only then did she notice a young monk standing outside the door, panting, carrying a tea set, tea leaves, and a pot of hot water.

Isn't this the monk Rita gave a lighter to before?

Xuanhui at the door nodded. The young monk bowed, then walked in barefoot, placed a tea set in front of Durandal and the old monk, and somewhat clumsily but without any mistakes, brewed two pots of tea.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the water took a while to boil..." the young monk said while apologizing. After pouring tea for Durandal and the old monk, the young monk poured two more cups, put them on a tray, and went out to find Rita and Li Sushang.

With this interruption, Durandal's mind settled a little. She picked up the tea and took a sip, imitating Fu Hua's way of drinking tea.

The taste of this tea was very familiar... it seemed that the tea Senior Fu Hua brewed also tasted like this?

Durandal took another taste and found that the taste was indeed exactly the same.

"It seems the benefactor has had such tea before..." the old monk smiled. "This tea is the best in the temple. It is not for sale and is only provided to certain people... It seems that among these people, there are still some who have escaped danger..."

The old monk sighed for a moment, then moistened his mouth with the tea.

"Since I entered the temple, I have taken in nine disciples. In my youth, this humble monk also had a tiger and wolf in his heart, wanting to compare himself with the heavens. Fortunately, the master of the Taixuan Martial Arts school in Sapphire City scattered the wolf in my heart, which allowed me to convert to Buddhism."

"The monks present are all my disciples. Xuanhui is my seventh disciple, and there is a Yuanming down the mountain, who is my ninth disciple."

"And my eighth disciple..." The old monk opened his eyes. For the first time, Durandal saw a clear emotion in the peaceful old monk's eyes.

It was a look of powerlessness.

"Is precisely the rebellious disciple I am about to speak of."