Layla

"Layla Grant, a prominent member of the Eruditio Rangers, bravely protected the heart of Eruditio technology, the Starlium Reactor, during a violent attack on Eruditio just a day earlier. While her actions protected civilization, they also proved that the city's youth possessed resilience and perseverance and that love and belonging in this home they shared was the life force that flowed through the veins of the Eruditios. Thus, the honorary title of “Bright Star” was given to her.”

This year, the title of Shining Star was not awarded to a scholar, but to a member of the Eruditio Rangers. and it was none other than the “daughter of Eruditio”. She grew up on the streets of Eruditio, and every scholar of the Spire of Knowledge had experienced her mischievous nature at one time or another. Somehow, the problems she caused would miraculously help scholars achieve a breakthrough in their research. Other times, Layla would suddenly try to close a deal on behalf of the traders with her funny accent when they had difficulty conversing with the foreign visitors. Every porter on the docks also benefited from his help in one way or another. Like an ever-assisted guardian, she watches over the city like a bright star.

Meanwhile, Layla's only blood relative; the old but still strong as a bull, former captain of the Eruditio Rangers, Thomas, had never shown signs of joy. Sitting in a backlit room, his figure resembled the distant shadow of high mountains. Fondling an old-fashioned pistol, he looked both imposing and desolate.

Holding a crying baby in her arms, Thomas's beloved daughter disappeared behind the "Infinite Gateway" which turned into stardust in the sky, leaving him with only this precious little thing. As if she knew what was happening, her screams echoed endlessly through the night sky. Hastily, he ran home with the child in his arms as the morning star in the east gradually rose. He didn't want the light of day to harm him because the protection of night was fading quickly. He had lost a daughter at the dawn of humanity, and the one in his arms was all he had left.

He wrapped the baby in the cloak of darkness to hide him, naming him after the night: Layla.

Over time, she grew and was a real pleasure to Thomas's barren life. She loved both heaven and earth, and her little life was always full of joyful energy. As a result, Thomas' face, once marked by pain, began to smile again. He collected the equipment from his youth while he was still a young Ranger, and together with Layla, he jumped off the ground and flew over the horizon of Eruditio, becoming the biggest headache for the young Rangers of Eruditio. What were these poor guys supposed to do, chase down and arrest the old man whose face is printed on the Ranger rulebook? She was everything to Thomas: dawn, noon and dusk. But deep down, she still wanted to know her parents.

"It's a tragedy that they had to die in the meteor crash. Hey, why don't we check out Grandpa's newly developed weapon for you? It has three times the firepower of the previous one!"

"When Layla's ponytails reached her shoulders, she stopped asking him about his parents because she could no longer stand to see the sadness and evasiveness in her grandfather's eyes. She soon realized that the grandfather who never left her side always left the house before dawn one day a year. So Layla quietly followed him and discovered the answer to her question. He had gone to a cemetery to pay his respects to a woman named Lillian, a name that Layla had seen in an old newspaper and which appeared in an official obituary of the Spire of Knowledge She was a great scholar who died for the advancement of the Eruditio Layla realized that this was her mother and that knowledge made her proud beyond measure, but she was also saddened by the thought that they could never be together. photo but just one line: I will hold your hand in the middle of the starry sky.

Layla understood that her grandfather wanted to erase all traces of her parents from her life so that she would never have to grieve. Even though Layla understood, she still wanted to leave a little door in her heart for the woman named Lillian, so that if she ever missed Lillian, she could always visit her in her dreams. As for the tombstone of the mysterious man, since she had no idea who he was, she hoped that one day he would walk through that little door with his mother and finally reveal his true identity.

In his heart. Layla swore that she would remember her mother no matter what and protect Eruditio, the city her mother had given her life for. In her grandfather's eyes, Layla was following a very different path from her mother. She didn't like studying and failed every exam she took, but she was strong, and no scoundrel ever left without learning a lesson. However. this was great news for her grandfather, because that way she would never end up a scholar, sacrificing herself for the future of humanity. And above all, she would never experience the same fate as... Lillian.

So when Thomas learned that Layla had almost died protecting Eruditio, he entered the room he had sealed for 15 years and sat there for a long time. Lillian's entire life flashed through her mind. She was incredibly passionate, intelligent, and brave, and she was also protective of Eruditio in her own way. She was the brightest star in the sky, and they were exactly the same.

“Hey, grandpa.”

The girl's shy voice echoed in the doorway and a belt could be seen hanging around her body. It seemed that the treatment at the Spire of Knowledge had perfectly restored his body. However, Layla was full of guilt because she knew how much her grandfather would do for her, even for a small scratch. So, this time, since she had been seriously injured while protecting Eruditio, she expected her grandfather to get really angry...

But he held her tightly to him, his whole body trembling violently.

“Your mother would be so proud of you.”

Thomas handed Layla the gun he had locked in the closet – a prototype gun left by Lillian. For 15 years, he couldn't bear to see any trace of Lillian, but he forgot that the girl in front of him was the deepest trace Lillian left on him.

"If you want to protect Eruditio, then you will have to do so with the strongest firepower. This is a weapon...that your mother and father made. So hold it tight and protect yourself with it!"

With the evil gun in Layla's hands, no evil stands a chance before her. As if the stars are always guiding her, every time Layla holds her gun, she feels like Lillian is right next to her. Even this nameless man is there for her.