At precisely six o'clock the next morning, Snow opened her eyes, a habit ingrained in her instincts after sixteen years of waking at this time. She dressed inside her sleeping bag, nimbly wriggled out of the warm cocoon, and stretched her body.
Grabbing the towel and water cup she'd left beside her, she also snatched a bottle of medical alcohol from the first-aid kit. She stepped over the still-sleeping Kyuusyou and Kiana and headed toward the restroom on the floor. As expected, Raiden Mei was already there.
"Good morning, Snow-san. Why don't you sleep in a bit longer?" Mei greeted her proactively as the young girl entered.
"I can't. I'm used to waking up at six," Snow replied, dampening the towel and wiping her face. The icy water strands banished the last traces of drowsiness. After rinsing the towel and wringing it dry, she poured the medical alcohol onto it and pressed it against her left forearm.
Five distinct claw marks marred the skin, as if someone had raked sharp nails across it. As the alcohol-soaked towel pressed against the wound, Snow winced slightly at the burning sting.
"Are you okay, Snow?" the black-haired girl asked, noticing her furrowed brow with concern.
"Of course," Snow replied matter-of-factly. "It's just the normal sting from the alcohol disinfectant. Don't worry, Mei Senpai."
"Were those from the monsters earlier?" Mei persisted, unconvinced.
"No, Kiana accidentally scratched me last night when we were play-fighting. It's nothing serious—minor injuries are bound to happen when we're fooling around." Snow's lips curled into a faint, pleased smile, as if the memory amused her.
"Eh, really? Honestly... you all need to get along better! Kiana too, and Snow, you as well..." Mei's voice sharpened, switching into her "mom mode" as she launched into a lengthy lecture.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm... I get it, Mei Senpai," the golden-haired girl nodded vigorously, her head bobbing like a typewriter.
"Ah... Come here, let me check if you're hurt anywhere else." Mei sighed at the blonde girl's perfunctory nods, her expression turning serious.
"Ehh... alright." Seeing Raiden Mei's serious expression, Snow obediently leaned closer. Offending the team's "mom" who cooked for everyone was never a good idea—though she'd never admit that to Mei's face.
The blonde girl's attire was simple: a black sports tank top, a white cape with trailing hems, a cloak draped over them, a white miniskirt, and black stockings.
The cape and cloak covering her back were quickly unfastened, and Raiden Mei's attention was immediately drawn to the black mark centered between the girl's shoulder blades.
It was a bizarre symbol: a single eye formed the main motif, backed by runes resembling an open book. A sword—or perhaps a candle—pierced straight through the entire symbol.
In a daze, Raiden Mei felt the single eye blink at her, its pupil rolling unnervingly as it fixed her with a penetrating gaze.
"Ah!" the girl gasped.
"What's wrong, Mei Senpai?!" Snow reacted instantly, snapping into a defensive stance the moment Mei's scream escaped her lips.
"It's nothing... Snow, do you have a thing for tattoos?" Mei patted her chest, calming her startled heart, and asked the junior beside her.
"Tattoos? No, I'm not into that. Mei Senpai, you know I'm the academy's model student. So, what's going on?" Snow's mind conjured up a somewhat unreliable explanation.
"On your back... Snow, roughly between your shoulder blades, there's a black mark that looks like a tattoo. Hmm... it's a design combining a book, an eye, and something that could be either a sword or a candle," Mei described the mark on the young girl's back.
"When I stared at the mark, it seemed to move. That single eye even seemed to blink at me."
"A mark on my back that blinked at you, Senpai? Hmm... maybe we should ask Kiana. She's probably familiar with this kind of thing, considering how effortlessly she dispatches those monsters. She must know a lot about this stuff."
"After all, I've never noticed this pattern on my back before. It must have appeared in the last couple of days," Snow shrugged.
"Mhm... okay, let's go back and find Kiana right now," Mei said, pulling the young girl by the arm and running toward the room where Kiana and the others had been resting earlier.
As Raiden Mei turned away, the girl's expression instantly darkened.
The mark that suddenly appeared on my body... it must be a Stigmata. But it's moving? Can Stigmata even move? ...Well, of course, I can't rule out the possibility that Raiden Mei simply misperceived it. Her mental state is only temporarily stable; until she has the tangible reassurance of a bomb implanted in her heart, fluctuations remain possible... ...Hmm, there's another possibility: she might have seen a unique effect inherent to my Stigmata.
In any case, with the Stigmata as an excuse, I won't have to hold back as much as before. I can even reveal a portion of my abilities during my upcoming confrontation with Bronya. That's actually good news. Having made up her mind, Snow suppressed her gloomy expression, adopted a slightly panicked and helpless demeanor, and followed Mei back to the classroom serving as their temporary bedroom.
Kiana was still sound asleep, muttering in her sleep. A glistening strand of drool hung from the corner of her mouth, dripping onto the floor. If you leaned in close, you might even hear her dream-talk.
"I want Mei-flavored instant noodles!"
...No, you probably wouldn't even need to lean in to hear that. It even woke up Kyuusyou, who was already a light sleeper, lying nearby.
Three pairs of differently colored eyes turned to the white-haired ball of fluff, still sleeping soundly in the center.
"And I want to drink Mei's sister(anti-censorship) juice!" Under the watchful gaze of the trio, Kiana continued to blurt out these outrageous dream-speak.
...The air hung in deathly silence.
Without anyone noticing, Snow had slipped over to Kyuusyou's side and handed her a pair of sunglasses. Kyuusyou donned them with perfect understanding, then produced a can of cola and a slice of watermelon from who-knows-where, handing them to her sunglasses-wearing friend beside her.
"Kiana! What are you saying—?!" In the next moment, electric light flooded the entire classroom.
-
"What's wrong, Mei? Don't worry about it. That blonde monster's back has a Stigmata, which is what allows us humans to move freely in areas saturated with Honkai energy. As for the moving Stigmata you mentioned, you probably just misperceived it, or maybe that girl's Stigmata has some kind of illusion-generating effect. Look, I have one too!" Kiana turned around, lifting the back of her shirt to reveal a vivid red mark composed of a longsword and wings.
"See? Pretty cool, right, Mei? My old man told me it even has a fancy name—the Kaslana family's Wings of Oath!" The white-haired girl seemed to be showing off, spinning in place for emphasis.
"Hmm... Good to know you're okay... Then Kyuusyou should have one too, right?" Mei suddenly remembered something and looked at Houraiji Kyuusyou, who was enjoying the drama from the sidelines.
"Huh? Me? I never really paid attention, but if I've been able to move around here for so long, I guess I probably do," Kyuusyou replied uncertainly, caught off guard by the sudden attention.
I either have a Stigmata, a Core, or both, Kyuusyou thought to herself, inwardly scoffing.
"Ehhh, what is it?" The white-haired girl's curiosity was piqued.
"Ahem... Since the mystery is solved, let's eat breakfast and get going. We can examine Kyuusyou's Stigmata after we escape," Snow interrupted Kiana's questioning with a cough, deftly diverting her attention to food.
"Eeeh, then I want Mei to make it!"
"Alright, alright, Kiana, I'll make it for you."
"Mei's the best! Let me help you, Mei!"
The black-and-white-haired girls headed towards the rooftop, where the campfire from the previous night still smoldered.
Watching them leave, Snow nudged her companion with her elbow.
"Don't tell me you have a Herrscher Core inside you..."
"No clue!"
"What's that bandage wrapped around your hand? What's underneath?"
"Let me unwrap it and see..."
"Red markings? Never mind, then."
"Good thing. Though even if I did have a Herrscher Core, it wouldn't be that big of a deal."
"True. After all, it is that Academy..."
9:00 AM, nineteen hours after the Third Honkai Eruption, amidst the ruins of Nagazora City's streets:
"Hey, Snow, what was your life like before?" The group walked down the middle of the road, having avoided much trouble thanks to Kiana's strange phone, which could detect Honkai energy levels. They even had time for casual conversation.
"Everyone already knows my story," Kiana said. "I spent years wandering around, searching for my deadbeat dad, until I met you all in Nagazora City. I'd heard snippets of Mei Senpai's story back at the academy, but I've never heard yours, Snow. Even though your name was always on the academy's bulletin boards and honor rolls, when I asked around, no one could really describe what kind of person you are. You always seemed so mysterious... Ugh—Snow, you're not secretly the daughter of some super-secret mastermind or something, are you?"
Common sense would suggest... you're the one who's more mysterious, the blonde girl thought, giving the white-haired girl leaning close a strange look. Wandering all the way from Siberia to the Far East... how did you even manage that?
"My story? It's actually quite simple, not as dramatic as you might imagine."
"I grew up in Vienna, the capital of Austria, in Europe. My adoptive father was a deeply devout Christian."
"When I was young, he would often take me to worship at the local cathedral. The bishop there was a close acquaintance of his, so whenever we came, the church would be closed to the public. The entire grand cathedral would be empty except for the two of us praying."
"...That cathedral commemorates a saintess of immense historical renown in Europe, and my adoptive father was one of her most devoted followers."
"And she's probably related to you in some way?" Snow glanced at the white-haired bundle following beside her.
"Related to me?" Kiana looked puzzled.
"The saintess's surname was Kaslana... Kallen Kaslana... If you truly are her descendant, my adoptive father would probably be furious enough to burst into flames..." Snow shrugged.
"After all, he adored that saintess. No... everyone in the area seemed to adore her."
"Kallen Kaslana? My grumpy old dad told me about her. She's actually our ancestor! I didn't realize she was so famous." Kiana scratched her head, a little embarrassed.
"I'll try my best not to tell my adoptive father... that the descendant of the great Saintess Kallen Kaslana is someone like you..." Snow's lips twitched as she stared at Kiana's sheepish expression.
"Hey! What's your problem with a gorgeous lady like me?!"
(Though, that Saintess wasn't quite as perfect as the stories make her out to be.)
"Ahem... moving on. Every time I went to church with my adoptive father, he'd tell me a new version of Saintess Kallen's story. He kept updating them with entirely fresh twists..."
"This peaceful life lasted until I turned twelve. Around that time, my adoptive father started getting busier and stopped coming home as often. When I asked the priests at his usual church, they just shook their heads and said he hadn't been there lately. My caretaker was replaced by a long-haired maid named Irene."
"No matter how you look at it, that maid was perfect. Her etiquette was flawless, and her cooking was impeccable."
"Even my swordsmanship and martial arts skills were honed under her guidance and tutelage."
"As a teacher, she never lost her temper. She would always point out your mistakes with a gentle smile, encouraging you with the same warmth," the blonde girl said, a natural smile curving her lips as if reminiscing about cherished memories.
"These beautiful times lasted until my fifteenth birthday. At the lavish birthday banquet Irene had meticulously prepared, even my rarely seen adoptive father made an appearance. It was then that I voiced my wish to leave Vienna—even Europe—and explore the world beyond."
"My adoptive father agreed. To that end, he acquired numerous properties in cities around the world, along with significant shares in several prestigious aristocratic academies. It sounds like a cliché from some old-fashioned novel, doesn't it? But he genuinely did all of that."
"And so, as one stop on my long life's journey—Nagazora City—is where I met you all," Snow said, turning her gaze to the three companions beside her.
The trio stared back, their mouths agape.
"A private maid... Properties in cities worldwide... And shares in a ton of elite academies!"
"You call that 'ordinary'?!"
"Uh... is there a problem?"
"Yes."
"?"
"..."
"Miss Snow, do you still have room on your leg for me to hang on?"
"Oh, that's right! Snow, since you have a foster father, why don't you have a surname?" Kyuusyou suddenly asked the young girl.
Three pairs of eyes turned toward the girl, their gazes filled with curiosity.
"Hmm... my foster father never told me his surname. He said that when we meet again at the end of my journey, I would find the answer myself."
"He sounds like a really strange guy," Kiana commented, "and kind of eccentric."
"Perhaps," Snow replied, "but I still miss the days I spent with him."