Chapter 61: The Return of the Thunder Queen
About an hour later, when Rovel returned to the station, the officer who had processed him was already waiting by the front desk.
"My apologies for the misunderstanding," the officer said, his tone professional but tinged with regret. "We've investigated within Chiba Academy and confirmed that several prior cases of missing girls were connected to Asakura Miyuki., we have a witness who saw Asakura Miyuki transform into a Death Soldier last night. Therefore... your name has been cleared. The case has been officially ruled as self-defense."
The officer had clearly done his due diligence, piecing together the entire story.
"Someone saw it?" Rovel asked, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
He hadn't sensed anyone else nearby at the time. 'Was it some local who bent the truth for me?'he wondered. No, that wasn't quite right. It wouldn't be perjury, after all; the witness would have been telling the truth.'Perhaps someone with the ability to completely mask their presence?'
His own skill in sensing others was a direct result of his training with Hua. Under her guidance, Rovel had been diligently refining his Sword Intent, especially during the heat of combat. While he still couldn't perfectly manifest the Clear Mirror state, his perception had sharpened dramatically. He was steadily approaching the level where he could feel the world through his Sword Intent, even without a blade in hand.
"It was a transfer student who just arrived at Chiba Academy," the officer explained, consulting his notes. "European, I believe. She claimed she was suffering from jet lag and taking a late-night walk when she happened to see the incident in the alley. Her description of the events matches yours almost perfectly."
Rovel blinked. A European transfer student?
'Could it be... the white-haired dork, Kiana?'
The date in the world of Honkai was December 7th, 2013. That was not only Kiana Kaslana's birthday but also the very day she was scheduled to arrive at Chiba Academy. He hadn't expected their paths to cross so soon, or in such a coincidental manner.
"Alright, I understand," Rovel said with a nod, turning to leave the police station behind him.
He made his way directly to Chiba Academy.
Just as he stepped through the school gates, a familiar voice, thick with disbelief, called out to him.
"The... Second Seat? Is that really you, Second Seat?"
Sugi Mikado stood frozen a short distance away, his eyes wide. Seeing Rovel, who had vanished without a trace for half a month, reappear so suddenly made him feel an overwhelming urge to burst into tears. Finally... he was back.
Rovel turned his head, his gaze landing on Sugi. He took one look at the boy's trembling lip and contorted expression and felt a wave of disgust wash over him.
"What's with that look on your face?"
They were two grown men who hadn't seen each other in a while, and their friendship wasn't even particularly deep. What was this on-the-verge-of-tears reunion all about?
"It really is you, Second Seat! You're finally back!"
Ignoring the strange looks from the other students passing by, Sugi Mikado suddenly dropped to his knees and threw himself forward, clinging to Rovel's leg like a lifeline. A messy torrent of tears and snot immediately soaked into his trousers.
"..." Rovel's lip twitched. He seriously considered whether a single, well-aimed kick would be enough to send the boy into the afterlife.
"You... you have no idea... the President..." Sugi sobbed, his words muffled against Rovel's leg.
"What happened to Mei?" Rovel's brow furrowed, his lighthearted annoyance vanishing in an instant.
Seeing Sugi in such a state, his mind jumped to the worst conclusions. Had something terrible happened to Mei? Had Cocolia already made her move, sending agents to capture her?
"It's... it's hard to explain! Anyway, Second Seat, you have to get to the Kendo Club! Just go and see for yourself!" Sugi Mikado finally managed to pull himself together, scrambling up from the ground.
"...Asking you is completely useless," Rovel muttered, rolling his eyes at the baffling display.
Still, a knot of concern tightened in his chest, and he quickened his pace, heading straight for the Kendo Club's dojo.
"Is that all you've got?!"
As Rovel reached the entrance, Raiden Mei's sharp, commanding voice cut through the air. The sheer power in her tone suggested she wasn't in any sort of trouble.
He stepped inside and saw her, shinai in hand, drilling the other members of the club with relentless intensity. Her back was to the entrance, so she didn't notice his arrival.
In an instant, however, every other head in the dojo swiveled towards the door. Every single club member, without exception, stared at Rovel. Their expressions were a mirror image of Sugi Mikado's—initial shock, which slowly melted into deep, soul-deep relief.
"What are you all staring at?" Mei snapped, her temper flaring. "Is there something more interesting outside than your practice? Move!"
Her fuse seemed to have gotten significantly shorter.
'Has the Thunder Queen of old returned?' was Rovel's first thought.
"Um... President," one of the braver members finally stammered, plucking up his courage. He pointed a trembling finger toward the entrance. "The Second Seat... he's back."
"..." The fierce expression on Raiden Mei's face froze solid.
Clack.
The wooden sword slipped from her grasp, falling to the polished floor with a crisp, echoing sound.
She stood there, perfectly still, for what felt like an eternity. If one looked closely, they could see her entire body was trembling, ever so slightly.
Finally, she moved. Her feet shifted, her body turned, and her violet eyes locked onto Rovel.
"Mei," Rovel said with a gentle smile. "Long time no see."
In the next second, he witnessed Raiden Mei move with a speed that surpassed even her legendary Hokushin Ittō-ryū battōjutsu.
A refreshing, floral fragrance enveloped him as a soft warmth pressed against his entire body. In a single, stunning instant, Mei had crossed the dojo and thrown her arms around him, burying her face tightly in his chest.
"Rovel... I'm not... dreaming, am I...?"
Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, a fragile whisper, as if she feared that speaking any louder would shatter the illusion.
She clung to him with a desperate strength, not daring to look up, not daring to meet his eyes. She had lived this moment in her dreams countless times over the past weeks. But in every one of those dreams, the moment she tried to see his face clearly, the world would dissolve, and she would wake up to the cold, empty reality.
So she didn't dare. She was terrified this was just another dream.
Even as the sensation of his arms around her felt so real, even as she could feel the steady warmth radiating from his body... she was afraid.
"It's not a dream, Mei," Rovel murmured, his voice soft. He gently wrapped his arms around her slender waist, patting her back in a soothing rhythm. "I'm back."
Seeing this, Sugi Mikado, who had followed Rovel to the dojo, frantically waved at the other stunned club members, signaling for them to clear out. They immediately understood, shuffling out of the dojo as quietly as they could, their footsteps barely making a sound.
Left alone with him, Raiden Mei's carefully constructed dam of composure finally broke. The sound of her choked sobs, raw and unrestrained, reached Rovel's ears.
"Didn't I tell you?" he whispered into her hair. "Mei, I will never leave you."
At those words, she only cried harder, releasing all the fear and loneliness she had bottled up inside.
Fortunately, everyone from the Kendo Club had already left. Otherwise, the fearsome Thunder Queen's reputation would have been utterly ruined.
...
"Third Seat," one of the club members asked curiously once they were a safe distance away. "Do you think the President will go back to how she was before?"
"Now that the Second Seat is here, she should be fine..." Sugi Mikado wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. Then, his expression twisted into one of righteous indignation.
"It's all because of those idiots from the Aikido Club! They were spreading rumors, saying the Second Seat got tired of the President and abandoned her. When the President heard that, she grabbed a shinai and single-handedly beat down their entire club on the spot."
He shuddered, the memory still fresh. "And after that... the President just... became like this."
Whenever Raiden Mei heard someone so much as whisper a bad word about Rovel, a brutal beating was sure to follow.
The Thunder Queen, once a phantom of the past, had returned. But this time, her reign was not built on the power of her family name, but on the absolute, obvious rule of force.
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