Mei was true to her word. She didn't breathe a word about the delinquent senpai to her father. Shiraha didn't say anything either.
"Shiraha, do you think that Natasha-senpai was just bragging, or does her family actually have holographic projection?"
Mei found it hard to describe her current feelings. She was almost... hopeful. Hopeful that this club she'd just founded was full of hidden talents.
Natasha might be a delinquent, but she supposedly had cutting-edge tech. Shiraha might look mentally unstable, but he was well-behaved and had an amazing fierce ghost friend.
And as for herself... mm. Little Mei felt a sudden pang of melancholy. She was just the ordinary eldest daughter of the Raiden family.
"She probably does have it. Though I wouldn't rule out delinquent senpai just being stubborn." Shiraha guessed, then added with genuine anticipation, "But I'm actually starting to look forward to class tomorrow."
If his guess was right, tomorrow's surprise would be far more important than finding someone like Yuna, a mere mid-tier pillar.
Mei nodded in agreement. "Then let's sleep early tonight. Save up our energy."
At dinner, Ryoma Raiden was mildly curious about the expressions on the two children's faces, but chalked it up to the martial arts tournament. He didn't press.
If he really wanted to know, someone would report it to him sooner or later.
"I'm done!"
Mei finished her dinner and hopped straight off her chair, heading off to wash up, then sleep, conserving her strength.
Ryoma paused for a moment, but before he could offer any words, Shiraha followed suit. "I'm full too, Uncle Ryoma."
With that, he took Elysia's hand and quickly scurried back to his room.
"Shiraha... you're really starting to act more and more like a child."
Elysia, pulled along in small quick steps, felt a swell of emotion.
It's really wonderful. Self-made as he is, he still kept a child's distinctive traits, the anticipation he can't hide on his face, the way he lights up over toys and friends.
Shiraha glanced back at Elysia, a shy grin on his lips.
Can't be helped. Who knew the all-powerful Elysia-nee really likes little kids this much~
"Do you have a plan for tomorrow?"
Leaning against the doorway while Shiraha brushed his teeth and rinsed, Elysia kept her voice low.
"I do. Whatever kind of game it is, I plan to be the first to try it. But I won't let go of Nee-chan's hand throughout the whole process."
"You should understand how dangerous Grey Serpent is."
Elysia's brow furrowed slightly. This didn't seem like the habitually cautious Shiraha she knew.
"No," Shiraha shook his head, his voice muffled as he gargled. "I'm willing to do this precisely because I understand Grey Serpent."
Rinsing finished. Shiraha looked in the mirror again. I really am handsome!
"I won't deny that Grey Serpent caused massive trouble for the Fire Moth in the Previous Era."
"But Nee-chan... you've been in the Fire Moth for too long."
Shiraha didn't turn his head. He tried to find Elysia through the mirror but couldn't see her.
Then he turned around, and his voice was no longer quite so innocent. "Nee-chan, to the overwhelming majority of ordinary people, the Fire Moth itself was an anti-hero organization."
Anti-hero. Not an organization against heroes, but one fundamentally different from conventional heroes, employing utterly ruthless methods, acting like villains in countless matters, yet ultimately fighting to save the world.
A classic example would be Light Yagami in the early arc of Death Note. But the Fire Moth had far less conscience than Light Yagami ever did.
Elysia didn't refute it. The Fire Moth was never the kind of organization that carried everyone's hopes, not like in so many works of fiction.
In truth, until Mei seized power, most people believed that even if the Fire Moth managed to save the world, they'd end up pushing it right back into destruction afterward whether through infighting or pure self-interest.
The survivors after the Great Eruption didn't place much faith in the Fire Moth either.
"I never had direct contact with Grey Serpent." Shiraha paused. "But I've read his files. The Church of Honkai. The Church of the Machine God. The Anti-Fire-Moth movement..."
"I know this might be hard to hear for Nee-chan and great heroes like Kevin, but Grey Serpent was always changing. First, the machine and Honkai cults. Then gathering refugees and running private relief efforts. Finally, building underworld syndicates and anti-Fire-Moth organizations."
"He was always able to gather a group of people fiercely loyal to him. And then, the moment they'd failed, he'd abandon them without a shred of mercy."
Having said all this, Shiraha patted his cheeks and arranged his face into an expression of surprise. "Eh? Sakura never told you any of this?"
Elysia, who had been quiet, blinked in confusion. "Told me what?"
"That by the time everyone had been dealing with Grey Serpent long enough... they simply stopped bothering to go after him."
Elysia's expression went hazy for a moment. Had that really happened?
Wasn't it just that Sakura couldn't kill him?
But Elysia and Sakura's paths had never crossed all that much. For a moment, she couldn't be sure whether Shiraha's words were true or false.
"Even though Grey Serpent caused the Manticores that much trouble, most people's attitude toward him was closer to numbness than hatred."
Shiraha's voice was very soft. It sounded nostalgic, though it carried no strong emotion, just the tone of something that had happened so long ago that nothing remained but memories.
Elysia felt even more dazed. Did you Manticores collectively have some kind of abuse addiction?
"Be—" Elysia started to speak, but the words stopped in her throat. It was as if she'd suddenly understood. "Because... he gave ordinary people a possibility?"
Her voice was subtle. Were there really that many people in the Manticores with a conscience?
The Manticores weren't purely an anti-Honkai organization. According to the Fire Moth's official definition, their primary duty was to fight humans.
No independent thought needed. No personal judgment required. They were just a blade and the sharper, the better.
Eliminating insurgents. Rioters. Civilian organizations deemed unhelpful to the fight against Honkai. Assassinating political enemies.
The higher-ups rarely cared whether ordinary people lived or died. So you Manticores... actually cared about that?
But Elysia looked at Shiraha and thought that maybe the true nature of many in the Manticores had simply been suppressed. At least Shiraha seemed genuinely happy when pretending to be a kid.
"...Alright. I might really have been in the Fire Moth for too long."
Elysia's voice softened. But she didn't dwell on the issue. That era, after all, had long since been buried beneath the dust of history.
Back then, everyone had been caught in the current. Faced with those four words, fight against the Honkai, the vast majority had lost their judgment. When they saw so many things, they simply chalked it up to others being too radical.
"So you're prepared to trust him?"
Elysia ultimately steered the topic back to tomorrow.
Shiraha didn't hesitate for a second. "I'm trusting Nee-chan. As for Grey Serpent? Who cares what he was thinking back then?"
In truth, Grey Serpent was the ultimate case of things coming full circle. So many ironies. So many contrasts.
But there was no need to discuss it at length. As a true anti-hero, he died at the end of the story, right before the dawn he'd spent his entire life chasing. He struggled with everything he had, and then he died.
An anti-hero who died right in front of his dream, there really wasn't much left to say about that.
Anyway, for now, until Honkai was truly over, this simulacrum would remain his ally. Because of Elysia-nee. Because of Origin.
"So, Nee-chan. Don't worry."
Shiraha lifted his face, his smile bright and unclouded. "Even if something really does go wrong, I've still got Nee-chan to rely on. Don't tell me the mysterious Miss Elf is actually scared of one little Grey Serpent?"
I'm scared of something happening to YOU! But when the words reached her lips, Miss Elf couldn't quite bring herself to say them.
Sigh. Shiraha... sigh, you idiot...
...
...
Sigh. No wonder you died so early in the Previous Era, didn't even know I was the Herrscher of Origin. Elysia grumbled inwardly.