At that moment, Fu Hua adjusted her glasses again. A spinning loading icon appeared on the lens, her communicator had lost connection once more...
She felt uneasy. It seemed like she'd been exposed, yet nobody was paying her any attention. The seemingly most reliable "Rin-nee" seemed a little clueless too.
Still, though the communicator kept dropping out, some basic functions still worked.
During afternoon break, Fu Hua stood on the rooftop, feeling the cold wind.
Through the communicator, Otto's voice was unusually calm: "Are you sure... that miko is called Rin, not Yae Sakura?"
Of course, Otto knew about Rin.
Though he and the Void Archives were in a state of mutual restraint, the Archives' core code was "destroy Honkai," and it required a certain level of intelligence to unlock, so there was still room for communication between them.
Fu Hua answered directly: "Do you want me to test her?"
Both names, Yae Sakura and Rin, felt vaguely familiar, but only faintly. She'd forgotten too much of the past, losing both memories and emotions along the way.
Otto was silent for so long that Fu Hua thought he'd hung up. She tapped her glasses again, still connected.
Otto's voice came through once more: "Old friend, can I trust you?"
Fu Hua was quiet for a moment too. Every time she heard that phrase, she knew Otto was probably cooking up another scheme.
"Sometimes."
"Then test her, old friend."
Knowing whether the miko was Yae Sakura wasn't important, but knowing whether she was the Herrscher of Corruption was.
The Void Archives might withhold a lot from Otto, but anything involving Corruption would trigger its core logic to spill everything.
The connection cut. Otto's emotions were a little complicated.
"Yae Sakura, Corruption, Kallen back then..."
He wanted to ask whether Kallen's sudden love at first sight back then had anything to do with Corruption, but at this point, that question didn't really matter.
Yae Sakura...
At that moment, Yae Sakura was sitting calmly under a cherry blossom tree on campus, legs crossed.
Time had passed, and everything around her felt distant. Her movements had become quiet and subdued.
Of course, she wasn't the only one isolated.
From a familiar window in the distance, Shiraha was chatting cheerfully with the air, his shoulders slightly tilted as if listening to an interesting story. A fox head could occasionally be seen poking out from the window, ears perked.
"If this were my era, Little Shiraha would probably be exorcised."
Yae Sakura murmured to herself, a faint curve on her lips, bitter or relieved, it was hard to tell.
Times had changed. In the past, it was called demonic possession; now, these things were categorized under psychiatry.
Yae Sakura withdrew her gaze. Just then, Shiraha seemed to notice her and waved generously from the distance warm, cheerful, his smile bright.
Yae Sakura looked at that waving little hand, and in a daze, she remembered many people.
Like Rin before she fell ill. Like the fox spirit in her dreams. And Kallen, this warm, optimistic personality always seemed to echo in familiar faces.
After school, Kiana and Fu Hua left early, probably for work. Yae Sakura looked at the three little ones left in front of her and suddenly felt she should make a break with the past.
She spoke softly, her voice not loud: "Little Shiraha, do you know anything about that nun we met during the holiday?"
But Shiraha would definitely hear her, he never ignored anyone. He looked up. Because he was two years younger than Mei, he wasn't growing into a "big pudding" quite as fast.
"I've heard of her,Theresa, S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. Apparently she's the current Overseer's granddaughter."
Did Kallen become Overseer? Yae Sakura wondered subconsciously.
Her voice was cautious: "Who's the current Overseer?"
Shiraha didn't hide anything: "Otto Apocalypse. From what Senior Welt told me, he's an old monster who's lived for several hundred years."
Yae Sakura's heart sank halfway.
Otto Apocalypse, she vaguely remembered the name. Kallen had mentioned him, her childhood companion, just like Mei and Shiraha.
Walking beside them, Mei felt a little uncomfortable. She also looked up at Yae Sakura, she knew this information too. Dr. Tesla always blurted out all kinds of incredible things.
Yae Sakura's voice grew even softer: "Then... do you know about Kallen?"
Shiraha blinked: "Kallen, like the one you mentioned, Rin-nee?"
The name Kallen was common, not as common as Zhang Wei in Shenzhou or Alice in Europe, but still a common name like Levi.
But Shiraha was quick on the uptake: "Saint Kallen of Schicksal?"
Yae Sakura let out a breath of relief and nodded. She hadn't known how to phrase it, too direct would be awkward, but not saying it would only make her more restless.
"I do know about her. She died on the execution ground in chains because she couldn't stand the evils of old Schicksal."
"Apparently, when she was being executed, even the heavens punished them, a wave of Honkai beasts appeared. But Kallen broke her chains and chose to fight them instead."
Shiraha paused, then added: "Though some say those Honkai beasts were deliberately released."
It actually was, after that incident, Otto became completely disheartened. He turned to researching the Void Archives, and then the new Schicksal rose with popular support, overthrew the old Schicksal, and the rest is the story everyone knows.
Yae Sakura said nothing, a bittersweet smile on her face. So it really was all over.
"Rin-nee?" Shiraha stood on tiptoe, waving his hand in front of Yae Sakura's face.
Yae Sakura snapped back to reality, her voice weak: "It's nothing, I was just curious about the past."
Shiraha's lips moved as if to speak, his eyes filled with concern.
Back at home, watching Yae Sakura retreat to her room, Mei suddenly spoke up: "Rin-nee seems really curious about Kallen and Otto."
Shiraha nodded.
"Let's look up some information! Even though I don't know what Rin-nee has done for us lately, the great president of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū Club would never ignore any member's feelings."
She, Raiden Mei, was just that excellent of a leader.
Shiraha's thoughts turned inward, Rin-nee had been quite peaceful lately, shedding the arrogance and willfulness from when they first met. Yuna needed no explanation, she was a loyal subject. Even Kiana had been more obedient recently. All of this made Mei's mood quite pleasant.
Shiraha: ....
"Alright."
Elysia couldn't help but chuckle softly: "If I'm not wrong, Little Shiraha was planning to build that favor himself."
Information on Kallen wasn't hard to find. As for the history of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, Shiraha and Elysia had read through it countless times.
Shiraha pressed his lips together, Yae Sakura's acting was so poor even Mei could see through it. What else could he do?
Still, Kallen's information really wasn't hard to find. Mei pulled Shiraha along, and the two of them squeezed in front of a single computer. ME Corp, being the world's largest electronics chip manufacturer, naturally had the best equipment.
"Kallen Kaslana... Kaslana?"
That made Mei, who usually didn't pay much attention in class, blink, such a familiar surname.
She chose to search "Kaslana."
This surname seemed quite famous in Europe. Old aristocratic families always had their own dedicated wikis, though rarely mentioned by the public.
Mei scrolled from top to bottom and found the last piece of information about Kaslana, an old discussion about the young heir Siegfried running away from home after watching Arahato the Magic Sword Mech.
After that, all traces of the family seemed to vanish completely.
She blinked again. Shiraha's lips curled slightly, oh right, I almost forgot about that. Siegfried, you really caused a stir back then!
"So Kiana actually has this kind of background?" Mei's little mind kept filling in the blanks: "How tragic... Kiana has a deadbeat dad."
Shiraha was quiet for a moment, barely suppressing his grin: "Yeah, such an ancient family, and after just twenty years, Siegfried ended up wandering as a drifter?"
Mei sighed: "And Kiana, who should've been a young lady, spends every day thinking about working and making money."
Too tragic, Mei couldn't imagine her own dad going bankrupt and becoming a drifter, or having to live in hardship. Maybe the young lady, who'd never done any housework, would have to learn to cook and fight the kitchen.
At that thought, Mei looked at Shiraha: "Do you know how to cook, Shiraha?"
"A little."
But not much. Shiraha could only keep himself from starving, rice, noodles, simple dishes.
Not that it mattered, though, if it came to that, he'd learn.
On the topic of cooking, Shiraha glanced at Elysia. Her cheeks flushed slightly, her voice drifting: "I know a little too."
At least in pastry-making, her skills were pretty good, she could make little cakes beautifully, even shape them into little figures.
Though she couldn't touch anything now, she still had the theoretical knowledge, once she could, she definitely would...
Never mind, stop thinking about it.
Mei patted Shiraha's shoulder: "It's fine, I'll hire an auntie to take care of you."
Shiraha didn't know what expression to make, just be shy! He averted his gaze from Mei, his cheeks flushing slightly. Kids being shy was never wrong.
Back to the matter at hand. Kallen's history wasn't complicated, after all, she was a medieval saint from 500 years ago, she was even in the history books.
Though the history books had been heavily edited, removing most traces of Honkai beasts.
After sorting through the information, Shiraha and Mei prepared to go print out a complete copy.
Though reading it on the computer was fine, kids with confidence always found ways to maximize the surprise, because confidence was something you could see.
As they walked down the street, they could still see Yae Sakura leaning by the window, her expression clearly... lost. Mei pulled Shiraha along cautiously, making sure they weren't spotted.
The nearest print shop was a bit far. When they arrived, Shiraha, Mei, and Kiana found themselves face to face.
Kiana's expression was a little awkward: "You don't have to try to boost my sales, I don't get commission."
She felt a little embarrassed. Kids always cared about saving face more than anything.
She busied herself with the printer, it wasn't hard to operate, especially once she decided the hourly pay here was decent. Kiana was always a fast learner.
"Kallen Kas... Kaslana?"
Kiana blinked again, this only confirmed that Shiraha and Mei had come to help her out. But she really didn't get commission, no matter how many copies she printed, her pay stayed the same.
"Yeah." Shiraha nodded: "Print two copies. This seems to be the history of your Kaslana family."
Two copies? Mei glanced at Kiana, then nodded: "Yeah, two copies."
It was Shiraha's idea, not her taking the initiative to be nice.
Kiana pressed her lips together and said nothing. After printing, the two didn't linger, they just left one copy behind and quickly walked out.
Kiana was left alone, flipping through the materials. From Kallen back then to Siegfried now, she read each page carefully...
After finishing, she set the papers aside with mixed feelings.
Dad... was maybe a little bit of a spendthrift.
But today wasn't about her.
Mei discussed with Shiraha at the doorstep: "Should we just tell her directly, or pretend we found it by accident?"
"Whatever Mei-nee thinks is best."
Shiraha didn't see much point in debating it, it all came down to improvisation anyway.
Just then, the ever-sleepy Rin also bounded onto Shiraha's shoulder, her fox eyes equally curious.
Would that miko, that ungrateful miko, really care about this information?
Mei's heart was pounding. Her courage only existed around her friends, when it came to adults, it fell short.
Clutching the materials, she ran upstairs. Before knocking, she glanced back at Shiraha. He took her small hand tightly.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Coming."
Yae Sakura's voice was gentle. After cutting ties with the past, she was ready to truly look at and integrate into this world. Her tone was still a little lost, but more grounded.
Seeing the two little ones at the door, her gaze softened, until her eyes landed on Rin, and that softness vanished instantly.
"Rin-nee, I just now..." Mei paused: "I was playing games with Shiraha and came across some information about Kallen. There might be people and things in it that you care about."
Her face was tense. Shiraha was quiet for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "Yeah, since Rin-nee doesn't seem to know how to use a computer very well, Mei and I decided to print it all out for you."
At that, Mei's expression relaxed a little, after all, the world's greatest hacker, who couldn't fix a computer or even use one very well... sigh.
Yae Sakura took the papers. Freshly printed, they were still warm.
They contained Kallen's life story, her family, and the family's future. She flipped through quickly, it was unclear how much she actually absorbed.
Finally, she closed the printed materials and stood still for a long moment.
Then she bent slightly and pulled both Mei and Shiraha into an embrace, her arms wrapping around their shoulders, light in force, but tight.
"You two will definitely become childhood sweethearts just like Otto and Kallen!"
She paused, then made a vow: "And no disaster will ever tear you apart."
Mei lifted her head,
of course! What belonged to her, Raiden Mei, no one could take away.