Mei stared blankly at everything in this small, narrow space, recalling the scene that had just occurred.
That fellow who called himself a successor of the Ashina Sword Style had put his arm around her neck and asked her to trust him.
She had chosen to believe him, and then she was swallowed by a patch of shadow.
When she came to her senses, she was here.
"Where on earth is this?"
The girl, who could only see many bottles and jars nearby due to the dim light, stood up and muttered in a low voice.
She had been here for a while now but had no idea where this place was, nor did she know where the exit or anything similar might be.
Without any warning, a ray of light came from the outside, illuminating the dimness.
This development made Miss Raiden Mei's eyes light up somewhat; if there was light, there should be an exit.
She involuntarily took a step in the direction of the light, and then—
The entire space began to invert.
Plop—
Without any warning, the entire space was spinning. Miss Mei, who had taken the first step towards the light, slid right out and fell onto the floor.
Feeling the prickly sensation of the carpet pressed against her face, Raiden Mei was lost in a daze.
After she fell, a hand, belatedly, was offered to her, pulling her up.
Mei stood up and looked around. It was indeed the motel room they had rented earlier.
The one pulling her up was none other than the fellow who, without a word of agreement, had thrown her into an unknown space—the one who could, for now, be called a "Hero."
"How does it feel, Miss Mei, to have been unilaterally declared dead by me?" The young man, whose canine teeth were slightly longer than a normal person's and visible when he smiled, gazed at the Herrscher of Rice with his crimson eyes, inquiring about her condition.
That appearance easily brought to mind the vampires of legend.
"I... was declared dead?" The girl, who had been unilaterally declared dead, was stunned. She had just been locked in a little dark room for a while; how had she been declared dead?
"The situation is a bit complicated. You can understand it as, in the eyes of most of Anti-Entropy's opposing faction members, you've already GG'd." The young man, who had provided intelligence for free and pretended to kill the "Rice Cooker" to signal that the Gem of Conquest had been acquired by him, all to make Cocolia give up her experiment, shrugged and spoke.
The girl, who vaguely remembered something flying out and being chewed up after she was swallowed by the shadow, seemed to understand something.
So, he wanted to make Anti-Entropy's radical faction give up their pursuit by faking my death?
Miss Mei, who seemed to have watched her fair share of TV dramas, quickly connected this to plotlines that often appeared in soap operas.
So, what I need to do next is live under an assumed name?
She looked up at the mysterious young man, wanting to ask.
"As for what's next, you don't actually need to hide." The young man, having already received his reward, stated very directly.
"Eh!!" Miss Mei, feeling that the plot development was not quite what she had imagined, was stunned once again.
If there's no need to hide, why declare me dead? Brother, your way of thinking is a bit off!
The young man, who had merely used "Mei's death, Gem recovered" as one of the bargaining chips to make Cocolia abandon her experiment, shrugged.
Regardless, Cocolia had indeed been overwhelmed by those chips for now and had temporarily given up on the artificial Herrscher project. Li Zihan had naturally completed his mission and received the Stigmata. The system wouldn't dock his reward just because Cocolia later discovered she had been tricked and decided to plot something else.
Theoretically speaking, whatever happened next had little to do with him.
Honestly, Li Zihan was rather looking forward to Cocolia stirring up trouble. She goes off to do shady things, the system issues a mission, he does the work and gets the reward—wouldn't that be delightful!
System Interface:
"Maliciously farming rewards is prohibited."
The system, which had been largely unnoticeable, suddenly jumped out like a husky whose tail had been stepped on, warning its host.
Tsk— The warned host made a sound of displeasure in his mind.
"Because, it's cooler this way, right?" The young man, having achieved his first objective and no longer needing Raiden Mei to feign death, smiled and said something that made Miss Mei's eye twitch slightly.
"Before a battle, to expressionlessly cut off one's own 'soft underbelly'—don't you think there's a certain cruel aesthetic to that?" Mister Magus spouted utter nonsense.
...
Miss Mei fell silent. She felt as if an invisible force in this world was gripping her throat, giving her the illusion of suffocation.
"Um, I want to go home first." The girl, suddenly remembering there was still a white-haired dango at home waiting to be fed, had her expression change instantly.
Without me, Kiana, that fellow, must be starving.
"But, you can't get a taxi now." Li Zihan looked through the window at the sky, which had completely darkened, and said.
"Then—" Miss Mei's face showed a hint of worry.
"Let's just make do here for one night. We can talk about whatever it is tomorrow." Saying this, the young man yawned, lay down on the large bed, and then waved at Raiden Mei.
"Good night."
"Good night." Miss Raiden politely exchanged good nights with the magus.
Kiana isn't a child anymore; she shouldn't starve just because I didn't cook, right?
Miss Mei, who had been put through the wringer all day, was also somewhat tired and planned to rest early.
However, speaking of which, where was she supposed to sleep?
The girl, vaguely remembering that the driver had only booked two rooms, froze.
She turned her head and saw that the fellow who had already occupied the bed was also looking at her.
Then, the young man opposite her, who had changed into his pajamas at some unknown point, spoke.
"The sofa here is quite soft. Very suitable for sleeping."
After saying this, Li Zihan immediately rolled himself up in the blanket and fell fast asleep.
Under the light, Miss Mei, who had never slept on a sofa before, looked utterly dishevelled.
=========Line Break======
The city lights at night were ever-changing, colorful, illuminating the world.
Both sides of the road were lined with exquisitely decorated shops of all kinds; just a few steps would take you to fashion boutiques, restaurants, and cafes.
"Daifuku, taiyaki, dango, melon pan, oden, tonkotsu ramen..."
On the food street, a whisper like that of a starving ghost echoed through the streets, making passersby's hearts tighten and quicken their pace.
Kiana was hungry.
Not just ordinarily hungry, but extremely hungry.
The last time she had eaten was at twelve noon; it was now ten at night.
During these ten hours, she had first gone to Senba Academy in the suburbs, greeted her good ji-friend Raiden Mei, and then returned to the city area to investigate the Honkai source that had appeared out of nowhere.
During this period, her modes of transport were a human-powered bicycle and the "eleven-route bus" (her own two feet).
The Kaslana clan, with their Honkai Beast genes, naturally had a fast metabolism. Coupled with her adolescent growth spurt and running around everywhere, Kiana felt as if her stomach no longer belonged to her.
"Honestly, I investigated all afternoon and found nothing." The girl, who had spent a lot of effort investigating the Honkai source but had come up with no results, clutched her stomach and complained.
"If I'd known it would be like this, I would have just gone home with Mei and eaten."
I wonder what Mei left for me tonight?
Miss Kiana, who had asked Raiden Mei at Senba Academy to help her out with bentos for the next few days, rode her bicycle through the food street, which was filled with delicacies, and thought.
Will it be fish soup, fried chicken, or tempura? They all sound pretty good.
At the thought of the small animals that had already perished in the kitchen and been sent into the pot, sorrowful tears couldn't help but flow from the corners of Kiana's mouth.
(People's tear glands are located at the corners of their mouths (convinced).)
Thinking of those delicious foods, Kiana felt her stomach grow even hungrier.
She took one hand off the handlebars, wiped the corner of her mouth, then took a deep breath and sped up.
Mei was still waiting for her. If she was too late, it would affect Mei's rest.
Therefore, she couldn't stop!
And then—
"No... nobody?" Miss Paramecium, who had already climbed into the apartment Raiden Mei rented, was dumbfounded.