Chapter 187: Thoughts and Tracking
"Mei~"
Outside the hotel, Kirataka turned on his cell phone and contacted the girl far away in the Far East.
The originally dark "Connecting" screen quickly changed, and the girl's face appeared in it.
Because it was late at night and it was time for rest, she looked like she had just taken a shower. Her long purple hair was wet and draped behind her, and her fair face was slightly red from the steam, which was very pleasing to the eye.
She was wearing a purple silk nightgown—originally, Mei was wearing the standard white nightgown provided by St. Freya Academy, but since she started dating him, she seemed to have intentionally changed her style of clothing.
"Yeah, I'm here."
The girl on the other end responded gently.
"Is everything okay at the academy?"
"Nothing's going on here, just like usual."
Mei smiled and told Kirataka about the recent situation of the people around her.
Kiana was training hard as usual, and Bronya, Seele, and the others were also living a normal school life.
Because he was away, Higokumaru could only take turns sleeping in everyone's rooms recently. Fortunately, the little fox was very likable, and no one rejected her.
If there was anything missing, it was...
"It's just that I'm a little uncomfortable without you."
"Why, did you miss me?"
Kirataka teased.
Even though he had just left for a few days—
"Yeah, I missed you."
The girl on the screen nodded slightly.
Then, she asked with some concern:
"Compared to us, how are you and the principal doing over there?"
"Fortunately, I haven't encountered any trouble so far."
"Look at your back... are you outside?"
Mei looked at the scenery behind him.
"Well, there's a simple investigation mission assigned by the school principal."
"Alone?"
"Of course... not."
At this point, Kirataka's voice became noticeably softer, and he answered with a guilty conscience.
The girl tilted her head slightly and said in a speculative tone:
"Hmm... let me guess, is it with Anna?"
"Yes, that's right. How did you guess it?"
"Huh, that's a girl's intuition."
The two of them chatted sentence by sentence, exchanging information about the latest happenings around them.
"By the way, Kirataka, how is Miss Wendy?"
Mei asked with concern.
He told himself before he left that his main purpose this time was to help the girl who also had the Herrscher Gem implanted in her body.
"Her condition is better than I thought. At least... she hasn't been controlled by negative emotions."
Kirataka groaned.
When the "Poem of the Wind" incident happened in the original timeline, Wendy had already been bewitched by the gem's desire, completely hating Schicksal and humanity. So, when he was about to come here, he mentally prepared himself to face the girl.
But after actually getting to know her, he found that she was a very gentle person. Even though her body had been disabled due to experiments, she still worked hard and persevered, without harboring resentment.
Afterward, he shared with Mei what he had learned about the dark will remaining in the gem.
"I really don't know much about this... But speaking of it, how about discussing it with the other 'Mei'?"
The purple-haired girl suggested.
As the Herrscher of Thunder, she herself had never experienced the process of fighting against Sirin's dark will, so she knew little about this aspect.
However, her other self might know something about it.
After all, when she transformed into a Herrscher, it was her alternate self who took over the body and silently helped her bear everything.
After learning about Wendy's situation, Mei also understood one thing: if she didn't have another self, she might have ended up like Wendy long ago.
"Well, that's a good suggestion."
Kirataka nodded.
Mei smiled slightly and closed her eyes. After a moment, another girl took control of the body.
"Huh... what do you want to ask?"
"When you first developed self-awareness, did you sense other wills from the Herrscher Core?"
Kirataka asked carefully.
Mei's Stigmata personality narrowed her eyes slightly and thought carefully.
After a long while, she finally answered:
"When I was first born, there was only one voice telling me that I was the Third Herrscher and that I was to fulfill the mission of destroying humanity. Other than that... I don't have any impression."
She had not encountered a third will trying to instigate her.
"Is that so? I see."
Kirataka groaned.
Mei's situation was indeed somewhat different from Wendy's.
Mei had the Conquest Gem implanted in her when she was eight years old and critically ill, but the complete birth of the Stigmata personality occurred during the eruption of Nagazora, a gap of several years in between.
Perhaps, the remaining will of Sirin in the Conquest Gem had already been completely wiped out during this time.
However... if we analyze what Mei experienced, using the power of the Stigmata to suppress the Herrscher's power could indeed be a solution.
In her body, the powers of the Herrscher and the Conquest Gem had reached a perfect balance for a long time, preventing her from being harmed.
'Hmm... maybe this idea could be used to help solve Wendy's problem.'
'For example, activating a Stigmata on Wendy? Creating a third party to counterbalance the Corruption of the Desire Gem?'
When it came to the professional field of Stigmata, he was unable to list detailed methods now, but at least he had found a potentially feasible idea.
After chatting with Mei for a while, the phone call finally came to an end.
Kirataka looked at the time. Well, Anna should be almost done with her shower.
So he stood up and returned to his hotel room.
Standing in front of the door, Kirataka took out the door card from his pocket.
Just as he reached out his hand and was about to use the door card to open the door and go in, he foresaw a certain future.
Well, when he opened the door, he would happen to run into Anna, who had just come out of the bathroom. The girl, flustered by the sudden encounter, would accidentally drop the bath towel wrapped around her body.
Thus, the girl's perfect body would be exposed to his eyes without reservation.
'Um...'
Although this "lucky pervert" incident was tempting, it was better to be more gentlemanly.
So Kirataka withdrew his hand, stood patiently at the door for five more minutes, and then rang the doorbell.
"I'm coming!"
(TL: (ಠ_ಠ) )
Only footsteps could be heard from inside, and then Anna opened the door.
The girl was wearing a white bathrobe provided by the hotel. Her long hair had been dried, and her cleansed skin was as alluring as white snow with rouge applied.
She truly had a great figure, and even the loose bathrobe couldn't hide her proud curves.
"Welcome back~"
"Well, Anna, if you're done washing, it's my turn. You should get some rest."
The girl nodded obediently and then sat down on the edge of her bed.
But it wasn't until Kirataka took the clothes and entered the bathroom that she realized something.
—Kirataka avoided her when she was bathing, but when Kirataka was bathing, she seemed to have forgotten to avoid him...
Thinking of this, the girl's face turned slightly red, and she quickly lowered her head, twisting her hands together.
Although she wanted to ignore it, her ears became more sensitive at this moment.
The sound of water in the bathroom could be heard clearly, and even other subtle noises above that.
If you listened closely...
'No, no, no! Anna, what are you thinking?'
The girl bit her lip, buried her face in her palms, and pinched herself a few times before barely calming down her shyness.
Fortunately, Kirataka showered quickly and came out of the bathroom in less than ten minutes.
Originally, he had the habit of sleeping shirtless, but ever since Higokumaru came to the dormitory, he developed the habit of wearing pajamas, and this was also the case now.
Kirataka walked out of the bathroom, glanced at the girl on the bed, and asked curiously:
"...Anna, what's wrong with you?"
She looked really strange. If you looked closely, it seemed that there was a faint pink color at the base of her ears.
"eh?, it's nothing! Let's get some rest!"
The girl huddled into the bed without even showing her head and stopped talking.
Kirataka was a little confused, so he just followed her instructions, got on his bed, and lay down.
It was a cloudless night; the night sky shone through the glass into the house, and the streets had already returned to silence.
After a long silence, Anna poked her head out from under the quilt.
With the faint moonlight, she looked toward Kirataka carefully.
Well, it looks like he hasn't fallen asleep yet.
So the girl called out softly:
"Kirataka..."
"Well, Anna, are you still awake?"
"I can't sleep, shall we talk?"
"What do you want to say?"
"Hmm... I don't know."
Anna replied softly.
Although she was the first to speak, she had no prepared topics for conversation.
"Then let me find a topic, for example...how is the Coral Island?"
New Zealand is not where Anna is stationed. The Coral Island, an island in the sea some distance away, is where she currently works long-term.
"It's a very beautiful place. If you have the chance, you should go visit Coral Island."
Anna invited.
Coral Island is different from other cities. It is a completely artificial island.
The entire island consists of the main island and three super-large island-based platforms. The buildings on the platforms are overlapped layer by layer, and the coral-like three-dimensional structure is the origin of the city's name.
"In the center of the city, there is an orbital elevator called the Galaxy Ladder that is still under construction. It should be fully completed in a few years."
—The super rail elevator that goes straight from the ground to the sky is the unique logo and symbol of this city.
Of course, as of the "Frappuccino" time on the original timeline, the elevator had not been repaired, and after the Herrscher incident, the entire Coral Island was razed to the ground.
"In the future... well, maybe there will be a chance to go."
Kirataka agreed.
If Anna is chosen to be the Herrscher as scheduled in the future, then he will indeed go to that city sooner or later.
"Really?"
"um"
"I will look forward to that day."
The chestnut-haired girl said in a low voice.
Hearing Anna say this, Kirataka couldn't help but chuckle.
"What's wrong... Is what I just said weird?"
"Nothing, I just think Anna's personality is very interesting sometimes."
Perhaps because she had been trained in the Schicksal headquarters since she was a child and had little contact with the outside world, she would sometimes express her thoughts very frankly.
"Hey, are you... praising me?"
"Just take it as it is."
The two chatted like this for a while, and sleepiness finally overwhelmed the girl.
"I'm a little sleepy... Kirataka, good night..."
The work of searching for kittens was just tedious, not a difficult task for Anna.
She was very happy to be able to come here with Kirataka to carry out the mission.
'Maybe I can have a good dream tonight.'
"Sleep peacefully, and we will continue to look for the cat tomorrow morning."
Kirataka consoled.
"...Um."
The girl closed her eyes obediently, and her consciousness gradually fell into the depths.
......
Late at night.
Kirataka opened his eyes.
He turned his head to look at the chestnut-haired girl on the other side. She had fallen into a deep sleep.
To be on the safe side, Kirataka summoned Fenghuang Down.
After using Fenghuang Down to give the girl a sleeping buff, he sat up, changed into going-out clothes, and left the hotel alone.
——The traces of Honkai energy and cat paw prints he found in the alley today made him a little concerned.
If it was just an ordinary kitten, it would be fine, but I'm afraid it isn't.
To be on the safe side, it would be better for him to confirm it personally.
He returned to the alley where he had discovered traces of Honkai energy during the day.
It is indeed not an easy task to find the cat that left traces of Honkai energy using ordinary means. If he and Anna were to search manually, it would probably take more than a week to complete the task.
However, if he needed to find something, he had a very convenient tool in his hand.
Kirataka's mind moved, and a golden chain emerged from his sleeve.
[Projection Magic: Oath of Judah].
The Divine Key has the function of directional tracking of Honkai energy, so it is very easy to use it to find a kitten.
As long as the other party's location is not more than a hundred kilometers beyond this alley... his beggar version of Judah can easily lead him to find the other party.
Kirataka ordered the chain to extend out, touching the cat's paw prints left on the ground, and began to absorb the traces of Honkai energy contained therein.
After completing the contact and analysis of the remaining traces of Honkai energy, the next step is positioning.
The golden chain raised its head and began to guide Kirataka in the direction of progress.
Kirataka put the chain into his sleeve, leaving only the arrow indicating the direction in his hand, and began to move in the direction led by Judas.
(TL: Hi everyone~ If you want to read advanced chapters, feel free to check out my Patreon!
Link : patreon.com/Elysia_Husband
Here's what's currently available:
Honkai Impact: Saving the Pre-civilization by Rubbing Black Technology – 416 chapters (ongoing)
Honkai Impact: My Married Life with Kiana – 218 chapters
Honkai Impact: I Will Save Everything Alone – 257 chapters
Honkai Impact 3rd: I Became the Behind-the-Scenes Boss – 92 chapters
FATE: As Illya, I Was Summoned by Kotomine Kirei?! – 92 chapters
Honkai Impact 3rd: Is This Your Ability, Seriously? – 81 chapters
Honkai Simulator: I Conquered Kiana of Finality – 135 chapters
Honkai Shura Field: Dear, Who Is She? – 94 chapters
Honkai Impact: Regret for Life Simulator! – 41 chapters (Free!))