"It's finally warm."
The girl sat on a cushion, sipping hot water from a cup. Her beautiful sapphire-blue eyes watched the melting snow piles outside the window, dissolved by the arriving spring breeze.
This unprecedented severe winter vanished without a trace as if suddenly cut off. The temperature rose from its historical low to normal in only about a day. This drastic temperature change caused many people to catch the season's sickness, but she remained safe and sound, having hidden inside this house.
Once the temperature warmed up, she had wanted to leave here. After all, even cats know when to stop stealing food, and it would be bad if a major problem fell on her head if she stayed any longer.
To have survived in the Twilight Street until now, the girl considered herself a person who could maintain good relations, be flexible, and find happiness in contentment.
But the words of that man from last time were still ringing in her ears. If she didn't follow his instructions, would she invite greater trouble? She also wondered if her "background" could intimidate him…
"Ah… seriously, I'll leave after the boy in that photo comes back!" The girl debated for a long time and finally decided to see this through.
She would treat it as repayment for the man discovering her stealing food and living in his house yet not catching her!
Thinking this way, the girl felt much more at ease. That's right, occasionally doing good deeds is also a good thing.
"Speaking of which, when will he ever come here…"
"Clang."
"Mrow—"
The main door was abruptly pushed open. The girl, whose weight had increased considerably and whose vigilance had dropped after a month of good food and drink, jumped up from the ground in fright.
She saw a person in a wheelchair, with a covered face, rolling the wheels of the chair inside.
"…" The girl watched him nervously. If he planned to catch her, she would run immediately.
However, the person seemed not to see the girl. He entered, closed the door behind him, and then began to roll his wheelchair, surveying the room. He passed right by her without even glancing at her.
Wh-what does he mean? Who is he? Is he not the man from last time?
The girl noticed that the person in the wheelchair was missing his right leg. That shouldn't be the man from last time.
"L-let me tell you first, I was asked by someone else to stay here, okay? I'm waiting for a person. Are you that person?" The girl followed behind him, watching him slowly push his wheelchair, creaking across the wooden floor. He seemed like an old man returning to his hometown, emanating a sense of ancient serenity.
But judging by the skin on his hands, he was very young; he shouldn't be an old man.
"Yes, I know." At this moment, the man suddenly turned his head and spoke to the empty air beside him.
His voice possessed a calmness that didn't match his age.
The girl breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew, good that you know… My name is…"
The man continued, "Perhaps. But I can't cook right now."
"Eh? We have food, no need…"
"It's alright, there are clean clothes."
"…"
The girl tilted her head, looking at the man talking to himself in an empty space.
Who is he talking to?
…
"The mission you assigned me is complete, and what that man asked me to do is also complete. Now it is time for you to fulfill your promise."
Sakura had been waiting in the Deep End for a long time. When Mei and Kevin appeared together, she stood up, her long hair no longer floating lightly like last time.
Her fingers did not leave the hilt of her sword. The man beside Mei had a dangerous aura no less than Lin's, and his gaze was more aggressive, constantly lingering on Sakura's hands and feet, wary of her sudden attack.
Mei raised her hand and glanced at her ticking watch—their meeting time was limited. Many people were watching her and waiting for her to return to work.
After putting her hand down, Mei said to Sakura, "I have erased all traces related to you. By the lake that night, there were only me, Kevin, and Lin, who had just returned to the Moth of the Fire. And Lin's injuries will be treated as a 'second recurrence' tear injury."
Sakura quietly observed Mei's expression. This was a useless effort; even a professional psychologist couldn't necessarily read anything from this girl's face. But Sakura could feel Mei's sincerity, so she took a deep breath and nodded, "You look… like you're not lying. In that case, the transaction is over. Farewell."
The pink-haired girl moved her fingers from the sword hilt. Under Kevin's watchful gaze, she pushed open the prison door, walked past the two of them, and headed outside, utterly fearless of the darkness ahead.
"Miss Sakura, are you truly not going to reconsider what I said last time? You must have experienced it during the execution of this mission, haven't you?"
"…"
Sakura's heeled footsteps stopped in the darkness.
The extreme temperature change across the world, even outside the epicenter of the Honkai outbreak, affected other regions with phenomena like the alteration of heaven and earth, as if they had entered a low-temperature era that didn't belong to humanity.
Sakura saw it clearly.
Just a change in temperature could cause a world-changing shift in human society. So, what kind of hellish scene must the epicenter, which she had only seen in video recordings, have been?
Could she truly protect Rin in a disaster that could happen at any moment?
"The Moth of the Fire is currently experiencing a shortage of personnel, Miss Sakura. Humanity needs people like you. If you choose not to, we will not stop you, nor will anyone hunt you down. But similarly, no one will bring up this offer to you again."
"…"
"…"
The prolonged silence was not just atmospheric but reflected Sakura's deep consideration, and the points she needed to consider were clearly more complex than for the average person.
For some reason, she thought of Lin.
Perhaps it was because Lin was the only member of the Moth of the Fire she had known before this incident, or perhaps for some unexplainable reasons, but thinking of him now, Sakura didn't feel it was a coincidence.
So, she turned around and asked, "…What do you need me to do."
"Welcome to the Moth of the Fire, Sakura." Mei seemed to have anticipated this result, and she smiled slightly, "As I said last time, what we need you to do is what you do best. You will remain in the Poison Chrysalis, but this team will no longer be the Chairman's private army, and the nature of the work will also change slightly."
"…The members?"
"For now, it's just you, but I will expand it soon."
"Will the others object?"
In dealing with Sakura, it clearly shouldn't be Mei's decision alone. The high-level officials of the Moth of the Fire, the Chairman, and Lin were all people who knew her business inside and out.
"If you understood the operational methods and core values of the Moth of the Fire, you wouldn't ask that question."
"Is Lin the same?"
"…No, Lin…"
Mei paused, and Kevin's gaze also flickered for a moment.
"Lin… is missing."