Cocolia's Melancholy (cont.)

Cough cough, how could I have such a thought?

"... Is it really okay to apply the Anti-Entropy live modification technology to salted fish?"

Mei looked at Edison with a strange expression.

"Our Anti-Entropy doesn't have any living organism modification technology. The enhancement experiments we did for you in the biological field back then were the limit."

Edison tapped Mei on the head to correct her.

"As for this knife... didn't I already say that Tesla made it when he had an episode? Doesn't that make perfect sense?"

Is that reasonable?

If it were Tesla's sister, it might actually make sense.

Mei thought about the strange inventions Tesla made, and suddenly felt that the Salted Fish Blade in front of her was somewhat acceptable.

Is it really acceptable?

"... Does this knife have any other functions?"

Mei thought it was impossible for Tesla to make a simple, salty Salted Fish Blade.

"Hmm... does it count as a water gun?"

Edison pressed a button on the handle... or rather, on the tail of the salted fish, and the salted fish opened its mouth, and a stream of water splashed onto Mei's face.

"..."

Mei silently touched her face.

"... Thank you, Sister Edison."

Mei took the salted fish sword from Edison and decided to seal the salted fish away forever.

Putting aside the ridiculous water-spraying skill, just based on this appearance alone, Mei wouldn't dare to take it out in public, okay?

... But perhaps this knife can be used as a kitchen knife?

After all, the blade had a strangely salty taste, and it's unclear how Tesla managed to do that.

"Don't worry, the saltiness on it is non-toxic; it's just normal salt."

Edison seemed to have seen through Mei's thoughts and said very considerately.

Okay, from today onwards, this knife will be part of her kitchenware collection.

Even so, she still wanted to know what mental state Tesla was in when he made this knife.

The illness... Although Mei knew that Edison and Tesla had a conflict, today Mei felt that Edison's words still made a lot of sense.

"... By the way, where's my dad?"

Mei looked around and said half-jokingly, "Did you throw me out again, big sister?"

"..."

Hey! Don't suddenly fall silent when faced with this question!

Edison seemed to realize that remaining silent on this matter was not a good idea, so he coughed twice and explained, "Your dad got a little noisy when he heard you were coming back, so I sent him to calm down."

Have you calmed down yet?

That's quite a euphemistic way of putting it.

Mei felt it was better not to take this issue too seriously.

"By the way, Sister Edison, could you help us take a look at Wendy?"

Mei gestured to Bronya to bring Wendy over.

"Hmm... Herrscher."

Edison looked at Wendy, who was restrained by a restraint device, and stroked his chin.

"Let's test it. If the mind has been completely Honkai and eroded, then let's give up."

Edison's words were somewhat impolite, but they left the two men speechless.

"Of course, if there's any chance to save someone, I'll do it even without you telling me."

"Um... I'll have to trouble you, Sister Edison... Speaking of which, things related to Herrscher usually require Uncle Joyce's help, right?"

"Don't worry, he's here too, he's just holed up in his room. It's just a pity that Liu Bai isn't here."

Edison sighed. It wasn't that she couldn't get Joyce to do anything without Liu Bai; it was just that without Liu Bai, Joyce spent most of her time slacking off.

This greatly displeased Edison, who was a capitalist.

"Oh."

Mei nodded, and Bronya, very tacitly, did not mention anything about Liu Bai to Edison.

After all, if she had said anything, Mei could easily guess how Edison would have handled it.

—Himeko Murata Himeko was transferred back, while the others continued their studies at St. Freya.

Mei absolutely will not allow this to happen!

"Then let's go back and rest first. Fighting Herrscher is quite tiring."

Edison nodded, indicating that Mei should do as she pleased—after all, this was originally Mei's own home.

Cocolia then took over from Wendy.

"Speaking of which, Mei, it seems your classmate came along too. What should we do?"

Cocolia asked casually.

"Should we pretend we know nothing and let her infiltrate, or send someone to slowly stall her?"

"Um... let's see how Kiana does it... although I feel like Kiana is more likely to force her way in." Mei wiped a bead of sweat from her brow as she thought of Kiana's reckless ways.

"How about we find an excuse to lock her up for a while? Mei, you want to rest for a bit, right?" Cocolia said cheerfully.

"... Let's not. Himeko- sensei might be there and could help trip us up."

"Our family's Valkyrie, come to think of it, I've never even met her," Edison remarked.

(I really hope you two never meet in this lifetime.)

Mei couldn't help but think.

"Alright, I'll leave this to you. Cocolia, Seele, you move Miss Wendy to the lab."

"Yes."

On the other side.

"Himeko, Kiana, this rescue operation for Mei and Bronya is... in your hands."

Theresa felt a tiny pang of guilt as she said this.

"Okay! Auntie! I'll definitely bring Mei and Bronya back!"

Kiana shouted with great momentum.

You want to go and save someone, but they might not even want to come back...

Theresa always felt a little guilty about Kiana's motivation... though she could at least be honest with her brain.

"Don't call me Auntie."

Out of sympathy for the silly child, Theresa was powerless to even refute, and then turned her gaze to Himeko.

"Um... Himeko you please take care of her?"

Don't leave this girl alone and go chat with your colleagues!

"I'll do my best."

Himeko answered as if she hadn't heard anything.

Just kidding, how are you supposed to control a husky if it really starts destroying the house?

"..."

Theresa, who understood Himeko's meaning, twitched at the corner of her mouth.

But... well, there's no way to argue with that.

"... In that case, let's set off. I'll wait for you here."

Theresa waved her hand, signaling the two people to get lost.

"Alright! Headmaster!"

"..."

In front of the ME Corp.

"Is this where Mei and Bronya are being held?"

Kiana spun the dual pistols around in her hands.

"Let's not delay! Let's just rush in!"

"..."

Himeko silently grabbed Kiana by the collar.

It's amazing that you could think of a method like "just rushing in".

If you weren't Siegfried's daughter, she wouldn't have found a reason why Kiana wouldn't be riddled with bullets.

"There's a ventilation opening here."

Himeko dragged Kiana aside and pointed to the ventilation shaft below.

How can you not act the whole thing?

"I don't think Anti-Entropy is on guard here, so you can go in from here."

"And what about you Himeko- sensei?"

Do I look like someone who can go in?

Himeko adjusted her chest and glanced sideways.

"So I can just go in?" Kiana was a little annoyed by Himeko's attitude. "Himeko, you're going too far."

"If you call another auntie, I'll kick you in, you believe me? Stop talking nonsense, if I say you can get in, you definitely can."

"What if I get stuck?"

"I'll kick you in the ass twice and then send you packing," Himeko said without hesitation.

"What if I get stuck halfway there?"

"Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

Himeko was very unhappy.

"I always felt this was a bad idea..."

Kiana grumbled sullenly—well, even a bad idea seems a little better than her own.

"But what will you do after I go in, Himeko- sensei?"

"Me? I'll find a way to sneak in, and we'll meet up inside."

Only after Himeko said that did Kiana feel reassured and reluctantly climb into the ventilation shaft.

"... You just tricked this child into going in like that?"

Seeing Kiana climb inside, Liu Bai finally spoke.

The ventilation ducts at ME Corp are incredibly complex...

"Don't you agree with it too?" Himeko walked happily towards the main entrance and took out her identity card, which had been gathering dust for six years.

With a beep, the doors of ME Corp opened automatically.

Good evening, Himeko- sensei.