Honkai, But Spirit Simulator

"Aaaaaaaah——! Liesel, please, stop talking!"

"Dr. Einstein, who has neither breasts nor butt, isn't one to hold grudges." Einstein flashed a warm smile. "It's just that Tesla was really cute last night, like trying to prove she wasn't a loser. Miss Nancy would definitely be interested…"

"I was wrong! Stop talking!"

"And the wine pool and meat forest, partying all night long, and stuff like that."

"I was really wrong! Liesel! I'll never do it again!"

"Really?"

Einstein looked at Tesla, whose face was flushed crimson, with a smile.

"As true as gold!"

"Then I'll spare Dr. Tesla this time."

Einstein nodded contentedly.

"Then Dr. Tesla can stay home today. Liu Bai and I are going out to buy some things."

"I want to go too!" Tesla perked up instantly at the mention of this. "I, I can drive you!"

Admitting fault is one thing, but don't even think about sneaking off!

"Dr. Einstein doesn't want to get caught for drunk driving."

"Who would drive drunk—! I'm perfectly sober right now!"

"Well, I hope so." Einstein nodded noncommittally, then looked at Welt. "What about you, Welt? Do you want to stay home or come out with us?"

"I think I'll stay home…"

Welt had a feeling that if he went along, he'd just be a third wheel.

So, he thought, it was better to pass.

"Then the lab is in your hands."

"Speaking of which, what are we going to buy?"

"Don't know."

—Faced with Liu Bai's question, Dr. Einstein replied expressionlessly.

"Liesel is just making up an excuse."

Tesla, sitting in the driver's seat, curled her lips.

"I want to feed the cats."

"Speaking of feeding cats, there's only one place, right?"

"That's right, quiet and full of cats."

"Ah… Highgate Cemetery, is it?"

Listening to their cryptic conversation, Liu Bai immediately guessed the location.

"I'm impressed you guys dare to go to a place like that."

"I can handle a ghost by my side, what's a cemetery going to do?" Tesla curled her lips. "We're not afraid of the ones floating around, what can the ones lying down do?"

"…That's true."

Can't argue with that…

Under Tesla's full-speed driving, they quickly arrived at Highgate Cemetery.

Tesla and Einstein each took a bag of cat food and started to split up.

Einstein also gave Liu Bai some cat food, after all, Liu Bai was also able to pet cats.

Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Michael Faraday…

The names on the tombstones didn't feel eerie, but rather gave a strange sense of security.

"It's actually quite nice to come here once in a while."

Liu Bai said from the bottom of his heart. Then, Liu Bai saw a familiar blonde beauty in front of the stone path.

The other party also looked over—but not at him, but at Einstein.

"What a coincidence, Dr. Einstein."

The blonde beauty, who was also Destiny's strongest Valkyrie, Reanna, greeted Einstein with a smile.

Reanna wasn't wearing the bodyguard-like suit she had on before, but a black dress with white trim that had the air of a countess from a story, and a top hat on her head.

"You are…"

Einstein obviously didn't remember her.

However, Reanna didn't show any annoyance, but just introduced herself with a smile: "My name is Reanna Brigantia, a Valkyrie directly under Destiny Headquarters. I met Dr. Einstein at the airport before."

Because the information of Destiny's S-Rank Valkyries was highly confidential, Reanna directly gave her name.

"Is that so?"

Einstein scratched her head, putting on an act of trying to remember.

"It's okay if you can't recall. I'm just an ordinary person here to sweep graves, just like you."

Reanna couldn't help but chuckle at Einstein's thoughtful expression.

It had to be said that both the strongest Valkyrie of Destiny's current generation and the next were open-minded and had upright personalities.

"No, we're here to feed the cats." Einstein was completely oblivious to the atmosphere.

"Pfft... feeding cats at a cemetery?" This sentence seemed to hit Reanna's funny bone, but then she saw the cats lying on the tombstones, lazily sunbathing.

It wasn't abrupt or out of place at all, but rather revealed a unique sense of tranquility that belonged only to the cemetery.

"Can you spare me some cat food? I'm off work today anyway."

"...Then let us pay our respects as well." Einstein confirmed that the Valkyrie in front of them harbored no ill intentions. "Was she your comrade?"

"Yes."

Reanna accepted the cat food.

"Martha was a good kid. She wouldn't dislike you."

"Martha...?"

The name seemed to remind Einstein of something.

"Martha Jacobs, the only Valkyrie who died in the Berlin Honkai Outbreak but wasn't buried in the Invalidenfriedhof," Reanna explained softly.

"Berlin, huh..." Einstein clicked her tongue slightly.

The Berlin Honkai Outbreak—that was when Welt was born.

Chapter 43: Ghosts and Alterations

"During the process of eliminating the Emperor-class Honkai beast, her 'Night Moth Squad' was almost completely wiped out. As the sole survivor, that child endured unimaginable mental pressure."

A look of remembrance appeared on Reanna's face.

"Although we promptly removed her from the front lines and provided her with psychological counseling, she... hanged herself at her home this New Year."

"Because of military discipline... so she couldn't be buried together with the others?"

Einstein asked softly.

"There's no choice. That's just how military discipline is." Reanna's face showed no sadness. "The so-called army... is a machine that cannot tolerate any malfunctioning screws. Its Valhalla will only accept those who have fulfilled their responsibilities to the very end."

"Her life may have been a tragedy, but the responsibility for the tragedy doesn't lie with her... it was simply unavoidable."

"..."

Under Einstein's silence, the topic came to an end.

The stars gradually appeared, and the food bags gradually emptied.

The kittens were very happy, but for the people present...

"Is this the last feeding spot?" Reanna stood up. "Sorry for making the atmosphere so gloomy."

"No, it's okay. For me... this can also be considered a kind of experience."

"..."

Reanna didn't reply, but just stared intently at the forest in the night.

"Careful!"

With lightning speed, Reanna dragged Einstein into the bushes beside her.

In the direction that Einstein hadn't noticed, a mysterious floating object appeared in the night sky.

"...A bed sheet?"

A floating object that looked like it was draped in a bed sheet, surrounded by things that looked like will-o'-the-wisps.

"No, it looks like a ghost?"

Einstein looked at the floating thing with curious eyes.

"A visible ghost... Miss Reanna, can we catch it and study it?"

"..." Reanna didn't know how to respond to that. Liu Bai silently wiped away a bead of sweat.

"Ph'ngluimglw'nafhCthulhuR'lyehwgah-naglfhtagn!"

"Cthulhu Fhtagn!"

"This thing is still chanting incantations." Reanna revealed a strange expression. "And I seem to have heard this somewhere before?"

"...A spell that appears in The Call of Cthulhu."

Einstein seemed to know everything.

"Good grief, Cthulhu is handing out candy... what kind of ghost is this?" Liu Bai also complained from the side.

Reanna's lips twitched slightly as she picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it.

Clang—!

A crisp, metallic sound.

Hiss—!

A jet of air suddenly burst from the "ghost's" rear, clearly indicating it was trying to escape.

"V-23 requesting immediate support! Unidentified flying object detected! Deploy weapons to my location immediately according to Plan Eight! Mobile units on standby!"

Reanna had somehow already produced a miniature walkie-talkie.

"Repeat! Deploy weapons to my location! Mobile units on standby!"

Outside the cemetery, a redhead was whispering something to a child.

Just then, a figure leaped out of the dark woods.

"Get out of the way, redhead!"

"Huh? Who's the red—"

Bang—!

Before Tesla could finish speaking, the sound of a mechanical explosion rang in her ears.

"...Plan Eight perfectly executed, unidentified flying object has been dismantled."

The blonde Valkyrie, wielding Abyss White Flower, replied to the walkie-talkie in her hand.

"I will retrieve Abyss White Flower myself according to the plan, communication ends."

Afterward, Reanna looked up at Tesla with concern. "Are you two alright?"