But where was Fiery Cloud Evil God, the one who could kill Brother Chen and save her?
Where was her hero?
Mei lowered her eyes, a trace of sorrow appearing between her brows.
As someone from a country where people lived rather comfortably, she had that chuunibyou spirit carved into her bones.
That was why she would later say such painfully chuunibyou lines as, "Roar, Pots and Pans!" "One pot, two meals!" and "Wendy, submit to me!"
Senba Academy was rather quiet. The students were all in class, and no one knew that the former Lightning Queen had submitted before a foreign gun.
Otto kept his finger on the trigger. If Mei struggled, he could easily shoot her.
She didn't want to die.
Even after her father had been imprisoned and the world had seemed to lose all its color, her desire to survive had never driven her to take her own life.
Yet now, Death itself had its arms around her.
Otto walked beside Mei as they left the rooftop and headed down the stairs together.
"Where... are you taking me?"
Mei's voice trembled slightly. Otto had disarmed her of her bamboo sword, and unable to resist, she was completely under his control.
"Where do you want me to take you? The restroom, locker room, sports equipment storage room, or infirmary?"
Otto smiled. Those were all places he often saw at A Certain Glass Shrine.
"I want to go to the police station."
When you encountered bad people, you went to the police.
"Haha, no." Otto had no intention of taking Mei anywhere like that. As they walked through the Teaching Building, his gaze fell upon the restroom beside the stairwell.
"A girls' school actually has a men's restroom?"
Otto was a little surprised. This was outside his knowledge, since he was a decent man and generally did not visit girls' schools.
"Because there are male teachers and staff too, and sometimes parents are invited onto campus for visits."
Mei spoke timidly. She couldn't defy a lunatic; she had to treat him like a naughty oversized child.
Class would be over soon. Once it ended, the other students would discover that she had been taken hostage.
"Oh~"
Otto nodded.
"Has Brother Ryoma ever come here?" Otto called Raiden Ryoma Brother Ryoma, since he was much older than him.
"Father is usually very busy with work."
Mei did not answer directly, but Otto understood the answer.
"Actually, your father loves you very much. He's a clumsy father, and everything he has done was so you could live normally as an ordinary person."
Raiden Mei, who possessed an Innate Stigmata, had only been able to live so peacefully in Changkong City because of Raiden Ryoma's efforts.
The fathers in the Honkai World were all pretty good—well, except for Otto's biological father, Bishop Nicholas.
Mei felt a little dissatisfied, because she felt Otto was implying that she was not normal.
"Still, though, I'm sorry to say this to my future father-in-law."
Otto arrived before an empty classroom. He released Mei's shoulder and walked into the classroom alone.
This was a perfect chance to escape!
But Mei did not leave. Her beautiful face furrowed as she wondered what Otto meant by "father-in-law."
He can't be talking about my father, can he?
Mei stood at the entrance of the empty classroom while Otto stood inside. An open door separated them.
"Raiden Mei, I mean you no harm. I came to find you for only one reason."
"I want to save you. I want to save the millions of people in Changkong City."
"And for that, I need you."
Otto tossed the handgun he had been using to threaten Mei at her feet. He now appeared to have nothing on him that could threaten her, which made him seem very sincere.
"Perhaps you think this is absurd. How could an ordinary high school girl possibly be connected to the lives of millions in Changkong City?"
"But it's the truth."
"Mei, you are not an ordinary person. A tremendous power is sealed within you. That power is difficult to control. It will turn you into a demon who disregards human life, and human lives will become nothing more than performance figures to you."
"So, Raiden Mei."
"I'm going to use the lives of millions in Changkong City to morally blackmail you."
"I'm going to pull you out of your everyday life and bring you into mine."
My wife.JPG
Outside the Teaching Building, Kiana wiped down the desk. She had no idea where Otto had run off to, and she couldn't just leave the desk like this, so she could only clean it herself.
But these words were way too hard to scrub off.
If she found out who did this, this young lady would beat her flat!
Just then, a delicate voice suddenly sounded beside her.
"Excuse me... are you?"
Kiana turned around and saw a delicate-looking girl with beautiful black hair staring at her timidly.
"Me? This young lady is the transfer student here, Kiana Kaslana!"
Kiana still remembered the identity Otto had arranged for her. The black-haired girl gave Kiana a slight bow.
"Thank you, Miss Kiana."
"What are you thanking me for?"
The black-haired girl pointed at the desk and spoke quietly.
"That is my... desk."
Her voice was very soft, but Kiana could still hear her clearly. She only frowned.
"Are you being bullied?"
Judging from the words on the desk, it was obvious what had happened.
The black-haired girl timidly said, "They... were just playing with me."
"Playing?" Kiana gave a light laugh and clenched her fists. Filled with a sense of justice, she would not just stand by and watch. "I'd like to play with them too. Take me to meet them."
"By the way, I haven't asked your name yet. Your hair is really beautiful. Is this the Far East's famous long black hair?"
"Thank you." The girl was happy that her long hair had been praised, then gently stated her name.
"My name is Asakura Miyuki."
I Want to Be Mei's Kallen
"Are you... suffering from chuunibyou?"
Mei stood at the doorway, looking at Otto inside the room.
Who would believe someone who suddenly told her things like that?
How could she possibly be connected to the lives of millions in Changkong City?
"Raiden Ryoma really protected you well. You don't know about Honkai, you don't know about Herrschers, and you know even less that your father actually came from an organization called Anti-Entropy. He has always fought for humanity's future and yours."
Otto spoke calmly.
When it came to being a father, he truly admired Raiden Ryoma.
So Ryoma was now eating and living well in a Schicksal prison.
"But now, he has been framed by Cocolia and thrown into prison. He can no longer protect you."
"Wait." Mei's body suddenly trembled slightly. "You just said that my father was... framed?"
In truth, Mei had never wanted to believe that her father had become involved in an economic fraud scandal. But she had neither the ability nor the connections to uncover the truth, so she could only wait numbly for the day her father was cleared of all charges.
And now, she had actually heard someone else say it.
"That's right. Brother Ryoma was framed by his enemy, Cocolia."
"And Cocolia's true target is you. She got rid of Raiden Ryoma only so her plans would not be obstructed. After all, if Brother Ryoma knew you were in danger, he would seize your hand regardless of the cost."
"You have a good father."
Otto stood inside the doorway. He raised his right hand and swept aside Mei's glossy long hair that had fallen over her shoulder.
Yet Mei only stood there with her mouth open in disbelief. Her violet eyes trembled like ripples spreading across a lake.
"The reason my father was imprisoned... was actually because of me?"
This was the first time Mei had heard such a thing. Because of her... her father had suffered such a terrible injustice?
Guilt, regret, anger—these negative emotions spread through Mei's heart.
"Yes. Inside you is something called the Conquest Gem. Cocolia wants to awaken the Conquest Gem and use it to create a Herrscher, an Apostle of God."
"Once it awakens, a Great Honkai will occur in Changkong City. Of the millions of people there, very few will survive the Great Honkai."
"Is this... really true?" Mei still could not believe it.
It sounded like something out of Arabian Nights.
She knew nothing.
Raiden Ryoma had truly protected her well.
But Otto raised his hand and pressed his left palm against Mei's chest.
"Shh. Feel carefully. Your heartbeat isn't lonely."
Mei's somewhat pale face turned a little flushed.
No one had ever touched her like this before, yet the man's domineering fingers did not move away in the slightest.
Mei's heartbeat quickened, and she could clearly feel it.
Her heart beat alone. That was only natural; a normal person should have only one heart.
But Mei suddenly widened her eyes.
Because she felt something else trembling inside her body.
Its rhythm was very similar to her heart's.
But without question, it was a foreign object.
"This is..."
"This is the Conquest Gem." Otto withdrew his hand, then clasped both hands behind his back.
"This is the key to becoming a Herrscher." But in truth, Mei did not need this gem. She was already the Herrscher of Thunder destined by this era, and when the time was right, she would still become the Lightning Herrscher.
"Cocolia framed your father and sent him to prison, then severed all your social ties. Her goal was to make you lonely and mentally unstable."
"Negative emotions, a Herrscher Gem, and sufficient Honkai Energy—when these three merge..."
"A Herrscher, an Apostle of God that destroys humanity, will be born."
Otto raised both hands, clenched them into fists, then opened them as if imitating an explosion.
"But it's fine. Even though there's nothing you can do, I don't want to see that happen either."
Otto was lying, because his goal was the same as Cocolia's: to make Mei awaken as the Herrscher of Thunder.
That was why he had not taken Raiden Mei directly back to Schicksal.
"I can help you. I can help you rescue Brother Ryoma, but I have one condition."
Mei's gaze trembled.
Before you continue