Alone in a Room with Yae Sakura

Gwen needs to be sure that Yae Sakura in front of him knows everything and is being tortured by Hiyori time and time again.

Or is she completely unaware of everything, merely a toy in Hiyori's script, a tool for Yae Sakura to torment her as she looks here?

The argument between the two attracted the attention of Mei and Kiana, who were staring at each other, and both of their eyes turned to look at them.

However, mindful of the presence of the person opposite them, neither of them spoke.

In this unusual silence, the atmosphere in the shrine grew increasingly heavy, as if an invisible pressure was weighing on everyone, making it increasingly difficult to speak.

Just as Gwen and Yae Sakura were staring at each other, carefully observing each other's micro-expressions and trying to figure out the answer, a voice suddenly rang out from behind them—

"Sakura, what happened?"

Instantly, Yae Sakura's cold, hard expression softened. She turned and strode quickly towards the white-haired girl who had appeared at the room's door, asking with concern,

"Kallen, why are you out here?"

Didn't I tell you to rest more?

"Don't worry, I'm much better now. It's just that something sounds wrong outside, so I came out to check it out."

Kallen waved her hand, avoiding Yae Sakura's helping hand, indicating that she was fine now, and looked past Yae Sakura towards the back.

Upon seeing this, Kallen's smile instantly froze—

She knew that face all too well.

If she hadn't noticed that Gwen wasn't blond and blue-eyed like Otto, but rather had white hair and blue eyes like herself, and that he looked much stronger Otto, Kallen would have almost blurted out Otto's name.

Yae Sakura quickly noticed Kallen's unusual expression and hurriedly asked with concern:

"Kallen, what's wrong?"

Following Kallen's gaze, Yae Sakura saw her staring at Gwen, and a chill ran down her spine—

She hadn't realized it before, but now Yae Sakura noticed that Gwen had the same white hair and blue eyes as Kallen, which explained why she felt a strange sense of familiarity with him earlier.

But... Kallen also said that she had pursuers behind her and needed to escape quickly...

So, is this so-called Ida Ryuu Kallen's pursuer?

Even though she knew that everything in front of her was an illusion created by Hiyori, Yae Sakura couldn't help but feel murderous intent. She stood in front of Kallen, wary of Gwen was still holding a sword.

Gwen completely ignored Yae Sakura's hostility, instead sizing up Kallen—

Although she is now dressed as a village woman, Kallen still possesses a unique quality that sets her apart from ordinary rural women—

That kind of uplifting spirit that comes from within is something that ordinary peasant women cannot possess.

Similarly, Kallen, barely managing to hold back the almost-uttered "Otto," was also sizing up Gwen—

Like Yae Sakura, Kallen also suspects that Gwen is a pursuer sent by Schicksal.

"Sakura, this gentleman is..."

After a moment of eye contact, Kallen slowly looked away and turned to Yae Sakura in front of her, asking in a low voice.

"This gentleman claims to be the exorcist Ida Ryuu. He heard that there are demons appearing near Yae Village, so he came to exorcise them."

Yae Sakura answered Kallen's question readily, providing her with the information that Kallen could easily obtain from the question.

"Exorcist?"

Upon hearing Yae Sakura's words, Kallen's eyes immediately lit up—

She traveled all the way from Europe to Divine Land just to solve the demons in the black box, didn't she?

Unfortunately, the Immortal Crimson Kite has disappeared without a trace, which is why Kallen had no choice but to travel across the ocean to the Far East to escape her pursuers.

"My name is Ida Ryuu. Feeling sorry for the suffering of the people, I travel the world. I do not wish to slay demons and monsters, but I can at least do my part."

Upon hearing Kallen's question to Sakura, Gwen, sword in hand, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect and introduced himself, but then hesitated.

"May I ask who you are...?"

"Sir, you can just call me Kallen."

Seeing this, Kallen returned the greeting with a fist and palm salute, and introduced herself—but since she still needed to evade pursuers, Kallen didn't reveal her full name, instead asking curiously,

"May I ask if you have ever slain any demons or monsters, sir?"

Although she was eager to destroy the demon in the box, Kallen was also worried about being scammed, so she wanted to see Gwen's true worth as a demon hunter first.

If this exorcist really does have some skill, then...

Chapter 209 Alone in a Room with Yae Sakura

"They are just some wild ghosts from the mountains. Their strength is not that great, but their hearts are wicked."

Gwen, who only knew about the demons and the love demons, naturally couldn't explain the details. He casually brushed aside Kallen's question with a sigh, but his gaze remained fixed on Kallen, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, his meaning self-evident.

"But this young lady, have you come into contact with any evil or demonic things these days?"

"I sensed something ominous about you..."

"!"

Upon hearing this, Kallen's eyes widened slightly, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

However, Kallen, who had encountered many swindlers along the way, had already been exposed, but she still managed to maintain her composure and slowly shook her head.

"I'm sorry, sir exorcist, I've been staying at the shrine to recuperate from my injuries and haven't had any contact with any demons—"

"But sir, if you've come to exorcise demons, I might be able to offer some assistance."

"Oh, I'd like to hear more about it."

Gwen, who hadn't expected to gain anything from Kallen, remained expressionless but showed a hint of interest.

"I have encountered some demons along my journey."

"If you are interested, sir, you can go seven miles east; there are several porcupines that have transformed into demons in those mountains."

Kallen wanted to test whether the man in front of her was a true exorcist or a fake one, and the simplest way was naturally to let him fight some demons to see if he was any good.

Thank you for letting me know.

Gwen understood Kallen's probing tone, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, and prepared to deal with the boar Kallen was talking about.

It's unsurprisingly a beast tainted by Honkai Energy, the kind of monster Gwen used for practice back then.

However, just as Gwen turned to leave, Kallen called him back—

"Please wait a moment, sir."

"Are there other demons?"

Gwen stopped in his tracks, looking over in confusion, and saw Kallen's hesitant expression.

"No... I have a favor to ask—"

May I ask, sir, where do you come from?

"Ha..."

Upon hearing this, Gwen's heart stirred, but he only let out a low chuckle—

"Although my appearance is different from others, I am also a native of this land."

Born and raised here, it's only natural that I should do something for this place..."

With that, Gwen turned and strode away.

However, two figures were seen leaving the shrine side by side.

Although they were walking side by side, the tense atmosphere between them made it impossible for anyone to believe that they were on friendly terms and preparing to travel together.

Gwen could hear their conversation from a great distance—

"Snort!

Let's see who can slay more monsters!

"I only know it won't be you!"

Clearly, the two had also heard what Kallen had said earlier, and were preparing to use those demons as a weapon in the contest.

"..."

Helpless, he stopped again, turned around and looked at Kallen.

"Kallen, do you have any other demons to your name?"

"Oh, yes, there are..."

Kallen looked at the two people who had disappeared at the shrine entrance and realized what had happened. She then told them about another mountain forest with signs of Honkai.

Soon, Gwen also disappeared from the shrine, leaving only Kallen and Yae Sakura there.

"Kallen, that person is..."

Once Gwen was out of sight, Yae Sakura finally spoke, looking at Kallen with some concern.

"..."

Kallen slowly shook her head, a worried look on her face.

"I'm not sure either... I can only hope that he really is a powerful exorcist..."

"Um..."

Yae Sakura simply nodded slowly, her expression unreadable, but inwardly she sighed—

Ultimately, it's just a phantom in a dream; how could it possibly be a match for the demon that created this dream?

In this dream, which had lasted for an unknown period of time, Yae Sakura had encountered new scenarios created by Hiyori to make her emotionally collapse.

But when the dream ends, everything will return to nothingness, allowing Yae Sakura to calmly face the sudden "variables"...

On the other side, Gwen, though facing beasts he would have considered weak even two years ago as practice targets, did not let his guard down in the slightest.

One reason was that his weapon wasn't handy, but another was that Gwen was worried that Hiyori might suddenly transform a rat that could be crushed with one hand into some kind of monster with stats to trick him.

After all, it seems that Kiana, Mei, and even Raven had their Remembrance blocked, but his Remembrance were almost unaffected.

Unless Gwen unconsciously ignored Hiyori's influence and it hadn't been discovered by the other party, Hiyori had no reason not to target him.

And as Gwen had predicted—

Just as Gwen located and wiped out the wolf pack in the mountains, a lame wolf cub let out a howl and its body suddenly swelled up to be more than ten meters tall, with a single stomp that could destroy houses.

After feigning surprise, Gwen, after a fierce battle, "barely" defeated the mutated wolf cub.

When Gwen returned to Yae Shrine, Yae Sakura and Kallen saw a man slowly approaching, his tattered clothes stained with blood, carrying a Broken Blade, yet his steps remained firm.

"Mr. Ida!"

Kallen, who had thought that if Gwen had real skills, there wouldn't be any problems, and if he was just lying and deceiving, he would just leave obediently, exclaimed in surprise and wanted to help Gwen up.

However, Kallen herself was still ill, and Yae Sakura pressed her down on the spot—

"Kallen, you're still injured. Don't move around. Leave it to me."

As she spoke, Yae Sakura quickly approached Gwen, intending to help him into the room for treatment.

"Mr. Ida, where are you injured? How did you get injured?"

I have some herbs here that might be helpful to you.

"It's nothing serious, just some superficial injuries."

Gwen did not refuse Yae Sakura's kindness, but explained,

"If Your Excellency has any herbs, please bring them to me."

"Let me clean the wound and apply a dressing."

"There's hot water ready behind you, please follow me."

Upon hearing this, even though she knew it was fake, Yae Sakura couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and helped Gwen walk backward.

Meanwhile, the glaring duo who had returned early only glanced at it before looking away.

"Well..."