After closing the bedroom door, the girl's appearance suddenly changed. Her previously unremarkable cherry-colored hair seemed to have been washed free of dust, now gleaming with a silky sheen. Her skin became fairer and more delicate, her blue eyes turned a gorgeous violet, and two long, slender animal ears slowly emerged from atop her head.
In the blink of an eye, the merely very pretty real-life girl became an otherworldly anime beauty who seemed as though she should not exist in this world.
"Have you confirmed that little girl's identity?"
As soon as Yae Sakura closed the door, a cool, ethereal voice came from the living room.
Yae Sakura was not surprised. After changing into slippers and entering the living room, she immediately spotted the girl sitting formally on the carpet.
The girl had short cherry-colored hair and amber eyes, clear and tranquil like a cold mountain pool. Her lovely face was still somewhat youthful, but she sat with her waist and back perfectly straight, her posture like a sharp sword. There was none of the comical appearance she had shown earlier when coughing up blood.
This girl was Okita Souji, the genius swordswoman active during the Bakumatsu, the foremost swordswoman of the Shinsengumi, Bakumatsu's Top Swordsman Group, and the Bakumatsu Sword Saint who wielded the Sure-Hit Demonic Sword.
Yae Sakura knew that the girl Okita Souji was asking about was Laffey, who had been following Ye Ming.
"I'm not sure."
There was no furniture such as sofas in the empty living room. Yae Sakura shook her head, sat formally across from Okita Souji, and recalled her encounter with Ye Ming. After thinking for a while, she said, "I didn't sense any energy fluctuations from her. There were no signs of professional training or the aura of a powerful person. She seemed to be just a somewhat absentminded little girl."
"Seemed?" Okita Souji glanced at Yae Sakura, clearly dissatisfied with her vague answer.
Speaking of which, Yae Sakura, who had been active during the Warring States period, should have been Okita Souji's senior. However, Yae Sakura did not mind Okita Souji's dissatisfaction. It was perfectly normal. If their positions had been reversed, Yae Sakura would not have been satisfied with such a vague answer either.
After all, they cared about the same person. At the very least, they were united in not wanting that person to be harmed.
"My intuition tells me that little girl bears him no ill will."
That was Yae Sakura's answer.
This time, Okita Souji said nothing.
The living room immediately fell silent.
Yae Sakura looked at Okita Souji and recalled their confrontation earlier that day.
Facing Okita Souji, who had assumed the opening stance of the Hyoujyo-gan Stance, Yae Sakura had felt an intense threat. Her instinct warned her that this sword strike was a Sure-Hit Demonic Sword she could not evade no matter what.
Yet more shocking than the threat was Okita Souji's sword stance.
"Hyoujyo-gan!? You're a swordswoman of the Tennen Rishin-ryu!"
Those words eased the tension between them and created an opportunity for communication.
"Since he isn't in any immediate danger, we can properly introduce ourselves and clear up each other's questions."
Okita Souji broke the brief silence and asked, "Who exactly are you? What is your relationship with him? And why do you know the Tennen Rishin-ryu?"
"I..."
Remembering the past, Yae Sakura's eyes grew unfocused, her expression filled with both nostalgia and pain.
"I was born into a family of Shrine Maidens in Yae Village of Shinano. From birth, I inherited the bloodline of a Shrine Maiden and could communicate with the gods..."
"I had a younger sister named Rin. She had been frail since childhood and was often sick."
"One year, the village suffered a drought unlike any seen in a century. It did not rain for a long time. The rivers dried up, the earth cracked open, and the crops withered. Everyone was driven into a desperate situation with no way out. As a Shrine Maiden, I kept trying to pray for rain, but it had no effect. The villagers began gossiping about me. Some suspected that the offering at the previous ritual had not been a virgin and had angered the gods, so they requested another ritual with someone of the Shrine Maiden bloodline as the sacrifice..."
"The one chosen was Rin, who had always been weak and sickly..."
"I couldn't accept that. I swore that I would take my sister and escape, but Rin was constantly ill. I could only search for a chance to flee while trying to find a way to cure her..."
"Rin never recovered, but the ritual had already begun. During the ceremony, I threw away my sword and tried to take Rin away, but Rin's legs were..."
"She could never run again."
"Father raised his sword..."
"The rain poured down, and the villagers wept with gratitude for the gods' mercy."
No one knew the helplessness and despair in her heart as she watched that scene unfold before her eyes. After that day, she closed off her heart and turned herself into the vicious blade that carried out the rituals, unconditionally fulfilling the villagers' wishes—this was the fate decided for her before she was even born. As she grew up following the villagers' expectations, her sense of self was gradually consumed by the "responsibility of a Shrine Maiden," until she became a doll called a Shrine Maiden.
"Until one day, when I was out, I found two people by the river in the village."
At this point, Yae Sakura paused, and a trace of nostalgia appeared in her eyes.
"One was named Kallen Kaslana, and the other was Ye Ming..."
Yae Sakura recalled what had happened that day.
A man and a woman had been washed ashore by the river, tangled together. Even while unconscious, they held each other tightly. At first, Yae Sakura thought they were a married couple who had met with disaster, but when she approached, she saw that their clothes were ragged and their bodies were covered in wounds. Even unconscious, their faces retained fierce expressions. Rather than embracing each other, they looked more like they were locked in close-quarters grappling.
She saved them and brought them home. For quite some time afterward, the two seriously injured people gave up their hostility for the moment after awakening and recuperated in the village.
That was probably the most relaxed period of her life.
They passed their days leisurely, listening to stories of foreign lands. Amid those ordinary days, their feelings for each other gradually deepened.
Then came that night. Entrusted by the villagers to subdue a demonic beast infected by Honkai, she unfortunately encountered a beast far more powerful than she had imagined and fell into extreme danger.
"That night, he asked me why I had come out alone. I answered that it was the duty of a Shrine Maiden to face alone, and his reply came immediately—a merciless slap."
As she said this, Yae Sakura's eyes were full of warmth. "'Idiot! Aren't Kallen and I worth relying on? Remember, as long as I'm here, I'll protect you and fight by your side.' That was what he said."
For the first time, the Shrine Maiden who had lived for others felt salvation.
If the three of them could have kept living together like that, their future would surely have been unimaginably happy.
Although she later realized that Kallen's feelings for her had gradually become something unlike ordinary friendship, that small worry was nothing compared with the happiness of living together.
"Unfortunately, those days were soon shattered."
Yae Sakura's tone sank. "His health was very poor. He coughed often, and sometimes when it became severe, he even coughed up blood. Neither Kallen nor I could cure him. I asked him many times what had caused his illness, but he never answered. I only remember that whenever I asked, he would always look into the distance with an expression of deep nostalgia."
"And then, he died."
"..."
After hearing Yae Sakura's story, Okita Souji was silent for a long time.
"His illness was Tuberculosis. I infected him."
Only after a long while did the girl named Okita Souji speak softly.
The Commander Helps Laffey Wash Up
"Commander, Commander, can I buy this?"
In the supermarket, Laffey tugged at the hem of Ye Ming's shirt, looking up at him with a pitiful expression.
Ye Ming glanced at the shelf and found that several sections were filled entirely with Chocolate.
"So Laffey likes Chocolate. Of course you can." Ye Ming naturally did his best to fulfill a little girl's small wish. "Pick one yourself."
"Thank you, Commander!"
Laffey stood on tiptoe and leaned against the shelf, choosing for a long time. From time to time, she took one down and held it up against herself. After quite a while, she finally chose a palm-sized box of gift-wrapped Chocolate.
"Laffey has chosen."
"Just one?" Ye Ming was surprised.
"Mhm, just one."
Laffey carefully placed the Chocolate into the small cart. After thinking about it, she took it back out and held it in her arms. "Let's go, Commander."
"Huh? Oh."
Ye Ming found Laffey's behavior a little strange and was about to ask another question, but the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated, interrupting his thoughts.
Ye Ming took out his phone and saw that Honkai Gakuen had finished downloading.
He eagerly entered his miHoYo account and tried logging in. It worked. His account was still there, and there had been no disappearance like with Azure Lane.
Had I been overthinking things?
After confirming that there was nothing wrong with his account, Ye Ming sighed in relief, though he also felt faintly disappointed.
He had been hoping for an encounter with his Valkyrie wives, but apparently he had been thinking too much.
Still, the Captain as a player did not seem to have much connection with the Valkyries in the first place. Even if Valkyries really came to the real world, aside from a select few, most of them would probably first go looking for their girlfriends.
Thinking of that, Ye Ming felt much more at ease. He quickly logged out, uninstalled Honkai Gakuen, and hesitated again when his finger reached Fate/Grand Order and Genshin Impact in the download list.
Forget it. Since Honkai Gakuen was fine, there was no need to test these two games either. How could there be so many unbelievable miracles in this world?
More importantly, he did not have much data left.
One wife, Laffey, was enough!
With that thought, Ye Ming stopped hesitating and decisively deleted Fate/Grand Order and Genshin Impact from the download list.
He should focus on buying all the daily necessities Laffey might need.
Ye Ming put his phone back into his pocket and was about to push the cart when he suddenly noticed Laffey sneakily trying to stuff something beneath it.
Ye Ming looked closely. Good heavens, it was actually two bottles of red wine.
Children couldn't drink alcohol—that was what Ye Ming had initially wanted to say. But after thinking carefully, Laffey's original form was the Benson-class Destroyer Laffey. Laffey had apparently been built in 1941. If he calculated her age that way, then although Laffey looked like a little girl, she was actually an old lady.
Of course, even if that was true, Laffey not only looked like a little girl, but her personality was no different from one. Naturally, she was a little girl in every sense of the word.
If she was a little girl, then even as a Ship-Girl, drinking alcohol was bad for her, right?
But Ye Ming remembered that in Azure Lane's New Year event story, Laffey seemed to have gotten drunk. The little Laffey in the dorm also often took a few sips from a bottle of red wine when she had nothing else to do. To be honest, drunk Laffey was pretty cute too.
Before you continue