My Mobile Wife Found Me, Section 4

She closed the door, and her appearance transformed sharply. Her once-unremarkable cherry-blossom hair began to shine with a silky luster, as if dust had been washed away. Her skin grew fairer and more delicate, her cyan pupils shifting to a resplendent violet. From atop her head, two slender beast ears slowly emerged.

In the blink of an eye, a very pretty three-dimensional girl had become an anime-style beauty with an ethereal aura, as if she didn't belong to this world.

"Have you confirmed that little girl's identity?"

No sooner had Yae Sakura closed the door than a clear, hollow voice rang out from the living room.

Yae Sakura wasn't surprised. She changed into slippers and walked into the living room, immediately spotting the girl kneeling on the carpet.

The girl had short cherry-blossom hair, amber pupils as clear and pure as a deep mountain pool in winter, and a slightly youthful, lovely face. She knelt with her back straight as a drawn sword, her posture sharp as a blade—nothing like the comical figure who had been coughing up blood earlier.

This girl was the genius swordsman active in the Bakumatsu era, the top swordsman of the Shinsengumi—the Bakumatsu's Heavenly Sword who wielded the Sure-Hit Demonic Sword: Okita Souji.

Yae Sakura knew that the girl Okita Souji was asking about was Laffey, the one following Ye Ming.

"Not confirmed."

The living room had no furniture like sofas—it was empty. Yae Sakura shook her head, knelt across from Okita Souji, and recalled her meeting with Ye Ming. After a moment's thought, she spoke. "I didn't sense any energy fluctuations from her. No signs of professional training, no aura of a strong person. She just seems like a somewhat dazed little girl."

"Seems?" Okita Souji glanced at Yae Sakura, dissatisfied with the vague answer.

Strictly speaking, Yae Sakura, who had been active in the Warring States period, should have been Okita Souji's senior. But Yae Sakura didn't mind Okita Souji's displeasure. It was only natural—if their roles were reversed, Yae Sakura wouldn't be satisfied with such a vague answer either.

After all, they both cared about the same person. At the very least, they were united in not wanting that person to come to harm.

"Intuition tells me that little girl means him no harm."

Yae Sakura answered like this.

This time, Okita Souji said nothing.

The living room fell silent.

Yae Sakura looked at Okita Souji, recalling the standoff between them earlier that day.

Facing Okita Souji, who had assumed the Hyoujyo-gan Stance, Yae Sakura had felt a strong threat. An instinctive warning told her that this sword strike was the Sure-Hit Demonic Sword—impossible to dodge no matter what.

But more than the threat, what shocked Yae Sakura was Okita Souji's sword style.

"Hyoujyo-gan Stance!? You're a swordsman of the Tennen Rishin-ryu!"

Those words had eased the tense atmosphere and created an opportunity for them to communicate.

"Since he's not in any immediate danger, we can properly introduce ourselves to each other and clear up our doubts."

Okita Souji broke the brief silence. "Who are you, exactly? What's your relationship with him? And how do you know the Tennen Rishin-ryu?"

"I..."

Recalling the past, Yae Sakura's eyes grew distant, her expression a mix of nostalgia and pain.

"I was born into a Shrine Maiden family in Yae Village of Shinano. From birth, I inherited the bloodline of a Shrine Maiden, able to communicate with the gods..."

"I had a younger sister named Rin. She was frail from childhood, often falling ill."

"One year, the village suffered a once-in-a-century drought. For a long time, no rain fell. Rivers dried up, the earth cracked, crops withered. Everyone was pushed to the brink of death. As the Shrine Maiden, I tried again and again to pray for rain, but it was useless. The villagers began to point fingers at me. Some suspected that the sacrifice at the last ritual hadn't been a virgin, angering the gods, and they demanded a new sacrifice using the Shrine Maiden's bloodline..."

"The one chosen was Rin, who had been weak and sickly since childhood..."

"I couldn't accept that. I swore I would escape with my sister, but Rin was always ill. I could only try to cure her while looking for a chance to flee..."

"Rin's illness never got better, but the ritual had already begun. During the ceremony, I threw down my sword and tried to take Rin and run, but her feet were..."

"She could never run again."

"My father raised his blade..."

"The rain poured down in torrents. The villagers wept with gratitude, thanking the gods for their mercy."

No one knew the helplessness and despair she felt watching that scene unfold. After that day, she sealed her heart, turning herself into a blade that carried out the rituals—a fate decided before she was even born. As she grew up following the villagers' expectations, her self was gradually devoured by the "duty of a Shrine Maiden," until she became nothing more than a puppet called the Shrine Maiden.

"Until one day, when I went out and found two people by the village river."

Yae Sakura paused, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes.

"Those two were named Kallen Kaslana and Ye Ming..."

Yae Sakura recalled that day's scene.

Two people, a man and a woman, tangled together, washed up on the riverbank. Even unconscious, they clung tightly to each other. Yae Sakura initially thought they were a married couple who had met with an accident, but when she got closer, she saw their clothes were torn and their bodies covered in wounds. Even in unconsciousness, their faces bore fierce expressions. Rather than embracing, it looked more like a close-quarters grapple.

She saved them and brought them home. For a long time afterward, the two, seriously injured and newly awakened, temporarily set aside their conflict and recuperated in the village.

That must have been the most relaxed period of her life.

Leisurely days, stories from foreign lands, the bonds among the three—all of it gradually warmed in the monotony of daily life.

Then came that night. Entrusted by the villagers to hunt down a beast infected by corruption, she unfortunately encountered a beast far more powerful than she had imagined, falling into a dangerous predicament.

"That night, he asked me why I had come alone. I answered that it was a Shrine Maiden's solitary duty. His response came immediately—a merciless slap."

As she said this, Yae Sakura's eyes were full of warmth. "'Idiot! Are Kallen and I not worth relying on? Remember, as long as I'm here, I'll protect you and fight alongside you.' That's what he said."

The Shrine Maiden, who had lived for others, felt salvation for the first time.

If the three of them could have just gone on living together like that, it would surely have been an infinitely happy future.

Though she later discovered that Kallen's feelings for her had gradually shifted from ordinary friendship, that small worry was nothing compared to the happiness of the three of them living together.

"Unfortunately, that peace didn't last long."

Yae Sakura's voice dropped. "His health was terrible. He coughed constantly, and when it got bad, he'd even spit blood. Kallen and I could never cure him. I asked him many times what caused his illness, but he never answered. I only remember that whenever I asked, he'd stare into the distance with a look of deep nostalgia."

"And then, he died."

"..."

After listening to Yae Sakura's story, Okita Souji was silent for a long time.

"His illness—it was tuberculosis. I gave it to him."

A long while later, the girl named Okita Souji spoke in a low voice.

Chapter 6: Commander, Wash Laffey

"Commander, Commander, can we buy this?"

In the supermarket, Laffey tugged at the hem of Ye Ming's shirt, tilting her little face up to look at him pitifully.

Ye Ming glanced at the shelf and saw several rows filled entirely with chocolate.

"So Laffey likes chocolate, huh? Of course you can." He was happy to fulfill a little girl's small wish. "Pick whatever you want."

"Thank you, Commander!"

Laffey tiptoed up to the shelf and rummaged for a while, occasionally pulling something down to compare it to herself. After a bit, she chose a palm-sized, gift-boxed chocolate.

"Laffey's picked one."

"Just one?" Ye Ming was surprised.

"Mm, just one."

Laffey carefully placed the chocolate into the shopping cart, then thought better of it and took it out to hold in her hands. "Let's go, Commander."

"Ah? Oh."

Ye Ming thought Laffey was acting a little strange and wanted to ask more, but his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket, breaking his train of thought.

He pulled out his phone and saw that Honkai Gakuen had finished downloading.

Ye Ming eagerly entered his miHoYo account and tried logging in. To his surprise, it worked—his account was still there, unlike Azure Lane, where it had vanished.

Was I overthinking it?

After confirming the account was fine, Ye Ming breathed a sigh of relief, though a faint disappointment lingered in his heart.

He'd been hoping for a chance encounter with his Valkyrie wives, but that was probably wishful thinking.

Still, as a player, the Captain didn't really have much of a relationship with the Valkyries anyway. Even if a Valkyrie did come to the real world, aside from a rare few, most of them would probably be looking for their girlfriends first.

With that thought, Ye Ming felt much lighter. He quickly logged out, uninstalled Honkai Gakuen, and hesitated when his finger hovered over Fate/Grand Order and Genshin Impact in the download list.

Forget it. Since Honkai Gakuen was fine, there was no need to try those two. The world didn't have that many incredible miracles.

Besides, he didn't have much data left.

One wife—Laffey—was enough!

With that resolve, Ye Ming stopped hesitating and decisively deleted Fate/Grand Order and Genshin Impact from the download list.

Better to focus on buying all the daily necessities Laffey might need.

Ye Ming shoved his phone back into his pocket and was about to push the cart when he noticed Laffey sneakily trying to shove something underneath it.

He took a closer look. Well, well—two bottles of red wine.

Kids shouldn't drink alcohol—Ye Ming was about to say that, but then he thought about it. Laffey's original form was the Benson-class Destroyer Laffey, which was built in 1941. If you counted by age, the little-girl-looking Laffey was actually an old lady.

Of course, even if that was true, Laffey had the appearance of a little girl and a personality to match, so she was still a little girl in every practical sense.

For a little girl, even a Ship-Girl, drinking was probably not good, right?

Still, Ye Ming remembered that in Azure Lane's New Year event, Laffey had gotten drunk. And in the dorm, Laffey's chibi often casually took a sip of red wine. Honestly, a drunk Laffey was pretty cute too.