Seele, Don't Look at Me Like That. Bronya Will Get Jealous / Holy Maiden, It's Dirty Over There-Come Over Here

Then Seele looked toward Bronya beside her, and after only a few words, the two of them started arguing.

Even though Bronya had begun to question Cocolia's decision, she still couldn't help retorting in the face of Seele's relentless interrogation.

"Kiana, should we try to stop them? Bronya and Seele aren't going to start fighting, are they?"

"..."

Kiana sighed. As expected of Star Rail's version of Seele—she wielded words that struck straight at the heart to perfection, leaving Bronya completely on the defensive.

Still, it wouldn't do to keep watching from the sidelines, so she decided to step in and help Bronya out.

"Seele, actually, we came here to help the Lower District. Could you take us to meet Oleg?"

"You want to meet the boss? But you're here to help the Lower District—with just the three of you? Or are you relying on this self-important young lady?"

Kiana wondered whether she shouldn't have spoken up. Why did Seele seem even angrier now?

Seele, Don't Look at Me Like That. Bronya Will Get Jealous

"If you really want to help, why didn't you do something before? The Lower District wouldn't have fallen this far if you'd just lifted the lockdown and lent us a hand!"

The more Seele spoke, the angrier she became. She seemed to be thinking of the areas of the Lower District that had fallen, as well as the comrades who had been injured in battle or lost their homes and family members.

She looked as though she would attack if she didn't receive an explanation.

"Seele, we're actually not from this planet. We came here to help resolve the Cracked Boundary crisis caused by the Stellaron. Right—the Stellaron is the root of everything. You can think of it as the ultimate culprit behind all this."

"Oh?" Seele scrutinized Kiana for a moment. Fortunately, it seemed that Seele had suppressed her anger and calmed down. Her tone carried a hint of mockery. "Are you going to say that you're the so-called saviors? That you want us to help find the culprit and restore peace to the world?"

Just as March 7th nodded and was about to praise Seele for being so reasonable, Seele's tone suddenly changed.

"Do you take me for a three-year-old?"

"Forget it. I'm not going to waste my breath on you. I'm not interested in helping, either. If you want to tell that kind of story, go tell someone else.

"Underworld Fire ran into some trouble in the Great Mining Area, and the boss is busy dealing with it. If you really want to see him, follow me to the entrance of the mining area."

With that, Seele turned and left.

She hadn't expected the others to catch up with her. In the Lower District, her speed was among the very best, even if it wasn't completely unmatched.

But since Sampo was with them, and she had already told them where she was going, they should be able to find their way there.

Unexpectedly, however, someone actually followed her pace.

There was even enough energy left to talk to her.

When she turned her head, she saw that it was the little princess who had spoken in a way that suited Seele's tastes, mocking Sampo while loving to tell stories.

However, the other party wasn't running after her. She seemed to be floating along instead.

"My name is Kiana Kaslana. You can call me Kiana. Seele, believe me, we really did come to help you. What would it take for you to believe us?"

After hearing Kiana, Seele slowed down. She considered the Lower District's current situation and needs, then voiced a demand that even she thought was impossible to fulfill.

"If you're telling the truth, then food, medicine, and weapons are what the Lower District needs most right now. If you really want to help, then instead of making promises, provide some actual supplies.

"If you bring out five hundred kilograms of grain, I'll believe you. Can you do that?"

Seele had originally planned to ask for two hundred and fifty kilograms. That would have been enough to feed several hundred people, and with rationing, even sustain a thousand. But after thinking it over, she doubled the amount she could come up with to shake them off.

Even that much supplies would require a long time gathering Geomarrow before it could be exchanged.

Seele was part of the combat division, not logistics, so the large quantity of supplies she could think of was limited to this.

"That's all?"

At the sound of Kiana's voice, Seele stopped in her tracks. Normally, if someone dared say that to her, she probably wouldn't have the patience to endure it and would have gone over to teach them a lesson.

But now, those words sounded incredibly pleasing to her ears.

With a wave of Kiana's hand, all kinds of neatly packaged food appeared in front of Seele.

Looking at the pile of food she had never seen before, Seele even pinched her arm hard.

"Ow."

Seele's gaze toward Kiana was no longer as cold. Instead, it had softened somewhat, giving Kiana goosebumps.

"Seele, don't look at me like that. Bronya will get jealous."

Seele.jpg

Seele: ?

The three people behind them had followed after Seele stopped for a while. Seeing Seele's delighted expression and the pile of supplies, they couldn't help looking toward Kiana.

"Whoa, that's a lot of stuff. Miss Kiana, tell me—are you some kind of mobile human warehouse? There are so many supplies, even rare medicines. They'd be worth a fortune even in the Upper District. Don't tell me you're really some kind of rich young lady."

Only March 7th knew that the total amount of supplies and strange things Kiana had bought at the time had already exceeded the supplies the train had stocked up on.

As for Sampo's comment about her being a young lady...

Kiana's identity had always been a mystery. However, judging from Uncle Yang and Kiana's conversation, her identity before the world's destruction did indeed seem extraordinary. Still, no matter how extraordinary it was, it couldn't compare with Asta casually giving someone a billion Credit Points as pocket money.

"What do you mean?"

"Ahem."

Seele was interrupted by Kiana's voice. Fortunately, there weren't many people passing along this road, so no one else had seen the pile of supplies.

Seele coughed twice to ease the awkwardness, then returned to Kiana's side and said, "Put these away for now. If those wanderers see them, something unpleasant is bound to happen. I'll take you to the boss right away."

Seele's attitude had improved considerably, though she had to force herself not to blurt out anything crude.

They continued onward at a fairly quick pace, but compared with before, Seele had slowed down considerably. Even Bronya could follow with ease.

They didn't reach the mining area's entrance until then. March 7th suddenly turned around, looking at Stelle, who had remained silent the entire way, then at Kiana, who had floated along at the front.

She felt as though something was missing.

"What's missing?"

"There are very few trash cans along this route—far fewer than in the Upper District. March 7th, don't you think something's off too?"

"Indeed... Wait, what?!"

March 7th counted the group several times before realizing that there was a problem with the number of people.

"Where's Dan Heng?!"

At that moment, a certain Cold-faced Little Azure Dragon was fighting on an arena platform while waiting for his teammates to come find him.

"Huh?"

Kiana and March 7th exchanged a glance and asked the exact same question in unison.

"You didn't call him?" 2

"Uh..." 2

Fortunately, even in the Lower District, phones still worked. March 7th hurriedly opened the group chat for the Star Rail crew and messaged Dan Heng.

March 7th: Dan Heng, Dan Heng, hurry to the mining area entrance.

Dan Heng: ?

March 7th: Sorry, we forgot about you.

Dan Heng: ...

Himeko: ...

Uncle Yang: ...

Pom-Pom: ...

Kiana, Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: [Image].jpg Uncle Yang

When Uncle Yang opened the photo, he wore the exact same expression as the subway old man reading the newspaper.

The photo showed Seele, Bronya, and Kiana posing together.

Although Seele looked extremely unwilling, and Bronya appeared somewhat awkward as well, that wasn't the important part.

Uncle Yang: This is bad. My successor and the Herrscher of Death are here too. Has the Honkai followed us here?

Saintess, It's Dirty Over There. Come This Way

Ling

"Saintess, it's dirty over there. Come this way."

"Saintess, are your feet tired? I remember that my family has a carriage left over from before the lockdown. I'll go get it right away. We can't let this filthy ground dirty your feet."

"Saintess, be careful. There's a stone ahead. I'll clear it away immediately."

Watching a crowd surround her, calling her "Saintess" from every direction, Kiana even saw a tiny stone only a few centimeters across lying innocently in their path. The people beside her immediately cleared it away.

Kiana couldn't help feeling that they were taking things a little too far.

This all began when they had just arrived at the entrance to the mining area and saw injured miners and Underworld Fire members who had been hurt by various monsters and wanderers.

Kiana noticed that many people were injured. Some had only minor wounds, with several bloody scratches left untreated.

Others were more seriously hurt and had lost a lot of blood, but because supplies were scarce, their wounds had merely been wrapped in burlap.

Some might have suffered damaged bones or internal injuries and were lying on makeshift stretchers assembled by Underworld Fire members.

Kiana took out Healing Spray purchased from the Interastral Peace Corporation and treated several people's wounds, then used medical gauze to bandage them simply.

She also used a Simple Resuscitator and some medicine on several people who looked as though they were on the verge of death. Just like that, Kiana was treated as the Saintess who had come to save everyone.

In Kiana's eyes, these things weren't worth much. But in the Lower District, although only a handful of people died from exhaustion or battle injuries, most deaths were caused by various infections.

A girl who could casually produce all kinds of medicine and supplies was no different from the Saintesses described in the books from before the lockdown.

Combined with Kiana's bearing and that intangible Favorability Aura, Kiana got to experience what kind of treatment one received when bringing modern supplies to a poor and backward region from ancient times.

"Seele, are all your people in Underworld Fire this enthusiastic?"

"..."

Not only had March 7th and the others who had come here been forgotten, even Seele had been overlooked. After hearing that Kiana wanted to meet their boss, everyone had immediately agreed to lead the way, despite knowing that danger awaited them below.

"By the way, didn't you say this place was dangerous? Aren't you going to prepare some weapons?"

"Weapons? Saintess, haven't we all brought them?"

Aside from the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, everyone in Underworld Fire and among the miners who could fight had come along. But when Kiana saw the weapons they were talking about, she couldn't help falling silent.

Shovels, pickaxes, wooden clubs of unknown origin, and railings pried from a fence.

This wasn't a battle. Anyone who didn't know better would think a bunch of street thugs had gathered for a brawl.

Just then, Kiana heard a "grumble."

Kiana followed the sound and saw that Seele still wore a cold expression. However, perhaps because of an illusion or the lighting nearby, Seele's face seemed to have reddened slightly.

When Seele noticed that everyone was following Kiana's gaze toward her, she hurriedly said:

"Don't look at me. That didn't come from me."

It would have been fine if she hadn't said anything. Now, her words only made it seem as though she was protesting too much.

When everyone remained silent, many of Underworld Fire's companions remembered Seele's temper. Suppressing their urge to make a comment, they quickly shifted their gazes back toward Kiana.

Kiana and the others clearly had no such reservations.

"All right, let's go. Weren't we going to meet the boss? If we don't hurry, we'll miss the battle."

Seele seemed to have forgotten that the people here who could fight weren't all members of Underworld Fire, while the other Underworld Fire members and the miners weren't combat personnel. In reality, none of them were capable of fighting.

They had only come because of Kiana.

"All right, everyone must be hungry. I have some food here, so eat something first. I'll also prepare something for you to use in self-defense."

When bags of food appeared in front of everyone, many people nearly buckled at the knees and knelt before Kiana.

Fortunately, Kiana reacted quickly and stopped them before they could.

"What's with them?"

Bronya wasn't hungry, but Kiana had still prepared food for her. Looking at the biscuits, cake, and bottle of energy drink in her hands, Bronya understood that these things were precious to the people of the Lower District, but wasn't this reaction a little excessive?

All she received in response was a cold snort from Seele.