I Found a Pufferfish?! / Who Is She?

"Don't tell me she's cooked?"

Kiana's heart jolted. She quickly withdrew the hand she had placed on the girl's shoulder and checked her breathing.

It was very faint.

But she was still breathing.

She was still alive.

It was impossible to tell where this place was, but the girl's appearance—like she had been struck by lightning and wasn't fully cooked yet—was proof enough.

She wasn't an ordinary person.

I seem to be stating the obvious.

Kiana complained inwardly at herself. Seeing the passage slowly closing, she picked up the girl who was still barely alive and leaped through the passage she had smashed open, returning to the Imaginary Space.

After she returned to the Imaginary Space, the air wall repaired itself much faster. Before long, the huge hole she had smashed into it was completely restored. It was still pale golden, and there was no sign it had ever been damaged.

"The strange sensation is gone..."

Kiana understood where that feeling had come from. She stared at the girl she had carried over.

Could it be her?

She seemed to have formed a faint resonance with the Imaginary Space, and that trace of resonance had been noticed by Kiana when she used Phase Shift to enter the Imaginary Space.

Chapter Thirty-Five: I Picked Up a Pufferfish?!

She seemed to have just gone through a major battle.

Kiana carried the girl out of the Imaginary Space and returned to the shrine in the real world.

The Honkai energy there was somewhat excessive.

If she left this critically wounded girl there, she would probably be corrupted before long.

She carefully placed the girl on the bed.

"She just went through a major battle and seems to have been struck by lightning. Her body temperature is frighteningly high..." And then there was that collapsing space.

Could this person have been fighting Takemikazuchi and been struck by Takemikazuchi's lightning?

Kiana made an uncertain guess.

"...If she really was struck by lightning, why didn't her hair get burned? That's not scientific at all."

Kiana sighed and placed her hand on the girl's face, feeling the scorching heat of her body temperature.

Her temperature was definitely above forty degrees.

But she was still alive.

Let's just assume she fought Takemikazuchi and was nearly killed by him.

Her physical abilities were far beyond those of an ordinary person.

But Kiana had no idea how good her recovery ability was.

What should she do?

Kiana, who had brought the girl back, frowned as she looked at the purple-haired girl she had placed on the bed.

To be fair, the girl looked very beautiful despite not being fully cooked, and her hair color was highly distinctive.

Without thinking in any other direction, Kiana looked at the person she had rescued and hesitated for quite some time.

"I've already rescued her..."

The sight of her clinging to a final breath that could stop at any moment was truly frightening.

Kiana opened the equipment shop. She remembered that there were two-star spray-type weapons that could restore health.

"Found it! Healing Spray!"

There weren't many pieces of equipment capped at two stars. Kiana found the spray weapon in the spray section and spent one hundred Honkai Crystals to buy it.

[HECO Healing Spray (One Star): Restores a small amount of health each use. Ammo: 16/16 (refreshes after 24 hours)]

A spray bottle with a red cross on it appeared in her hand. Without hesitation, Kiana aimed it at the person on the bed and pressed the button.

The Healing Spray splashed over the unconscious girl, but it had no visible effect. She remained unconscious.

Kiana wasn't surprised.

The equipment's description was written clearly: it could only restore a small amount of health, while this girl was already on the verge of death.

After pressing it sixteen times and using up all its charges, the purple-haired girl lying on the bed was still a sleeping beauty.

One hundred Crystals, and nothing happened?

Unconvinced, Kiana reached out and touched the girl's face again.

"Her temperature seems to have gone down... It works..."

It was a good thing the ammunition could slowly replenish itself. But did that mean she should leave the girl here and wait twenty-four hours before checking on her again?

Listening to the girl's faint breathing, Kiana felt that after twenty-four hours, the problem wouldn't be her temperature being too high. It would be her body becoming stiff and cold.

Twenty-four hours later, even the daylilies would have wilted!

She bought another bottle of Healing Spray and combined it with the previous bottle, whose charges had been depleted, to raise its star level.

[HECO Healing Spray (Two Stars): Restores some health each use. Ammo: 16/16 (refreshes after 24 hours)]

The ammunition was full, and its effect had changed from restoring a small amount to restoring some health. Its healing effect had increased.

She just didn't know by how much.

"If she can survive even this, getting her to earn back my initial investment should be easy, right?"

She muttered to herself, aimed the spray at Sirin again, and pressed the button sixteen times in a row, using all the charges on this unknown girl.

Even so, she didn't think a few sprays could heal the girl completely.

It was only a two-star piece of equipment, after all.

But since it could be reused and offered sixteen trial uses every day, it still counted as a small necessity.

No one could guarantee that they would never get hurt.

And Kiana had already been injured for two days in a row. It was only because her self-healing ability was strong enough not to affect her movements that she hadn't paid much attention to it.

Wait a minute. Looking at it this way, has she been getting beaten up for two days straight?

"...I need to find more people to help farm monsters!"

"Mm..."

The girl, who had just received thirty-two doses of healing, let out a groan. Kiana noticed that she had woken up and hurriedly looked over.

The purple-haired girl's eyelids moved. Then she opened her confused eyes. She still didn't seem fully conscious, and her eyes lacked focus.

"You're finally awake." Kiana revealed a sunny, brilliant smile and stared at her intently. "Do you remember who you are?"

Although she was still breathing, that temperature just now had really been abnormal. Kiana was checking whether her brain had been cooked.

It would be such a shame if such a pretty girl were burned stupid.

Hearing the unfamiliar voice, the purple-haired girl lying on the bed slowly regained focus. Her golden eyes gradually came alive.

"...I'm still alive?"

Her voice was dry and hoarse.

Kiana slapped her own head, turned around, and pulled a bottle of water out of her backpack. She unscrewed it and placed it on the bedside table.

"Of course you're still alive." Kiana studied her curiously, especially her golden eyes. After a brief pause, she asked, "...Can you sit up?"

Those eyes, those eyes...

An X?

Like a mushroom sliced twice.

Purple hair, golden eyes with an X-shaped pattern, and a faint resonance with the Imaginary Space...

Hearing her, the girl moved her powerless arms and tried to prop herself up. Seeing that she was struggling, Kiana reached out and helped her sit up.

"Where is this?"

By this point, the now-conscious girl had completely recovered her senses. She frowned as she examined the room. This wasn't a base, nor was it a hospital.

Kiana handed the freshly opened bottle of water to the hoarse-voiced girl, while a bewildering suspicion formed in her mind.

"Is the battle over?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

Kiana confirmed inwardly that the other girl must have come from Yae Sakura's side.

"Obviously, this is my room for now." Kiana sat down beside the bed and looked at the girl before her, who was probably Miss Pufferfish.

Purple hair alone wouldn't necessarily have made her think of Sirin, but the X-shaped pattern in her eyes had stirred memories she had thought were long dead.

This pufferfish has all the defining traits!

The purple-haired girl paused, then suspiciously looked around once more.

It was an ordinary, clean room.

A residence.

"...Did you save me?"

This wasn't a hospital.

The girl remembered. She had been defeated in her clash with Takemikazuchi and had only managed to send the Heaven Blade back to the present world before completely losing consciousness.

She had taken Takemikazuchi's divine punishment head-on, yet she was still alive. She... hadn't died?

When she lost consciousness, she had been in the Imaginary Space. Even if Takemikazuchi hadn't delivered a finishing blow, the possibility of her surviving had been infinitely close to zero.

"I was the one who saved you. Do you remember who you are? Your injuries looked pretty serious, and just now your body was frighteningly hot."

"...Thank you."

The girl's expression grew dazed. She felt that she might be dreaming, and that these were hallucinations appearing before her death.

"Also, my name is Sirin."

Chapter Thirty-Six: Who Is She?

Just as expected.

Kiana's expression remained calm. She had just made the guess, so she wasn't surprised at all now.

She had met Yae Sakura only yesterday.

How should she put it...

First Yae Sakura, then Sirin.

She felt that from now on, even if she encountered other familiar-looking people in Izumo, she wouldn't find it strange.

"Do you know Yae Sakura?"

After confirming that the other person really was Sirin, Kiana didn't beat around the bush. She wanted to know what was happening on Takemikazuchi's side.

"You know her?"

Sirin raised her hand and tried to clench it, but she couldn't muster any strength throughout her body. A hint of surprise appeared on her face.

I don't seem to be dreaming.

A dying dream shouldn't feel this real, or feature a girl she had never seen before.

"I suppose you could say that." Kiana said, "My name is Kiana. I'm currently staying at Narukami Shrine, and I met Yae Sakura yesterday."

The surprise on Sirin's face grew even stronger. She stared in shock at the white-haired girl sitting beside the bed.

Kiana?

Wasn't that the girl Yae Sakura had just told her about—the one she said would become her friend if she could return alive?

The girl Yae Sakura had kept praising?