An Outing / Is the Starry Sky Your Homeland?

"All right, just a little." Kiana raised her right hand and made a tiny gesture.

"I've already thought about how to work with them and fight the Honkai together, but there hasn't been any movement from their side at all."

The longer this dragged on, the more passive she became. Didn't they understand that?

Kiana let out a long sigh.

"And then there's the five hundred thousand Sirin mentioned."

Kiana had already decided how to spend that five hundred thousand and was just waiting for Sirin to repay her.

Whenever she thought about that huge boost to her unarmed damage, Kiana's heart fluttered. She felt itchy with anticipation, and the more she thought about it, the less she wanted to wait even a moment longer.

Mei walked over and laughed helplessly.

Kiana had said so much, but what she was really most anxious about was still the reward Sirin had promised her.

But Sirin's side...

It really wasn't normal.

She had probably been called away by that woman Sirin to test whether Honkai truly existed, what Honkai energy actually was, and what kind of future it would bring to Izumo.

Mei had been puzzled on the first day too, but she soon thought of the reason this had happened.

Before the matter was clear, making contact with Kiana—and with herself, who was obviously on Kiana's side—really wasn't a good idea.

Chapter 55: An Outing

"After Takemikazuchi died, there haven't been any more reports of Kishin attacking people in Changkong City."

Mei wanted to stretch her muscles and kill a few more Kishin for crystals, but she had no opportunity. She simply couldn't run into any Kishin.

Mei had spent the past few days idle at the shrine.

First, she had to tell the armed forces that everything was normal recently. There had been no sign of anything unusual in Changkong City, nor any strange cases suspected to be related to Kishin.

Second, she was waiting for people from Sirin's side.

After waiting three days, Mei could basically confirm that Sirin's people probably wouldn't be coming to the shrine anytime soon.

She had thought she would see Sirin again right away, and she hadn't brought any electronic devices with her, so Mei hadn't added Sirin's contact information.

"Yeah... There's been no news about the Honkai either."

Kiana nodded. The system had made it sound so terrifying that she had thought Takemikazuchi's death would be followed immediately by Honkai outbreaks all over Izumo.

But several days had passed without anything happening. Everything was calm and peaceful.

It was as if the lies written on her panel had been fake.

If she hadn't been able to sense that the concentration of Honkai energy had truly increased, and that Mei could now display greater strength, she would have suspected that the panel had malfunctioned.

But thinking about it carefully...

Izumo had no Herrscher and no powerful Honkai Beasts. The increase in Honkai energy wasn't on a massive scale either, so it was normal for nothing to change in the short term.

Even in the Honkai world, it wasn't as if Honkai erupted every day here and the world ended, then erupted there and ended again.

"No news is good news too." Mei walked over to her and sat down beside her.

She no longer planned to keep waiting at the shrine for the people handling the negotiations. If they wanted to, they had countless ways to contact her.

There had been no news for three days, which meant only that they didn't want to talk with her yet.

Sirin had probably done something.

"Want me to go for a walk with you?"

"But if we leave and those people happen to come looking for us?"

"If they really want to contact us, they have countless ways to reach us." Mei shook her head. "There's no point staying at the shrine and waiting."

"That does make sense."

Kiana frowned. Whether it was for better or worse, the matter involved the Resonating Blade. Was it really appropriate for those people not to come in person?

Was the Resonating Blade really that unimportant?

It made no sense at all.

How could Kiana have known that after Takemikazuchi's death, most of the blade wielders had returned to their previous lives, with most going back to their hometowns to continue slaying Kishin?

Meanwhile, at the blade wielders' Command Center, they had taken Sirin's description of Takemikazuchi's abnormality seriously and begun investigating. As a result, they discovered that a new substance had appeared in Izumo.

This discovery completely stunned both the Command Center and the research department. Their brief research showed that this new substance was even more terrifying than the corruption caused by Kishin!

"How about I accompany you back to Zhuohua Street?"

Mei made the suggestion. "The residents of the underground Shelter have gradually returned home, so the people from Zhuohua Street should have gone back too."

"Back to Zhuohua Street... Sure. Then let's go see Granny Zhuohua."

After making up her mind, and after the Honkai had become somewhat uncontrollable, Kiana had actually become unsure of how to face the others.

Once they had made their decision, they put it into action.

The two quickly prepared to leave the shrine.

After Narukami had been taken away, the shrine had suspended operations, so Raiden Mei no longer had any affairs holding her back.

The previously empty streets had filled with pedestrians again. They hurried along as if nothing had ever changed.

The area where they were was relatively intact and hadn't suffered much damage.

But as they walked along...

Before they reached Zhuohua Street, they ran into a resident who knew Mei and Kiana and had joined their group halfway to the Shelter.

The moment she saw Mei, the woman became visibly excited. She ran over and talked to Mei at length, even trying to give Mei everything she had just bought. Mei firmly refused, and only then did the woman reluctantly leave.

—Respect, worship, and awe.

Mei saw the feelings that appeared in the woman after she saw her.

As the woman kept expressing her worship and gratitude, Kiana, who hadn't been able to get a word in the entire time, said weakly, "Maybe we should just forget it?"

Everyone they encountered along the way was like that.

If they really went to Zhuohua Street, wouldn't Mei get surrounded and treated with the reverence owed to a god?

That was too terrifying.

It would be troublesome if they went there and couldn't get away.

Mei rubbed her brow. "You're right. Let's come again later. I overlooked this and forgot that..."

"Oh, who would've thought they'd be so enthusiastic?" Kiana pulled Mei's hand down and smiled. "It'll be the same if we come back later. Maybe time will gradually wash away their awe of you."

"Many shops still haven't reopened. Changkong City's supply chains may not have fully recovered yet." Kiana thought for a moment and suggested, "How about we take a look around the outskirts? You wanted to find something to test your blade on too, right?"

"The outskirts..."

The Kishin that had suddenly appeared in the city had most likely come in from the outskirts, so the chances of encountering Kishin there were indeed higher.

But they still wouldn't be very high.

If Kishin were really that easy to encounter, she wouldn't have gone more than a decade without seeing even one.

Mei didn't want to dampen Kiana's enthusiasm. After thinking for a moment, she recalled a place and said, "Since you mentioned the outskirts, I know a place about a dozen kilometers from the city. There's a beautiful lake there. You've been in Izumo for so long, but you probably haven't had a proper look at its scenery, have you?"

"Hm? An outing at a time like this?"

Kiana froze for a moment. She was definitely tempted. Strictly speaking, this was Mei inviting her on a date.

But there were dangers everywhere...

Forget it. The world had been in crisis for a thousand years. What difference would one or two days make?

Was she treating herself like a savior by keeping herself tense all day?

Kiana suddenly shuddered.

She had developed such a terrifying tendency without realizing it. No, no—she had to relax a little.

Mei wanted to explain that there was no need to treat tomorrow like the end of the world. "Things probably won't..."

"Let's go!"

Kiana completely changed her doubtful attitude and decisively chose to go on the outing.

There was no point thinking about things beyond her abilities. Besides, she was free right now.

If she didn't take the opportunity to spend time and go on a date with Mei now, it would become a regret once she got busy later!

"The place Mei recommends must be wonderful. I want to go on an outing with Mei!"

Mei didn't dawdle either. She glanced at the time and said, "It isn't very late yet. We won't need too much time to go there and back."

If they encountered a Kishin on the way, it would simply be out of luck. If they didn't, then this would be a perfect outing.

Chapter 56: Is the Starry Sky Your Homeland?

A trip taken the moment they decided to go.

The place wasn't particularly far away. Before long, Kiana and Mei arrived.

"What a huge forest."

People must have often come here. The path hadn't been swallowed by weeds and led straight into the depths.

"Mei, do you think there might be Kishin hiding here?"

The area was deserted, and Kiana, who had always been wondering where those strange creatures hid, suddenly asked curiously.

"The chances should be low."

Mei walked half a step behind her and glanced into the woods by the roadside. "There have been very few reports in the city news about people disappearing around Mirror Lake."

"Then where are those things hiding?"

Kiana was baffled. "Takemikazuchi had just appeared, and suddenly there were so many monsters and demons in Changkong City. Where did they all come from?"

Kishin weren't Honkai Beasts, and Takemikazuchi wasn't a Herrscher. Its appearance couldn't trigger a chain reaction that gave birth to all kinds of Honkai Beasts.

So where had those things been hiding before?

"I don't know either." Mei shook her head. She was somewhat curious too. "Perhaps we can ask Sirin the next time we see her."

"Who knows how long that'll take?"

Not getting Sirin's contact information had really been a mistake. She couldn't make that mistake again. The next time she met someone, she would definitely add their contact information first.

"All right, relax today and stop thinking about it."

Mei patted her. Noticing a torii up ahead and the beautiful scenery around it, she suggested, "How about I take some pictures for you?"

"Sure!"

She would learn whatever she needed to know eventually, and Sirin would probably come looking for her on her own within a month at most.

Since she would find out the answers sooner or later, she might as well stop wasting brainpower overthinking things now.

"Can I stand here?"

Mei held up her phone and adjusted the angle. Looking at Kiana's brilliant smile on the screen, she couldn't help but smile too.

This was when she finally looked like a seventeen-year-old girl.

They took pictures of everything interesting they saw along the way. A path that should have taken only a dozen minutes ended up taking half an hour.

—Mirror Lake.

This was the destination Mei was taking Kiana to, and the scenery was just as its name suggested. It looked like a blue mirror embedded in the middle of the forest, with green grass along its shores.

This wasn't an uninhabited wilderness.

A rest pavilion and fishing platforms had even been built beside Mirror Lake.

But the disaster had only just subsided. Aside from the two of them, no one else was in the mood to come out and play.

"It's beautiful!"

"Yeah. It's just like before."