Everyone Is Dead

It took Yae Sakura a long time to calm herself down, and the tears she shed earlier released all the negative emotions that had been building up inside her.

"I'm fine, I'm not hurt. I'm just... I'm just so happy to see you. I'm sorry, Rin, did I scare you?"

Slowly releasing her younger sister, Yae Sakura wiped away her tears and watched her force a somewhat comical smile.

"But sister... you're bleeding so much."

Yae Rin wanted to say that she had cried, but then she remembered that her older sister was an adult and she would feel embarrassed to say it.

"This isn't my blood."

Yae Sakura looked down at herself and saw the horrifying marks on her body, feeling a bit conflicted.

If she had known she would see Rin again, she would have been more careful about hygiene when she vented her anger, and hadn't let the blood splatter on her.

This has made Rin worry here.

She felt a pang of regret.

Not my sister's?

Yae Rin subconsciously looked at Kiana, who had come with Yae Sakura. To her, Kiana was a complete stranger.

She seems to be around the same age as my older sister, with white hair and blue eyes. She's very pretty, and her smile makes her seem approachable.

She's so beautiful.

"It wasn't me~"

Noticing the girl was looking at her, Kiana gave her a gentle, kind smile and playfully winked.

Rin, who rarely saw other people, was very curious about her. She tugged at Yae Sakura's clothes and looked at Kiana with curiosity.

"Sister, is she your friend?"

Her older sister spent all her time taking care of her, Yae Rin always felt that she was a burden to her sister.

Sakura and I are friends.

Kiana nodded and smiled, "My name is Kiana."

Yae Sakura responded, then reluctantly stood up, saying, "Kiana is my friend."

She needs to change her clothes.

Kiana saw her get up, then glance back at herself as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, and instantly understood what she wanted to say.

"You need to change your clothes, right? It's okay, leave your sister to me, I'll take care of her."

"Thank you for your help."

"No trouble at all."

Kiana looked at Yae Rin beside her and said, "Your sister is very cute."

"Rin, I'm going to change my clothes. Wait for me a moment."

Yae Sakura reluctantly entered the bedroom.

Kiana and Yae Rin looked at each other curiously before Kiana spoke first, "Rin, right?"

"Yes, my name is Yae Rin, and I'm my older sister's younger sister."

Yae Rin nodded seriously.

"Rin, don't be nervous, Sakura and I are very good friends."

Perhaps only Yae Sakura is real in this world, but Kiana didn't treat the girl in front of her as a fake person.

Hearing Kiana's words, Yae Rin's eyes lit up, and she looked at Kiana curiously. "Kiana- neechan, have you known each other for a long time? I've never brought a friend home before, you're the first!"

"It must have been quite a while."

Kiana spoke in a somewhat uncertain tone.

"My sister is really something, she didn't even tell me something so important."

Yae Rin had always been worried about her sister's interpersonal relationships, so she was pleasantly surprised by Kiana's appearance.

She hoped her sister could make more reliable friends, so that even if she didn't survive to adulthood, her sister would have someone to rely on and accompany her.

Although she was young, Yae Rin always knew that she might not be able to stay with her older sister until she grew up.

It's not a sick or weak body.

Instead, it was in the shrine that the man was their father, the one who hated them.

"Kiana, you're from out of town, right? How did you two meet?"

Yae Rin is interested in everything about her older sister.

"Me and her?"

Kiana recalled her first meeting with Yae Sakura and smiled somewhat awkwardly, "We met because of a misunderstanding; you could say we became friends after a fight."

Rin's eyes lit up. This encounter was just like something out of a storybook. She wanted to ask for more details, but then Yae Sakura pushed open the bedroom door behind her.

She changed out of her blood-stained clothes.

"Elder sister."

Feeling a little guilty for gossiping about her Yae Rin subconsciously called out to her.

"Wait a moment, I'll go soak the clothes first."

The house was made of wood and wasn't very soundproof. She had just been changing clothes inside and overheard Kiana and Rin's conversation.

She was just as curious about the question Rin had asked Kiana.

~~~~~

35

Chapter Thirty-Five: Everyone Died.

I watched Yae Sakura left again.

Yae Rin remembered the question about blood, and she felt that Kiana should know something about it.

"What's with that blood?"

"Oh, don't worry, that's animal blood."

Kiana spoke without changing her expression, saying, "Sakura is doing this for the first time, she has no experience, she definitely won't splash herself next time."

"Did you go hunting in the mountains?"

Yae Rin looked towards the doorway, her face showing a worry beyond her years. "The mountain is dangerous; there are many wild animals."

"Not on the mountain."

Kiana gently comforted her, "Some beast has broken into the shrine. Don't worry, Sakura won't take any risks."

Yae Rin asked curiously, "It broke into a shrine? Didn't the gods punish it?"

Of course there are.

Kiana, thinking of the Frost Blade, said with certainty, "It was precisely because of the gods' help that Sakura won so easily."

Yae Rin nodded with a sigh of relief.

Did that god help my sister?

"Rin, Kiana."

After finishing her chores, Yae Sakura walked over. Once she saw Rin, her eyes remained fixed on her, as if afraid that Rin would disappear in the blink of an eye.

I have so much to say.

I want to say that I'm sorry to her.

I want to apologize to Rin.

But she didn't know whether she should bring up those things, those things that hadn't happened yet.

Yae Sakura had made up her mind.

She was determined to kill that man beforehand; this time, she would absolutely not give him another chance to harm Rin.

Kiana stroked her chin, looked at the two sisters in silence for a moment, and then said, "How about I go for a walk, and you two can chat slowly?"

Sitting next to the two sisters, who looked at each other without saying a word, Kiana felt a little superfluous.

"Don't!"

Upon hearing this, Yae Sakura quickly reached out and grabbed Kiana, looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Does my sister have something to tell me?"

"... I..."

Yae Sakura hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.

I have so much to say, but none of it seems appropriate to say it at this moment.

Should she tell Rin?

Has she actually died once already?

Yae Sakura couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Ahem, Rin, it's like this, I've discovered that there are evil spirits haunting this village, so I'd like to ask Sakura for a favor: could you help me search for traces of the demon in the village?"

Seeing that Yae Sakura seemed stuck, unable to utter a single word for a long time, with her expression changing repeatedly, Kiana couldn't bear to watch any longer.

Yae Rin exclaimed in surprise, "So Kiana- neechan, you're an exorcist?!"

"... More or less. But don't worry, I'm very strong, I definitely won't let your sister get hurt."

Do evil spirits really exist in the world?

Yae Rin looked at Kiana curiously and asked.

"Yes, but they are not called evil spirits."

Kiana said, "I'm not familiar with this place, so I'll need your sister's help. I'll be in charge of Sakura from now on; she doesn't know how to explain it to you right now."

Yae Sakura said nothing, so Kiana could only rack her brains to help her patch things up.

"It's okay!"

Yae Rin didn't mind at all. Seeing her guilty older sister, she said magnanimously, "Sister, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"Cold..."

"Oh, sister, you should have your own time and space too. Don't worry, I'll stay home and wait for your good news!"

I don't recall saying I wanted to go now, did I?

Kiana felt uneasy upon hearing this, though she did have some suspicions.

Yae Rin thought Yae Sakura was just worried about her, so she brought her friend back with her on her way to help.

How can this be allowed?

This is the first friend my sister ever made; how can I let myself hold her back?!

Yae Rin pushed them out.

I hope my sister won't keep worrying about me and can have fun with Kiana outside.

At the entrance.

Kiana and Yae Sakura looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Your sister is quite cute."

Hearing Kiana praise her younger sister's cuteness, Yae Sakura, who was preoccupied with her own thoughts, was in high spirits. "But it seems like she misunderstood something."

After exchanging a few words, they fell silent again.

Kiana walked away from the courtyard, Yae Sakura, not knowing where she was going, followed her instinctively.

"Thank you, Kiana."

After taking a few steps, Yae Sakura lowered her voice and said, "Thank you for letting me see Rin again."