"Yelena, I'm your fan!"
That would have been far too ridiculous. Hoshino still wanted to be serious, so she put away her fangirl act, gave a very solemn cough, stopped the utterly confused Nightmare behind her, and introduced herself to FrostNova.
"I am a member of the shrine, Kiana Kaslana. Yae Sakura happened to let your name slip to me."
"..."
FrostNova thought she had never told Yae Sakura her name, so how had she learned it?
Forget it. This girl had too many secrets. Digging into someone else's past probably wasn't particularly difficult for her. FrostNova's history of wandering the tundra might have been well hidden, but anyone determined to uncover it would not have found it too hard.
FrostNova turned to look at Nightmare.
"This girl..."
Hoshino hurriedly explained Nightmare's situation. "She's at a crossroads in life. Two different souls are battling inside her. Please don't provoke her. Just wait quietly for the outcome."
FrostNova fell silent. After a long while, she spat out a snarky remark. "What a boring act of self-indulgent sentimentality."
This girl really had a sharp tongue.
Hoshino could not be bothered to retort. FrostNova resumed searching. Logically speaking, with something like this happening and even the shrine sending someone over, the shrine maiden ought to have been unable to sit still. Yet she could not find any trace of Yae Sakura, which inevitably disappointed her.
"Who are you looking for?"
"The rabbit-eared shrine maiden. Her Originium Art is fire, and its burning effect can deal with that enormous monster. None of us can get rid of it before alerting the people above."
Hoshino had originally wanted to tease her with, Could it be that you miss her? But after thinking about it, this did not seem like the right time.
"You may not