"Is this the orphanage?"
Kiana and Sirin stopped in front of an orphanage—the very same one Sirin had mentioned to her two days ago after the car accident.
They had agreed to come here the day after tomorrow.
Early in the morning, Sirin had called her out, handing her the new ID she had managed to get processed so quickly.
Sirin's efficiency was impressive.
Checking her phone again, Sirin compared the orphanage's name and nodded. "Yes, this is the one."
"Want to go in and have a look?"
Since they were already here, of course they had to go in. It would be best to ask the orphanage's director whether anyone else, aside from that man, had shown any suspicious interest in the place.
"Don't worry, I already made an appointment with the orphanage's director."
"Of course we're going in."
Although Sirin had mentioned that the man had many enemies, for some reason, the fact that he had set his sights on this orphanage before his sudden death made Kiana feel that his demise was inseparable from it.
Everyone knew that orphanages often became places where the Honkai's influence gathered—and where people like Bronya and Seele tended to appear.
Although this was Izumo, Mei was here, Sirin was here, Yae Sakura and Welt were also here—so was it strange if a Bronya showed up too?
Not strange at all.
The universe already had two ducks; having a few more seemed perfectly normal.
After all, the Star Rail bore the name of Honkai.
"Alright, I'll make the call."
Rather than walking in unannounced, Sirin dialed a number. After exchanging a few words with someone on the other end, she hung up.
Seeing Kiana looking curiously at the orphanage, she said, "According to the records, this place has been around for quite some years."
"You can tell from the outer walls."
Kiana paused for a moment, then asked with a bit of doubt, "It has been a while, right?"
Sirin nodded, just about to continue speaking when a woman in her forties or fifties came out from the building.
Only Kiana and Sirin were at the entrance.
The woman spotted them immediately and walked over somewhat nervously. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"No, it's we who are disturbing you. I'm Sirin, and this is Kiana."
Sirin's attitude toward ordinary people was much gentler than usual. "You should've received part of the donation I sent to the orphanage. Before transferring the rest, I'd like to see the children first. I hope you can understand."
"Of course, of course!" the director said quickly, leading them inside while chatting about the orphanage's history and current situation.
Kiana gave Sirin a curious look. So this was what she meant by making an appointment.
"What are you looking at?"
Sirin, feeling uncomfortable under Kiana's gaze, muttered softly, "I was an orphan too."
When the Eruption of the Eternal Zenith occurred, she had only been twelve. After a short period of wandering, she was chosen as the Sentinel of the Edict Edge.
Having lost her mother—the only person she had depended on—Sirin carried deep hatred toward Eternal Zenith, along with resentment toward the blade that acknowledged her and toward Welt, who, despite his best efforts, had still allowed the Far North to suffer such tragedy.
"I know what it's like to grow up without parents… though I might actually be luckier than these children."
Though she bore the burden of saving the world, walking the path of slaying Kami from that point on—
Her mother had loved her dearly.
After joining the Sentinels, she gained power, security, and status. She no longer had to worry about survival or being bullied.
As the saying went—
It was already good enough that she didn't bully others.
"Sirin…"
"Seeing sympathy on your face feels weird, you know."
Rubbing her arm, Sirin quickly walked into the courtyard. Kiana—whose homeland didn't even exist anymore—was far worse off than her.
"These children…"
While Sirin and the director chatted about games and activities, several children ran up to them, filling the air with laughter.
But Kiana's gaze had already fallen upon a girl beneath the tree—one who was quietly sharing snacks with the others.
Her shoulder-length black hair shimmered faintly with blue. Dressed neatly in a dark blue-and-black jacket and shorts, the girl's gentle smile toward the children radiated calm warmth.
Compared to the Seele from Honkai Impact 3rd or Belobog's Seele, this one looked more like… the Fire Moth DLC Seele—except without the stigma.
"Hello?"
Kiana had been staring, lost in thought. Her gaze was a bit too obvious, and the girl under the tree soon noticed the unfamiliar visitor. She handed the last of the treats to one of the children pestering her, then walked over with a polite smile.
"Are you here to volunteer too?"
Her smile was pure and untainted.
"Volunteer?"
Kiana blinked, glancing at the children playing nearby before looking back at the girl.
Hmm… judging from her age, she definitely wasn't one of the orphans.
"Ah, I get it now—you must've come with the sponsor standing next to the director, right?"
Realization dawned on the girl, who then added cheerfully, "I almost forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Seele. As you can see, I'm volunteering here at the orphanage."
She lifted the plate in her hand—inside were a few small, delicately made pastries—and smiled. "Would you like to try one? I made them at home and brought them over."
Seele… what an unsurprising name.
Kiana responded with an equally bright and friendly smile. "Kiana. You can call me Kiana. The sponsor next to the director is Sirin—we're friends."
Seele glanced over at the quiet, purple-haired girl beside the director, then gently tugged Kiana to a spot under the tree where the sunlight wasn't so harsh. "I know that sponsor. She's a good person. The director was really happy this morning. You see, all the previous sponsors suddenly stopped their donations—not only that, but no new ones came forward, and no one was willing to promote the orphanage anymore. It was getting hard just to feed the children."
At once, Kiana thought of the car that had spontaneously combusted two days ago. Aside from that man, no one else would've targeted an orphanage.
"Thanks to Miss Sirin's help, the orphanage received a large donation—enough to keep it running for the next few years."
Seele smiled softly. "As long as we can get through this period, things will get better."
"…They definitely will."
The source of the trouble was gone. And given the Sentinels' special status, Sirin's attention on the orphanage would likely draw more goodwill and support—especially after such a generous donation.
With the culprit eliminated, the orphanage's future could only improve from here.
"Do you go to school nearby?"
"Yes."
Seele nodded. "My school's close, so whenever I have free time, I come by to help out."
After meeting Seele, Kiana had a faint idea of what she had seen that night at the crash site.
But since they had just met, asking whether Seele had an older sister would be far too direct—and might only raise unnecessary suspicion.
She and Seele chatted a bit more around the orphanage, but Kiana didn't learn much new. Most of what Seele said was about the orphanage itself.
But she did mention that she, too, was an orphan.
"My family? I don't remember ever meeting them. They were probably among the people who stayed behind during the disaster more than a decade ago."
"You mean the Great Northern Region—the one that suffered that massive catastrophe years ago? Countless lives were lost. That disaster made the already harsh environment of the Far North even worse. Even now, it's still…"
"You were a victim of that disaster too?"
Sirin's voice suddenly broke in.
Kiana, who had been listening intently to Seele's story, was startled. Only then did she realize that Sirin had long since finished speaking with the director.
"Me too?"
Seele hesitated for a moment, then looked at Sirin and asked uncertainly, "Miss Sirin… you mean, you're from there too?"
"What a coincidence."
Sirin said it that way, but her face showed none of the delight one might feel when meeting a fellow Northerner. Her mind went back to that calamity over a decade ago.
Then she looked at Seele again, estimating her age. Seele must have just been born at the time.
No memories, then.
And perhaps that was its own kind of happiness.
"I never thought I'd meet someone from my homeland here in Sapphire."
Returning to herself, Sirin looked at the girl before her and asked, "You help out here at the orphanage?"
"Yes."
Seele's tone was slightly reserved when speaking to Sirin. "Since I grew up in an orphanage too, after moving here for school, I wanted to help children like us."
"…That's a very good thought."
Sirin said this as she took out a pen and paper, wrote down a string of numbers, and handed it to Seele. "This is my contact information. If you ever need help, you can reach out to me anytime."
Seeing this, Kiana took out her phone. "Let's add each other as friends, Seele."
"Ah—alright. Okay."
Seele accepted Sirin's number and added Kiana as a friend as well.
Since it was still early, Kiana and Sirin spent the whole day at the orphanage, joining Seele in volunteer work.
They got along well enough, and it wasn't until evening that they finally left.
They hailed a taxi and returned to the hotel.
After they left, a carefully concealed modified drone returned to the rooftop, landing beside a silver-gray-haired girl.
"Bronya, stop watching—they didn't come because of Bors' death."
Seele, who had already left the orphanage, was now standing beside the silver-haired girl.
"I know."
Putting away the drone, the girl—whom Seele called Bronya—smiled faintly. "Five million in one go. I didn't expect killing Bors to bring such a pleasant surprise."
From her words, it was clear that the girl was the one behind the car's self-detonation two days ago.
Bronya had learned from the director that some visitors were coming to the orphanage today. She knew then that they must have suspected a link to the orphanage, which was why she monitored them all day.
Not out of fear of being discovered—
—but to confirm whether they were allies of Bors. If they were, she wouldn't have hesitated to rid the world of another piece of filth.
But as it turned out, they were merely suspicious of the unnatural explosion and concerned about the orphanage's well-being.
"Tone it down, sis."
Seele sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I really don't want to move again so soon after finally settling in a stable city."
"Relax, Seele. My skills have improved. I won't get caught again."
"You said the same thing last time."
...
Back at the hotel—
"You noticed it too, didn't you?"
"You mean the drone tailing and monitoring us?" Kiana replied casually.
"So you did notice." Sirin looked at her curiously. "Then why didn't you point it out?"
"There was no need."
Kiana shook her head. She hadn't just noticed—she had already guessed who was behind it.
If Seele was here, then Bronya couldn't be far away. What she had seen at the crash site that night—the thing that flew off—was probably that drone.
"Yeah, no need."
Sirin seemed a bit sentimental, her expression complicated. "I really didn't expect this case to involve a child affected by the Eruption of the Eternal Zenith."
"Child?"
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
"…Not really, it's just…"
"Are you looking down on me?"
Sirin scowled. "I'm already in my twenties, alright? I said they were children back then—what's wrong with that?"
Kiana stared in shock. "Twenties?!"
She would've never guessed.
"Ugh, it's all the fault of that damn demonization," Sirin muttered, looking utterly exasperated.
"Uh… I think it's fine this way," Kiana said, nodding thoughtfully. Honestly, Sirin's attitude matched her youthful appearance perfectly.
"There's so much I want to say." Sirin sighed. "Why don't you come to my room? We can talk slowly."
"No."
Kiana refused without hesitation. "Mei's waiting for me in the room."
Rejected, Sirin fell silent for a moment—then finally couldn't hold back the words she'd been suppressing for so long.
"Mei again. You've got Raiden Mei on your mind all the time, don't you?"
She grumbled in frustration. "You're so clingy—it's like you two are dating or something!"
Sirin had thought her words would embarrass Kiana enough to make her back off a little.
But to her surprise, Kiana didn't mind at all.
"I want to be with Mei."
"…You follow Raiden Mei everywhere. Don't you think you're acting more clingy than a couple in the honeymoon phase?"
Kiana crossed her arms. "As long as Mei's okay with it, I don't see a problem."
Sirin froze.
Wait—what was that supposed to mean?
No problem? Kiana, are you actually planning to date Raiden Mei?!
"…You like girls?"
"Yeah, that's right. Is that not allowed?"
"…No, it's fine."
Sirin drifted off in a daze, completely forgetting why she'd wanted to invite Kiana to her room in the first place.
"Was it really that shocking?"
Same-gender love wasn't exactly unusual in a world shaped by Honkai, was it?
Kiana thought about it for a moment and nodded confidently to herself. Totally normal.
If she couldn't find a wife, what was even the point of coming to this world?
Without dwelling on the shock her words had caused Sirin, Kiana cheerfully returned to her room.
"Mei, I'm back!"
"That was quick."
Thanks to Kiana's relentless pleading, Mei had stayed with her instead of returning to her own room.
Kiana tilted her head, checking the time. "It's already pretty late, isn't it?"
"But Sirin just messaged me," Mei said, puzzled. "She said she wanted to talk with you privately about something from the command post. You two finished already?"