"Just now?"
Kiana's expression turned strange. She had only just parted ways with Sirin—hadn't Sirin walked off in a daze after hearing what she said?
How did she already have time to message Mei?
And what was this about a command post?
The command post of the Sentinels?
She and Sirin had spent the entire day together, and on the way back, Sirin hadn't mentioned anything about the Sentinels or any command post.
Aside from their talk about Seele and the Far North, Sirin had just seemed… emotional.
"When was this?"
"About ten minutes ago," Mei replied, noticing Kiana's odd look. "She said you two were on the way back and that she wanted to talk to you privately later about some news from the command post."
"She didn't talk to me about it…"
Kiana suddenly remembered Sirin inviting her to her room earlier—but she had flat-out refused without a second thought.
So that's what she wanted to talk about?
Where did Sirin learn to be so vague? If it was business, why not just say so?
"She's probably not in the mood to talk about that right now," Kiana muttered awkwardly, pacing a few steps.
"Why do you say that?" Mei asked.
"...Well, we went to the orphanage today," Kiana said. "We met a volunteer girl there—she's from the same place as Sirin. Both of them are orphans who survived the Kami disaster."
Kiana skipped over the part about what she'd said that might have rattled Sirin and simply told Mei about meeting Seele.
But saying this in front of Mei…
It made her a little self-conscious.
She didn't mind saying it in front of anyone else, but to Mei directly—it felt embarrassingly sentimental and unpredictable.
If Mei took it well, great.
But if Mei's feelings hadn't yet reached that point…
That would be a complete disaster.
At least until she was absolutely certain, some things couldn't leave her mouth. Once said, there'd be no taking them back.
"Anyway, she's in a bad mood right now," Kiana said, clearing her throat before changing the subject. "Mei, do you know what this is about? The command post—could it be about that cooperation plan we talked about before?"
"Most likely, yes."
Mei could tell Kiana was holding something back, but she didn't press further. "It probably relates to our collaboration."
"Because I fought the Whale of Transfiguration yesterday?"
"That's probably it. I also received an invitation—to visit their headquarters with Sirin. They said they want to return Narukami to me."
Kiana blinked. "...Wait, so they weren't planning to give Narukami back before this?"
"Strictly speaking, Narukami doesn't belong to any one person," Mei replied. "I don't plan to reclaim it either. It doesn't belong to the shrine—and it's better off being used than collecting dust."
"But Narukami has special meaning to the shrine, doesn't it? If that's what concerns you, I could help you buy it back."
Weapons produced by the system were better suited as vessels than any blade forged by human hands—they could protect the wielder from the deeper corrosion of curses.
But Mei just shook her head.
It could be redeemed, yes—but there was no longer any need.
She wouldn't remain a shrine maiden forever, and besides, she already had a complete Howl in hand.
"As for the cooperation with the Sentinels—we talked about it before. Do you still remember?"
"Of course I do!"
"Good. Then we'll proceed as we discussed. As for Honkai… you've told Sirin what you can, but it's possible she—or others—may become suspicious of you. If that happens…"
"I'm not someone to be underestimated," Kiana said firmly.
"I know. And I'll stay by your side," Mei answered softly.
They remained in Sapphire City for a few more days before finally leaving.
This time, neither Kiana nor Raiden Mei boarded a flight back to Nagazora—they went with Sirin to the headquarters of the Godslaying Corps.
A massive base located in the southern region.
The Godslaying Corps were an official organization, backed by the full strength of Izumo's government, with numerous bases of varying sizes across the world.
But their southern headquarters was the largest and most advanced of them all—focused primarily on research and logistics.
It also served as their wartime command post.
All information related to the Kami was sent there.
"This place is your base?"
"Our headquarters," Sirin replied, leading the way as she spoke. "Though we don't come here very often."
Most of the Sentinels were active on the front lines.
"It's huge," Kiana murmured—and not quite what she had imagined.
"Most of the people working here are ordinary staff and researchers. Their main duties involve gathering intelligence about the Kami and studying their nature."
"There's also a new task now," Yae Sakura reminded her.
"Right," Sirin nodded. "Now they're also researching the Honkai energy that can corrupt humans and transform Kami."
Though in her opinion, it was all pretty pointless. They'd been studying the Kami for over a thousand years and still hadn't developed any weapon specifically effective against them.
They still had to rely on blades.
Hot weapons could wound Kami—but not kill them. Truly, this world was absurd.
As she spoke, Sirin led them into a tall building and took the elevator up to the 16th floor.
"Sirin, Sakura, welcome back. And Miss Raiden, Miss Kiana—nice to meet you. You can call me Himeko."
When the elevator doors opened, a red-haired woman greeted them with a warm smile.
Hime—Himeko?
Kiana froze for a second.
A familiar name. A familiar face.
...But this was the Honkai universe. Nothing was strange anymore.
Convincing herself with that thought, Kiana quickly concealed her brief surprise.
"Miss Himeko is our command post's director," Sirin explained, introducing them.
The command post's director? So young…
Mei extended her hand. "Hello, Miss Himeko. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine," Himeko said with a gentle smile, shaking her hand before turning toward the hallway. "Let's head to the conference room."
Now that she thought about it… which familiar faces were they missing?
Fu Hua? Theresa? Cocolia?
Otto—?
Kiana stiffened at the last name and quickly shoved it out of her mind. That one, she would rather never encounter again.
This meeting didn't seem particularly formal. Aside from them, the entire floor appeared empty.
The conference room itself was spacious and quiet.
"Please, sit anywhere. No need to be formal."
Perhaps intentionally so. A more serious atmosphere might have had the opposite effect on them.
"I know none of you like pointless chatter. Fortunately, I'm not fond of wasting words either. So—let's keep this brief, shall we?"
"No problem," Mei nodded. "Please, go ahead, Miss Himeko."
"As expected of the wielder of Howl. Then let's start by talking about that blade. What do you think of it?"