Kiana shuffled over again. Her mind was still groggy and muddled, her gaze stubborn. That made the corner of Rin's mouth twitch. This kid genuinely wanted to earn big money.
The problem now was no longer Kiana. She snapped her fingers and made Kiana pass out first, then scooped her up with one arm.
With Yae Sakura's body, this motion was effortless.
"Where's your house?"
Rin didn't ask directly where the Elysian Realm was. First, go to this brat's house, then directly use the power of Corruption to search for traces of the Realm there.
Since he could meet Sister, Shiraha definitely had a connection to the Elysian Realm.
Then... the Realm would be her paradise.
Rin didn't care much about anything else in this world.
"Let me take you home, Rin-nee."
The corner of Rin's mouth twitched. The title "Rin-nee" was, for her, a little too particular.
Yae Sakura felt something was off somewhere. "Demon fox, what evil scheme are you plotting now?"
But the country bumpkin currently couldn't overpower Rin. Truthfully, after their combat strength had equalized, if Rin didn't soften, going by the story's power scaling, Yae Sakura simply had no ability to threaten Rin.
Rin was quiet for a moment. "If things go smoothly, I'll set you free."
After all, eating a substitute meal... Rin still planned to interrogate Sister. But the prerequisite for that interrogation was clearly that she herself hadn't been eating one.
She was just a little reluctant. Because of her psychological distortion over this stretch of time, she and Yae Sakura had been loving and killing each other for over five hundred years.
And Sister—Sister already only existed in the far, far reaches of memory. The substitute meal had become the real meal.
Yae Sakura also went quiet for a moment. She believed this demon fox was still harboring some malicious scheme.
That wariness made the corner of Rin's mouth twitch. Forget it. No more chatting with this sheltered country bumpkin for now.
"Hey, brat. Hearing we're going to your house—why are you so happy?"
Shiraha's smile was bright and clean. "Because you're Sakura-nee's little sister."
The corner of Rin's mouth twitched again. Had Sister been farming this child's affection that hard lately?
Just because she was Sister's little sister, this brat— well. He was still a brat. Younger than she'd been when she died. He didn't understand anything.
The Raiden residence wasn't far from the school. At this hour, there were few people home. The Raiden house had no live-in servants, at most, a cooking auntie who came at mealtimes, and people who came to clean.
It seemed rather luxurious after all.
From the moment Rin stepped through the main gate, her Authority activated once more. Everything in the Raiden residence, including a certain man holed up in his room, furiously and frantically playing Red Alert, all reflected in her eyes.
No traces of the Elysian Realm.
"Rin-nee, let's put Kiana back in her room first."
Rin nodded. Her mood right now was exceptionally subtle. On one hand, she was looking forward to dominating the Realm, to turning it into the paradise of her fantasies.
On the other hand, she couldn't bear to part with Yae Sakura. A substitute meal was indeed a substitute meal, but she'd been eating it for far too long.
Their voices were very soft, but that didn't stop Siegfried, who'd been grinding for so long and still couldn't beat seven brutal AIs, from catching wind of the movement.
"Who's there?"
Confident in his own strength, Siegfried pushed the door open directly. In the hallway stood three figures: an unfamiliar shrine maiden, Shiraha, and Kiana.
His gaze lingered on the unfamiliar shrine maiden for a moment. She didn't look too dangerous, just that her Honkai energy didn't seem like an ordinary person's.
"Brat. Skipping class?"
Shiraha shook his head. "Kiana skipped class and got scammed. She ended up calling me, wanting to take my allowance too so we could make money together."
Siegfried was silent for a moment.
Shiraha paused, then added, "I couldn't talk her out of it. In the end, I 'coaxed' Kiana to sleep."
Siegfried said nothing.
"Then who's she?"
"The delinquent senpai's family."
Siegfried narrowed his eyes. Then that delinquent senpai of yours is highly abnormal.
The genius champion of the first martial arts tournament. A school delinquent. A family with this kind of business. And a family member like this...
As expected! That girl called Natasha, she's just like the Kaslana family. An ancient, long-standing bloodline.
Siegfried added one last thing. "I'll be telling Ryoma Raiden about you skipping class."
Shiraha's expression stiffened.
Oh. Right. He still hadn't sent Mei-nee a text.
Siegfried gave the group one last look, then returned to his room, shutting the door behind him.
"He's still behind the door."
Rin spoke softly, her voice very low.
The corner of Shiraha's mouth twisted. "That's just how he is. Besides, you're holding his daughter in your arms."
Siegfried's life was rather tragic. Shiraha didn't actually dislike him. But first, he was maintaining the established dynamic. Second, farming Siegfried's affection wouldn't yield much benefit.
Siegfried might be worth anticipating in the late game. But "worth anticipating" Siegfried wasn't all that likely. Even as transitional combat power, there was no need to raise Siegfried's affection too high, because he was a good person.
Even if thinking this way was utterly heartless. Sigh.
Rin nodded, her expression slightly unnatural. She didn't recognize Siegfried, but she recognized the Judgment of Shamash.
"What's his relationship with Kevin?"
Shiraha thought for a moment, his emotions carrying a trace of admiration. "Same bloodline. Siegfried is very powerful. In a state of extreme rage, he can even fully unleash Shamash."
"Oh." Rin went quiet for another moment.
Good thing she was the Herrscher of Corruption. Not too afraid of a fully unleashed Shamash.
Truthfully, in a fully unleashed state, Siegfried could bulldoze through many disasters even by Previous Era standards, because when he finally fully unleashed Shamash, he suffered almost no major side effects.
They sent Kiana back to her room. Rin's gaze didn't linger long. Most children's rooms were like this. It was just that Kiana's room didn't match the rooms in her memory, it was far too large.
Then came Shiraha's room. Pushing open the door, Rin's brain short-circuited for a moment. The words slipped out instinctively. "Shiraha I won't bump into your stars, will I?"
Fine fluorescent threads hung from the ceiling, tiny stars dangling at their ends, faintly glowing in the dim light. The entire room resembled a stretch of starry sky moved indoors.
Shiraha: ....
Elysia: ....
The atmosphere on site grew somewhat subtle. Rin also discovered, for the first time, that this brat's emotions had undergone an abnormal shift.
Not embarrassment but a complicated glance toward the side.
"Who are you looking at?"
Rin couldn't help but be on guard. After all, even with her status as the Herrscher of Corruption, she still hadn't detected anyone beside him.
"My Nee-chan. My Senpai. My teacher." Shiraha didn't hide it. "...Elysia."
Rin instantly retreated two steps. This time, she was the one retreating. The Herrscher of Corruption would never fear these monsters but... she couldn't bear to part with Yae Sakura's body.
She could survive. Yae Sakura couldn't.
"How long has she been here?" Rin asked, her voice tighter than before.
Rin tried to edge toward the balcony. From there, she could leap out the window and flee at any moment.
It's all that useless Yae Sakura's fault. Otherwise, why would she need to fear a single Elysia!
Shiraha tilted his head, his smile open and unreserved. "Nee-chan has always been by my side."
Only this matter, he spoke of it with righteous confidence.
Looking at this brat's smile, Rin suddenly felt uneasy.