Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

"Cheers!" The couple raised their glasses together and drank it all in one gulp.

Then John, fighting back coughs and tears, looked at Himeko. Normally, one drink should have made her drunk, or at least "drunk." He then paid the bill, helped the beauty out, hailed a taxi to the hotel, and the rest... well, let's just say it doesn't describe it.

Himeko remained radiant, even licking her lips seductively and chuckling, "It's really good, quite hot indeed."

"Yes...yes," John said, a little tipsy, but still insisted.

"Dear John, can we continue?" Himeko asked expectantly.

Faced with such an expectant look in the beauty's eyes, how could John say no? Although the Golden Dragon Claw was expensive and strong, he still ordered two cups.

"cheers~"

"Two more glasses, my dear John!"

"cheers!"

"Wow, you can't get drunk? Have two more drinks, what an interesting man!"

"cheers!"

"cheers!"

"Cheers!!!"

Amidst the clinking of glasses, the noise in the bar grew louder and more intense, with laughter, clinking glasses, music, and even the sound of vomiting all blending together.

But amidst the revelry, all the sounds suddenly seemed to turn cold for a moment. Himeko subconsciously turned around and saw the bar door being kicked open. The girl who walked in had a cold face, staring at Himeko with a slightly furrowed brow and a gaze as sharp as a knife.

What briefly silenced the entire room was not her indifference, but her beauty. She was dressed in a pure black leather trench coat, like a dashing policewoman investigating a case in a German drama. Even with her slender waist cinched by a belt, her curves were still evident. The hem of the trench coat revealed a pair of long, beautiful legs encased in matte stockings, and she held a white umbrella in her hand.

"Wow, miss, are you some kind of secret agent?" someone drunk shouted at Raiden Mei. "Wearing a trench coat in the summer? You're not carrying a Glock and a Thompson submachine gun underneath, are you? Hahaha!"

The men and women, dancing wildly like demons, burst into laughter.

Raiden Mei ignored her and coldly said, "Get out, all of you. We're closed for today."

"You say you're closing down..." Before the drunken young man could react, a burly security guard wearing sunglasses immediately stepped forward with a baton, waving his hand to shoo him away. "I'm sorry, esteemed guests, we're closing down today. If you don't leave quickly, we'll help you get out. Please cooperate for the sake of the baton."

"I'm going to complain about you driving away customers! You're breaking the law! You don't serve white people!" Someone noticed that Raiden Mei was Asian and immediately started making a big fuss about it.

Raiden Mei turned to look at him, and he was instantly struck by her cold, knife-like gaze, feeling an incomparably fierce aura of the Extreme Dao.

He suddenly realized that this person was Japanese, that yakuza were legal in Japan, and that this shop seemed to have yakuza connections, perhaps... Me Company?

“This is Chinatown, Asian territory.” Raiden Mei tilted her head and stared at him. “This is my shop. I’m in a bad mood today and don’t want to serve you. Go ahead and complain. If you don’t want to get beaten up before then, get out.”

Domineering, unsolvable, and confident!

Raiden Mei was indeed confident. She had already established connections with both the legitimate and underworld factions by opening her shop here. While Me-Company wasn't exactly a world-class supernatural force, it was still quite powerful. The London city government wouldn't go against her for the sake of a single shop, and she wasn't opening the shop here for profit, but merely as a base of operations.

So she can do whatever she wants to the customers... But what bothers Raiden Mei is that, despite this not being the first time she's been so rude to the customers, the Tsubakiyama Bar is still packed with people. Many of the customers were even whispering things like, "Wow, I knew it!", "The young lady at Tsubakiyama Bar is so cool!", "My brother wasn't lying, you really do get yelled at by the JK (high school girl) proprietress) here!"

She felt a little tired.

At this moment, the bar was finally cleared out by the security guards. Raiden Mei, wearing high heels, walked to the counter, glanced at the bartender, who had been admiring his boss's stunning beauty, and was terrified when he saw her gaze, hurriedly leaving. Only Himeko, Raiden Mei, and John, who was drunk and fast asleep on the floor, remained in the large bar.

"What's the point of running a bar like this? You'll drive all the customers away sooner or later," Himeko said slowly as she poured herself another drink.

"Himeko-sensei, you know Mei doesn't like these kinds of glitz and glamour. If it weren't for the fact that quiet bars couldn't stay open in London... ugh, even the smell in the air makes Mei feel nauseous." Raiden Mei leaned against the bar counter next to her, arms crossed, her tone cold and somewhat helpless. "If Mei had come any later this time, you might have been tricked by some man."

"This is your own bar, and you never come here? Is this how a yakuza heiress behaves?" Himeko pouted. "Besides, what do you mean by lying? I did it willingly. I was very proactive and enthusiastic in wanting to find a man to take me away!"

Raiden Mei's expression twitched.

"But why... why every single time! Every single time it's like this! There's always someone who comes to bother me just when I'm about to give up! Raiden Mei!" Himeko erupted in anger, standing up with her wine glass in hand. "In St. Freya it was Theresa, and now at Schicksal headquarters it's you! Why is it so hard to find a man? Do you know how old I am? I'm not like you young, energetic girls. Most people my age already have five-year-old kids! I'm still a virgin, do you even know what that means?!"

"Many Valkyries remain virgins until their deaths, you don't need to exaggerate like that," Raiden Mei said calmly.

"That's because they're lesbians! I, Himeko Murata, am a simple woman with a pure sexual orientation! Do you know how many people at St. Freya Academy have thought Theresa and I were a couple all these years? They even said things like lesbians are infinitely good, and the size difference is just right. Who wants to be paired with that eternal loli?" Himeko slammed her fist on the table, gritting her teeth. "I'm going to find a man to marry, even the most ordinary man doesn't matter, as long as he's a man! Now I finally have some time of my own, and I can go to bars every day, but even dressed like this, why can't any man take me away!"

Mei glanced at the drunken John on the ground.

"Am I not sexy enough? Am I ugly?" Himeko stared at her student.

"Himeko-sensei is an absolute beauty, purely in terms of appearance."

"Then why are they always so eager to take me away, yet no one can?" Himeko roared in anger.

Leiden Meiyi shook his head.

Although Himeko was quite mature, she wasn't a woman who frequented social circles or nightclubs. She didn't really understand many unspoken rules or subtle techniques. It's like how a normal woman might fall for someone and be easily swayed by a single drink, and they'd hit it off immediately. Himeko didn't understand this. She thought the man was really enthusiastic and couldn't let him down, so she kept drinking one glass after another.

Her alcohol tolerance is remarkably high. Even without using Honkai energy to sober up, she's the kind of woman who could drink cases of Niulanshan liquor with local village officials while conducting geographical surveys in China. Compared to Himeko, who can compete with the people of China, the alcohol of those European young masters and ladies is practically just a beverage.

Nine times out of ten, John will only think he's been scammed by a bar scammer tomorrow, completely unaware of how desperately Himeko had hoped he would take her to a hotel.

Chapter Thirty: You mustn't mess with your friend's wife, Mei!

The ventilation fans in the bar started whirring. Mei smelled the alcohol in the air and, after confirming that it had dissipated to an acceptable level, sat down on the high stool at the counter and took a layer of ice from the freezer in front of the bartender.

Although Me-sha is essentially a yakuza organization, Raiden Mei has never really liked the nightclubs and bars frequented by yakuza members, even though she owns hundreds of such establishments. She actually prefers quiet places. In Japan, the bars she personally owns are not allowed to have neon lights. They are nominally bars but mainly serve tea and drinks, and are even allowed to serve underage students.

Often, Raiden Mei's colleagues in Tokyo would mock her for not being a true yakuza, clinging to a facade of morality. After all, the Raiden family wasn't immune to illegal activities, nor did they operate within the red-light district. But Raiden Mei neither argued nor responded. She simply continued to live her life as she pleased in Tokyo's yakuza circles, attending gatherings of gang leaders with the poise of a young girl in a cool trench coat, bearing all the scorn and misunderstanding.

But Me Company, having lost Raiden Ryoma, was ultimately saved by the young Mei, who proved herself a true yakuza heiress in her own way. Even without engaging in those dirty dealings, yakuza could still live quite comfortably. Although Raiden Mei herself knew she had merely found a more powerful patron.

But her status as a model student at St. Freya Academy doesn't stop her from continuing to be the Yakuza princess.

She unbuttoned her trench coat, and Himeko noticed her movement. Her expression instantly turned serious, and she immediately put down her wine glass and asked, "Are you injured?"

"No," Mei replied succinctly.

Himeko then realized she hadn't been perceptive enough; Raiden Mei's attire had clearly changed since returning from this mission. For example, she used to wear a trench coat over her school uniform, but now the trench coat was buttoned up. Also, she used to wear preppy over-the-knee socks and small leather shoes, but now she was wearing elegant matte pantyhose and high heels.

At first, she thought Mei dressed more maturely because she was going to a bar, but now it seems that Mei doesn't care about her nightclub attire at all, because she wants the place cleared out as soon as she arrives.

"It's just a bit troublesome." Raiden Mei pulled open her trench coat, revealing the St. Freya school uniform underneath. Himeko then understood why she had kept the trench coat tightly closed, because the sailor uniform underneath was torn to shreds, splattered with large amounts of blood. The dried blood stained the white and green sailor uniform red, and the fair, jade-like skin exposed underneath looked even somewhat alluring.

Her skirt was now tattered into strips, the red plaid stained a dark, bloody red, and a healing scar ran down her thigh. Raiden Mei had changed her stockings and shoes because those were the few areas her trench coat couldn't cover; she looked as if she'd just been doused in pig's blood at a slaughterhouse.

"I'm fine, unharmed. This isn't my blood." Raiden Mei said calmly. "Mission accomplished. The enemy has been handed over to the logistics team. They just turned into a suicide soldier at the last moment, and a nimble one at that. It took some effort."

Himeko looked at her thighs and knew that "unscathed" was definitely not an exaggeration; the mess on her body proved how arduous the battle had been. But Himeko knew the girl's personality well. She was a yakuza heiress, extremely assertive, and even if it was tough, she would only say "it took some effort" at most, and wouldn't bother with anything more.

“She died a painful death. I plunged my katana into her mouth and shattered her teeth and brain,” Raiden Mei said softly. “Even in death, she remained filled with resentment. I couldn’t see any human expression in her. In the end, she didn’t even show any fear towards me.”

“A person who is heading towards Honkai is no longer human, and she doesn’t even want to be human anymore. You think she just became a puppet of the Honkai will, but she already was when she devoured her first teammate.” Himeko said calmly. She knew that this wasn’t the first time Raiden Mei had carried out a cleanup mission, and she sometimes needed to be counseled. “She thought she still had consciousness, so she was just doing evil, but that’s not true. Her consciousness had already been twisted into something of the Honkai side.”

"One thought can turn you into a demon?"

"You Japanese like to explain everything with Zen and chanting, but it's not far off. You might feel a little sympathetic, but it doesn't matter. She's already become a beast; you don't need to guess the logic of a beast." Himeko took out a pack of cigarettes that the bar was preparing to sell from the liquor cabinet, comfortably opened it, lit it, and didn't even think about paying, taking advantage of her student without any concern. "But I thought you would need support. I didn't expect you to not call the logistics team in the end."

"His combat strength is only equivalent to half an A-level assassin."

"You mean a mere A-rank? Hey, that's A-rank! Your teacher has only managed to earn an A-rank title after all these years. Besides those few monsters, how many S-ranks are there in the whole world? You look down on A-rank, don't you!" Himeko said, then suddenly paused. "I remember you're an A-rank lightning-attribute ability user, right? How did your injuries heal so quickly?"

Raiden Mei looked down at her gradually healing wound; the claw mark, about three centimeters deep, had almost healed in an hour.

"I passed the biology department's level B assessment two months ago."

Himeko was speechless.

"What a genius! No wonder you're an outstanding graduate of St. Freya. Even at Schicksal headquarters, there aren't many girls of Mei's caliber who can compare to her, right?" Himeko exclaimed. "You've only been in London for three months and you've already become the head of the SoHo district. No young person has made such progress as you. It won't be long before you're directly in the headquarters building, working with Schicksal's top Valkyries. You might even meet those reclusive S-ranks."

“I don’t want to work in the headquarters building. Being a regional manager is fine, and it’s easier. It’s close to headquarters, so I can go there anytime I want.”

Raiden Mei's internship has just begun. As an outstanding graduate of St. Freya, Theresa arranged for her to intern near the Schicksal headquarters using her personal connections. Although it's a bit out of her reach, the Schicksal headquarters is, after all, the core area of ​​the transcendent side, and witnessing the Valkyries' prowess there will be extremely helpful for her growth.

Himeko volunteered to be her intern teacher and came to London with her. Although everyone knew Himeko was purely on a business trip, she was essentially an A-rank Valkyrie, and a rather powerful one at that, possessing genuine combat strength capable of protecting Raiden Mei. Considering that the missions assigned at Schicksal headquarters were far more demanding than the cozy cradle of St. Freya, a mentor was indeed quite necessary.

Then she spent most of her time in bars hooking up with rich guys.

In reality, all she needs to do is stay in the bar and hook up with rich guys. Raiden Mei is incredibly strong, so she's very reliable when carrying out missions. She's cold and ruthless, often setting traps for her prey and then reaping the rewards alone. The support team only needs to wait a few blocks away with a sniper rifle.

Despite being raised in a sheltered academy, Raiden Mei shows no mercy to her enemies, even displaying a Valkyrie-like demeanor reminiscent of the headquarters' warriors. Initially, Himeko worried that the girl who was aloof yet at least gentle at school might turn into a heartless, cold-blooded killer. However, she later discovered that Raiden Mei, befitting her yakuza family background, didn't suffer from any psychological issues due to such circumstances; she had witnessed countless far more heinous acts.

So Himeko got used to it. This time, the Valkyrie named Townsley actually left right under Himeko's nose. From beginning to end, Himeko didn't even realize that the stunning red-haired woman behind the counter was a Valkyrie. Himeko figured Townsley wouldn't pose much of a threat to Raiden Mei, so she went to drink without worry.

She knew just how terrifying this high school girl with long, straight black hair was. An eighteen-year-old A-level was a potential star standing at the top of the world. Even in powerful families with extraordinary members like the Shaniat family and the Kaslana family, such members were extremely rare.

From the very beginning, Townsley underestimated Schicksal. This world government, with its millennia-long history, had faced corrupted beings far more brutal and cunning than Townsley. While A-rank Valkyries are rare, they are not so precious as to be unusable. In fact, in the eyes of other powers, A-rank is already top-tier, but Schicksal's A-rank Valkyries may outnumber the entire world combined.

Even if Raiden Mei might be outmatched, there's a support team composed of B-rank Valkyries, equipped with special sniper rifles with an effective range exceeding three thousand meters, and the A-rank Himeko will arrive immediately. Even the leaders of other districts will be notified that she had no chance of survival from the very beginning.

"The body has already been taken away. We've already given psychological suggestions to the ordinary people affected by her. They'll just think they slept at home all night and that going to the bar was just a dream." Raiden Mei took off her trench coat and all the blood-stained clothes underneath, leaving only her black underwear and stockings, and slowly changed into her new St. Freya school uniform.

Himeko leaned against the counter, admiring the student's beautiful curves. Raiden Mei, though only nineteen, was undeniably tall and shapely. Her height was exceptional among Japanese girls; at 1.72 meters tall with a bust exceeding an E cup, she looked more like a mature woman than a young girl. Her high ponytail was now loose and flowing freely, her expressionless face as cold as ice, her beauty reminiscent of cherry blossoms blooming at night in a spring garden after the thaw.

In short, Mei perfectly embodies the ideal Japanese woman, except for her aloof personality.

"Mei, would you like some drinks? To calm your nerves after the big battle?" Himeko smiled and raised her glass.

"Did someone else drink it?" Raiden Mei finished dressing and frowned slightly.

"No, it's newly opened. Anyway, it's your bar, why would I try to save you money?" Himeko poured her a glass of chilled sparkling wine with a low alcohol content. "It's been three months since you graduated from St. Freya, hasn't it? Come to think of it, I've never asked you before, did you have a crush on anyone while you were in school?"

"St. Freya Academy is an all-girls school," Raiden Mei kindly reminded her.

"But you seem to be quite close to Theresa Academy's niece—that silly girl who always ranks last in every exam and then gets through the retakes by acting cute—" Himeko clinked glasses with her.

“Well… it does feel very familiar.” Mei thought for a moment and answered honestly, “Kiana actually lives upstairs from me. We don’t live in dorms, so we often go home together.”

"Oh~" Himeko gave that kind of smile that only an elder would give, as if she were saying, "I see," "I completely understand," or "I understand everything."

"We're not living together," Raiden Mei said with a hint of helplessness.