People in Izumo, make Honkai great again

Kiana nodded in response, with an expression that said everything Mei said was right.

Make your way back to the shrine.

Mei pushed her into the room she used for meditation and took a jar of ointment for treating bruises from the cabinet next to her.

After taking the medicine jar, she asked Kiana to sit down, and she knelt beside her. Without saying anything else at this time, she reached out and pulled the clothes off her shoulders.

The skin under the clothes is white, tender and delicate, and the shoulders with beautiful curves are exposed to the air.

Mei was distracted when she started to take off her clothes, and finally realized that what she was doing seemed inappropriate.

No... they are all women, what's wrong with that?

And he was not teasing Kiana, he was trying to apply medicine to her.

The only flaw was the glaring bruise near the chest.

"Mei?"

Kiana called her nervously, her voice filled with shyness. It was because Mei Raiden kept staring at her shoulder, which made her, who was originally thick-skinned and shy, feel embarrassed.

Mei pushed her head back and said in her usual gentle voice, "Don't move. I'll apply medicine on you."

"Oh……"

Mei's slender hands pressed the cold ointment on the bruise on her shoulder, and the cool touch slightly reduced the pain.

She was very serious when applying the medicine.

She applied the white solid ointment evenly, and after it melted, she placed her palm on it and massaged Kiana using a technique that would not cause her too much pain but would allow the ointment to be absorbed quickly.

"Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." Kiana shook her head truthfully, then blushed after thinking for a moment and added, "It's quite comfortable."

It's not that she loves pain!

Mei's hands were so gentle that she didn't feel any pain.

"As long as it doesn't hurt."

Mei Raiden's skill in applying medicine was something she'd developed through self-training. She'd been learning kendo and competing with others since she was little, so injuries were inevitable. But her father was like that, often not even at home, so she was left to fend for herself.

Gradually, I became proficient in it.

Kiana thought about it and felt that she should tell Mei about those things earlier. She asked carefully: "Can we continue what we left unfinished now?"

"You tell me, I'll listen."

"It's like this. Yaezakura told me that long ago, eight million gods descended upon this world and wreaked havoc on humanity. To save Izumo, they mobilized the entire nation to forge twelve imperial swords that could slay the gods and seize their power."

"A thousand years ago, they paid a terrible price to slay the Tsumu Kariya God and forge the first imperial sword, 'True'."

"Under the leadership of the 'True' Sword Master, and at the cost of the sacrifice of all their predecessors, the Izumo Kingdom temporarily exiled the remaining eleven most powerful gods of Takamagahara."

"For thousands of years, the Izumo Kingdom has been fighting against the demons and gods of Takama-ga-hara, slaying them in places invisible to ordinary people, and maintaining the last bit of order in Izumo."

"But millennia have passed, and those exiled gods are returning."

"Yae Sakura wants to take Narukami away, because the Narukami enshrined in the shrine is the Narukami sword among the twelve imperial swords, which corresponds to the power of Takemikazuchi."

Chapter 9 Don’t go back today, stay here

"The thunder we heard on the street was probably caused by the Takemiya Thunder God you mentioned, right?"

No one told her this; she came to this conclusion based on her own guesswork.

There was an unusual sound of thunder in the sky, and the sound and power of that thunder were very similar to the 'Murakami' enshrined in the shrine.

That was why she returned to the shrine in a hurry, wanting to find 'Murakami' and sense him again.

Kiana's words confirmed her initial guess. The 'Murakami' enshrined in the shrine was indeed a sword used to slay demons and gods.

"Yes, it's Takemiya Thunder God!" Kiana said, "I confirmed it with Yae Sakura, and she told me the truth."

"As compensation for injuring you?"

Mei helped her apply the medicine, and considerately helped her tidy up her clothes, and asked casually.

Kiana was stunned. She thought carefully about what happened after she met Yae Sakura.

This wasn't said after I hurt myself, it was the decision I made after I realized I couldn't get rid of myself.

She shook her head and said something on Yaesu's behalf: "She's actually a pretty good person."

She could have knocked me down from the beginning, but she chose to talk back and reason with me.

But Kiana didn't listen to reason. She didn't get angry when Yae Sakura said she didn't accept her, and she didn't fight back when she attacked her, but just dodged.

Thinking about it this way, she only attacked after I sneaked up on her and touched the knife, so her temper is pretty good.

Meiyi paused as she covered the lid of the medicine jar and prepared to put it back on the cabinet.

Kiana is speaking for the person who hurt her?

"Do you think she's trustworthy?" Mei turned around and asked, but before Kiana could respond, she asked herself, "Yes, she's a good person. She can tell you all the news about ghosts and gods and explain her actions.

"She also promised me that she would persuade Uncle Longma to come back and see you!"

"...Thank you, Kiana."

Mei Raiden put the things back silently, then sat down opposite Kiana. Seeing the joy on her face, she pursed her lips and said, "But it's okay. I understand. Even if he doesn't want to tell me his whereabouts, it's okay if he doesn't want to see me."

Kiana was stunned. Didn’t Mei want to find out the reason for her father’s disappearance and find her father?

"That's not true!" Kiana didn't believe what she was thinking, and told Yae Sakura what she had heard: "Yae Sakura told me that those who kill demons will be cursed by them, and will turn from human into demons, and will develop demonic characteristics."

"She said that your father showed symptoms of demonization two years ago. It's not that he didn't want to see you, but he didn't want you to see his half-human, half-ghost appearance. He actually came back to the shrine, but didn't dare to get close to you. This is what Yae Sakura told me!"

This actually coincides with Mei Raiden's guess. When she was investigating ghosts and gods, she guessed that her father's so-called training outside might not be real training.

But... slay the demon.

"Yae Sakura said that conquering Takemiya Raijin is very dangerous. Every conquest is a war that uses all the strength in the world. I don't want you to be ignorant of all this!"

Yes, Kiana understands this.

But her father had been hiding the secret from her. When he found out that he could no longer hide it, he simply disappeared and never appeared in front of her again.

If this is all for her good, then she would rather not have such goodness.

"Thank you for all you have done for me. If Miss Yaesakura can really convince my father to come back and see me, I will sit down and have a good talk with him."

But this is impossible.

Mei Raiden knew it very well.

Kiana felt that her reaction was wrong and that she might still be angry, so she said, "He just doesn't want you to know the truth too soon. He hopes you can live an ordinary life..."

"......I see."

Mei Raiden closed her eyes.

She thought of the past long ago.

Before her father taught her the Hokushin Ittoryu, he took her, who was still young, into the main hall dedicated to the 'Murakami'.

Pointing to the sword in the shrine that had been enshrined for generations, he said to her then-girlfriend: "When you have practiced the sword to the point where there is no room for improvement and you understand why you should swing the sword, you will be qualified to master it."

She was too young to understand at the time: "...But father, Ming Shen is the god enshrined in the shrine."

"No, there are no real gods in this world. It's just a sword, a sword that will be used by you in the future. When you are able to pick it up, you must also have the faith and courage to slay the gods. Only then can you be called the daughter of my Raiden family."

So much for the memories.

An ordinary life?

No, he wouldn't think so.

She is a sharp blade that has not yet been unsheathed. To her father, there is only one reason why she cannot know the truth.

She's not qualified yet.

Not qualified to wield that knife.

The hands on his legs clenched and unclenched.

Mei Raiden did not tell Kiana about these thoughts, and even took the initiative to bury her memories and thoughts deep in her heart.

"Every battle requires all the strength in the world... If nothing is done, this world is doomed to disappear in the unrecorded history." Seeing that she was just reminiscing, Kiana did not speak, but now she was thinking about the fate of this world.

She thought of herself.

"But if we do something...it might make the world worse, causing the deaths of many people who shouldn't have died at this time. Even their sacrifices would be meaningless, because in the end, we might not be able to save the world, and might even help it destroy itself..."

Mei frowned slightly when she heard her words.

She didn't know Kiana well enough, and didn't know why Kiana suddenly made such a comment.

Mei didn't think of Izumo because from what she knew, Izumo's situation wasn't that bad.

"I don't know why you feel this way, but for me... no matter what the outcome is, doing something is always better than doing nothing."

That kind of ending without sacrifice and with great joy only exists in fairy tales.

"Is doing something better than doing nothing?" Kiana was silent for a moment, then quickly smiled. "Mei is right! The outcome is already determined anyway. If we do something, there's still a glimmer of hope. If we do nothing, we'll just die."

"Hmm...it seems a bit late. I should go back now, Mei."

Mei Raiden looked at the time and just as Kiana said, it was almost five o'clock in the afternoon.

Kiana had left the shrine around this time before, so it's not out of place to mention this now.

But after looking at Kiana's injured hand and thinking that it would be inconvenient for her to take care of herself alone, he took the initiative to invite her: "Don't go back today, stay at the shrine and rest?"

Chapter 10 It’s okay, you can wear my clothes

Staying overnight?!

Kiana, who was planning to go back, was shocked. Seeing the essence behind a sentence, she realized that Mei's invitation represented a qualitative improvement in her relationship with Mei.

If this were a love game, Mei would definitely have added an extra star to her liking for her, and then she would have received a hint.

Mei Raiden's favorability towards you has reached four stars, and a new map is now open for you - Mei Raiden's Boudoir!

Well, the above is all nonsense.

If I stay, I can have dinner with Mei and be close to her, and maybe even increase her favorability even more.

Temptation, so tempting!

"...Next time."

Kiana reluctantly rejected Mei's invitation. It was not that she didn't want to agree, but she really wanted to agree.

Such an opportunity is rare, and there are more new ways to play that can be unlocked. As long as she is shameless enough, she can even sleep in the same bed with Mei tonight.

but......

just forget it.

"Are you worried about not having a change of clothes? It's okay, you can wear my clothes."

Ah! Is this heaven?

You can even wear Mei's clothes?!

Kiana screamed like a groundhog in her heart. She was about to cry, really about to cry.

If Mei continued talking, her heart would bleed. She really wanted to wear Mei's clothes and sleep with her!

Feeling her will wavering, Kiana decisively used her less painful hand to support herself and stood up.

"I'd love to stay with you, but I can't today. I have an appointment with someone else."

"...Others?"

Do you have an appointment with someone late at night?

Does Kiana have other friends besides herself?

That's right, Kiana is pretty and has a good personality, unlike me who spends most of her time at the shrine.

It's normal for her to have other friends.