Side Story: White Peach Pudding
Winter 2015, New Mexico, Anti-Entropy Base.
“How am I doing?”
Siegfried, with several layers of bandages wrapped around him, sat up on a bed and looked at Ryoma Raiden beside him. Ryoma was holding a tablet, reviewing Siegfried’s various readings.
Shortly after the recent riot, hundreds of Honkai beasts had appeared in New Mexico. Normally, low-level Honkai beasts wouldn’t have been able to injure someone with Siegfried’s skills. However, true to the Kaslana family spirit of self-sacrifice, Siegfried had sustained multiple gashes from the beasts while rescuing others.
“Don’t worry. The Honkai energy erosion at the wound sites is within controllable limits. With Anti-Entropy’s technical capabilities and your physical constitution, you’ll be fully healed within a month at most.”
“But that’s on the condition that you cooperate with the doctors and rest quietly. If you run around and get reinjured, then it’s hard to say.”
Siegfried sighed and began conversing with Ryoma Raiden:
“I just don’t know when I’ll get to see my daughter again. My reason tells me that meeting her now would do more harm than good, and I do trust Theresa… but… sigh. Discussing things that won’t happen in the short term isn’t very meaningful. Let’s talk about this suddenly emerged World Serpent instead.”
“After such a big commotion, World Serpent is definitely planning something major. It’s a pity the Judgement of Shamash isn’t in my hands. Otherwise, before I eliminated those Honkai beasts, I would have made those looters and rioters pay the price!”
However, what Siegfried didn’t know was that if the Judgement of Shamash had been by his side, he would already be serving time in the Kaslana Stigmata space by now, and the Anti-Entropy base in New Mexico would likely have been lost.
“Based on the intelligence the Chief obtained from the Sea of Quanta, it seems the Herrscher of Corruption and the Herrscher of the Void knew about World Serpent’s existence a long time ago and have even collaborated with them significantly.”
“From the Herrscher of Corruption’s words, it’s not hard to deduce that she and World Serpent aren’t completely aligned. Her personal stance remains unclear… And according to her, the Stigma Project was finalized back in the Previous Era. But the information Anti-Entropy has is still far too limited…”
The two talked from World Serpent to Schicksal. After who knows how long, Ryoma Raiden’s gaze fell on a nearby computer, and he suddenly patted his head as if remembering something.
“Oh right, Siegfried. Weren’t you just asking about your daughter’s situation?”
Under Siegfried’s puzzled gaze, Ryoma operated the computer for a moment.
“Theresa sent this. Ever since Cocolia’s attack on St. Freya Academy last time, she’s maintained some contact with Anti-Entropy. She knows you’re here, so she also forwarded Kiana’s situation, probably to keep you from worrying too much.”
“As for what exactly she sent… I don’t know. Based on your understanding of Kiana and Theresa, you can guess what we’re about to see.”
What Theresa had sent was a video file. Ryoma double-clicked to open it, and Kiana and Raiden Mei appeared in the view of the two fathers. Mei’s expression looked somewhat downcast.
Ryoma sighed.
“That child… She must have hit a roadblock in her training and locked herself in her room to practice swordsmanship… When she gets like that, even I might not be able to call her out. For Kiana to get her to come out onto the streets is really something.”
Just a ten-minute walk from St. Freya Academy’s gate was a food street.
“Wow, Mei, look ahead! That shop is the newly opened dessert place, right? It’s so crowded!”
The two approached and saw the crowd queuing was enormous, spilling from the shop entrance all the way onto the street.
“Wow~ There are already so many people in line.”
Raiden Mei followed behind Kiana, hesitated for a moment, and then stammered:
“Um… Kiana… maybe… we should come another day?”
Kiana gave Mei a puzzled look, then smiled and said:
“It’s fine, leave it to me.”
Raiden Mei wanted to say something more, but Kiana slipped into the crowd.
“Boss, two ice creams!”
About half an hour later, Kiana squeezed her way out of the crowd holding two ice creams and returned to Mei’s side.
“Phew… phew… that was a crush… Here, this one’s for you, Mei. Both are seasonal limited flavors.”
“Ah, thank you… Kiana…”
Mei took the ice cream. Watching Kiana bustling about just to cheer her up, Mei’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“Mmm… so delicious! This trip was worth it. Yours looks really tasty too, Mei. Let me have a bite, okay?”
“Huh?”
Although Kiana’s tone was questioning, before Mei could even react, she had already leaned in and taken a bite.
“Wow, it’s caramel pudding flavor! It’s amazing!”
“Here, Mei, try mine. It’s white peach flavor.”
Mei thought for a second, then leaned in and took a bite.
“How is it? How is it?”
“Mmm, very sweet.”
Kiana’s face lit up with joy.
“Great! I knew you’d like it! Mei, Mei, let’s go check out over there…”
As they walked and ate, their hands involuntarily drew closer. They glanced at each other, then simultaneously turned their slightly flushed faces away. Their hands gently bumped, then their fingers very naturally intertwined.
When she was with Kiana, Mei felt time flew by. It seemed like the ice cream in her hand was finished in no time.
At that moment, Raiden Mei’s second personality spoke in her mind like a demon’s whisper:
“You just had an indirect kiss with Kiana, you know.”
“Huh!”
Raiden Mei’s face instantly turned bright red, and her footsteps subconsciously halted.
“What’s wrong, Mei?”
“N-nothing.”
Seeing Mei’s shy expression, Kiana’s heart pounded. She thought this version of Raiden Mei was even cuter.
Raiden Mei’s second personality continued to egg her on:
“Since you’ve already had an indirect kiss, why not go a step further? Change it from indirect to direct?”
Raiden Mei fell silent.
“Fine, if you don’t want to, then suit yourself. What a shame, such a good opportunity…”
The second personality’s tactic of playing hard to get worked. Raiden Mei took a deep breath, then actively pulled Kiana’s hand and dashed into a deserted alley.
“Mei, what are you…?”
Under the constant prodding (assistance) of her second personality in her head, before Kiana could figure out what was happening, Raiden Mei spoke first:
“Kiana… there’s still some crumbs by your mouth. Don’t move, let me…”
Mei gently pulled Kiana a step closer with her right hand, then leaned down slightly and pressed her lips against Kiana’s. It was several dozen seconds before their lips parted.
“N-now… there aren’t any anymore.”
Mei was still using a rather clumsy lie to mask her shyness. Kiana, very tactfully, didn’t call her out and simply responded with a soft sound.
Hand in hand, the two then returned to St. Freya Academy in an atmosphere thick with mutual affection.
Seeing this, the two fathers fell silent.
The truth was, Theresa, being both the principal of St. Freya Academy and the leader of Schicksal’s Far East branch, had her own busy schedule. So, she had outsourced this task to another Valkyrie.
Theresa’s original intention was for her to record some snippets of Kiana’s daily life. But since it was being sent to Anti-Entropy, the fewer people who knew, the better. So, when assigning the task, she told the Valkyrie it was a confidential mission.
As a result, the Valkyrie misunderstood. She thought Theresa suspected Kiana was a spy and wanted to confirm it by tracking her every move. So, she ended up following her like a stalker, using all sorts of high-tech gadgets to record everything, broadcast-worthy or not.
In short, due to multiple factors, a record of Kiana’s daily life at St. Freya Academy had indeed successfully made its way to Siegfried’s eyes.
It’s just that… watching their daughters kiss in a deserted corner left the two fathers momentarily at a loss for words.
Finally, Ryoma Raiden spoke first:
“Forget it. We’re in America anyway, and we don’t have the capacity to interfere. Let nature take its course. Children will grow up eventually; this day was bound to come sooner or later. Compared to someone of unknown origin, I feel more at ease with her being together with your daughter.”
