Chapter 8: Mei, You Wouldn’t Want Anything to Happen to Your Father, Would You?
***
Honkai, Herrschers, Elysia explained these dark aspects hidden beneath the world to Raiden Mei, who had been an ordinary person just an hour ago, in simple and easy-to-understand terms.
In this regard, there was no difference between the Previous Era and the modern era.
But for Mei herself, who had learned of this information, this moment struck her like a bolt from the blue.
The world suddenly felt so strange. Was this really what the world was like?
Raiden Ryoma had truly protected his precious daughter very well. Despite being an executor of Anti-Entropy himself, his daughter Raiden Mei knew nothing about the world’s truth.
If it weren’t for Cocolia’s conspiracy and Elysia’s appearance, this child might have been able to live happily as before for a long time to come.
But the past was gone, and the trajectory of fate had decreed that the girl named Raiden Mei could not continue living the happy life of an ordinary person.
“…”
At this moment, Raiden Mei’s face turned ashen after learning that she was the vessel for the 3rd Herrscher.
Why was it like this?
She had originally fantasized that, having lost her father and with her life plunged into darkness, she could become a warrior of some mysterious organization like in comics and movies, representing justice or something else to find her own meaning.
However, this truth directly shattered her wishful thinking.
Not only could she not become what she had fantasized about, but her very existence might become the cause of this city’s destruction.
“In that case, I can only die, right?”
The girl, tears streaming down her face, picked up a pair of scissors nearby and pointed the sharp blade at her own pale throat.
This sudden turn of events caught Elysia, who had been thinking of giving Mei some time to accept this unfamiliar information, completely off guard:
“Eh… Huh?!”
In another world.
“Achoo—!”
Sakura Kyoko, rubbing her reddened nose, felt somewhat puzzled. Why did she feel a bit annoyed?
Could it be that Mami was badmouthing her?
“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!”
The Pink Elf, still in her early stages, hadn’t expected things to develop this way. She panicked directly, raising her hands frantically in a gesture of alarm:
“Put down the scissors first! Put down the scissors first!”
“If I die, Nagazora City will be safe, right? My life is already a mess anyway! Isn’t that what you intended when you came to find me?”
Raiden Mei, who had entered an extreme state, seemed completely unable to listen to reason. She had even misunderstood Elysia as one of those mysterious organization members who came to eliminate her to protect the city.
“Hah—?”
Elysia’s eyes spun in circles, completely stunned by these words to the point where her CPU was burning out.
There was no choice but to seek help from the chat group friends!
Elysia: “Help! Help! Mei is having dark thoughts and wants to commit suicide!”
Yunyun: “Su… suicide?!”
Yunyun in the tavern also immediately started spinning her eyes in circles upon seeing this message.
Hu Tao: “Taking one’s own life is absolutely not acceptable! Absolutely not!”
The usually cheerful Hall Master Hu also couldn’t maintain her composure. She took matters of life and death very seriously! Even if it was someone from another world whom she didn’t know at all, she didn’t want them to do such a foolish thing.
Sakura Kyoko: “Hah? Is she that stupid?”
Casually biting into a fragrant taiyaki, the red-haired girl felt somewhat speechless and didn’t know how to evaluate this person called Raiden Mei.
Even someone with such a terrible life as herself had never thought about suicide!
Elysia: “Stop the idle chatter and give me some advice!”
Seeing that the group friends hadn’t said anything useful for a long time, the Beautiful Miss Elf was about to cry from anxiety.
Elysia: “@Jiang Qiao Jiang Qiao, good Jiang Qiao, I know you must have a way!”
Jiang Qiao, who had just finished his lunch, also felt somewhat unable to maintain his composure upon seeing this message.
No way, what exactly did you do?
How did someone you found in the afternoon want to commit suicide by evening?
He didn’t remember the Pink Elf having this kind of attribute!
Even Detective Conan would bow down in defeat.
This was worse than if he had gone himself!
“Like this, you do it this way…”
Although very confused, this was a matter of life and death, and Jiang Qiao didn’t want the cooking girl to meet an early end.
If something really went wrong, everything would be thrown into chaos.
Without the cooking girl in the main trio, there would be no original plot to follow, and he didn’t want to turn into orange juice!
Elysia, who had been taught the method, was somewhat doubtful about whether it would work, but given the current situation, it seemed she could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.
“Wait, Mei!”
After brewing for a moment, she suddenly spoke:
“You wouldn’t want anything to happen to your father, would you?”
At this moment, the somewhat collapsed Raiden Mei stopped her actions.
Fine, fine, fine, so you’re targeting us Far Eastern women like this, huh?
Just wait, I’ll die right here to show you, Far Eastern women don’t bow to threats—
“And even if you die, it won’t change anything.”
The second strike.
“Since Raiden Mei is suffering from a lack of self-worth and a sense of responsibility toward Nagazora City, we just need to give her the will to live and eliminate that idea of ending it all!”
This was the method Jiang Qiao had told Elysia.
As for what form to use to persuade Raiden Mei, that had nothing to do with him, that was Elysia’s self-taught skill.
But it had to be said, the effect was surprisingly good.
Mei loosened her grip on the scissors. Thin traces of blood could be seen on her pale neck, but fortunately, no arteries were damaged.
Elysia quickly snatched away the scissors and breathed a huge sigh of relief internally.
That was almost a disaster.
“What do you mean by that?”
Raiden Mei actively approached Elysia, her expression very agitated.
She had indeed been holding onto the easy idea of ending it all.
But the other party had mentioned her father and had eliminated that idea of ending it all. Since she actually didn’t want to die and had a strong survival instinct, Mei ultimately abandoned the idea of suicide, replacing it with urgency.
“Your father, Raiden Ryoma, was actually framed and schemed against.”
Elysia wasn’t clear about the details, but this was what Jiang Qiao had told her, so she relayed it truthfully.
“Framed?!”
“The person who schemed against your father is named Cocolia. She’s your father’s colleague.”
“And her purpose is precisely to force you to become the 3rd Herrscher. For this, she calculated against Mr. Raiden Ryoma in advance, landing him in prison so he couldn’t look after you.”
“In that case…”
Although very angry, Mei still had thoughts of ending it all, since that would be easier.
If she died, she wouldn’t have to worry about anything.
Moreover, if the person who framed her father’s goal was herself, then if she died, the other party’s wishful thinking would also fail.
This could also be considered a form of revenge, albeit an incredibly weak one.
Elysia saw through her thoughts and sighed:
“Mei, don’t think about ending it all.”
“Although you are the vessel for the 3rd Herrscher, even if you die, a new 3rd Herrscher will still be born in Nagazora City.”
Cocolia had scattered large amounts of Honkai energy throughout Nagazora City. When the Honkai energy reached a critical point, Raiden Mei, who had the Gem of Conquest within her body, would be designated to become the 3rd Herrscher.
But even if she died beforehand, that Honkai energy wouldn’t disappear into thin air.
“If you die, then the most likely scenario is that someone else in Nagazora City, someone I know nothing about, will become the 3rd Herrscher through the baptism, and then this city will be completely finished.”
“Please live on, even if not for yourself, but for the millions of people in this city, though I want to say this, I still can’t bring myself to say it.”
“Mei, live on, not for the residents of this city, but solely for yourself, for those who care about you.”
Under Raiden Mei’s confused gaze, the young man held her hand with utmost sincerity and said earnestly:
“Among them is not only Mr. Raiden Ryoma, who is struggling in prison, but also me, here and now!”
At this moment, the girl was somewhat stunned.