The girl was petite, appearing no taller than five or six centimeters, yet her presence felt remarkably composed. The prominent dark circles around her eyes made her look less like a child and more like an overworked office drone on the verge of collapse from continuous overtime.
Mei looked puzzled. Elysia had briefly described the Flame-Chasers to her, but she didn't recall any mention of such a small girl. More importantly, she sensed a 'realness' about this girl, a solidity that the memory simulations of the Flame-Chasers lacked.
"Hello, Miss Raiden Mei. I am Klein, the maintenance personnel for the Elysian Realm." Before Mei could speak, Klein introduced herself. "As you can see, I am not a memory simulation within the Realm, but an ELF created by the Doctor."
ELF? Mei grew even more surprised. She had never heard of such a concept. Moreover, the girl's expressions and movements were perfectly human; she didn't resemble a 'ELF' in any way.
However, Mei didn't voice her doubts. After all, with the Previous Era's technology capable of creating the Elysian Realm itself, the existence of ELFs wasn't entirely outlandish. What mattered now was the information Klein had just presented.
"Miss Sakura... vanished?" Mei felt a fondness for Sakura. Although they had only met once, Sakura had saved her when Mobius betrayed her. She didn't know Sakura's reasons, but she would never forget this debt of gratitude.
"Yes. Shortly after the Doctor's signal disappeared, Miss Sakura also lost contact. I investigated her movements before she vanished and found her trajectory highly unusual, clearly indicating deliberate concealment. In other words, it's highly likely she hid her own signal intentionally."
"Intentionally hid it? Didn't you say a Flame-Chaser's signal vanishing only meant leaving the Realm or death?" Mei understood Klein's implication: she suspected Sakura had killed Mobius.
"Normally, yes. However, before entering the Elysian Realm, Miss Sakura was a member of the Poisonous Cocoon squad and possesses extremely advanced concealment techniques. If it was her, we cannot determine her status based solely on the signal."
"So?"
Klein brought up her control panel, displaying several data sets and comparing them with earlier records. "If Miss Mei's description just now is accurate, then you were likely the last person to have contact with Sakura, and it seems she specifically left something for you."
With that, Klein glanced towards the doorway. A second later, Pardofelis shuffled in, ears drooping, carrying a box. Upon seeing Mei, her face filled with apology. "Sorry, Big Sis Mei! I thought this was something nobody wanted..."
Seeing Pardofelis's demeanor, Mei immediately realized the cat-girl had probably swiped the item Sakura left for her in the main hall while Mei was unconscious. Her presence here likely meant Klein had discovered the item in Pardofelis's possession during the subsequent investigation.
The death of a Flame-Chaser was a grave matter, and the atmosphere in the room was tense. Pardofelis didn't dare breathe too loudly. It was Elysia who stepped forward, gently ruffling Pardofelis's hair to ease the tension. "Don't worry, Pardo. We didn't call you here because of your... 'acquisitions'. We just wanted to ask if you remember when this item appeared in the main hall."
Elysia's smile was always reassuring. Pardofelis sighed in relief, quickly handed the box to Mei, and then described what happened.
"Maybe about two nights ago? I was passing through the hall and suddenly noticed this box on the shelf. It was really late, everyone else was asleep, and I was a bit out of it from staying up late 'acquiring goods'... so I just slipped the box into my bag."
After hearing Pardofelis's account, Klein nodded, continuing to type notes on her tablet. "Miss Mei went to the Doctor's laboratory 30 hours ago. This means Sakura visited the main hall sometime before that and left this item in advance."
She turned back to Mei. "Could you open the box and see?"
Mei nodded. She didn't believe Sakura would harm her.
Opening the box revealed a pale pink cherry blossom ornament attached to a thin cord, likely some kind of bracelet. Unquestionably, it matched Sakura's style.
Besides the ornament, there seemed to be a letter inside. Mei unfolded it, and elegant handwriting, completely different from the cold impression Sakura gave off, met her eyes.
"Miss Mei, my apologies, but I may have to break our promise..."
Reading through the letter, Mei learned Sakura's message. Originally, Sakura had intended to meet Mei in the main hall personally to discuss the Signet of Setsuna, but something unavoidable had come up.
She also briefly mentioned matters concerning her sister, Rin, and her suspicions about the prison. At the very end, she had even included her own insights regarding the Signet of Setsuna. It was clear she genuinely considered Mei a friend.
"My apologies for writing so much. I am not skilled with words and can only leave this letter. Rin is the most important person to me. I must investigate the information related to her. If I can return safely, I will certainly speak with you further, Miss Mei. —Sakura"
"Rin?" Their first meeting had been in the prison. Sakura mentioned she lingered there because of something she couldn't let go of, though she couldn't remember who was imprisoned. Now, reading the letter, it seemed Sakura had recalled clues about the prison.
Could Sakura's sister, Rin, have been the one imprisoned there? Mei couldn't help but wonder. Sakura had mentioned her memories were suppressed by the Discipline. If those sealed memories concerned Rin, Sakura, upon learning the truth, would undoubtedly prioritize finding a way to break the Discipline.
"Elysia, do you know anything about Rin?" Mei looked up at Elysia. As the core of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, Elysia likely knew the truth.
"..." Elysia faltered, her eyes dimming considerably. Clearly, she knew about Rin, and it was something she preferred not to discuss. But at this point, there was no need for further concealment.
"Rin was Sakura's younger sister. They were both victims of a Honkai Impact. After losing their home, they relied solely on each other. Before joining Fire Moth, Sakura was an assassin. To earn money and protect her sister, she often took risky jobs assassinating high-ranking Fire Moth officials."
"Originally, our people didn't know, until one of her assassination targets turned out to be Dr. Mobius. During that operation, she even severely injured Kevin, but ultimately failed. After her failure, Mobius didn't execute her. Instead, she recruited Sakura into Fire Moth, tasking her with eliminating internal traitors."
"At the time, the reason Dr. Mobius used to persuade her was, 'Only Fire Moth can truly protect your sister'..."
Hearing this, Mei began to understand. "They didn't protect her, did they?"
"No." Elysia didn't deny it. "Things went smoothly for a while. Sakura became a MANTIS, and we did our best to protect her sister, until... Fire Moth personnel detected a Herrscher signal originating from within Rin."
"In the tense atmosphere of that time, detecting a Herrscher signal meant a threat. So, the higher-ups ordered Rin to be imprisoned. Sakura was furious when she found out and objected strongly, but while she was away on a mission, the higher-ups went ahead and locked Rin away."
"By the time Sakura returned, it was too late. She ultimately chose to rebel, forcibly breaking into the prison. But when she finally arrived, Rin had already been killed by soldiers influenced by the Discipline."
"Discipline again... What exactly is it?"
"A powerful form of mental suggestion, wielded by Aponia. At that time, humanity was nearly extinct, reduced to just three remaining cities. Everyone was steeped in despair. To bolster morale, the Discipline was reluctantly employed."
"The content of the Discipline was [Never give up hope in resisting the Honkai]. It was meant to combat despair, but..."
"The Discipline became twisted," Mei finished the thought.
"Yes. The soldiers killed Rin, and Sakura fell into despair. What was even more terrifying was that Rin had been chosen by a virus-type Herrscher, one that would only fully emerge upon her death."
"The Herrscher of Corruption quickly seized control of humanity's networks, even gaining control of nuclear missiles. It launched them at the three remaining human cities, completely extinguishing humanity's hope."
Just from the description, Mei could feel the utter despair of the Previous Era. The sequence of events Elysia described felt tragically ironic. As long as Rin lived, the Herrscher wouldn't awaken. Yet, humans themselves killed Rin, thereby unleashing the world-destroying Herrscher.
Sighing, Elysia continued softly, "After the Herrscher of Corruption destroyed humanity's last hope, Sakura finally found her. At that time, Rin's consciousness seemed not yet completely erased. After a battle, Sakura killed the Herrscher."
"So... Sakura killed Rin with her own hands?" Mei hadn't expected this outcome at all. From Sakura's letter, she had sensed her deep love for her sister. If Sakura learned she was the one who ultimately killed Rin, it would be unbearably cruel.
"So you used the Discipline to seal her memories?"
"No, the Sakura in the Elysian Realm doesn't know what happened afterwards, doesn't know Rin is dead. To protect her, everyone maintained silence, never speaking of Rin."
"However, her weapon at the time was the Third Divine Key, the Seven Thunders of Retribution. Seven Thunders records the enemies it slays. This means even if Sakura didn't know the later events, she could learn the truth of Rin's death through the weapon."
"Reality was already desperate enough; we couldn't bear to watch Sakura suffer through it again. So, Aponia placed the Discipline on her, blurring her memories related to Rin as much as possible, while also preventing her from drawing Seven Thunders."
"In an earlier accident, Seven Thunders was shattered into fragments, so this balance was maintained for fifty thousand years. But recently, the fragments of Seven Thunders have gradually been recovered, reforming it into the Divine Key once more..."
"So, the important matter Sakura mentioned... could it be she found clues leading to the Seven Thunders of Retribution?"
Elysia nodded. "We suspect the same. After hiding the truth for 50,000 years... if she learns it now, it's hard to imagine what she might do."
Seeing their discussion winding down, Klein stated her purpose.
"Miss Mei, you were the last person Sakura contacted. You are also the Herrscher of Thunder. Is it possible... that Miss Sakura's disappearance is related to you?"
Mei froze, her expression instantly turning grim.
"Are you suspecting me of inciting conflict among the Flame-Chasers?"