During the ti she stayed with Herta, Kiana's days were anything but peaceful. Herta did not give her any special treatnt because of their relationship. If anything, it was the opposite. In certain matters, Herta was even less courteous to her than before.
And when it ca to making things difficult for her, she showed no rcy at all.
Kiana only dared to complain a little in her heart. She absolutely did not dare to let even half a word slip in front of Herta.
After spending so ti together, Kiana finally understood a truth.
That was—Herta did not care about reason.
Explanations were useless to her. The greatest use of an explanation was rely to delay the ti before finishing those few sentences.
Through fits and starts, Kiana and Herta finally constructed the initial version of the Honkai Simulated Universe. Most of the credit had to go to Araya, who only appeared when she was needed.
Then there was Herta herself, who had experience building the Simulated Universe. Having done it once before, it posed no difficulty for her. The more troubleso part was gathering the necessary materials.
They had been delayed for so long precisely because of those materials.
Once the device was fully assembled, Kiana was finally able to extricate herself from Herta's grasp.
After running two rounds of testing and confirming everything operated without error, Kiana prepared to depart for Penacony.
"You're leaving already?"
"I should have left over a month ago," Kiana said, suddenly feeling embarrassed when she realized she had unknowingly delayed another month.
Fortunately, she had not told Robin in advance that she was coming to Penacony. Otherwise, she would not have known how to explain herself.
"Screwllum and the others will be coming in a couple of days. Do you want to wait a bit longer before leaving?"
Kiana shook her head. "Next ti. I don't have any particular reason to et Screwllum and the others."
Though she said that, another thought surfaced in her mind. If Screwllum and the others were coming, did that an the Starcrusher Swarm King incident was about to begin?
Had the matters on the Xianzhou already concluded?
The Astral Express' next stop was Penacony.
Kiana had no intention of staying. On the contrary, her desire to leave grew more urgent. Robin had invited her long ago. She could not very well arrive at Penacony at the last minute like everyone else.
"That's true." Herta nodded lightly and waved her hand. "Go then. But I might not be at the space station next ti."
"If you miss , send a ssage. I can teleport over," Kiana said carelessly. Then, rembering sothing, she quickly added, "As long as I'm not in the middle of traveling."
She had not anchored many people. Since developing her teleportation ability, she had only bound Acheron, Ruan i, and Jyahnar. Now she would have to add Herta as well.
All of them were people inseparable from her life.
"If you co across anything interesting out there, rember to collect it for ," Herta said.
She was not surprised by Kiana's explanation, nor did she show any reluctance at parting. She had only asked because she had recalled her personal test subject.
For the device she and Kiana had developed together, she planned to let that little gray-haired one try it as well.
Originally, she had intended for Kiana to stay and observe.
After all, it was the fruit of both their efforts.
...Araya?
Herta counted her contribution under Kiana's na. There was no real difference anyway.
"I'm leaving then. See you next ti."
She had already inford Ruan i in advance. So ti ago, she had also spoken with Acheron, asking whether she wanted to et up and go to Penacony together.
But Acheron said she was currently outside and would need so ti to rendezvous, telling Kiana to head to Penacony first.
Considering Acheron's strength—she could practically walk sideways across the universe—as long as she did not encounter an Aeon, no one should be able to pose a threat to her. Kiana did not worry too much.
In her normal state, Acheron could handle most situations. Against stronger enemies, she could also draw upon the power of the Herrscher of Thunder from the Honkai side.
If the enemy were an especially troubleso Emanator?
Acheron herself was an Emanator of Nihility. Kiana imagined there were probably few in the universe willing to fight an Emanator of Nihility.
After bidding Herta farewell, Kiana boarded a ship bound for Penacony and departed the star system in a warp jump.
Of course, once she was on the ship, she imdiately took out her phone and inford Robin.
While en route, she was certain there would be no further mishaps.
If there were?
Then she would crash straight through them.
The planetary system where the Herta Space Station was located lay an imnse distance from Penacony's.
To reach Penacony, she would have to remain aboard the ship for quite so ti.
Co to think of it, ever since gaining the teleportation ability to save travel ti between places, she had not taken a warp-capable ship in a long while.
Kiana did not feel bored.
Alone inside the vessel as it traveled automatically toward Penacony, she took out her phone and began to enjoy the freedom of controlling her own ti.
Playing gas!
Ti passed quietly.
With no disturbances along the way, Kiana smoothly arrived once more at the Planet of Festivities in the Asdana System.
There was still so ti before the Charmony Festival began. Kiana had just arrived at the hotel lobby and had not yet entered the dream world.
Even so, from the bustling crowd in the lobby, she could already glimpse a corner of the coming excitent. Compared to her last visit to Penacony, there were nearly twice as many people.
"Over here."
A voice as lodious as music reached her ears. As Kiana looked around for Robin, she spotted her not far away.
Seeing a friend she had not t in a long ti, Kiana's eyes lit up. Avoiding the passersby, she quickly walked over to her.
"Kiana, it's been so long!"
A joyful smile curved Robin's lips when she saw her. For her, nothing was more delightful than reunion after a long separation.
"Yeah. The sea of stars is just too vast," Kiana said happily. "I haven't exactly been idle either—running back and forth between Izumo and the Herta Space Station."
"When you're out adventuring, don't forget to take care of yourself," Robin said gently. "When I couldn't reach you and learned from Miss Sirin that you had fallen unconscious, I truly wanted to go to Izumo in person to see how you were doing."
"Sorry, sorry. I made you worry." Kiana smiled sheepishly and lowered her voice. "It really wasn't a big deal. For , it was just like taking a nap. Though... I guess it was a rather long one."
Robin sighed helplessly. She had not known Kiana for only a day or two—let alone the long period they had traveled and worked together.
"Let take you to check in first."
...
"There are even more people here than last ti," Kiana remarked, staying close by Robin's side as she continued observing their surroundings.
This ti in Penacony, she still had not seen Sunday.
Co to think of it, did he not want to know what kind of friend his sister had made?
"Most of them are here for the upcoming Charmony Festival," Robin replied with a smile. "In a while, even more dream-chasers will arrive in Penacony."
The true main players had yet to appear.
Thinking of certain matters, Robin could not help but feel a trace of heaviness settle in her heart.
She did not show it. Instead, she brought Kiana along and once again helped her complete the check-in procedures for Penacony.
After handing over the dream manual and related items, Robin naturally took Kiana's hand and said, "Co. I'll take you to your room."
Though they had not seen each other for so ti, she did not grow distant because of it.
Kiana walked beside her as they found the room for this stay. Robin escorted her inside, but did not leave imdiately.
"I want to ask for your help, Kiana."
After closing the door, the smile on Robin's face was replaced by a trace of worry. She seed to have been troubled for quite so ti.
"Did sothing happen?"
Kiana knew about Penacony's situation in her heart, but this was not sothing she could say outright, nor would it be easy to explain.
"I suspect sothing is wrong within Penacony," Robin said, trusting Kiana enough to voice thoughts she had never told anyone else. "Penacony... has developed a discordant note. And soone, using the Watchmaker's na, has sent out invitations to many people under the pretext of this Charmony Festival."
"I have a feeling... this Charmony Festival won't be peaceful."
Robin pressed her lips together. After investigating Penacony's current state, she had co to understand certain things.
There was a traitor within the Family.
And the Watchmaker's legacy would undoubtedly bring unprecedented trouble to Penacony.
As a mber of the Family,
Robin had not sought help from the others. After discovering the discordant note within Penacony and learning of the traitor in the Family, she began investigating in secret.
But she could not tell her brother about this. He would never want to see her take risks.
Especially now, when the discordant note in Penacony had made her unable to sing normally there.
The discordant note, the traitor within the Family, the mysterious invitations, the Watchmaker's legacy...
These matters were surely connected.
Robin looked at Kiana, a hint of difficulty in her expression—but even more so, expectation. "Right now, the only one who can help is you, Kiana."
Robin's sincerity and trust made Kiana feel a little embarrassed.
Because she knew the truth Robin sought.
And the "villain" in this incident was none other than Robin's own brother.
The head of the Oak Family—Sunday.
"...What do you need to do?"
Why did Kiana look as though she already knew sothing?
A flicker of doubt rose in Robin's heart.
"I will investigate the truth myself," Robin said seriously. "But there has always been a sense of unease in my heart—sothing with nowhere to settle. If things truly develop to the point where it becos necessary, I hope you will step in."
"M-?"
Kiana pointed at herself in astonishnt. She was certain Robin had not forgotten what had happened on Kasbelina-VIII.
Robin had even gone to Izumo with her.
During their tour, they had traveled together to worlds in need of help.
"Among everyone I know, only you can help ," Robin said, her gaze utterly serious and without the slightest impurity. "If things truly reach that stage, I believe your intervention will bring new hope."
It took Kiana quite a while to process being treated as a final safeguard.
Robin ant that if the Charmony Festival turned out as disastrous as she feared, she hoped Kiana would act at the appropriate ti.
"Is that really alright?"
"I trust you." A smile once again appeared on Robin's face. She placed a hand over her heart and said, "We've partnered up many tis already, haven't we?"
To Robin, Kiana was no longer an ordinary friend.
She was a companion who walked alongside her in practicing the belief of "the strong aiding the weak." She was the one who had told her that true peace and stability required the will of everyone to push it forward together.
Together, they had carried seeds of hope and courage to worlds in need of salvation, sowing them into the hearts of their people.
That half year traveling with Kiana was the most important mory of Robin's life.
A mory that would never fade.
After parting from Kiana, she had always hoped for another chance to journey alongside her.
Only after their separation did she realize she had begun to miss her.
From Kasbelina-VIII in the beginning, to the later road they walked together upholding the sa ideals, many of the words Kiana had once said—words that had moved her—had grown clearer and clearer with ti.
The mories of helping others together.
The mory of holding Kiana's hands and teaching her to sing.
Those laughing, happy mories.
All the beauty of being with her.
After the day Kiana reunited with Miss Raiden i and bade her farewell,
those mories beca ever clearer.
That budding affection, still in its hazy infancy, had shattered into pieces before it ever had the chance to be spoken aloud, broken apart by the sudden news.
They loved each other.
At the ti, Robin had only felt regret. She sorted through the bitterness in her heart, smiled, and offered her blessing to Kiana and Raiden i.
That affection, which had died in its infancy, should have faded away.
It should not have continued to exist.
Yet after they parted, Robin discovered that the affection that should have died had not dissipated even after learning Kiana already had a lover. Instead, it took root in her heart and grew faster and faster.
Nourished by those beautiful mories, its vines wrapped tightly around her, as though trying to trap her within that sea of recollection.
Kiana was visibly moved and nodded. "As long as this is your wish, I will help you."
"You're still the sa as before," Robin said with a smile. "I knew you wouldn't refuse ."
Kiana nodded as if it were only natural. "Of course. We're friends. You even helped find i."
"Then later, we'll et at the usual place," Robin said, nodding without responding to her last remark.
"The Golden Hour, right?"
Kiana made an OK gesture toward her. "No problem at all. I'll wait for you by the statue."
"See you later, Kiana."
"See you later."
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