Chapter 14: I'm Kiana Kaslana, After All
Elysia: I found Kiana!
When Jiang Qiao woke up from his sleep, he saw Elysia's message in the chat group.
"That fast?"
"Let me guess, she probably saved you and you ended up catching her?"
Resting her head on the soft pillow, Jiang Qiao, with sleepy eyes, raised her slender hand and yawned. Combining the previous events, she casually made a guess.
Elysia: Gah! You guessed it! Darn, I was trying to keep you in suspense!
Elysia: It really was a damsel-in-distress situation. Mei was attacked by Honkai beasts, thankfully, Kiana appeared in time, otherwise things would have been dangerous!
It was obvious that the girl was still quite afraid of the situation.
Jiang Qiao, who was lying on her side with her fist supporting her cheek, looked at Elysia's group message, and found it a bit amusing.
"Even if Kiana hadn't appeared, Raiden Mei wouldn't have been in any real danger."
Elysia: Eh? Really?
Elysia on the other end was obviously confused by this statement.
But, Jiang Qiao was quite certain.
"Do you think that Cocolia would allow Raiden Mei, who is the core of her plan, to die in the hands of a few measly Honkai beasts?"
Of course not.
In fact, Bronya had been monitoring Raiden Mei and had the responsibility to prevent any accidents.
"If Kiana hadn't appeared, then it would probably have been Bronya who appeared in front of Raiden Mei."
Jiang Qiao was recalling the manga she had read about the Third Honkai Eruption. Although many of the settings were very confusing and retconned, there was no doubt that Bronya placed great importance on Raiden Mei's safety.
Even during Raiden Mei's most dangerous scene on the rooftop, he suspected that even if Kiana didn't save her, the cook would have still been saved by Bronya, along with Project Bunny.
Elysia: Emmmm, but in any case, the outcome is still good. We found Kiana.
Elysia: Kiana is such a cute girl!
Jiang Qiao looked at this message, and suddenly felt playful, and asked:
"Is she cuter than Raiden Mei?"
Elysia: You can't say things like that~ Mei and Kiana are both cute!
"Indeed, that's the kind of comment you would make. If a man had said that, he would probably have been called a cheater."
Elysia: Ehe~ That's a beautiful girl's privilege~
"That's a good one. I suggest you go and say that to Raiden Mei and Kiana right now."
If Elysia used her own body to say that kind of thing to those two, she would definitely be punished by the heavens, right?
Jiang Qiao thought to herself.
Elysia: You're so mean! But, I didn't expect to encounter such danger even before we came face to face with the mastermind of Nagazora City. This is really not an easy task.
Sakura Kyouko: Seriously, the chat group is practically becoming a love channel for the two of you. Every time I open it, there are 99+ unread messages. If you have nothing to do, I suggest you eat some Liuliumei!
Yunyun: L-Love channel!?
Hu Tao: Would you like a couples' package? The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is currently having a sale, at half the price!
Elysia: There's absolutely no need for that kind of thing!
She had already learned about what kind of person Hu Tao was through their conversations.
Needless to say, she was avoiding her like the plague.
Although she was interested in Hu Tao, whom Jiang Qiao had said was also a beauty, a full-service funeral package did not fit with a beautiful girl in her prime at all.
"You're doing alright on your side. I, on the other hand, am about to go to the battlefield. What a headache."
Jiang Qiao didn't pay much attention to the silly group members. Besides, she kind of liked Elysia anyway, didn't she?
Moreover, they had swapped bodies, weren't they following the script of her name?
More than complaining, she was expressing her own worries.
Hu Tao: Huh? Going to war?
The Funeral Parlor master seemed to have caught a keyword.
Life… cough cough, don't misunderstand. She just felt that if there was going to be a war, one should be fully prepared.
Of course, Hu Tao herself was opposed to war, since war was always related to death.
Elysia: Is the Second Honkai Eruption about to erupt?
Elysia's expression became serious after seeing Jiang Qiao's group message.
In fact, before she swapped bodies, there were rumors going around inside Fire Moth that a major Honkai eruption would happen soon. Of course, Elysia was just living her own life and preparing for the possible battle.
But, she hadn't expected such a change to occur.
Now that she had caught the scent of war, Elysia couldn't help but worry about Jiang Qiao.
If she was going to the battlefield, then the Previous Era might be even more dangerous than where she was.
"Probably. Yesterday, when I met Mobius, she told me to train hard and prepare, so I'm guessing that Fire Moth's higher-ups probably already got the news and have started making preparations."
"Just by looking at her expression, you could tell that something big is about to happen."
Elysia: Dr. Mobius, huh…
Although she didn't know how Jiang Qiao would have known her, if she said so, then it was probably true.
Elysia, who was biting her lip worriedly, caught the attention of Mei, who was next to her. She asked with concern, "Jiang Qiao, what's wrong?"
"Ah, I'm fine."
Elysia, who had snapped back to reality, shook her head, and looked at Kiana, who was sitting on the other side of the table.
They had returned to the Raiden residence.
It was kind of embarrassing, but they had originally planned to eat out somewhere to talk, since it was already noon. However, Elysia was a penniless beggar, and Mei was also struggling due to her family's assets being frozen, which made eating at a restaurant a bit of a luxury.
They were too embarrassed to ask Kiana to pay for them—in reality, Kiana couldn't afford it either.
Having been drained dry, she hadn't even been paid for her shift today, and didn't even know where her dinner was going to come from.
For all these reasons, Elysia and them could only bring Kiana back home.
At the table, she also told Kiana her goals and about the disaster that Nagazora City was about to face and hoped that Kiana would join their team and help them save the city.
Elysia had given Kiana some time to think for herself, and now it was time to ask for her answer:
"Kiana, have you made up your mind?"
"This kind of question doesn't even need to be thought about!"
Although Kiana had only heard about disasters like Honkai Eruptions from her deadbeat dad, and knew that trying to stop them was a matter of life and death, since there was an opportunity to save this city, even if it was dangerous and difficult, Kiana only had one answer.
"I'm Kiana Kaslana, after all!"