22: Chapter 22 Trust

Bronya looked at Kaiwen, a thin layer of mist gradually welling up in her gray eyes.

She shrank back a little behind Kiana in fear, clutching the corner of Kiana's clothes with her small hand, and said in a low voice:

"Sister Kiana, did Sister Kaiwen mistake me for someone else? Bronya has never been to that Mei's house before. Monsters suddenly appeared at the school today, and Bronya was so terrified that she kept hiding at the school gate until she met Sister Kiana later..."

After listening, Kiana's eyebrows twitched slightly.

She glanced at Bronya, looked at Kaiwen again, and then leaned closer to Kaiwen, as if subconsciously preparing to support her.

It was this exact movement that made Kaiwen unable to continue her words.

Looking into Kiana's clean and transparent blue eyes, Kaiwen couldn't speak, as if something was clutching her throat.

There was no doubt whatsoever in Kiana's eyes, only a matter-of-fact partiality.

Without any questioning, she staked all her trust entirely on Kaiwen's side.

This unreserved trust was too heavy—so heavy that Kaiwen suddenly felt a strong sense of guilt.

If she continued to weave her fabricated lies, she would be treating Kiana's sincerity as a shield for deception.

Kaiwen took a deep breath and forcibly swallowed back the lies that had already rushed to her lips.

"...Maybe I was mistaken." She looked away, her tone somewhat muffled, "The sky was gloomy at the time, and I probably mistook someone else's hairstyle."

Although she knew Bronya was indeed likely the culprit who caused Raiden Mei to turn into a Herrscher, looking at that small and slender figure, Kaiwen ultimately couldn't bring herself to directly slander her without evidence.

And...

Kaiwen secretly glanced at Kiana beside her.

The Kiana in the game was a pair of walking instant noodles, whose brain was filled with nothing but eating, an idiot whose intelligence was as touching as her test scores.

But the Kiana in reality would wear a cold face and treat her like family.

If Kiana could be different from the one in the game, what about Bronya?

Perhaps the Bronya of this world was also different from the one in her Remembrance.

Hearing Kaiwen's explanation, Kiana glanced at her and didn't say anything more.

Meanwhile, Bronya, hiding behind Kiana, quietly lowered her head.

Yet from an angle they couldn't see, there was not the slightest trace of grievance in Bronya's lowered gray eyes.

"The little girl with twin-drill hair", "at Mei's house", "Honkai Energy".

Every single one of these three terms precisely corresponded to her actions.

Just how much did this girl named Kaiwen know?

Kiana's voice broke the brief silence in the alley. She placed her hand on the iron pipe leaning against the wall and asked Kaiwen: "Kaiwen, can you determine Raiden Mei's location?"

Kaiwen nodded, pointing toward the sky outside the alley shrouded in dark clouds: "In the direction of Chiba Academy, all... those purple rays of light are converging there."

She paused, looked at Kiana, then looked at Bronya cowering in the back, and took a deep breath:

"Kiana, you take Bronya and find a safe place to hide. I'll go alone."

Kiana's expression instantly turned cold.

"What did you say?"

"It's too dangerous over there, I don't want to drag you down." Kaiwen tried to make her tone sound calmer, "I'll go find Mei, you guys wait for me—"

"Shut up."

Kiana grabbed Kaiwen's wrist with a force as if she wanted to crush her bones. Staring into Kaiwen's eyes, her voice was low and cold:

"If we go, we go together. I'm not discussing this with you!"

Kaiwen wanted to say something more, but Kiana had already released her wrist, bent down to pick up the iron pipe leaning against the wall, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and turned to walk toward the alley entrance.

There was not a shred of hesitation in that retreating figure.

"Bronya wants to go too."

A small voice came from behind again.

Bronya lowered her head slightly: "Where Sister Kiana goes, Bronya goes too. Bronya doesn't want to be left here alone."

Kiana looked back at Kaiwen, her meaning clear: You decide.

Kaiwen lowered her head to look at Bronya.

And Bronya was also looking at her, gazing at her with those gray eyes tinged with a hint of mist, as if she would burst into tears if Kaiwen didn't agree.

Although Kaiwen always felt that this Bronya had something a bit off, looking at her expression, Kaiwen could only helplessly speak up.

"Just stay close, and be careful once we get there later," Kaiwen said.

Bronya nodded with a stiff face.

Seeing this, Kiana wasted no more words and rushed out of the alley carrying the iron pipe.

Kaiwen and Bronya followed closely behind, quickly merging into the gloomy streets.

Violent winds blew across the empty streets of Changkong City, and the store signs on both sides made harsh frictional noises in the wind.

Kaiwen kept her nerves tense all the way, prepared to face an attack from a Death Soldier at any moment, but as she ran, she found the surroundings eerily quiet.

Not even a single shadow of a Death Soldier could be seen on the street.

Not only were there no Death Soldiers, but there weren't even any traces of battle or struggle on the road, only patches of carbonized ash piles struck by lightning, as well as various chopped-down utility poles.

It was as if... before they arrived, something had already cleared away all the obstacles ahead.

Kaiwen's heart sank slightly.

The only one who could do this was Raiden Mei.

Kiana obviously sensed that something was wrong too; she stopped talking and silently quickened her pace.

The further they walked toward the school, the stronger the smell of burnt feathers in the air became, and electrical currents capable of paralyzing the skin even began to appear amidst the violent wind.

Finally, amidst a dead silence, the school gate of Chiba Academy appeared in their line of sight.

The original school gate had collapsed halfway, and countless electric arcs flashed across the surrounding iron fences.

Looking past the school gate, there was not the shadow of any living creature in the spacious campus, only a few gloomy and dismal teaching buildings towering in the fierce wind.

High in the air, heavy dark purple clouds slowly rotated above the academy, forming a huge vortex. At the center of the vortex, dazzling thunder occasionally wandered and flashed deep within the clouds, illuminating the entire academy with flickering light.

"We're here." Kaiwen stopped, looked up at the constantly flashing thunder deep within the academy, and muttered to herself.