Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

"Well... I'm sorry," the white fluffy ball gritted its teeth and brought its face closer. "This... I've already used your money to pay the rent, so I don't have any money to give you right now. How about you beat me up? Beat me up as hard as you want, beat me up until I have to go to the hospital. I promise I won't say a word against it!"

Upon realizing that the seemingly beautiful girl in front of him was actually a humanoid Tyrannosaurus Rex capable of taking on twenty men at once, Kazuo Yuzuru shook his head frantically and hurriedly ran away.

"Heh." Raiden Mei curled her lips in disdain.

"What are you laughing at! There's more, isn't there? I saw your Fenglei Group collecting protection money at nightclubs with my own eyes, there's no doubt about that!"

To be honest, Kiana was quite afraid that she would drag someone else into the mess, which would confirm her own low IQ. She had beaten the wrong person three times in a row, and she really couldn't stand up to Raiden Mei anymore.

Fortunately, Raiden Mei finally let her off the hook this time. The girl remained silent for a long time before nodding: "That's right. There's no misunderstanding. The Fuu-Rai Group's sphere of influence is Hakusan Town and Hongo Town. They are responsible for supervising and protecting all nightclubs, which is exactly what our Raiden family requires."

“I thought you wouldn’t admit it,” Kiana said.

“Of the 23 wards in Tokyo, the Raiden family has influence in at least 16. Bunkyo Ward is our stronghold; we’ve dealt with almost every shop here. I don’t deny it, and there’s no need to.” Raiden Mei poured two glasses of sake, placed one on the table, and pushed it towards the other. “It’s not a sin.”

"Your family runs a yakuza gang, and you dare to talk like that?" Kiana frowned.

"Yakuza are legal in this country."

"That doesn't mean your actions are justified!"

Raiden Mei didn't answer immediately. Instead, she put down her glass and looked directly into her eyes, looking down at her. "Of course it makes sense. Otherwise, what do you think Yakuza is?"

She was already taller than Kiana, and because she was attending a formal occasion, she wore eight-centimeter high heels, making her more than ten centimeters shorter than Kiana. At this moment, the white-fuzzy ball of fur was actually intimidated by her sharp gaze. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"When the Yakuza emerged, this place wasn't called Tokyo yet; it was called Edo. At that time, the edict abolishing swords hadn't been implemented, and samurai still had the right to carry swords. They could kill civilians whenever they were in a bad mood, euphemistically calling it 'testing their swords.' After the Meiji Restoration, society was turbulent, and foreigners and samurai could kill people without being held accountable or even fined. The shogunate lost control of the country and couldn't do anything for the common people."

"And it was around that time that the Yakuza quietly emerged. Their members were nothing more than fallen samurai, dockworkers, farmers who had lost their land, small merchants and traders, and escorts. Each of these people was so weak that they would not be noticed by the upper-class samurai, bureaucrats, or foreigners. But when they united, they drew their swords and were able to establish their authority in that era through force."

"Thus, the Yakuza gained support. They sheltered the poor, protected businesses, and collected protection money, but they could actually help them, even to this day. There's a saying, 'Everything that exists has its reason,' and that's very true for the Yakuza. Our existence is justified."

"Nonsense!" Kiana listened patiently to her finish, then retorted loudly, "I thought you had some profound insights, but it turns out it's just the same old sophistry! People can live better without you. The era you're talking about is over. Now it's an era without slayers or samurai. You shouldn't even exist anymore!"

“But the weak still exist,” Raiden Mei said calmly.

"So what?" Kiana didn't understand.

“You only see the evil deeds committed by the yakuza, but you don’t see the logic behind those evil deeds. The yakuza are the dark side of society because there will always be weak, bullied, and lowly people in the world who either need the yakuza to protect them or need to join the yakuza.”

"Join...Yakuza?" Kiana was stunned.

"The weak always need to band together for warmth. Most of the people who make up the yakuza aren't privileged young ladies like me, but rather losers who can't integrate into mainstream society. Thugs who rob high school girls with knives are often children who dropped out of school due to family circumstances, children from failed family education environments. Women who engage in compensated dating in nightclubs are often burdened with countless loans, have no other options, are forced to have abortions due to unplanned pregnancies, losing their fertility, and are dragged down by their families, forced to use their bodies to pay off gambling debts. And the 'Wind and Thunder Group' you mentioned was just a group of sewer cleaners five years ago; now that the drainage system has been upgraded, they've been assigned to work in nightclubs. These people are indeed rotten people, having lost all faith in life. Why do they still want to survive and haven't taken revenge on society?"

“It’s because they can still stick together for warmth. They also have the protection of the Yakuza to prevent them from being erased by the ‘mainstream impression’ of society. Or they themselves have joined the Yakuza and used this job to gain ‘attention’ from outsiders. Even if this attention is often fear and disgust, it is better than indifference.” Raiden Mei looked into Kiana’s eyes. “The Yakuza accepted them and allowed them to barely integrate into society instead of rushing into kindergarten with a knife.”

"Staying together for warmth..." Kiana pondered these words.

“Japan needs yakuza. The lower classes have no one to protect them. Capital, the government, and even some violent neighbors can bully them. Such a country is far from abandoning yakuza. If Japan could eradicate evil like that country across the sea and allow even the lowest class to live with dignity, we would indeed have no reason to exist.” She paused. “But Japan can’t do that, so it can only legalize yakuza, because we are essentially an indispensable part of maintaining social stability.”

The subtext was that she didn't say it but believed Kiana understood.

Without people like the Raiden family, who would regulate the portion of the population unable to integrate into society due to social problems? Who would control these restless, marginalized people? Who would protect them? Who would provide them with the means to legally support themselves?

While Raiden Mei wouldn't dare claim to be completely clean, how much cleaner is the Schariac family really than the Raiden family?

Seeing Kiana's face turn red, and her inability to refute the argument, Raiden Mei knew she had gained the upper hand. The purpose of this debate was to make the Schariac family lose their "righteousness," and she easily countered the Schariac family's first move!

Although this white fluffy little thing seemed a bit different from the villain she had imagined, and even a bit silly, Raiden Mei was unsure if she had wasted so much breath talking to a brick wall...

Kiana struggled for a long time before finally managing to utter a word.

"I admit you have a point, but you still can't convince me."

“I’m not trying to convince you, it’s just the truth. By the way, the Raiden family is considered relatively clean-living in the yakuza world. We don’t get involved in most illegal activities, and most of ME Corporation’s businesses are legitimate, like this bar you’re in.” Raiden Mei implied that if the Shaniat family wanted to expand into Japan, they could target other yakuza groups.

"Is this yours too? You're not going to dock my pay, are you?" Kiana asked instinctively.

Raiden Mei was taken aback.

"Fine..." Kiana sighed. "Talking about this is exhausting. How about this: you're here to demand an explanation, but I can't give you one. Let's fight! If you win, I'll go to work and pay you back the money I got! If you lose, we'll pretend none of this ever happened, and you're not allowed to come looking for me again!"

—Who wants your little bit of money!

Raiden Mei was about to refuse, but then she suddenly realized something.

"No, this guy is the vanguard of the Schariac family. Her meaning shouldn't be taken literally; she means if I win, the Schariac family will abandon their targeting of the Raiden family. If I lose, I'll just have to watch the Schariac family seize our assets!"

Raiden Mei took a deep breath.

"Then come on."

A flash of electricity crackled through her hair as she reached out and pulled the knife she carried from its violin case, slinging it over the hem of her school uniform skirt. "The Hokushin Itto-ryu style is renowned. Raiden Mei, please enlighten me."

Kiana's smile blossomed as she pulled a baseball bat from under the bar. "Hehe, I love fighting with beautiful girls! There's no particular style, but if I had to pick one, it's the Kaslana Gunfighting style. Kiana Kaslana... Schariac, reporting for duty!"

And then the next second.

Raiden Mei saw the once spirited white fluffy ball suddenly lose its composure, hurriedly putting away the stick, and revealing an awkward but ingratiating smile on its fair and lovely face.

"Oh, landlord, what brings you here? Don't listen to her nonsense. I didn't go out to cause any trouble, and I didn't bring you any trouble. Nobody knows I live here. This is my good friend, my classmate. She's not some enemy who came knocking on my door. Don't you think so, Mei? Mei?"

Chapter Sixty-Six: St. Freya is an all-girls school, bro.

Personality can switch in an instant.

Raiden Mei turned around in surprise and saw a child much shorter than her walk in through the bar's closed door.

Although he was a boy, his hair was shoulder-length and neatly tied up. His appearance was more delicate than handsome, but paired with his aloof expression and obviously custom-made trench coat... well, how to put it.

Secondary disease?

This kind of kid who clearly looks like a child but insists on putting his hands in his pockets, having a cold expression, and wearing a trench coat to act like an adult is really just being a chuunibyou!

But it really is cute!

At other times, Raiden Mei would gently bow her head and greet the child like an older sister, but now that tensions are high, Raiden Mei can only maintain her cold and hard persona.

"A child?" Raiden Mei frowned.

"Oh my god." Kiana covered her face. She actually knew quite well that Shen Liang didn't like being treated like a child. He was indeed much more mature than most people his age, although his appearance made people feel less entitled to have an equal conversation with him.

“I’m at most two years younger than you.” Shen Liang glanced at her. “Let’s consider us the same age for now. It’s very impolite of you to talk to someone your own age like that.”

Raiden Mei looked down at him, whose height barely reached her chin, her expression puzzled.

Shen Liang could tell what she was thinking from her expression. He took a deep breath and said, "Don't look at me like that. Your heels are at least fifteen centimeters high."

“No, it’s only eight centimeters.” Raiden Mei replied instinctively.

"Hahahaha!" Kiana couldn't hold back anymore, laughing so hard she was doubled over, pounding the bar counter. Shen Liang wanted to glare at her fiercely, but hearing the two little rascals behind him laughing heartily without giving him any face, his expression became even more gloomy.

He could only change his mind and look at the girl in front of him, who had the same black hair as him and was clearly a local.

Is it true that all the beautiful girls are concentrated in the upper echelons of society? Raiden Mei's looks are in no way inferior to Kiana's. It seems that only wealthy families can produce such stunning young ladies. At least Shen Liang has never seen so many beautiful girls in the first half of his life... Let me repeat, the orphanage is full of children.

Moreover, compared to Kiana's paramecium-like intelligence and emotional intelligence, the black-haired girl in front of me has a cool and unapproachable aura that makes her seem like a true young lady.

"Are you planning to fight?" Shen Liang asked.

"Hi..." Kiana quickly dodged the question, "How could that be, landlord? I'm always a well-behaved, obedient, and sensible girl who doesn't cause trouble for anyone. This is my classmate, she came to visit me."

Then, right in front of Shen Liang, she frantically gave Raiden Mei meaningful glances.

Raiden Mei really wanted to say that everyone was watching her expression, but she couldn't. So she ignored Kiana and asked curiously, "Hello, I am Raiden Mei. Are you Kiana's landlord?"

Logically, the Schariac family should live at the school, but Kiana has never lived on campus and instead rents a place outside... Is this the place she's renting?

"Don't answer questions with questions; it's very impolite," Shen Liang said.

Raiden Mei realized that she hadn't noticed his problem because she had been treating the boy like a child, and immediately looked apologetic: "Excuse me, little brother, we were just now... um... if you hadn't come, we probably would have started fighting already."

Little brother... even a young lady like you really doesn't know how to talk!

"A fight broke out here?" Shen Liang nodded. "Does St. Freya Academy not allow students to fight privately outside?"

He didn't actually know what kind of school St. Freya was, but saying it like that gave people the feeling that "I also know about St. Freya," which might make Raiden Mei think of him as a fellow "supernatural" being.

"You... know St. Freya?" Raiden Mei was puzzled at first, but after thinking about it, she realized that someone who could be Kiana's landlord must be from the transcendental world.

"I received my acceptance letter. Maybe someday we'll be classmates," Shen Liang casually offered.

But Raiden Mei's eyes widened immediately.

"How is this possible?" She looked at Kiana, then at Shen Liang, and said incredulously, "St. Freya is a school in which the Shaniat family owns 40% of the shares... it..."

"It's an all-girls school!"

All four were stunned, except for Kiana, who slunk away.

Shen Liang grabbed her pigtails without any expression.

No need to think about it, this kind of thing is definitely related to her.

"Explain it."

"Waaaaah, landlord, let go... I... I... I talked to my aunt several times before she finally agreed that taking in a boy wasn't a big deal..." Kiana tilted her head, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain of having her ponytail pulled. "St. Freya Academy is a super fun school, landlord, you got a great deal, I'm telling you, I... Ouch ouch ouch!"

"what happened."

"My aunt has your picture... She thinks you're very cute, comparable to her, and that you wouldn't be disliked by your classmates even if you were a boy." Kiana felt a surge of anger. She was suffering because of her aunt's capriciousness; usually, it was her aunt who did these things!

"St. Freya Academy only admits girls, partly because girls are significantly more adaptable to Honkai energy than boys, and partly because menstruation is... a matter of luck," Kiana said in a low voice. "Strictly speaking, St. Freya isn't an all-girls school; it just hasn't admitted any boys. But there are male teachers and male staff members at the school, so it doesn't matter."

Shen Liang caught the key words and, no longer bothering to pretend, asked directly.

What is Honkai energy?