Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

"Meaning? Didn't I already tell you the meaning?"

Qianjie said with a cold laugh,

"Spot from the inside out, kill anyone you encounter!"

"I see..."

Melutina nodded and looked at the book in his hand.

"It's a very niche report, but she likes it a lot. Probably because it tells some true stories."

"The world respects her for the lies she wrote, but disregards the facts within them, which is utterly ridiculous."

"She does enjoy lying to seduce others, but she didn't write those false statements in this book... so it didn't sell well."

Melutina nodded and asked,

"Qian Jie, in your opinion, is she innocent?"

"All I know is that since she has been defined as a sinner by this world, I have a reason to kill everyone... because they can all be defined as evil."

Qianjie straightened up and stood up, looking down at Melutina, who was crouching with her legs drawn up to her chest.

“Melutina, you should have been her savior.”

"I know."

Melutina nodded without saying anything.

"I really wanted to kill you back then."

Qianjie continued.

"I know."

Melutina nodded again.

"But I don't want to kill you now."

"……Why?"

Melutina was silent for a moment, then asked.

“I just stood up to look at you, and I finally understand why Aponia is so obsessed with you.”

"Is Sister Aponia... related to her?"

Melutina didn't understand that sentence.

"Get out of here, little girl. You can't be anyone's savior, because you're a weakling waiting to be saved."

You cannot expect one weak person to save another weak person.

After saying this coldly, Qianjie lay back down on the bed, opened the book, and remained silent.

…………

The deepest place

"It's so dark here..."

Alicia strolled leisurely through the passageway, a privilege reserved for her; she could come and go as she pleased.

Of course, she didn't reveal this secret when she broke into the prison.

"Aponia, good evening?"

Alicia walked up to the woman who was sitting quietly and greeted her with a smile.

"Alicia... It's nice to meet you."

Aponia smiled slightly and nodded.

"You know about what happened this time, right? I didn't expect Mei to almost activate the deepest level?"

Alicia sat down, picked up the cookie next to Aponia, and put it in her mouth.

"It wasn't almost..."

Aponia spoke at her usual 0.5x speed.

"It should have already started, if it weren't for that girl's sacrifice."

"You knew all along??"

Alicia looked up and asked.

"Yes, Qianjie and Xiaomei... they are both good children."

Aponia nodded and said

"That poor child... was a good child too. But I found out too late... I'm not omniscient."

"This incident gave Mei a real fright, but she is very weak now and can only rest in bed."

Alicia shrugged, picked up her teacup, and took two sips of tea.

“If that child is determined to be our enemy, that would be terrible.”

Aponia stood up and poured Alicia's tea.

"She really understands people's hearts, so much so that she can't even understand herself properly. But she's a good girl, and we are the bad guys."

"But the fact that she encountered Qianjie means her luck wasn't so bad, right?"

Alicia picked up her teacup, but couldn't drink it. She sighed, then changed her mind.

"Alright, alright... that child has had bad luck. Hopefully, she found what she was looking for before she left."

"She taught us all a lesson. She is currently the only fully autonomous Herrscher. Otherwise, we might have lost May and Kevin this time."

Aponia said quietly.

"She completely outmaneuvered the Moths of Fire, and all our reactions were exactly what she expected... except for Thousand Calamities?"

"

Alicia turned her gaze to the fruit platter on the table next to her.

"Even Dr. Mei was fooled by her. Mei is good at thinking, but not good at reading people's minds. That is the most difficult and important thing in the world to grasp."

But this is also a good thing. Being too insightful about people's hearts can ultimately lead to one's downfall, because not everyone's heart can be seen through.

Aponia noticed Alicia's gaze, brought over the fruit platter, and placed it in front of her.

"Aponia, do you think we'd get along well if that kid named Nino came here?"

Alicia peeled the orange and tilted her head.

"Perhaps if she had met Ellie earlier, things wouldn't have turned out this way."

Whether it was a joke or not, Aponia said this.

"Aponia, you flatter me too much..."

Alicia shook her head.

"However, if I had met such a lovely girl sooner, I would definitely have become good friends with her."

"Alicia will definitely be able to. By the way, where's Kevin?"

"After he heard that Nino was the other girl Himeko saved, he took on the task of informing the family of her death himself."

"He's still the same as always."

Aponia shook her head.

"Bearing too much pain may not be a good thing."

.........

"Is this Miss Nino's home?"

Kevin knocked on the door with a box in his hand. When he opened it, a blond young man looked at him with some surprise.

"You are...my sister's friend?"

The young man said uncertainly.

"Or rather...boyfriend?"

"That's not the case... Are your parents, Miss Nino's adoptive parents, at home?"

Kevin shook his head and asked.

"Um, who exactly are you...?"

"I am a member of the Moth of Fire, and I have come to convey some necessary... matters to you."

Kevin took out his identification, which bore the emblem of the Firemoth, something that could not be faked.

"Eh? Ah... okay, please come in."

.........

"Um, Mr. Kevin, has something happened to Nino?"

The person suspected to be Nino's adoptive father spoke somewhat hesitantly.

"If anything happens... please be lenient. She's just a child, after all. We can take responsibility."

"..."

This surprised Kevin, as the records showed that Nino did not have a good relationship with this family during her student days, at least the family did not pay for her tuition.

But judging from the old man's attitude, he wasn't in a hurry to shirk responsibility; instead, he seemed inclined to help take on the burden.

"I'm sorry, Miss Nino didn't do anything wrong..."

Kevin carefully considered his words before speaking.

"Miss Nino...has passed away."

"Splash!"

Nino's foster mother, who was serving tea, suddenly trembled, and the tea and teacup spilled onto the floor.

"What did you say?!"