Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

"Padofilis".

Melutina spoke up.

"..."

Oh no! It's her full name!

Padofilis trembled slightly. People usually called her Padof or Filis, but when someone called her by her full name...

It's probably her turn to have bad luck.

"Come with me to tutoring..."

Melutina put her hand on her shoulder.

"Real combat."

"No, Sister Mei! People will die! Where's Sister Ying? Waaah, I need Sister Ying!"

Padofilis struggled, but was completely unable to budge Melutina, who was second in arm strength among the current Fusion Warriors.

Incidentally, the first one is Aponia; when she holds your hand, even Thousand Tribulations can't break free.

"Um, Lady Meltina..."

Jona felt it was her duty to help Padofilis as a friend, so she mustered her courage and spoke up.

"Actually, Pado..."

"Hmm, your name is Jona, right? Your grades are just barely passing. Do you want to come along?"

Melutina lifted Padofilis up and looked at Jona.

"No, no! Please take her with you!"

Jona immediately bowed and saw them off.

The ship of friendship can capsize at any moment.

"Okay, don't worry, I'll send her back to you once she gets a six-pack."

Melutina said, grabbing Padofilis by the back of her collar, and then left.

"Eight-pack abs? You might as well kill me, Sister Mei..."

Padofilis's wails still echoed in the dormitory building.

.........

"Hey, isn't this the kitten? What, you've come to play with me?"

Qianjie squatted on the wooden stakes in the training ground, looking to be in a good mood. He even greeted Padofilis, which was quite rare for him.

"No, no, no... I... I came for tutoring..."

"Padofilis, who was being held in Melutina's hands, said tremblingly."

"I came here to find you."

Melutina tossed Padofilis toward Thousand Calamities.

"Practice makes perfect."

"Oh? Kitten, do you want to have a real spar with me?"

"Thousand Tribulations looked down at Padofilis, who was lying on the ground, and said this."

"No, no, no, no, it's not..."

Padofilis was almost in tears; what she feared most had come to pass.

"During her combat training, she ran away with her back to Sakura, but she tripped over a rock and her butt was kicked and swollen by Sakura."

Melutina shook her head helplessly.

"If you can't fight... at least you should be able to run, right? So, I'm counting on you."

"Oh, so she wants me to play hide-and-seek with her... Well, that's not impossible."

Qianjie curled his lip.

"I happen to be pretty free today. Come on, little cat, let's get ready to run for our lives!"

"Today's lesson is about dodging a thousand attacks in one hour, regardless of the methods or means."

Melutina patted her head.

"I believe in you, Pado."

"Come on, little kitten! Cry out! Beg for mercy!"

"Help, my life!!!"

…………

Observation room

"You know what... she does actually have some talent."

Mebius looked at Padofilis, who was rolling around on the ground, with a strange expression.

"I didn't expect her to run away during the combat training. I almost couldn't stop myself... but in the end I only kicked her butt."

Sakura said helplessly.

"I really don't know if this child is a genius or an idiot."

"Wow, you dodged it again! Is Qianjie angry?"

Alicia watched with great interest.

"Won't there be any problems?"

Sakura said with some concern.

"Melutina is watching... probably."

Mebius glanced at the person dozing off next to him and shrugged.

"Qianjie knows what he's doing; he's a very well-behaved boy."

Alicia said,

"Because it seems that Qianjie quite likes this child."

"If she didn't steal my candy, I would actually like her quite a bit."

Möbius reached into his pocket but couldn't find any candy. After thinking for a moment, he said...

"Tsk, I think I saw her once this morning."

"What an interesting newcomer, I'm looking forward to her future... Wait, so she was the one who committed all the recent thefts?"

Su, who had her eyes closed, suddenly realized something and asked.

"Hmm? Is that so? My jewelry, Kevin's uniform, Mebius's candy, Melutina's bow... wait, did Sue also take something?"

Alicia nodded, then paused for a moment.

"The fruit on my vegetable garden's fruit trees is gone..."

Chapter Ninety-Seven: First Meeting

"Sakura-senpai, Pado is stuck in the wall."

"...We are not tasked with circumventing the wall."

"She wanted to steal some eggs from a farmer's house, but she accidentally got her throat stuck."

"..."

…………

"Hey, Sakura-nee, what are we going to do this time? Why did you suddenly say we have an internship? What are we supposed to do?"

Padophilia followed behind Sakura, scratching her head.

"Investigate a murder case."

Sakura walked silently at the front, then turned and answered.

“Normally, this kind of case shouldn’t be handed over to the Moth Chaser, but this place belongs to… the chaotic zone caused by the last collapse, and no country is in charge, so we have to send people here.”

Consider this your internship assignment. After all, the tasks you'll be handling in the future will be far more challenging.

"oh oh."

"Sakura-senpai, may I ask what kind of murder case it is?"

Wei'er, who had been looking down at her phone, looked up and asked when she heard it was a murder case.

(Vell and Jona appeared in Pathophilis's Memory Vessel. They were fusion warriors from the same era as Pathophilis and died in the eleventh Honkai Impact.)

"The abbot of a monastery has died."

Sakura hesitated for a moment, then continued,

"Through the Fire Moth's in-depth investigation into the monastery's background, it was discovered that while the monastery appeared to be a charitable organization sheltering Honkai orphans, in private..."

They would secretly sell some pretty boys and girls, since most of the Honkai orphans didn't have identification. Even if they died, there was no way to hold them legally accountable.

"What?! A convent sells children?!"

Jona, who grew up in a convent, turned pale.

"They're called children, but they're actually young people whose secondary sexual characteristics have fully developed. They're naive and inexperienced, and they're basically sold to support others..."

Sakura stopped there, but everyone understood.

"This case is largely certain to be a homicide. Many people have died in this area in recent years without any explanation. But this is the only monastery in the area, and the implications are too far-reaching. Only we can arrest the perpetrator and convict him."

"Does this kind of scum really have to take another life with him?"

Wei'er frowned and couldn't help but ask.

“I don’t know what Mei is thinking, but as the ones carrying out the orders, all we need to do is bring that person back.”