Raiden Mei and the white-haired dango—no, she should be called Sirin now—walked along a path in Chaldeas.
To be honest, when Raiden Mei first heard that Li Zihan was critically ill and had been hospitalized, she didn't believe it. After all, that guy's constitution, much like Sirin's, was so robust it hardly seemed human. Miss Mei strongly suspected he was just faking it.
But—the details that followed quickly changed her mind.
The reason for Li Zihan's hospitalization was human experimentation. The Artificial Herrscher experiment—the Prometheus Project. Li Zihan, who should have been acting as the executor and commander of this project, had for some unknown reason suddenly decided to dismantle three Divine Keys overnight and implant the Herrscher Cores into his own body.
Frankly, implanting three Herrscher Cores at once was a near-certain death sentence for anyone who wasn't a natural Herrscher.
However, Li Zihan hadn't died.
The cores, containing immense Honkai energy and Herrscher authority, had made him unprecedentedly powerful upon being implanted.
But—Honkai energy was a double-edged sword.
While the Herrscher Cores made him extremely powerful, they also ravaged his body with corrosion, leaving it tattered and torn. As a result, he had been sent to the medical bay of Chaldeas to receive treatment and physical conditioning from Overseer Otto.
Honestly, based on the message Li Zihan himself had sent later, this physical conditioning was supposed to go smoothly.
"Sorry, a small problem came up with the experiment, so I couldn't come pick you up. I'll apologize to you at the welcome party tonight."
Being able to organize a party... it sounded like the problem wasn't too serious.
But Miss Mei had come anyway. She... couldn't shake the feeling of unease.
And so—she had come here with Sirin.
Only upon arriving did she realize that she and Sirin were not the only ones who had come to see Zihan.
Her vision reflected the figures of girls, some she recognized and some she did not.
Among those she recognized were Seele, Bronya, and Rita, whom she had met once before.
There were three she didn't recognize as well.
One was a girl with chestnut-colored hair, pink eyes, and facial features very similar to Sirin's.
Another had short hair, black on the outside and cyan on the inside, with strange cyan irises, black pupils, and bandages wrapped around her forearms and calves.
And finally, a knightly figure holding a long spear, standing guard at the door of the medical bay alongside the maid, Miss Rita.
Zihan really is popular with girls, the girl, no longer trying to deceive herself, thought, her heart growing heavy as she looked at them.
There were a total of six girls who had arrived before her. Among them, aside from the righteous-looking Valkyrie who seemed like a knight and the ever-smiling maid Rita, who had been brought by the Overseer, the other girls had all rushed here of their own accord.
In other words, all those girls had feelings for Zihan.
The girl who was no longer lying to herself silently averted her gaze from them and looked towards the hospital room, which was still closed to anyone but medical personnel.
Logically, she should be furious right now, Miss Mei thought.
She was certain that several of the girls around her had feelings for her fiancé. That included the girl who looked like Sirin and the one with bandages on her limbs.
Her relationship with Zihan was just one step away from being officially engaged. But that guy still showed no restraint, attracting girls everywhere he went.
Logically, she should be angry.
But looking at the crimson light glowing above the door, Miss Mei's heart suddenly felt lost. Her attention was completely stolen by that red light.
Why would the red light be on when the doctor was Otto, reputedly the wisest man in the world?
Didn't Zihan say he would be back soon and that she should go shopping with Sirin for a while to relax? So, his condition... shouldn't be too bad, right?
Zihan's physical condition... is not good.
In fact, it might be extremely bad.
Mei stared at the closed door, biting her pale lips tightly.
The power of a Herrscher was not easily controlled. He, who always took risky shortcuts in his research, might have suffered a backlash.
So, would something happen to Zihan?
For the first time in a long while, an emotion called panic crept into the girl's heart.
Implanting Herrscher Cores was not a safe experiment. If something went wrong... he could die!
At this thought, the girl's face grew even paler. She couldn't even begin to imagine a world where the boy who had led her out of Nagazora City had vanished from her life.
But she couldn't rush in to check on the situation. That would only interfere with the doctor's treatment. She could only stare at the tightly shut door, waiting for the moment it would open.
After what felt like an eternity, the crimson light finally turned green.
"The current diagnosis is complete. The patient will require a period of rest and recuperation."
The man with golden hair tied into a ponytail over his shoulder emerged from the room.
"Doctor, please, how is Zihan's condition? Can I go in to see him?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Miss Mei walked up to the man known as humanity's greatest sage and asked.
"You are Miss Raiden Mei?"
Otto, who knew a certain amount about her thanks to his ally, gave her a strange look, then glanced at the other girls nearby.
His ally... is quite the dramatic philanderer.
But that has nothing to do with me, thought the man who was about to gamble his entire life's courage on a single answer.
"If possible, I hope you will all refrain from disturbing him for now."
"Or rather, even if you have questions, it would be best to select one person as a representative to go in and ask."
Otto, who at this moment was nothing more than a ruthless wingman machine, spoke to the girls who had gathered for that certain someone. Then, before any of the others could speak, he looked towards the girl who had just addressed him.
"It seems you all have questions. Miss Mei, could you help gather everyone's questions and go in as the representative?"
"Of course I can."
Without the slightest hesitation, Miss Mei accepted.
She then quickly gathered the questions from the surrounding girls and entered the medical bay, which had been sealed until now.
"Mei, you're here."
The boy, who aside from a slightly pale face seemed to be perfectly fine, greeted her cheerfully.
Judging by his complexion alone, there indeed didn't seem to be a problem.
But—that was provided you only looked at his face.
On his neck, there was a distinct patch of purple markings.
The tell-tale sign of Honkai energy erosion.
Author's note:
ps: A chapter of the manuscript was eaten
Despair