White hair, blue eyes, kind of an optimistic type…
"Kiana, what's your relationship with Kevin?" Elysia asked curiously.
On Kiana, she could see a faint shadow of Kevin, and she couldn't help getting interested.
"My name is Kiana Kaslana. Kevin is my ancestor."
Kiana said it plainly.
She wasn't completely clueless anymore. She did understand where the Kaslana line came from.
Elysia's interest immediately spiked. Kevin's descendants—if Kevin and Mei saw Kiana, what would they think? She was really looking forward to it.
"Kaslana… that should be the surname that came after Kevin, right?"
Elysia knew Kevin didn't originally have a surname.
Oh!
Elysia suddenly thought of something fun. Her gaze burned as she stared at Kiana until Kiana started feeling uncomfortable.
"Is something wrong?" Kiana asked.
"Nothing's wrong. I'm just going to give Kevin a call."
Elysia smiled, found Kevin's number, and dialed.
[Elysia, what is it?]
Kevin's steady voice came through. It wasn't as cold as it would be fifty thousand years later, but it also wasn't as bright and sunny as it had been in their school days. Especially after the campaign against the Herrscher of Death, he'd realized all too clearly that naivety and mercy were deadly taboos in the fight against Honkai.
"Kevin, is Mei next to you?" Elysia asked with a grin.
[Yeah, I'm next to Mei.]
[Elysia, what's going on? Did you find Vill-V?]
When Kevin wasn't training, he stayed with Mei. And with the MANTIS surgery coming up, Mei knew the risks. Since she couldn't stop Kevin from going through with it, all she could do was try to steady his emotions and condition as much as possible.
"I found her. And I also found Kevin's descendant."
[Thud!]
The moment she finished speaking, the other end of the line erupted with the sound of Kevin falling over.
[Elysia, don't joke like that. How would I have a descendant?]
Kevin said, utterly speechless. How old was he right now? And whether he had any kids was something he'd obviously know.
Mei looked at Kevin with amused interest. She hadn't expected to hear something this entertaining.
"Mei, listen to me, I really don't," Kevin hurriedly explained, not wanting Mei to misunderstand.
"Hehe. I know. I didn't say anything." Mei chuckled softly. "Let's hear what Elysia's going to say first."
"Look—doesn't Kiana look a lot like you?"
Elysia sent over a photo. Kevin and Mei looked at Kiana Kaslana.
Both of them fell silent.
…She really did look like him.
Mei turned her eyes to Kevin, the meaning obvious: Kevin, do you have some secret siblings you never told me about?
Kevin frowned and shook his head. He didn't have early-onset dementia—he had never seen this Kiana before. And yet… there really were similarities.
Could it be his father's illegitimate daughter from back then?
[Elysia, is she really Kevin's descendant?]
Kevin was still completely lost, so Mei took over the questioning.
She trusted Kevin. With Kevin's age, there was no way he could have a descendant that old. If someone said Kiana was Kevin's younger sister, that would actually make more sense.
Kiana: So I'm Old Ancestor Kevin's little sister. Dad, what should you call me then?
Siegfried: …
"Heehee, that's you for sure. Looks like you've guessed something."
"Kiana does have a blood relationship with Kevin… and she also has a blood relationship with you, Mei."
Elysia wasn't surprised. Her brain worked just fine.
[I see. Someone from the future… or someone from a parallel world.]
Mei understood immediately. That made everything add up.
Still, when it came to "children with Kevin," she couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
Kevin's brain basically short-circuited. A descendant from the future just showed up—was science even a thing anymore?
"Also, as a bonus: people in the future Kaslana family basically can't cook. Seriously, who did they inherit that from? It's so hard to guess~" Koji suddenly butted in.
Kiana's expression changed. So her inability to cook was inherited from one of her ancestors?
Kevin: "…"
Mei: "…"
Kevin obviously knew which of the two of them was the one who couldn't cook. And that could pass down through bloodline too?!
Mei's expression turned complicated. Sure, kids inherit some talents from their parents, but this was the kind of "talent" that really didn't need inheriting.
Kevin had never explicitly said her food was awful, but she knew. After eating her cooking, Kevin had ended up in the hospital getting his stomach pumped.
"The Kaslana surname should've been adopted after Kevin, yeah."
"And after that, the Kaslana line basically never produced any scientists. Their battle talent is excellent, though."
[Stop talking.]
Mei sounded a little emotionally damaged. She already basically understood what her descendants were "good" at.
They inherited her cooking.
They inherited Kevin's combat talent.
But they didn't inherit her intelligence.
So it was just a pure warrior bloodline?
They were probably all like Kevin—charging in headfirst and needing an "external brain" to do the thinking.
Mei felt a bit depressed. Kevin's genes were that strong, huh? Then why was the only thing she managed to pass down the completely useless "talent" of cooking?
"So that's how it is…" Kiana said, totally shocked. "Old Ancestor Kevin's genes are insanely strong."
"Kiana, your Ancestor Mei was one of the smartest people of the Previous Era, but none of you Kaslanas inherited Mei's kind of intelligence talent," Koji said.
…Uh…
Kiana finally reacted, puffing up in anger as she glared at Koji. "Are you calling me an idiot?!"
Koji was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Kiana to catch on that fast.
[That's right. Kevin is indeed an idiot. If you inherit his bloodline, the odds of the descendants being idiots is very high.]
Mei said it calmly.
Kevin scratched his head awkwardly. He wasn't that dumb… he just didn't like studying.
"Mei, can you at least leave me a little dignity?"
"Kevin, do you think you're very smart?" Mei laughed helplessly, remembering their campus days.
Back then, Kevin was great at basketball. A lot of people called him "Prince." But academically he was only so-so. Truly all-around geniuses were rare.
"Well… I'm okay. But it's not like I'm an idiot, right?"
Kevin felt like the word "idiot" didn't suit him.
Mei shot him a look, as if to say: Think about it yourself, my idiot boy.
[Elysia, if possible… have this… Kiana-san come over and meet us.]
Mei didn't know how many generations removed Kiana was, so she just called her "Kiana-san."
"Ancestor Mei, I want to meet you too," Kiana said without any objection. "I have the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void. There aren't many people who can stop me."
['Ancestor'… fine. Call me that if you want.]
Mei sounded resigned. Kiana was their descendant, yes, but Mei wasn't exactly old enough to be called "Ancestor," either…
(End of Chapter)
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