Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 7 Should we go on a date before parting?

Arvit felt from the bottom of her heart that she was about to make a great contribution this time.

I thought it was just a simple mission to pick someone up, and there was no need for an S-class Valkyrie like Rita to personally take action in the Eos. But it turns out that the mission target was accompanied by Siegfried Kaslana's most famous wanted criminal!

As for why Rita didn't tell her beforehand? Arvit believed that Lady Rita must have had her reasons for doing so, and it was simply her problem that she didn't notice, right?

With that in mind, Alvitt made up her mind: to lure both the mission target, Sora, and Kiana to the Schicksal headquarters! After all, Kiana is from the Kaslana family, so this would be like bringing her home.

If the appeasement approach fails, Alvitt is convinced that Rita's strength is enough to "invite" the two of them to the Eos and return to Schicksal headquarters—perfect!

“Of course I know Lord Siegfried! Or rather, everyone knows him, but…”

Alvette looked troubled and pointed to Asakura Miyuki and Officer Ayasato.

"Lord Siegfried's work is of a special nature, and it is not appropriate to explain it in detail with outsiders present."

No matter what, it's not good to talk about fate in front of outsiders.

Seeing the sensible police officer preparing to leave, Kiana whose high IQ had been taken over by impulse, and the gray-haired Alvit who was fooling the white fluffy ball, Sora looked at the First Herrscher of the Void who was still smiling beside her.

"Miss Maid, I'm sorry, I can't trust you, so I won't go with you."

Are you kidding? These two are almost certainly going to take him to Schicksal headquarters. Wouldn't that put him in Otto's clutches? At best, he'd become Otto's employee; at worst, he'd be dissected and studied like an alien, with no chance of escape. Qiong firmly believes that the Gray-haired Star Core Essence's body should have excellent Honkai energy resistance, so why not find a chance to infiltrate the Far East Branch, St. Freya Academy? At least that Far East Demon Cave is "safe." If all else fails, he could go find Old Yang and join the Anti-Entropy conservatives... In short, he absolutely cannot go to Schicksal headquarters!

“I’m so sorry, Young Master Qiong, this was our oversight. Rita apologizes to you, but don’t worry, you will be able to see your and your family’s complete identity information first thing tomorrow morning. Please rest here for a while and set off again tomorrow.” Rita bowed slightly and said sincerely.

Tomorrow morning? That was just a time Rita casually suggested. In reality, if Rita asked, even without Aylvit, a usable and verifiable identity would be created by Schicksal headquarters and the specific information sent to her within thirty minutes. But Rita didn't plan to do that, mainly because... Kiana Kaslana was currently interrogating Aylvit with all sorts of questions.

We can't bring K423 to headquarters, can we? That would definitely disrupt Bishop Otto's plans. We need to find a reason to prevent Kiana from coming along.

As for Qiong, he had unspeakable bitterness in his heart. He didn't want to go and outwit some five-hundred-year-old bastard; the result would probably be that he would be completely manipulated until he was squeezed dry of his last bit of value, then casually discarded, or even die in some dark, sunless laboratory. But Qiong found that he seemed to have no other choice now: he couldn't exactly hope that Pam would come and pick him up by train, could he?

"I have a question."

"Miss, is there a problem?"

Rita still wore that almost unchanging smile, but she could sense that, despite being well concealed, the girl in front of her did indeed reveal a hint of hostility and—a trace of Honkai energy.

Is it infected with Honkai energy?

“Miss, there’s no need for that. My name is Asakura Miyuki. Sora said he’s from China, but you’re from Europe. Isn’t there some mistake?”

“Hehe…” Rita chuckled softly, her laughter as melodious as silver bells. “Miss Asakura is joking. We haven’t made a mistake. In fact, Young Master Qiong is indeed from China, but due to some special reasons, his guardian is in Europe—Young Master Qiong, do you still remember Mr. Bai?”

Qiong was taken aback. Mr. Bai? What Mr. Bai? Are there any important characters with the surname Bai?

"I don't know him." Qiong shook her head decisively.

A hint of sadness appeared on Rita's face.

"Sigh, it seems to be a complete amnesia. You've even forgotten someone like your father... But in any case, you must go with Rita tomorrow."

"Miss Rita, is my stinky old man in Europe? Can you take me with you?" Kiana pleaded.

Rita's eyelids twitched. Looking at the pitiful Kiana and Alvitt, who was secretly flashing a "V" sign at her from behind and grinning as if she was about to shout "Yay!", a hint of helplessness flashed in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Miss Kiana, we can't expedite the return ticket purchase, and Lord Siegfried is not in Europe right now."

"Huh?" Kiana looked at Alvite with a questioning gaze, as if to say, "You're lying to me?"

Arvit avoided Kiana's gaze. She hadn't expected that bringing Kiana back would be such a significant clue about Siegfried. Now that the clue was right in front of her, there was no reason for her to turn it down...

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"Sora, are you planning to leave the Far East tomorrow?" Asakura Miyuki asked with a hint of sadness.

For some unknown reason, Rita took Arvit away and said she would come back tomorrow, giving the three of them time and space to talk.

"If I told you I had no intention of going to Europe, would you believe me?"

Qiong patted his head helplessly. With Otto there, the headquarters of Destiny was no less than a dragon's den or a tiger's lair. It was easy to get in, but difficult to get out.

"Hey Grey Hair, aren't you the young master who ran away from home?"

"I wish I were," Qiong rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, I'm just an ordinary nobody."

"What do you mean by 'unknown guest'? And why did they come to your door? They can't be trying to trick you into going to Europe and selling you, can they?" Kiana asked, puzzled.

Sell? No, young lady, that's too narrow-minded.

However, Qiong was utterly bewildered that Otto had arrived so quickly after she had only just appeared in the Far East. How could he be so fast? What was the reason? What was his purpose?

"How would I know? I really don't know anything."

"What a pity..."

"Miyuki, what's the pity?"

"It's a pity that I haven't been able to properly repay Qiong before she has to leave."

"Let me make it clear beforehand, I don't want to leave."

"So..." Asakura Miyuki looked at Sora pitifully, "Can you come with me on my date tonight?"

"Huh?!" Both Sora and Kiana were stunned.

Dating generally refers to friends or lovers arranging to meet, but it's generally believed that something like Asakura Miyuki's situation would develop into the latter.

Although she really wanted to agree, considering that the other party was a yandere, Qiong decided to refuse—after all, it would be an accident if a yandere liked you.

"I'm sorry, I—"

"Is that not allowed?"

Asakura Miyuki's eyes were already red.

"Um, Asakura..."

"Is it really not possible?"

Tears welled up in her eyes, as if she felt she was about to burst into tears if she didn't agree.

"Row……"

Come on, come on, he's just a character who died before even reaching the main storyline of Honkai Impact 3rd, right? How could the mighty Galaxy Baseball Man be afraid of someone like that? At worst, he'll just head to the European Schicksal headquarters tomorrow... oh wait, anyway, he's not worried at all!

"A date, please..."

Kiana glanced at the three-year-old cherry blossom in her pocket, wondering what she should do, but she needed to be sure...