『 "Watch out, a violent Honkai energy reaction has been detected ahead. The Second Herrscher must be inside," Theresa said, carrying the Oath of Judah on her back with vigilance.
"Theresa, Kiana, get ready. We must not let our guard down," Cecilia looked at the two and instructed.
"YES!!!" Kiana responded loudly.
She flashed a happy smile, thinking to herself: Finally, I can fight side-by-side with Mom.
I have to show off my best!
In the footage, the camera suddenly pulled back from the smiling Kiana, but the next shot was still her smiling face—only this time, she was on a data screen. The one observing this scene was none other than the current Overseer of Schicksal, Otto.
Otto looked at Kiana on the screen and smiled. "Ha~~~ how interesting."
"To think that things would develop beyond my expectations."
Looking at the two side screens next to the main one, Otto said, "You two, make sure to keep a close eye on her."
"Understood, Overseer. Leave it to me."
"As you command." 』
『 ....』
〘·HI3· Welt Yang〙: And you still say you didn't leave this record behind on purpose?
〘Otto Apocalypse〙: I did it on purpose by accident~
〘Hanabi〙: I'm going to sue you for plagiarism.
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: Is that second voice the Class Monitor's?
〘Fu Hua〙: …
〘Stelle〙: Watch out for backstabs… This is a warning from someone who has been backstabbed before.
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: But I trust you, Class Monitor. Just don't wall-slam me the next time you come to ask me to pull cards. I'm scared.
〘Fu Hua〙: I will try…
....
『 After giving his orders, Otto continued to look at the three on the screen. By now, they had already entered the tower.
Once inside, Kiana looked around at the gloomy environment and complained, "Is this really the inside of a laboratory? No matter how you look at it, it looks like a prison."
"Babylon Labs is a facility managed directly by Overseer Otto. I don't know the specific details of the experiments either," Cecilia replied. "But the atmosphere here does feel a bit off." 』
『 ....』
〘Herrscher of the Void〙: Hmph, sanctimonious humans. Calling this place a prison is a compliment.
....
『 "Ah, Lady Cecilia feels that way too!" Kiana was excited to hear that her mother shared the same feeling.
"Don't worry about that now. Our priority is to catch up to the Second Herrscher," Theresa interrupted them, putting business first.
Kiana looked at Theresa with a pout, thinking to herself: Aw!? I finally got a chance to talk to Mom… This Theresa, always doing unnecessary things! 』
『 ....』
〘Theresa Apocalypse〙: Haha, I think you've been slacking on training. Himeko, bring Kiana over for extra training!
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: No! Auntie! I was wrong!
〘Stelle〙: You don't know you were wrong; you just know you're about to suffer.
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: Mei, save me!
〘Raiden Mei〙: Sorry, Kiana, but this is for your own good. Once you get stronger, the things on the light screen won't happen. But I'll do the extra training with you.
....
『 As the three went deeper, Kiana saw mechs that shouldn't have been there, looking identical to Anti-Entropy mechs.
Looking at the mechs in front of her, Kiana was filled with confusion. "Huh? Why are Anti-Entropy mechs here?"
"Anti-Entropy? What are you talking about?" After destroying a mech, Theresa explained to Kiana, "These are the prototype G-12 tactical mechs about to be put into service."
Kiana nodded half-understandingly. After defeating the mechs in front of her, she pointed in a direction and shouted, "Look, an elevator! If we take this, we can get to the upper floors."
Hearing this, Theresa ran over, operated it for a moment, then turned back to shake her head at the two. "No, this elevator is locked. We can't start it without an electronic key." 』
『 ....』
〘March 7th〙: Such a familiar plot.
〘Stelle〙: Do I need to remind you? Herta Space Station… elevator… keycard…
〘March 7th〙: Uh… almost, almost.
〘Dan Heng〙: Sigh… I don't know how to fix elevators.
〘March 7th〙: Oh right, right, right! Now that Dan Heng mentions it, I remember!
〘Dan Heng〙: Sigh…
....
『 "The key might be nearby. Let's look around," Cecilia suggested.
"Eh, a transmission from the Overseer… What? Asking me to return immediately? Why does it have to be at a time like this…" Theresa muttered in shock.
"Go ahead. Overseer Otto must have his own plans. Leave this place to us," Cecilia said, looking at Theresa. 』
『 ....』
〘Hanabi〙: Otto's big hand is at work.
〘Otto Apocalypse〙: Hm? I just don't want my beloved granddaughter to fight the Second Herrscher. As a grandfather, this is only natural.
〘·HI3· Welt Yang〙: Heh.
....
『 "But…" Seeing Theresa hesitate, Kiana patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, Theresa, you still have me. I will definitely protect Lady Cecilia!" 』
『 ....』
〘Siegfried〙: Haha, as long as you don't drag Cecilia down.
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: Smelly Dad!
....
—✦In Between✦—
—✦Honkai Impact Third World✦—
Kiana, who was already depressed about being dragged into extra training by Theresa, got even angrier when she saw Siegfried's comment.
She vented her anger on the training dummy, seemingly treating it as Siegfried.
The dummy, which would usually take a lot of effort to defeat, was quickly destroyed under Kiana's fury.
Himeko looked at Kiana, who had gotten serious, and nodded. This is a good trick. When Kiana doesn't want to train, I'll contact Siegfried and have him provoke her.
....
『 Hearing Kiana's assurance, Theresa nodded helplessly. "…Alright, then I'll leave it to you, Kiana."
"Kiana, let's look for the electronic key. Let's search the nearby cells separately, but don't wander too far from me."
"Okay!"
(Hehe, what luck! Theresa actually got called away. This way, won't I get to spend some alone time with Mom?)
Kiana then followed Cecilia's words and entered a cell to search. After a brief look around, she lowered her head in disappointment. "Hmm… It doesn't look like there's anything like a key here."
Right after saying that, she shook her head. "No, no, I have to be of help so Mom will praise me more."
With that, Kiana began to search carefully. When she reached under the bed, her hand brushed against a notebook.
"Wow, there's something here! …What, it's just a small, dirty, ruined notebook."
She wanted to throw it away, but since she had worked hard to find it, Kiana slowly opened the notebook. However, the handwriting inside shocked her.
"My goodness, this handwriting is even uglier than mine." 』
『 ....』
〘·HI3· Himeko Murata〙: So you do know your handwriting is ugly! Grading your papers is always the most frustrating thing. It's bad enough that your scores are low, but I can't even bring myself to give you presentation points!
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: Ahaha…
....
『 After complaining about the handwriting, Kiana read it word by word.
"The doctor told me to start writing a diary today. But I've never written a diary before, and I don't know how to start."
After reading this, Kiana voiced her confusion, "Doctor? Is this place a hospital?"
"Today's treatment was very painful too, but the doctor said we can't stop. The children who stopped treatment were carried away by the doctor and never came back."
"I'm so scared. I don't want to go there. I don't want to live in this small, dark cage. I want my mom to hold me."
"Mom, where are you…"
"Eh? The pages after this are torn out. Was the owner of this diary a child?"
"To be separated from their mom, how pitiful…"
Seemingly reminded of herself, Kiana fell silent for a moment, gently caressing the dirty little notebook. As she felt sad, her fingers brushed against the very end of the notebook, where the texture felt a bit off.
"Wait, there are a few more pages at the very end."
Flipping to the last few pages, Kiana read again.
"Mom, I miss you so much. But I will hold back my tears; I definitely won't cry. Because I still have the magic spell Mom taught me."
"The magic spell Mom would whisper in my ear whenever I was sad."
"The magic spell that makes all wishes come true just by reciting it in my heart. The magic spell that lets me see Mom."
"—Ich☆liebe☆dich" 』
『 ....』