From Kiana the Lord Ravager Onward: A Grand Fabricated History
Author: Better Hang Myself Than Write
Resting her cheek on one hand, Kiana tapped her face lightly with a fingertip. "Is that answer really so surprising?"
"After all, the reason I was able to sleep peacefully on Jarilo and recover from my injuries was thanks to the Stellaron's help."
"So isn't it only natural that I'd want to take a few Stellarons as souvenirs now?"
At that, Kafka's eyelashes trembled slightly.
It was the first time all day that she had shown a truly obvious look of surprise in front of Kiana.
"Souvenirs?"
"Yep." Kiana nodded as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
"Don't tell me Miss Kafka isn't even willing to grant me such a tiny little wish?"
Kafka fell silent again for a few seconds.
Only after quite a while did she finally speak.
"Miss Kiana, you're the first person who has ever made me feel that even being rejected can be a pleasant thing."
"My honor?" Kiana blinked.
"No, the honor is mine." Kafka rose to her feet and smoothed down the hem of her clothes.
Her coffee was already gone, and she needed to refill it.
"As for the Stellarons, I'll need to confirm something with Elio first."
"After all, every Stellaron we have serves its own purpose."
Kiana looked a little surprised. "You'd actually give them to me?"
She had just turned down Kafka's invitation to join them, and yet now, when she kept asking for Stellarons, they might actually agree?
Kafka let out another soft laugh. "Miss Kiana, were you not seriously asking for Stellarons just now?"
Kiana answered with complete seriousness, "Of course I was seriously asking. I just didn't expect you'd really let me mooch them for free."
"'Mooch'?" Kafka repeated the word, her tone tinged with amusement.
"Does Miss Kiana really think the Stellaron Hunters are such a generous organization?"
Kiana frowned. "But you just said you needed to confirm whether you could give them to me."
"What I need to confirm," Kafka interrupted, sitting back down on the sofa, "is whether we can give them to you."
"Not whether we should charge you for them."
"Oooh—"
Kiana drew the sound out in sudden understanding.
"So I do still have to pay."
"Of course." Kafka lifted her coffee cup and blew lightly across the steam.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch in the universe, Miss Kiana. You should understand that."
Kiana tilted her head. "Then what does Miss Kafka want? Money? I may have only just woken up, but I do have a little savings."
Kafka shook her head. "We don't need money."
That answer was not especially surprising. If the Stellaron Hunters were really only after money, that would have been far too low-class.
Kafka gave her answer plainly.
"What we want is the thing Elio has promised us. And I'm afraid that's something Miss Kiana cannot give us."
"However, if Miss Kiana is willing to join us, that would be a different matter."
She paused, as though savoring the moment.
"If you become one of the Stellaron Hunters, then every Stellaron in our possession will be yours."
"All of them," she emphasized once again.
Kiana obligingly echoed, "All of them?"
Kafka nodded with certainty. "The ones we've already collected, and the ones we'll collect in the future."
"You can take as many as you like. As souvenirs, or for whatever other purpose you may have—it's entirely up to you."
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
Good grief. Kafka really still refused to give up on recruiting her.
But even Kiana had to admit that this time, Kafka was showing very real sincerity.
After all, on the surface, the Stellaron Hunters were an organization that chased Stellarons across the universe. For them to use all of their Stellarons as a bargaining chip to invite her in was genuinely unexpected.
"Miss Kafka, are you trying to bait me with Stellarons?"
"Caught me?" Kafka smiled with complete frankness, utterly unembarrassed at being called out.
"But Miss Kiana, this isn't bait. These are sincere terms for an invitation."
"No matter how you look at it, this is a deal where you come out ahead, isn't it? After all, collecting Stellarons isn't easy for us either."
Kiana fell silent.
Purely in terms of gains and losses, this really was a deal with no downside.
And yet, she still felt that something about it was off.
"Miss Kafka… what if I told you that I could grant the Stellaron Hunters' wish instead?"
"Grant our wish?" Kafka froze for a moment.
"Does Miss Kiana know what our wish is?"
Kiana did not answer that directly, and instead continued.
"I can fulfill the wish of your Sam."
"Sam?" Kafka was visibly taken aback.
"Miss Kiana knows Sam?"
"I don't know Sam personally, but I've heard of Glamoth." Kiana shook her head openly.
"Based on the information I found, and from the appearance displayed by that gentleman in armor among the Stellaron Hunters, she looks extremely similar to the Iron Cavalry of old Glamoth. So I made a few guesses."
"In any case, I have a way to cure her Entropy Loss Syndrome."
"And even if that isn't that armored gentleman's personal wish, it must still be very important to her, right?"
"Well then, Miss Kafka—does that count as a sufficient bargaining chip?"
After hearing that, Kafka's hand holding the coffee cup stopped in midair. She set the cup down, but more slowly than before.
For certain forces in the galaxy that had paid close attention to the Stellaron Hunters, discovering Sam's origins was not especially difficult.
So from that angle alone, what Kiana had just said was not enough to truly shock Kafka.
But there was one thing she simply could not understand.
Entropy Loss Syndrome was a problem that even geniuses had failed to solve—and yet now a Lord Ravager was claiming she had a way to cure it?
"Miss Kiana means to say… that you have a method to cure Entropy Loss Syndrome?"
"That's right."
Kiana swung her legs lightly, and the fluffy slippers on her feet bobbed up and down with the motion.
"Miss Kafka just said that there's no free lunch in the universe, so naturally I had to bring out a bargaining chip worthy of the occasion."
"So? Is it enough?"
Kafka said slowly, "That bargaining chip is certainly sufficient. But why would Miss Kiana…"
"Because my mom is an Emanator of Abundance."
Kiana cut off her doubt with airy ease.
Kafka froze again. "An Emanator of Abundance?"
That was information she had not known.
"Mhm." Kiana nodded, looking perfectly matter-of-fact.
"Otherwise, how do you think I managed to sleep on Jarilo for more than ten Amber Eras and still come out perfectly lively?"
"Because of the Stellaron?" Kafka answered thoughtfully, since that had been Kiana's earlier explanation.
"The Stellaron was only support."
"The thing that truly kept me safe and sound was my mother's power. She may not be by my side, but the blessing she left on me has never gone away."
As she spoke, Kiana raised one hand.
A moment later, a soft green radiance began to gather in her palm—
the power of Abundance.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 140)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter67)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter85)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 60
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 65
From Junkman to Wasteland 55
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 50
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin