Inside an office at ME Corp.
The invited shrine maiden sat there, looking at the room around her, which seemed to have almost nothing in common with the era she had lived in, her expression slightly uncomfortable.
Sitting opposite her were two people.
One was the young man who claimed to have spent several days digging her out.
The other was a middle-aged man who had unleashed an unknown power, defeating Higokumaru in a single blow.
Are they both like the people in Kallen's organization?
The shrine maiden, who once had an extremely close connection with the Saintess Kallen, thought, her expression turning somewhat sorrowful.
She had just learned that a full five hundred years had passed since the eleventh year of the Bunshō era.
After Kallen, whom she had gravely injured, sealed her away, whether Kallen had been saved or not, the result was the same.
She was thoroughly dead.
The shrine maiden茫然地 caressed her left chest, finding only emptiness.
Her sister was dead, the villagers were dead, and Kallen, whom she loved, no longer existed.
After a long silence, she spoke.
"Do you know where Kallen... was buried?"
If she could find it, she wanted to visit before her life ended.
"Saintess Kallen from five hundred years ago?"
Welt, who was quite familiar with Schicksal's history due to being its enemy, spoke.
"Do you know where she was ultimately buried?"
Yae Sakura pressed.
Welt shook his head.
Saintess Kallen's situation was very peculiar; many things concerning her seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, impossible to clearly ascertain.
The light in Yae Sakura's eyes dimmed considerably.
It seemed she would have to embark on her final journey alone.
"Miss Yae, have you lost the will to live?"
The young man, who had clearly sensed the aura of death clinging to Miss Yingyingying's brow, spoke.
"Your Excellency speaks the truth."
The shrine maiden, who indeed didn't particularly want to live, spoke, a hint of apology in her voice.
"Your Excellency has spent so much time on my humble self, yet I am unable to serve you. I am truly sorry."
"If it is possible, this one hopes you would be willing to perform 'kaishaku' for 'sesshin'."
Here, Yae Sakura paused, using a term of self-address that only a woman from a samurai household would use.
Although "妾" (sesshin/qiè, meaning "concubine" or a humble "I" for women) is a humble term, in the Far East, it carries a nuance of pride.
One must also mention another humble male term from the Far East—"拙者" (sessha/zhuōzhě).
This word basically means "this untalented one," "myself," generally used by samurai.
Although the word's original meaning is self-deprecating, because its users were mostly from samurai families (武家 - buke), it inherently carried the social status and arrogance of the buke, to the point that eventually the self-referential "拙者" (sessha) also took on a certain swaggering feel.
And the self-referential "妾" (sesshin) was also mostly used by women of samurai families, so later, during the Tokugawa period when samurai power swelled unprecedentedly, it also took on the arrogant coloring specific to the samurai class.
However, Miss Miko's use of this term here was likely just to pair with the word "kaishaku," and then to request the two present to help dispose of her body after she took her own life.
She and Higokumaru were symbiotic; if she died suddenly, Higokumaru would very likely revive using her corpse.
Welt said nothing, merely glancing at the young man beside him out of the corner of his eye.
He just wanted to see what that scoundrel Otto was planning by arranging for someone to contact him, and incidentally, gather some intelligence.
After completely failing to find any information about the Clock Tower organization, he, like Siegfried, had developed some misconceptions about Li Zihan's identity.
"I don't mind helping you with the funeral arrangements, Miss Yae, but are you sure it's alright to give up on life just like that?"
The young man's light voice entered the shrine maiden's ears.
"All my love, hatred, joys, and sorrows were buried five hundred years ago."
The shrine maiden, her heart set on death, spoke.
"A lingering spirit that should have died long ago, why should it remain in the mortal world?"
"Are you so certain that you have no lingering attachments in this world?"
Li Zihan looked at the shrine maiden opposite him, asking with keen interest.
"None."
The shrine maiden, whose loves, hates, joys, and sorrows had all concluded, answered concisely.
"Even if... Kallen still had a hope of resurrection?"
The young man spoke.
His tone was light, but it carried an infectious conviction capable of persuading anyone.
Kallen, still has a hope of resurrection?
Like a giant stone dropped into water, infinite ripples spread across the surface, layer upon layer.
Yae Sakura's body trembled slightly, her mind unable to find peace.
Even though she knew the young man opposite her was just talking nonsense.
But, such a beautiful future was something her heart yearned for.
"Your Excellency jests. That the dead cannot be revived is something this one is still aware of."
After a long while, the shrine maiden, having finally suppressed the turmoil in her heart, spoke.
Li Zihan instinctively glanced at Old Yang beside him, making Mr. Welt look surprised.
"What are you looking at me for?"
Mr. Yang Sit-ups Champion, completely lacking self-awareness, asked.
"Nothing."
Li Zihan, who had been contemplating whether to use Old Yang as a ready-made example to refute her, thought for a moment, then gave up.
He had a better example to motivate Yae Sakura to live.
"Normally speaking, it's a fact that the dead cannot be revived."
Li Zihan began.
"However, because of special powers like Honkai energy, mana, and the like, this world is full of infinite possibilities."
"Infinite possibilities?"
Yae Sakura, who was clueless (丈育 - zhàngyù) whether it was in terms of technology, mysticism, or Honkai energy, looked very confused.
However, although she was uneducated in these matters, she wasn't Theresa; she could still understand the meaning.
The young man opposite me is actually trying to persuade me to live, isn't he?
It's probably a white lie.
Yae Sakura thought, her pink, crystalline lips parting slightly, intending to persuade him to give up on the idea of convincing her to live.
But, before she could speak, the young man opposite her had already spoken.
"Miss Yae, you think it's impossible to revive a deceased lover, but what if someone has strived for it for five hundred years?"
Strived for five hundred years?!
The shrine maiden's pupils contracted slightly.
Doesn't that mean they started striving back when I was still a shrine maiden?
To revive the person they deeply loved, they fought for five hundred years?
"Otto Apocalypse, lauded as the foremost sage of this generation, has strived for his fiancée for five hundred years."
The young man smiled at the shrine maiden before him, uttering the name of the man who had strived for five hundred years.
"I think, if something can make a person strive for five hundred years, then there must surely be hope ahead."
"After all, if one couldn't see a glimmer of dawn, no matter how resolute a person, they couldn't persist for five hundred years, right?"
So, hope truly exists?
Yae Sakura's heart, who technically speaking was something of a 'third party' in Kallen's life, trembled slightly.
If it's a goal another person has pursued for five hundred years, then the possibility of resurrection must absolutely exist.
Kallen, and Rin too, could they perhaps... come back to life?
A droplet named hope fell into a heart parched by despair, and the flame of the desire to live ignited within the shrine maiden's heart.