Five years had passed since Ling Yi began teaching Raiden Mei about Honkai Energy technology and its related fields of knowledge.
Wake up, wash, eat breakfast, study, attend Ling Yi’s lessons, finish her homework, and sleep.
Raiden Mei had never lacked self-discipline or perseverance.
Every day was filled with a monotony ordinary people couldn’t comprehend, but with Ling Yi by her side and the chance to work on things she enjoyed, Raiden Mei was happy each and every day.
Raiden Ryoma also came home to visit Raiden Mei from time to time.
He worried that growing up without maternal love might cause the child psychological problems, but in truth…
his fears never came to pass.
In fact, when Raiden Mei saw him for the first time after his wife’s death, the little girl gave him a look that plainly said, “Who’s this?” That look wounded Raiden Ryoma’s heart, but it also put him considerably more at ease.
Later, Raiden Ryoma discovered that Raiden Mei was researching serious subjects he couldn’t understand, and she told him she needed a great deal of money.
Raiden Ryoma didn’t feel the slightest concern that his little daughter might have gotten involved with something she shouldn’t have.
He felt nothing but the overwhelming joy of realizing, “My daughter needs me.” As far as Raiden Ryoma was concerned, it didn’t matter what Raiden Mei wanted to do.
She only needed money, right?
She could have as much as she wanted!
It was precisely to earn that money that Raiden Ryoma hadn’t returned home for a long time.
He didn’t even know what Raiden Mei was researching now.
All he knew was that his daughter needed a lot of money.
He didn’t know how to express his love for Raiden Mei.
All he could do was give her the best he was capable of.
Raiden Mei felt no discomfort whatsoever at the lack of her father’s companionship, because another version of herself lived within her, one who could give her every kind of love.
Because of this, the girl grew increasingly dependent on Ling Yi.
With Ling Yi’s constant and patient guidance and Raiden Ryoma’s unstinting financial support, it took Raiden Mei only five years to learn most of the knowledge Ling Yi had acquired from Mobius.
For the first three years, Ling Yi focused entirely on building Raiden Mei’s foundations in mathematics and literature without teaching her anything particularly complex.
Compared to ordinary methods, Ling Yi also possessed an advantage no one else had—the Consciousness Domain.
Within the consciousness space, Ling Yi could teach Raiden Mei and even construct things that didn’t exist in reality for her to study.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without Raiden Mei’s exceptional innate talent for scientific research.
Anyone with a face like hers couldn’t possibly have a low IQ.jpg She hadn’t displayed this talent in the original story mainly because she never had the time to study these subjects systematically.
At the age of eight, Raiden Mei already possessed more knowledge than the vast majority of people in the world.
…
Bzzzt— Flashes of lightning illuminated the dim basement.
Lightning coursed across the blade like a roaming dragon.
Raiden Mei gripped the hilt and swung the tachi, leaving a faint scorched smell in its wake.
‘Congratulations, Mei.
How did you come up with the idea of making a lightning blade like this?’ Inside Raiden Mei, Ling Yi praised the weapon Mei had just completed.
This pulse tachi had been no easy thing to create.
Even the weapons used by the elite units of the newly founded Fire Moth in the Previous Era had been no better than this.
“I…
thought a lightning blade would look cool.” Raiden Mei, in full chunibyo mode, hesitated for a moment before answering shyly.
Over the past five years, Raiden Mei had grown rapidly and already possessed a maturity far beyond others her age.
She had emerged from the shadow of her mother’s death and gradually realized that Ling Yi inside her mind wasn’t her mom, but another version of herself.
Though she did still call Ling Yi “Mom” from time to time…
‘That’s so Mei.
Not bad!
Stay true to your path—I admire that!
You’re already much better than I am, Mei.
I’ll be counting on you from now on.’ “Ling Yi…
I’m not a child anymore.
You don’t have to praise me like that…
Without your help, I definitely couldn’t have done this.” Despite what she said, Raiden Mei was overjoyed inside.
Ling Yi acknowledged her, held expectations for her, trusted her, and needed her.
Everything she did gained meaning through Ling Yi’s approval.
‘Why don’t you give the weapon you made a name?’ Ling Yi was delighted.
Raiden Mei was far too easily embarrassed, which made teasing her especially adorable.
Ling Yi loved it.
“Thunder Demon.” After a brief moment of thought, Raiden Mei named the blade in her hand.
The reason…
was that it sounded cool.
It suited her perfectly.
Holding the tachi, Raiden Mei performed a blade flourish…
only for the hilt to slam hard into the top of her foot, which quickly became red and swollen.
“Uwah!” ‘Honestly…
You don’t even know how to use a blade, yet you still insist on showing off.
Give me control of your body.’ Raiden Mei hadn’t learned Hokushin Ittō-ryū yet, so naturally, she had no idea how to wield a tachi.
Ling Yi sighed and took control of Raiden Mei’s body.
Lightning spread around her, stimulating the muscles in the top of her foot as though countless hands were massaging it.
Before long, the redness and swelling vanished.
Ling Yi had grown increasingly proficient in wielding the power of lightning.
She hadn’t neglected her training during these five years.
“Coolness is king.” Raiden Mei spoke with unwavering conviction.
In truth, many people never displayed their strengths or showed off their cool side.
Some claimed it was because they were lazy, while others said they didn’t want to attract attention.
But if Raiden Mei had to give a reason, it would probably be, ‘There’s no one watching.’ She displayed the things she considered cool and beautiful simply because she wanted one particular person to watch her more and come a little closer.
At that thought, Raiden Mei’s cheeks inexplicably flushed.
She didn’t know why she wanted to show Ling Yi her very best side.
She only knew that whenever Ling Yi was there, she wanted to show off for her.
‘My little princess is the coolest in the world~ I’m going to rest for a while.
Call me if you need anything.’ Ling Yi spoke through a yawn.
To create Thunder Demon, Ling Yi had followed Raiden Mei’s ideas and handled the vast majority of the data calculations.
She hadn’t gotten much proper rest lately.
“Mom…
Ling Yi, get some good rest.” Raiden Mei knew that Ling Yi hadn’t been sleeping enough lately and hurriedly urged her to rest.
‘Mm-hm.’ After giving Raiden Mei one final response, Ling Yi slowly descended into the deeper layers of the consciousness space.
Crack— Falling through the lake’s surface once again, Ling Yi entered the deep consciousness space and immediately lay down, preparing to sleep.
It was perpetually pitch-black here, making it an excellent place to rest.
“What happened to you?
How did you end up like this?” The Herrscher of Thunder’s face lit up with joy when she saw Ling Yi arrive, but her delight quickly disappeared.
Putting on a somewhat aloof expression, she questioned Ling Yi.
“Helped Mei make a weapon…
crunched too much data…
so tired…” Ling Yi answered instinctively in a murmur.
“Tch…
That coward.” Seeing Ling Yi’s consciousness form on the verge of passing out, a trace of heartache appeared on the Herrscher of Thunder’s face.
She hurried forward and rested Ling Yi’s head on her lap.
Honestly…
how had she managed to exhaust herself this badly?
Over the past five years, whenever Ling Yi had free time, she would always come here and tell the Herrscher of Thunder what she had done that day, share strange stories with her, and keep her company.
‘Maybe…
I really have started to care about this person a little.’ The Herrscher of Thunder thought this with great reluctance.
But for some reason, the thought that Ling Yi had exhausted herself for Raiden Mei…
irritated her.
Boom— Not long after Ling Yi fell asleep, a tremendous noise resembling a bomb explosion came from the real world.
What happened?
The Herrscher of Thunder looked toward the shallow layers of consciousness, wanting to see what was happening outside.
But someone reacted even faster than she did.
Ling Yi’s eyes snapped open.
She rose from the Herrscher of Thunder’s embrace and leaped toward the shallow layers of the consciousness space, leaving the Herrscher of Thunder alone with nothing but Ling Yi’s lingering warmth in her arms.
“…Raiden Mei…!” ★ ★ ★ T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me!
★ ★ ★ Shilling time!