Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 66 I Hate Lie Detectors

There's an old saying that goes: Good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

Seeing Fu Hua come over with a stack of books to tutor her, Kiana wholeheartedly agreed with this statement.

What happened to my promise to rest properly? What happened to my promise not to have classes these few days? Auntie, you lied to me!

"Kiana, considering that you transferred here temporarily and missed a few days of classes... with exams approaching, Ms. Himeko specially asked me to come and tutor you."

"What about the other two? We can overlook Bronya, the little dwarf, but why wasn't the little gray-haired girl given extra tutoring by Aunt Himeko?!"

Kiana pointed at the gloating Sora and the silent Bronya with her right hand, which wasn't in a cast, looking extremely indignant.

"I'm sorry, Kiana, according to Mr. Bai's examination, there is a risk of fractures in my hands, so I can't use them for the time being—I can't write!"

This is a lie; Qiong is perfectly fine. Otherwise, Theresa wouldn't have taken her to the principal's office for questioning.

Qiong's recovery speed was terrifyingly fast. After the examination, Baiji determined that she could be discharged from the hospital with Bronya, but out of caution, he reminded her not to "overexert herself to avoid aggravating the injury." Not wanting to go to school and wanting to rest for a couple more days, he deliberately interpreted "don't overexert herself" as "don't exert yourself." As for Bronya? Bronya said it didn't matter whether she was discharged or not.

Anyway, Fu Hua wouldn't take it seriously. Could the immortal really force him to listen to the lecture?

"You, you, you traitor!"

"If you've never been loyal, how can you talk about betrayal?"

"It's okay, you can listen without writing it down—"

"Oh, I remember now!"

Qiong seemed to suddenly remember something and stood up.

"Teacher Bai said that getting more sunshine helps increase vitamin D levels, which is good for my health and my fragile bones. The sun is so nice now, I'm going out for a walk. Bye-bye!"

"Qiong-kun, you just don't want to listen to the lecture, right?"

Even Fu Hua couldn't stand such blatant behavior, but she couldn't bring herself to grab the injured person and force them to attend class.

What if I accidentally use too much force and cause secondary injury?

"You'd better never come back, you dead gray hair!"

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Qiong, who was wandering around the campus, soon realized a problem: he seemed to have nowhere to go.

Fu Hua, that guy, arranged to take leave to come and tutor Kiana. It's still during class time, and there's basically no one wandering around the academy.

But it can't be said that there was none at all; it seems that there were two workers on the side laying bricks to raise the school's perimeter wall.

Where to go? Going to class is out of the question. He just came from Fu Hua's place, going back to class would be a waste of time. Himeko and Lao Yang are out of the question either. If he runs into Himeko and she finds out, she'll drag him to class by the ear! As for Lao Yang… he just sold the information about the author of the Houmu manga to Theresa in exchange for leniency. Going there now is like trying to eat a black hole, isn't it? (Though not really).

"Qiong, what are you doing here instead of infirmary?"

"The headmaster?"

Hearing Theresa call her name, Qiong turned around and looked at the headmaster who was holding a bunch of comics—unlike ordinary comics, these were all signed by a certain author.

"Don't run around until your injury is fully healed."

"It's alright, Principal Xue, I'm almost fully recovered. But what about you? Why are you carrying so many comic books? Didn't you say only children like comics?"

Theresa blushed and stammered her rebuttal to Qiong.

"I...I...I confiscated all of this from the students! Yes, I confiscated it from those kids!"

However, judging from Theresa's expression, she probably doesn't believe it.

Theresa's face "burned".

Continuing this will only make things more embarrassing! We must change the subject immediately!

"You still haven't answered me. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing much, I'm just bored and can't go to class because my injury hasn't healed yet."

"If you want to go back to class early, that's fine. Didn't you just say it was almost time? I think..."

After all, judging from Qiong's appearance, she doesn't seem to be so badly injured that she can't study.

"Stop!!!"

It seems that the perfunctory approach was okay for Fu Hua, but it wasn't quite enough to fool Deli.

Helpless, Qiong could only change the subject.

"Headmistress, how is Mei?"

Even without changing the subject, this is a question that must be asked.

"She's a friend of mine and Kiana's, and I want to go see her."

"You want to see her? Then I'll take you there."

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"Your friends are out of danger."

It was the same confinement room where she had spoken with Sora last time, but this time, only Himeko Murata spoke with Raiden Mei.

"Really? That's great."

Raiden Mei breathed a sigh of relief and slumped into her chair.

Himeko Murata glanced at the newly installed lie detector on the wall; it was green.

Yes, that's true, the child really did consider those three people as friends.

"You can do whatever you want with me from now on."

The light was still green, but Himeko Murata frowned.

Having learned that your friend is alright, have you given up all your worries and attachments?

This is a sign that someone is about to commit suicide.

"Would you even mind killing me?"

Raiden Mei lowered her head.

"Hmm... fine. As long as I live, I'll hurt the people around me sooner or later. I'm a jinx; the people around me always leave me... first my mother, then my father, and now Changkong City..."

"Mei, don't give up on yourself!"

Raiden Mei, who was speaking words filled with "despair," was interrupted by Sora suddenly pushing open the door.

"Qiong, it's you! You heard everything?"

Theresa, once again adopting the airs of a school principal, walked in first.

“The soundproofing here isn’t very good; if the sound is even slightly loud, it can be heard clearly from outside.”

"Little friend, you?"

"Who's the kid? Listen up! I am Theresa Apocalypse, the highest leader of the Far East Branch of Fate, and the headmistress of St. Freya Academy!"

"Haha, little kid..."

But both Himeko and Sora laughed heartily without any attempt to hide it.

"You two, stop!"

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"Anyway, Mei, don't give up."

"Yes."

Himeko nodded solemnly.

"And we won't kill you. We are warriors fighting against the Honkai, not executioners of killing girls! If you really want to atone for your sins, then train hard and use your power to fight against the Honkai!"

"But what if, what if I can't control myself?"

"It's in your heart..."

"Let me teach you!"

Sora interrupted Himeko before she could finish saying "install the bomb".

"Kiana told you that I have one just like this on my chest, so I can definitely teach you..."

Drip, drop, drop...

The lie detector's red light came on.

Qiong: ?

What is this?

"Kid Qiong, lying is not a good thing."

"Himeko-neechan, I'm not lying. No one knows how to control things better than me..."

The red light is on again.

"..."

"Qiong, I understand that you want to comfort and protect your friends, but just because you can control yourself doesn't mean others can. Look at the lie detector test, you probably don't know how to teach others, right?"

After all, in Theresa's eyes, what was in Sora's chest was the core of a true Herrscher, but Sora knew that what she said above was all a lie. He simply didn't want anyone to plant a bomb next to someone else's heart.

This wasn't here last time I came. When was it installed? I hate lie detectors!

"Let's continue... If you're really afraid of things getting out of control, then we'll plant a bomb in your heart, that way we'll be completely safe, right? What do you think?"

"Yes, I accept."

"Mea Yi..."

Qiong still wanted to try, but Raiden Mei wasn't him. She didn't have Lao Yang behind her, nor Bai Ji, and more importantly, Mei didn't have any subjective opposition...

Even if he told Kiana, it would probably only cause Kiana to upset Theresa a bit more, and wouldn't change the consensus reached by everyone except him.