Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

(Volume 4: Human Civilization, Full Speed Ahead!)

"Did you hear? Kiana got a beating."

"What, really?"

There was a hint of excitement and curiosity in the voice, as if this day had been long awaited.

"Yeah. So you'd better be careful, too. You're way more mischievous than Kiana."

A trace of helplessness crept into Raiden Mei's tone, as if she was resigned to the fact that Sirin might be next.

Sirin urged Mei to spill the details of what Kiana had done to deserve a sudden thrashing.

"Just tell me why Kiana got beaten up! What on earth did she do? I thought he was always so nice to her."

Mei looked at Sirin and said with grave importance, "You need to be careful, too. Don't you go randomly proposing marriage to him or anything like that."

"Huh?!"

Sirin stared at Raiden Mei in shock, wondering how she knew exactly what Kiana had done. She couldn't even fathom why Kiana would do such a thing in the first place.

Based on her usual behavior, that dumb girl shouldn't have had any real awareness of things like that. Even if she had some inkling, she wasn't at the stage of being in love with anyone. Besides ogling pretty girls, she never acted like a typical girl at all.

"Come on, just tell me why! Did Kiana lose her mind? Why would she do that all of a sudden? Didn't we all get a wedding invitation from Dr. Tesla? Was she trying to NTR Dr. Tesla or something?"

Sirin was genuinely starting to worry about Kiana's mental state.

Raiden Mei shook her head and explained, "It's not like that. If she really just wanted to sleep with him, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Noldrei wouldn't mind something like that. After all, they're 'kindred,' so there's nothing they can't talk about. Hooking up isn't something that's off the table."

Is that really an acceptable thing? Why do I get the feeling they're more like a father and daughter?

Sirin started to suspect that Raiden Mei's brain had been warped. Had this woman become so open-minded she'd accept anything?

"No, you have to explain it clearly. Why did he hit her?"

Raiden Mei hesitated before finally revealing the real reason.

"Because they are kindred, they can't just get married casually, especially not the Kiana of today. Don't you get it? It's precisely because they are kindred that their relationship is actually very complicated."

Sirin was about to die from impatience. "Complicated how?! Just spit it out!"

"Calm down. We all know Noldrei came back to fight against that specific form of colonialism, right?" Mei began to recount what had happened.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Kiana?" Sirin asked, still confused after the explanation.

"It has everything to do with it. That's why Noldrei can never, ever marry her. Do you understand now? Since they're kindred, if they wanted to get married, it wouldn't be like how we understand it—two people going to the registry office and getting a piece of paper. In reality, their powers, their very minds and bodies, would begin to merge. They would exchange control over each other's bodies. It's like the state Ana Schariac and Mahiru are in, do you get it now?"

With that, it all clicked for Sirin. No wonder Noldrei had been so furious he'd actually hit Kiana.

It was because they were kindred. If they got married, they would split each other's power. That meant if Kiana were to oppose Noldrei's mission and his ideals at that point, Noldrei would have no choice but to...

He'd be forced to abandon his anti-colonialist ambitions.

That foolish girl Kiana clearly had no idea what colonialism even was, let alone how to fight it. If she got her hands on Noldrei's power, it would mean the world would likely accelerate toward the very future Noldrei had described.

It was a society so bleak that even people from that future were desperate enough to travel to the past to change it. How could Noldrei possibly hand his power over to Kiana at such a critical moment?

Clearly, this wasn't a simple matter of love or affection.

A conflict over the future direction of society, an issue usually reserved for governments, had become concentrated entirely within these two individuals.

Once Sirin understood the core of the problem, she immediately burst out laughing and ran off.

Raiden Mei watched her go, stunned. "Sirin! Sirin! Where are you going?! Are you going to try the same thing with Noldrei?!"

"I have no interest in that! I'm going to find Kiana so I can laugh in her face!"

Sirin's voice echoed down the hallway of the St. Freya High School dormitory.

She had finally managed to move out of her family home, and now she was so eager to mock Kiana that she wouldn't even stay in the dorms for the night.

Kiana, what did you ever do to deserve this? What on earth did you do to make Sirin hold such a grudge against you?

Raiden Mei was at a loss for words. It seemed that even after being separated from Kiana's body, Sirin was still fixated on her. It just went to show there was a reason they had been stuck in the same body for so long.

---||---

At that very moment, Noldrei was busy disciplining his Crown Princess.

It was a good thing for an heir to have her own ideas, but trying to usurp her father was absolutely out of the question. She wasn't challenging him as a person; she was challenging his throne and his imperial authority.

Being the Crown Prince—or Princess—is the hardest job in the world. Do poorly, and you fail. Do too well, and you're a threat. And going against the political path set by the emperor? That's the worst offense of all.

How could Kiana, on a whim, bring up something like marriage, a matter that directly concerned the supreme authority and the future direction of his entire mission?

For the first time in this era, Noldrei was truly angry.

"Do you understand me? If you ever dare mention the word 'marriage' to me again, don't expect me to show you any mercy, kindred or not!"

Sniffle... sob...

The pink slime was crying for the first time. Having reverted to her true form, she quivered on the floor like a dropped bowl of jelly.

"I... I get it... If you don't want to, you could have just said no... Why did you have to hit me?! I was just thinking that if I didn't, Dr. Tesla would snatch you away. I was just saying! What's the big deal? I can hook up, too! I'm not some clueless kid. I've gained plenty of experience from watching... local videos from the Far East."

Kiana felt that even if they didn't get married, they'd still live together and be together, right? So what was the problem?

Noldrei suspected someone had given Kiana some terrible advice.

Wasn't their bond already closer than any marriage conceived by modern industrial society? If she was sexually frustrated, she could have just told him! It wasn't like Noldrei wouldn't help her with that.

But this little brat had repaid his kindness with betrayal. Just because she learned about the nature of marriage for future humans, she wanted to use their shared status as kindred to seize a portion of his imperial power?

A rebellious daughter! A traitorous heir! She who would ruin my house is the Crown Princess herself!

Noldrei sighed. His empire, not even two years old, was already hurtling toward destruction.