——
[I had that dream again.]
[A scene slowly emerged from the darkness, a young girl bathed in the light of the Stellaron, her white silhouette like a stone monument amidst the snowstorm.]
["They will suffer, they will sacrifice, they will die by my command."]
["What awaits them is not death... They will be swaddled in the cradle of a new world."]
["What about the people below? They will lose the Architects' protection. They will see me as... a tyrant." The girl's voice trembled slightly.]
["You have seen... the world we promised." The Stellaron's voice was firm. "A brief misunderstanding will bring eternal prosperity."]
["The choice is yours... We respect it."]
["..." As if steeling her resolve, Cocolia spoke word by word: "I understand."]
"Ah, it seems this lady was deceived from a young age."
In the Jade Chamber, Ningguang sighed deeply as she observed the Stellaron's effortless act of making empty promises.
"Lady Ningguang, why are you so certain she was deceived?" Secretary Baishi asked, puzzled. "Didn't the Stellaron say it would respect whatever decision Lady Cocolia made?"
"...It's because she's standing right in the middle of it all."
Ningguang exhaled a faint wisp of white smoke. "If Cocolia were sitting in my position right now, with her knowledge and insight, she would have noticed the Stellaron's scheme. But with the fate of an entire nation weighing on her shoulders, it's easy to misjudge."
"The Stellaron's attitude is a classic case of playing hard to get. To fully gain someone's trust, outright rejection won't work... You must first respect and affirm them."
"As for the Stellaron's promises... Heh."
Ningguang was no stranger to empty promises.
From her days as a little girl hawking Mora Meat on the streets to becoming Liyue's wealthiest merchant and inheriting the title of Tianquan, one of the Qixing, Ningguang had witnessed countless schemes and plots... This kind of empty promise was something she herself had employed more than once.
——
[The dream faded. Stelle rubbed her groggy head and opened her eyes to see Sampo chatting with a blue-haired woman dressed like a doctor. Judging by Sampo's slightly awkward expression, he seemed somewhat wary of her.]
["Tell me the truth, Sampo. What do you plan to do with that little girl from the Overworld?"]
["Do with her? Same as the others, find a way to send her back... Wait, why are you—"] Sampo trailed off, his eyes widening in shock.
["Did you really think you could hide it from me? Sampo Koski."]
[The gray-haired woman's expression remained calm. Though her words carried a hint of reproach, her tone was completely flat. She seemed all too familiar with Sampo's antics.]
[Sampo instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, his eyebrows drooping. "...I didn't mean to bring her along. The smoke was too thick, and I was disoriented. Before I knew it, she was with me."]
["I really don't know what you're playing at, Sampo." The woman sighed. "What does the Overworld have to do with you? Why insist on wading into this mess? Are you not conspicuous enough? Do you need the [Wildfire] to set their sights on you before you're satisfied?"]
["Come on! I, Sampo, always look out for my friends. These people helped me out, I owe them a favor."]
["And that's your excuse for letting them run wild underground?" The woman's gaze sharpened.]
[Sampo chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his hands together apologetically. "Ah, that was an accident! A complete accident! I'll go round them up right away."]
[With that, Sampo vanished from the clinic in a flash. Even after all this time, his ability to flee remained as reassuring as ever.]
[Noticing that Stelle had woken up and was sitting on the bed, the blue-haired woman gently helped her up and asked considerately, "How do you feel? Any discomfort?"]
"Ah~ I feel terrible everywhere," Zenitsu answered reflexively.
Natasha's greeting seemed to strike right at Zenitsu's heart. He rolled around on the hospital bed before staring dreamily at the beautiful, gentle woman on the screen.
So pretty... and so kind...
"Inosuke, would you rather be taken care of by Miss Kochou or the gray-haired big sister on the screen?" Zenitsu leaned toward the neighboring bed, whispering now that Aoi had left after changing their bandages.
"Hmm..."
After a brief silence, the massive boar mask's jaw bristles twitched. "Definitely Kochou. She's clearly stronger, if I'm gonna conquer bigger forests as the King of the Mountains, I'd want stronger underlings!"
"You hopeless boar." Zenitsu turned to the other bed. "What about you, Tanjirou?"
"Well..." Tanjirou seemed to sense something and forced a smile. "Uh... I think Aoi's just fine."
"Ugh, you two... I think the gray-haired sister is even gentler than Miss Kochou," Zenitsu said with a lovestruck expression. "Hehe, she's so pretty~"
But the moment the words left his mouth—
Killing intent!
Zenitsu's back broke out in a cold sweat as a chilling sensation crept up his spine, like a thousand needles stabbing him at once!
Slowly turning his head, he came face-to-face with Kochou Shinobu's forcibly stretched, nearly demonic smile.
Her face was the picture of sweetness, if not for the throbbing veins on her forehead, it might have even been soothing.
—But all Zenitsu felt was the approach of certain doom.
"Ara, Zenitsu, was it...? Could you please get out of my Butterfly Mansion right now?"
——
[Stelle rubbed her waist. "...My whole body hurts."]
[The woman chuckled. "That's an accurate metaphor, but normal people don't say it like that."]
[She briefly introduced herself as Natasha, the doctor of the underground clinic. Stelle learned from her that the underground was a world completely separate from the Overworld its people had been sealed below for over a decade, surviving solely by digging tunnels and mining.]
[Stelle: "Where are my companions?"]
[Natasha pointed in the direction Sampo had left. "They woke up before you. The black-haired young man was the first, Sampo took him. There was also a rather lively girl who ran off not long after waking up. She's probably wandering around nearby."]
["The last girl, the one dressed like a Silvermane Guard, vanished the moment Sampo stepped out."]
["I heard you mention [Wildfire] earlier... What is that?"]
["An underground civilian organization. Think of them as the underground's Silvermane Guards, just a bit more humane."]