Chapter 73: Yae Rin
"Little...kitten?"
After coughing for a while and finally calming down, the girl finally noticed the kitten, Kirataka, who was watching her from the wall.
Yae Rin stretched out her delicate little hand and waved it gently, trying to call the cute kitten over.
This trick doesn't always work for small animals, but this time, the kitten seemed to really understand her call, jumped lightly from the high wall, and then came to her side obediently.
It sat next to the girl and rubbed her hand gently with its head.
"So...so cute...ahem."
While coughing, Yae Rin couldn't help but reach out and touch the kitten beside her.
The soft touch of the little animal made her unable to let go, and she couldn't help but pick Kirataka up and put him on her lap.
"Meow~"
While feeling the girl's touch, Kirataka was also observing the girl in front of him.
She was indeed quite weak and looked haggard, and the color of her exposed skin was quite unhealthy. She looked like she was seriously ill.
Well... the real Yae Rin should have disappeared in history long ago. She died in a sacrifice several years before Kallen came to Yae Village. Unlike Yae Sakura, she was not corroded by the power of the Herrscher and turned into a pseudo-Herscher.
Therefore, the girl in front of him should be just an illusion like Joyce, not a real life.
In this stigmata space, apart from the two outsiders, him and Mei, the only real person is Yae Sakura herself.
'So... is the Yae Rin in front of me also an illusion created by the Herrscher of Corruption?'
Kirataka thought about this matter seriously.
The weak girl stroked the fur of the kitten in her arms, tilted her head, and thought seriously, then said:
"By the way, let me give you a name. How about...little Shiro?"
'Why add the word "little"?'
Kirataka thought about it and responded to Yae Rin with a meow as if he agreed with the name.
The cheerful tone let Yae Rin know that it liked this name very much. The young girl gently stroked the kitten lying on her lap and asked with a smile:
"little Shiro...I like you very much. Can you come to see me often in the future?"
"Meow~" ("Of course.")
"Well... let me tell you, little Shiro, my sister is amazing. She will become a very powerful Miko in the future..."
When interacting with the cute little guy, the girl couldn't help but talk a lot more than usual.
"I also want to see the outside world..."
——Yae Rin, who has been bedridden for a long time due to illness, has almost no chance to go out. Her understanding of the outside world is almost entirely based on the stories her sister told her when she was with her.
"But... my illness... cough cough, I don't know when I can get better..."
Yae Rin said with some disappointment.
Unlike her elder sister who showed outstanding talents in various aspects, she, as the younger sister, not only had no talent in combat and priestess but also had an extremely weak body since childhood.
Although Yae Sakura had tried every possible means, including but not limited to inviting doctors from outside and various secret recipes, she was unable to cure Yae Rin's increasingly weak body.
Five hundred years ago, she would probably have been regarded as a poor child suffering from an incurable disease.
Of course, if we look at it from a modern perspective, the real cause of Yae Rin's illness is most likely...
Weakness is caused by physical conflict due to the incomplete awakening of the stigmata.
As a family that can fight Honkai beasts, the Yae lineage must have inherited some kind of power of the stigmata, but not everyone has the talent to master the power of the stigmata.
Those who are not qualified enough will be eroded by the awakening of the stigmata.
——This situation is somewhat similar to Mei's when she was a child. She almost lost her life due to the awakening of the stigmata, so she has quite a lot of "experience" in this regard.
Unfortunately, now that we know this, there is no way to change it and it has become a thing of the past.
Even with his [Interference·Backtracking], he can only trace back about six hours.
but...
Otto, the plan that guy is preparing can indeed change the course of history.
With the help of the zeroth rated power of the Second God's Key, he could climb the Imaginary Tree and truly reverse everything, bringing back to life those who should not have died.
"…"
An idea vaguely emerged in Kirataka's mind.
What Otto could do, he might be able to do too.
However, it is still too early to talk about this now, as he does not have the strong ability to realize this idea.
Now, let's get down to earth and solve Yae Sakura's problem.
Just then, Kirataka heard footsteps coming from the other side of the room.
At first, Kirataka thought it was Yae Sakura who came back, but when he listened carefully, the heavy footsteps were not the sound that a young girl could make.
So he quickly jumped out of Yae Rin's arms, swiftly climbed back onto the wall, and hid himself behind the plants that decorated the courtyard.
"Ah, little Shiro..."
Yae Rin stretched out her hand reluctantly, and at the same time, the figure also came to the backyard.
As expected, the person who came to the backyard was not Yae Sakura, but an adult male.
Judging from his appearance, he should be Rin's father, the current head of the Yae family and the village chief of Yae Village, a man respected by the villagers as the Lord.
"Father, Father..."
The young girl timidly called out his name.
He looked frowning and asked in a stern tone:
"Rin, who were you talking to here just now?"
"It's... it's a kitten from outside..."
Yae Rin replied weakly.
After hearing this answer, the frown on Lord's face became even more distorted.
He said in a serious tone that left no room for doubt:
"Your health is not good to begin with, so don't touch those dirty things outside. Also, you are weak, so don't stay outside, go back inside."
"Okay, I understand, Father."
Yae Rin nodded.
Under her father's pressure, she had to stand up and take reluctant steps back into the house.
However, before she entered the house and closed the door completely, her eyes fell on the wall in the yard.
The girl stretched out her hand and waved reluctantly as if saying goodbye to a new friend.
Kirataka let out another loud cry, and then swiftly escaped before the Lord could throw stones at him.
He climbed over the high wall and returned to the interior of the shrine, only to see Mei, who had been waiting there, already talking to another girl.
——The real owner of this stigmata space, a girl named Yae Sakura, finally appeared before their eyes.
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