Marrying into the Raiden family certainly sounded charming, but don't forget, Mr. Fuli had just righteously declared that he wouldn't disturb someone else's peaceful life.
How should he handle this...
The involved party hugged his sword and fell into deep thought.
"Hehe~"
Seeming to see through his struggle, Mei chuckled with a hint of black-bellied amusement.
She shrugged with a pure and pitiful look, but her gaze towards Fuli rarely contained a trace of teasing superiority. "In the past, the Raiden family indeed had an old tradition that if an outsider learned the true transmission of Hokushin Ittō-ryū without permission, they must be brought back to the main family to be dealt with."
Crack!
A sound rang out, which was the sound of the stone brick cracking under Kiana's foot.
At first glance, it seemed like dissatisfaction with the two getting too close, leading to accidentally losing control of her strength.
Giving her vocal friend a reassuring look, Mei leisurely spoke the second half of her sentence: "But I think, since the only two people surnamed Raiden in the family no longer hold pure Far East citizenship, this ancient precept seems unnecessary to continue."
Raiden Ryoma, graduated from the Department of Electronic Information at the University of Tokyo, then went to Caltech in North America for further studies. After returning to his country, he founded ME Corp and built it into a world-leading multinational enterprise.
This was his resume in the normal world, inspiring countless grassroots to strive hard.
These expendables didn't know that on the Honkai side, this (former) President of ME Corp had another prestigious title—
Anti-Entropy Enforcer, codename "Entrepreneur."
It was the overt and covert support of Anti-Entropy that allowed ME Corp to grow bigger and stronger over more than a decade, creating glory. Also because of this, when Cocolia fabricated the embezzlement case to smear Raiden Ryoma, he didn't even have a slight chance to resist.
The referees are all my people, how can you fight me?
However, before being thrown into prison, Raiden Ryoma was still a resounding big shot.
His wife passed away many years ago, and Raiden Ryoma never remarried.
This man's love for his wife needed no words.
With such a profound background, when his wife was giving birth back then, he naturally tried every means to give her the best medical conditions.
In other words, Mei's birthplace was the Anti-Entropy Headquarters.
According to the laws over there, babies born locally automatically acquire citizenship of that country.
"So I'm simply curious about your level of swordsmanship, Fuli, and whether you need me, a Menkyo Kaiden proficient in Hokushin Ittō-ryū, to teach you hand-in-hand." The girl smiled beautifully. "As for where and how you learned these sword techniques, I am very interested, but I won't deliberately inquire."
"Which means?"
"You misunderstood~"
Fuli breathed a sigh of relief.
Someone, however, wanted him to breathe his last.
"Ah! Li!"
As everyone knows, the full name of LOVE is Level Of ViolencE, which refers to the ability to measure a person's capacity to hurt others. (Undertale reference)
For example, right now, Kiana, bursting with jealousy, wanted to have a good LOVE session with Fuli to avoid the tragic fate of being NTR'd by him and losing her wife (or husband?).
"What, still want to fight?"
Fuli, having dealt with Mei, wouldn't spoil her. He held Mikazuki in a stance, thought for a moment, and then resheathed the sword.
This wasn't giving up halfway; he thought of something interesting and decided to use Kiana to test a new move.
Growl...
At this critical moment of swords drawn and bows bent, after two and a half hours, a strange sound came again from Kiana's empty lower abdomen.
The two looked at each other calmly.
"Ah-Li~~~"
Fuli put away the sword-drawing stance that was exactly the same as the one Shrine Maiden RIN used for Setsuna Blade · Naraka, and hugged his arms with a look of disgust. "...No, can your face change not be so fast? Give me some time to prepare mentally, okay?"
"I don't waaaanna!" Kiana said coquettishly.
"Ask Mei—forget it."
Only halfway through his sentence, Fuli shook his head on his own.
Ever since Raiden Ryoma advanced into a prison-type talent, the belongings of the Raiden mansion were either pawned or confiscated.
Mei herself was currently living in the girls' dormitory. Where would she get the money to satisfy Kiana, this big eater?
"Consider it a celebration for Mei joining the team. I'll treat you guys to a good meal." He raised his hands in surrender. "After eating, we'll set off and leave Nagazora City."
"Actually, preparing ingredients and going to Kiana's place is also fine." Mei seriously suggested. "I've been learning cooking recently, you can leave the cooking to me."
"I'm quite looking forward to your skills, but let's forget it this time."
Fuli felt very regretful. In the previous loop, he had tasted Mei's cooking. It was more than just perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
It led Fuli to call her the "Rice-Cooking Wife" with a teasing tone for a long time.
Unfortunately, everything changed after she (Lament of the Fallen) joined the World Serpent.
Speaking of which, it was quite funny. At that time, Fuli thought the World Serpent did something outrageous to Mei, causing her personality to change drastically. In a fit of anger, he not only kicked over thirty-seven branches they set up in the Middle East but even confronted that mercenary legend—Island Bombing Raven (Raven/Natasha Cioara).
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Mei herself made a dazzling debut, tearing through the sky with thunder, preventing Fuli, who was still an A-rank Breaker at the time, from being beaten up by her.
Oh, this "beating up" was Ms. Cioara's one-sided claim afterwards.
The probability of winning or losing between the two had always been 30-70. Fuli 3, Raven 7.
Many people know that Schicksal possesses three active S-rank Valkyries, each of whom is a strategic-level deterrent.
Among these three, only Rita Rossweisse barely squeezed into the S-rank category relying on the performance of the 4th Generation Godsbane Battlesuit "Argent Knight: Artemis."
Raven's situation was similar to hers. Being rated S-rank was entirely due to the powerful boost of the Third Divine Key, the Key of Judgment "Seven Thunders of Retribution."
In her normal state, she was at most at the peak critical point. At that time, Fuli, as an A-rank Breaker, wasn't unable to clash with her.
The 30-70 win rate was because he was covered in injuries from overturning World Serpent branches. Otherwise, 40-60 or even 50-50 wasn't impossible. After all, he was recognized as undefeated among peers.
Thinking of this, Fuli glanced at Mei's soft lotus legs wrapped in thigh-high stockings.
After the incident, when Mei helped treat him, that was exactly where he rested his head, and she was wearing white silk stockings that accentuated her leg shape even more.
Regarding this, someone's blurted-out evaluation was "too hard, too uncomfortable, not as good as a pillow."
Then his injuries got worse.
This time it was electric shock damage.
Can only say he deserved it.
...