The Raiden residence was quite reliable when it came to snacks. If he really couldn't find any... then he'd just raid Mei-nee's and Kiana's rooms! There were bound to be gains.
Shiraha first handed Elysia a popsicle, then began searching for bread and milk, then heated them up.
It was just a matter of a few minutes. It wouldn't cost him any affection points, and he could chat with Nee-chan here.
"Rin's got a problem." Shiraha's voice was very low.
Elysia leaned against the fridge and shook her head. "Rin's always been like this."
Shiraha might have held a decently high position in the Previous Era, for instance, he might have been quite renowned in the Manticores for infiltration and disguise. But when it came to matters concerning Rin, he definitely didn't know as much as she did.
During that final disaster, Elysia had experienced it from beginning to end. She'd been the one who followed along to lay Sakura to rest in the end.
"That child, in the Previous Era, back when Herrschers were nearly impossible to redeem, she still wavered because of Sakura's appearance."
Her voice grew softer. "Let alone after having lived to the present."
Rin wasn't a good person either. In the Previous Era, she'd single-handedly destroyed everything. But Elysia didn't blame her, just as Elysia wouldn't blame Siegfried.
She wouldn't demand that every suffering soul must stand strong and rise on their own. If Siegfried charged into Schicksal right now to take revenge on Otto, and in the process accidentally killed others who got in his way, Elysia would find it very hard to call him wrong.
Because Siegfried's past life was truly tragic. Shiraha would call him by name for various reasons, but that was the extent of it.
Revenge was never wrong. In places where the law was incomplete, if even revenge was forbidden,that was when things truly fell into chaos.
Shiraha paused, pretending to think. "I heard Rin was almost made into a Divine Key."
Elysia didn't respond. But it was a fact.
From a certain rational perspective, Rin becoming a Divine Key would've been the best outcome. In this, humanity's most prosperous and flourishing era, the destruction Corruption could bring was far too great.
Even if Binding appeared right now, in terms of sheer destructive efficiency, it absolutely couldn't match Corruption.
Shiraha watched the milk heating and smiled. "But I don't like cold, lifeless weapons."
Theoretically, the Jizo Mitama was the most important thing. But one point needed to be emphasized very seriously: both Rin and Yae Sakura were dead. There was no possibility of them coming back to life.
Their only appearance had been in Cooking with Valkyries, where they'd left behind a single episode of cherry blossom brew as lingering attachments from a bygone world.
Elysia smiled. "You like beautiful older sisters."
It wasn't a joke. Her tone wasn't drifting and wistful either. Elysia set the popsicle aside for a moment, let go of Shiraha's hand, then extended her own once more.
Shiraha took hold of it in midair. Nee-chan's fingertips were still a little cool.
"As long as Rin doesn't cause destruction in this civilization... I don't care about anything from the Previous Era."
It sounded utterly heartless. Shiraha continued, "That chaotic era, the Previous Era, let it be thoroughly buried in history. There's not a single fond memory of mine there anyway."
Elysia's starry eyes blinked. It sounded like Shiraha hadn't had a very good time in the Manticores.
She understood. Completely.
The Fire Moth's Manticores had gone through three phases. The original first-generation Manticores. After Sakura's defection, the new Manticores created by Mei. And after the MANTIS soldiers, before they could return to ordinary life, one by one sent to the operating table for the sake of the greater good: the late-generation Manticores.
No one in the Previous Era ever felt happy because they were in the Manticores.
...Except Mobius. But Mobius had only joined the Manticores for her own plans.
Elysia nodded slightly. "There's only one thing I don't quite understand."
Her expression turned troubled. "So after becoming a data-based lifeform... you can still keep growing up?"
Rin had been such an adorable child back then. How had she grown up to look exactly like Sakura, without a single feature of her own?
Shiraha: ....
With a ding, the milk and bread beside him were done heating.
Shiraha didn't need to be as careful as others. He could directly manipulate psychokinesis to pour the milk from the glass, place it onto a plate, and even conveniently wash the cup and set it on the counter beside him.
Psychokinesis really was so useful.
"Shiraha? Why aren't you answering my question?"
Elysia walked ahead, her voice plaintive, drawing out the end of her words.
Shiraha: ....
"Sorry. In the Previous Era, I wasn't too familiar with high-level combatants like you. I also don't understand why Rin would still grow up."
Elysia paused, then suddenly stopped walking.
She turned around. The tall older sister stood with her legs pressed together, gazing down at Shiraha from above.
Shiraha thought he'd said something wrong and kept replaying their conversation in his mind.
But Elysia only walked down two steps, bent over, her starry eyes reflecting his small face.
"Don't you think, when you're going up the stairs, and someone suddenly stops and turns to look at you, the atmosphere becomes rather... ambiguous?"
Shiraha: ....
He was quiet for a moment, then spoke with exceptional sincerity. "Sorry. It's probably my age. I haven't reached the age where I can sense ambiguity yet."
Truthfully, it was probably a matter of experience. Shiraha muttered inwardly. In this lifetime, the path he'd walked was far too smooth. Let alone a big sister suddenly turning to look at him on the stairs... even if someone confessed to him in the middle of the street, he could handle it with perfect composure.
They continued upstairs. Siegfried was smoking in the hallway, clearly numbed into oblivion by the brutal AIs. It wasn't that the brat Shiraha was too terrible, it was that fighting multiple AIs alone, without using fixed strategies, was genuinely impossible to win.
He glanced at Shiraha, pointed at the room, and lowered his voice. "Dangerous?"
Shiraha pressed his lips together and thought: Uncle Siegfried, I'll try to badmouth you less from now on... I promise!
He walked to his own door and lifted his head. His voice was decisive. "Rin-nee is a good person!"
Siegfried's face instantly darkened. Why are you saying that so loudly?!
He turned and went back into his room, ready to wash his face and calm himself down.
Shiraha pushed open the door. Rin was now leaning against the foot of the bed, her head resting on the mattress, her body slightly curled, letting her hair scatter loose.
"Rin-nee?"
Rin glanced at Shiraha and laughed lightly. "When you're with Sister... are you this attentive too?"
He'd even taken the initiative to heat up the food.
Shiraha set the tray aside and sat down naturally on the carpet, trying to stay at eye level with Rin, or rather, to present a slightly lower field of view so Rin would instinctively treat him as a child.
"Sakura-nee is very attentive. Most of these habits I picked up from Sakura-nee, Teacher Elysia, and Eden-nee."
Mobius... from Mobius-nee, he'd learned rigor. Rigor in the laboratory.
Rin bit into the bread in small mouthfuls. It was still a little hot, very soft and fluffy, slightly sweet. This delicious taste made her instinctively want to nuzzle against something.
"Speaking to Siegfried like that, won't it cause problems?"
Shiraha recalled Mei-nee from before. The corner of his mouth curved slightly upward. "Rin-nee, right now I've chosen to stand on your side. So don't ask questions like that."
His voice was exceptionally serious. "You should be supporting me unconditionally."
Rin felt dazed for a moment. The corner of her mouth turned bitter. "No wonder Sister told you so many things."
Wasn't this exactly the same tactic she used to love using back then?
She'd eaten the substitute meal so long she could no longer bear to part with it. So what was Sister's situation right now?
Yae Sakura... Yae Sakura...
Shiraha sat quietly beside her, not interrupting. He only reached out and nudged the milk a little closer to her.