Collapse Iron: Today's mount is the female protagonist.

Page 40

Although she had chatted with him many times before, this was the first time they had actually met in person. Despite her inner longing to see him and deepen their relationship, she found herself at a loss for words once they were actually together.

She seemed to have no idea what the other person liked or what topics to bring up.

Mei pursed her lips, feeling anxious and nervous. She had never hated herself for being so bad at conversation.

"Heh, if I were doing this to ask for thanks, I wouldn't be doing it."

Qi Wen's warm laughter reached her ears, sounding casual and carefree.

"It's enough to see your life getting better and that you can still be a kind and excellent girl."

"And speaking of which, I was asked by your father to take good care of you."

Well done, Father!

This was the first time Raiden Mei had ever praised her father so openly in her heart.

"I'm sorry, Father is troubling others too much." She said with a shy smile, her tone both bashful and earnest.

"Although I can't be of much help, I'm willing to do what I can in my life. Please let me know if you need anything, Mr. Qi Shi."

"Oh? Then I won't stand on ceremony. It must be a wonderful thing to be taken care of by someone like Mei."

"Please, please don't say such embarrassing things."

The atmosphere gradually warmed up, and the two chatted while busy preparing ingredients in the kitchen.

Qi Shi did not actually make contact; he simply used his consciousness to control the kitchen utensils.

"Your cooking skills are amazing."

During the process, Raiden Mei couldn't help but gasp softly.

She discovered that Qi Shi's cooking skills were far superior to hers. Whether it was the handling of ingredients, the smooth movements while cooking, or the finished dishes that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste, he was incredibly skilled. When the two of them were busy in the kitchen, it was more like Mei was assisting than Qi Shi helping out.

"I didn't know Mr. Qi Shi was such a good cook."

After exclaiming in amazement, Raiden Mei, with an expectant yet somewhat embarrassed expression, asked, "Um, Qi Shi, when I'm cooking in the future, can I ask you for advice on cooking-related knowledge?"

Yes! That's it! First, get some time alone together!

However, the answer she received caused Mei's rising joy to freeze.

"Let's talk about this later. I usually spend time tutoring Kiana at times like this, so it feels awkward to bring it up suddenly." However, Qi Shi politely declined.

"Oh, I see." Raiden Mei felt a little down, but she didn't show it. Instead, she changed the subject with a gentle smile.

"Ah! The food is almost ready. Although I didn't make much of it and I'm a little shy about showing it off, you must try it and taste my heartfelt effort."

During dinner, Bronya felt the atmosphere at the table was strange.

Kiana didn't seem to have much of an appetite at dinner. She finally saw Qi Shi and spent the whole dinner chatting with him, asking what Mei had said to him in the kitchen. She didn't know why, but she was inexplicably concerned about these things.

Mei would occasionally put food on Kiana's plate with a gentle expression, yet it seemed as if the food wasn't actually for her.

Bronya ate her meal in silence, feeling that Mei and Kiana were acting strangely today. What had happened? Could it be that Kiana had done something to upset Mei?

Dinner was eaten in this strange atmosphere.

Inside the kitchen, Raiden Mei was tidying up the dishes. She stood there, wiping the kitchen knife in her hand, looking at her own face reflected in the smooth, shiny surface of the blade.

Because of Qi Shi's special circumstances, the two have known each other for so long and have become very close. Now, Qi Shi usually spends most of her time with Kiana, so it seems she needs to start with Kiana.

After wiping the blade clean and calming her surging emotions, Raiden Mei's gaze sharpened as she steadily inserted the knife into the storage box.

Kiana is no threat at all.

"Ah, who is it?"

The next morning, Kiana heard a knock on the door and wondered who it was. She went to open the door while asking who it was.

"Kiana, I made you some pastries," Mei said with a gentle smile, holding a plate of pastries in her hands.

“Uh…” Kiana couldn’t help but take a step back and swallow.

Mei, what do you want to do?

Looking at this somewhat familiar scene.

The last time Mei approached him like this was to try and extract information about Qi Shi from her.

Chapter 63 Kiana: Something just doesn't feel right!

"Won't you invite me in for a bit?" Mei asked gently with a smile.

"Mei, don't do this, I'm scared."

Kiana's voice sounded somewhat flustered, as she was already traumatized by what had happened before. Mei was just too frightening back then; her sharp eyes and dangerous aura instilled a sense of inexplicable fear in her.

"Kiana, do you think I'm that scary?"

Seeing the other person's fear and wariness, Raiden Mei sighed softly, realizing that her previous actions had been too aggressive.

"Well... come in, but I haven't done anything wrong."

Despite her hesitation and unease, Kiana eventually welcomed Mei in, reassuring herself that the matter of Qi Shi was over and Mei hadn't done anything wrong, so there was no need to be afraid.

As soon as Mei entered the room, she saw the textbooks open on the table, indicating that Kiana had indeed been studying hard.

She put the textbooks away and placed the pastries on the table.

The two then sat down one after the other and began to chat, expressing their concern for each other.

Kiana was a little nervous at first, but seeing that Mei seemed to be fine, she finally relaxed and quickly forgot her unhappy memories like a paramecium. While eating pastries, she complained to Mei.

"Sigh~ Aunt Flo assigned too much homework. I thought that becoming a Valkyrie would keep me away from these headaches, but I didn't expect there to be even more homework than before."

"In addition, Qi Shi often tutors me, so of course I don't dislike it. It's just that I've had much less time to play games lately."

"Hehe~ The headmaster and Mr. Qi Shi are only doing this for your own good. If they don't keep an eye on you, Kiana will regress to her old self."

Kiana said she spends much less time playing games, but it's just that she used to play games all day, but now she only plays games for half a day.

The courses at St. Freya Academy weren't many, and Mei diligently took care of everything in the dormitory. Even with Theresa's assignments and Qi Shi's instruction of new knowledge, she still had plenty of free time.

After talking for a while, Mei paused, her expression changed, and she explained the reason for the incident.

"Kiana, actually, I have something I want to ask you."

Kiana was taken aback for a moment, then immediately patted her chest and volunteered.

"Mei's problems are my problems. I will help her if I can."

But soon, she began to regret agreeing so readily.

"Hmm..." Mei seemed to relax a little upon hearing this.

"After joining St. Freya, my performance has not been very good. Seeing everyone else undergoing high-intensity combat training every day, while I can only do the simplest exercises, I have always found it hard to face myself."

She spoke in a low voice, and after hesitating for a moment, she began to speak.

"Kiana, I heard you say that you became so strong so quickly because of Mr. Saishi's help, so... could you also introduce me to him and ask Mr. Saishi to help me?"

"Um...this."

Kiana's expression immediately became hesitant upon hearing this, completely unexpected that the request the other party was asking for would be something like this.

It's hard to be honest about it...

But to be honest, she didn't want to do that.

Qi Shi has been quite busy lately, and he has had less time to play with her. If he adds other things to his schedule, he will have even less time to spend with her.

She only mentioned the tutoring in the room casually, saying she didn't want it at all!

"Kiana." Raiden Mei pursed her lips and continued speaking in a low voice.

"I've tried to practice hard to catch up with everyone, but the result is that I'm falling further and further behind."

Her expression was incredibly downcast, and she made heartbreaking sounds, appearing so helpless.

"I don't want to hold everyone back anymore. I don't want to be like before, unable to help at all, just watching everyone fight, needing protection when danger comes, and unable to do anything. I don't want to become like that again!"

"Mea Yi..."

Seeing Mei's dejected expression and her broken and painful look, Kiana felt a pang of guilt and a heavy heart.

After a constant internal struggle, I finally gritted my teeth and made a decision.

"Mei, don't be sad. I... I'll help you."

Her voice sounded somewhat hesitant, but she still agreed.

"Really!" As if the dark clouds had been dispelled, Mei exclaimed with delight, excitedly grabbing the other person's hand. Her smile was like sunshine after despair.

"Thank you, Kiana, thank you for helping me."

Seeing the other person's happy expression return, Kiana was finally able to force a smile.

But my heart aches so much.

It's not a one-time thing that will end completely once you've helped. Once you agree to do something like this, you'll need to help every single day from then on.

Day after day, so much time spent with Qi Shi disappeared. Kiana suddenly felt so much pain that she was dizzy and couldn't breathe.

Mei held her hand and thanked her repeatedly, which made her feel a little better.

After expressing her gratitude with joy, Raiden Mei then held her hands and said expectantly.

"Um, Mr. Qi Shi, may I ask for your help later?"

Kiana seemed somewhat at a loss.

Mei-nee still has the strength and the means.

Qi Shi said helplessly, "Compared to you, Chongchong, you're really useless."

"Alright, since you've already discussed it, I'll help when I have time," he said, giving a definite answer.

"Thank you so much!"

Raiden Mei smiled gently and said, "I hope you will continue to guide me, Mr. Qi Shi. I will definitely do my best!"

Then she looked at Kiana, who was standing to the side looking a little lost, and gratefully took her hands in hers like a best friend.

"I really want to thank you for this, Kiana. You still have training afterwards, so go ahead! Mr. Qi Shi and I have prepared a big meal at home and are waiting for you to come back!"