Passing the letter over to Shiro, Keiko sat on the sofa and obediently waited for her response. Seeing Keikoās ābouncinessā and excitement, Shiro couldnāt help but wonder if she was an overexcited cat or something.
Shaking her head, she looked at the familiar seal and bit her finger.
Opening the letter, she read its contents.
[Hello~ Seems like youāve met Keiko. Iāve already told her that thereās a good chance of you losing your memory so it should be ok. She should be able to help you with a lot of the stuff that you need such as change in identity, items and so on.
Since thereās a good chance that youāve lost your memory, Iāll give you a straight warning right now. Keiko is infatuated and I mean INFATUATED with you. The previous you anyways. So try not to show signs that may be misunderstood for feelings since it would just make things worse. As you have no memories right now, it might be able to act as a deterrent for her but keep your guard up nonetheless.
Other than that, sheās a nice girl that would help you in anything you need.
Remember, once you reach B class, you can find me through the portal located at the top of Mount Everest.
~Yuki.]
āHm... well damn, I had an urge to pamper her a little as well.ā Shiro thought to herself.
{You have enough love interests already, stop getting more.} Nimue chuckled.
āEnough? How many do you even think I have? I thought Lyrica was the only one though?ā Shiro tilted her head in confusion.
{Do you need me to say it for you? Helion, Iām pretty sure Madison at one point but she seemed to be over it. Nan Tian, Lyrica and Raoul just to name a few.} Nimue shrugged.
āEh? Madison and Helion?ā Shiro raised an eyebrow.
{Yup.} Nimue nodded.
{Hehe~ Shiro is so popular. Maybe someday weāll see mini Shiroās? Oh wait, no thatās Yin. Hmm... Baby Shiroās then.} Iziuel chuckled.
āThatās only if I get a husband or something. Though I donāt think thatās a priority right now.ā Shiro coughed as her cheeks had a slight blush to them.
āUntil I get rid of the light bastard, Nan Tian and the whole age of god thing, I shouldnāt get a lover.ā
{Mn, true. Ah Iāll wait to see Baby Shiroās then. Maybe theyāll call me aunty.} Iziuel replied with a smile.
Denying such a possibility, Shiro turned back to Keiko.
"Erm... so, Yuki said that I should rely on you if I need help." She said slowly.
"Ah of course, anything you want I shall provide. Do you want items or materials? Maybe some backup for a fight?" Keiko asked enthusiastically.
"Ah no, erm... well maybe. More importantly, I canāt just accept your help for free. Is there anything I can do in order to pay for your help?" Shiro asked since it would feel weird if she basically got given the items without her doing anything.
"Why canāt you? I mean, youāre my cousin so helping you is only natural." Keiko tilted her head.
"Thatās... not the problem. The problem is that since I have no memories, itās like weāre strangers. You can think of it as Iām trying to recover my memory through meeting a few trusted people." Shiro replied.
"Ah so you think itās awkward?"
"Pretty much." Shiro nodded.
"Oh thatās fine then. Letās go have some baths together, maybe go on a few dinners and we wonāt be awkward anymore." Keiko smiled.
". . .Ok let me rephrase this. I donāt know you. So maybe itās best that you think of it as weāre meeting for the first time, which to me is the current situation." Shiro furrowed her brows.
Pausing for a moment, Keiko felt a little hurt at the comment āI donāt know you but calmed herself down.
āAh... thatās to be expected huh? She did lose her memories...ā She thought sadly.
". . . In that case, Iāll introduce myself. My name is Keiko, and Iām your cousin. Iām the only one left from my branch of the family since both my parents and siblings have died while fighting monsters." Keiko reintroduced herself as her face was serious.
"I know that my name used to be Kuromi but after reset, itās become Shiro. I have two adopted daughters, and Lisandra here is one of them." Shiro followed up and pointed to Lisandra.
Keiko was about to continue when she stopped once more.
Noticing this, Shiro tilted her head.
"Gah! This is annoying. Kuro- no Shiro, I have an idea. Letās just spend the day together and it should break the ice." Keiko puffed up her chest.
"First, letās go back to the auction house since you said that you wanted to buy something."
"Ah wait, didnāt I tell you I need to pa-"
"Donāt worry, I havenāt forgotten. Since thatās the case, you can transfer under me as a guest elder for now. Donāt worry about the opposition since Iām the faction master, what I say goes and if they dare reject it, Iāll kick their ass." Keiko cut her off.
{Wow~ Your cousin is quite outgoing isnāt she? She even cut you off mid sentence.} Nimue chuckled.
āIndeed.ā Shiro smiled.
"Iāll teleport us back to the auction house now." Keiko said while placing her hand on their shoulder.
Blinking for a moment, Shiro realised that they were back in the auction house.
āDamn, thatās handy as sh*t...ā She couldnāt help but think to herself.
"Letās see, this was the terminal that you used wasnāt it?" Keiko asked as she pointed to a terminal.
"Ah, er yeah. When you grabbed us, I was on that terminal." Shiro nodded.
"Right, Shiro, watch this." Keiko grinned.
Cracking her fingers, she tapped away on the screen.
Countless tabs opened up as Keiko worked through them efficiently. After a short moment, there were only a few tabs left.
"Hmm... you were looking at Rebirth Pills and the Glacial Lotus Blood the most. Iām guessing you wanted to buy these two right?" Keiko smiled.
Before she could even respond, Keiko bought them all immediately.
"Ah well, itās not like Iām short for cash anyways. After all, it would be embarrassing for the faction master of one of the biggest factions in the world to be poor now wouldnāt it?" Keiko laughed.
Being swept along by her momentum, both Shiro and Lisandra looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Sheās quite hyper isnāt she?" Shiro chuckled.
"In that regard, sheās quite similar to you. Youāre the same when you get excited." Lisandra smiled.
"I suppose so."
###
Collecting the rebirth pills and the lotus blood, Keiko threw them over to Shiro.
"Anything else?" She asked with a smile.
*Sigh...
"Keiko, I donāt need the rebirth pills since theyāre low quality." Shiro replied while giving her the pills.
"Well Iāll just dump them in the faction treasury." Keiko shrugged.
"S-"
*PING!
Before she could continue, her phone rang with a notification as her smiling face turned into that of a frown.
"Take it. As the faction leader, itās only natural that youāll be busy. Donāt worry, Iāll be staying here for around two months." Shiro smiled and gestured for her to check her phone.
Nodding her head, Keiko couldnāt help but be reaffirmed that this is a different Kuromi than what she remembered. Right now, it was as if she was a warm elder sister looking after a little sister.
āHer memory will return... right?ā Keiko thought to herself since Kuromi played an irreplaceable part in her life. If she couldnāt remember any of that, it would just be cruel.
Looking at the notification, Keiko clicked her tongue.
"Damn..." She muttered.
"Is it serious?" Shiro asked.
"Quite. Several shrines have been converted into a type of multi-layered spell that some of our staff couldnāt dispel. Seems like they want me to have a look before doing anything serious." Keiko shook her head.
"Why donāt I come with you? I might be able to help since I need to pay for this lotus after all." Shiro suggested.
Thinking about it for a moment, Keiko nodded her head.
Since Kuromi couldnāt remember anything yet, it would be good for her to spend some more time together. Even if things stay this way, they can reforge that forgotten connection with time.
"Alright. Iāll teleport us there now since I still have a marker in that place." Keiko smiled.
Holding onto the two of them, they disappeared from the area.