Chapter 387 - Spending Time With Keiko

Passing the letter over to Shiro, Keiko sat on the sofa and obediently waited for her response. Seeing Keiko's 'bounciness' and excitement, Shiro couldn't 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 you've met Keiko. I've already told her that there's 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 there's a good chance that you've lost your memory, I'll 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, she's 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.]

'Hm… well damn, I had an urge to pamper her a little as well.' Shiro thought to herself.

{You have enough love interests already, stop getting more.} Nimue chuckled.

'Enough? How many do you even think I have? I thought Lyrica was the only one though?' Shiro tilted her head in confusion.

{Do you need me to say it for you? Helion, I'm 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.

'Eh? Madison and Helion?' Shiro raised an eyebrow.

{Yup.} Nimue nodded.

{Hehe~ Shiro is so popular. Maybe someday we'll see mini Shiro's? Oh wait, no that's Yin. Hmm… Baby Shiro's then.} Iziuel chuckled.

'That's only if I get a husband or something. Though I don't think that's a priority right now.' Shiro coughed as her cheeks had a slight blush to them.

'Until I get rid of the light bastard, Nan Tian and the whole age of god thing, I shouldn't get a lover.'

{Mn, true. Ah I'll wait to see Baby Shiro's then. Maybe they'll 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 can't 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 can't you? I mean, you're my cousin so helping you is only natural." Keiko tilted her head.

"That's… not the problem. The problem is that since I have no memories, it's like we're strangers. You can think of it as I'm trying to recover my memory through meeting a few trusted people." Shiro replied.

"Ah so you think it's awkward?"

"Pretty much." Shiro nodded.

"Oh that's fine then. Let's go have some baths together, maybe go on a few dinners and we won't be awkward anymore." Keiko smiled.

". . .Ok let me rephrase this. I don't know you. So maybe it's best that you think of it as we're 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 'I don't know you but calmed herself down.

'Ah… that's to be expected huh? She did lose her memories…' She thought sadly.

". . . In that case, I'll introduce myself. My name is Keiko, and I'm your cousin. I'm 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, it's 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. Let's just spend the day together and it should break the ice." Keiko puffed up her chest.

"First, let's go back to the auction house since you said that you wanted to buy something."

"Ah wait, didn't I tell you I need to pa-"

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. Since that's the case, you can transfer under me as a guest elder for now. Don't worry about the opposition since I'm the faction master, what I say goes and if they dare reject it, I'll kick their ass." Keiko cut her off.

{Wow~ Your cousin is quite outgoing isn't she? She even cut you off mid sentence.} Nimue chuckled.

'Indeed.' Shiro smiled.

"I'll 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.

'Damn, that's handy as sh*t…' She couldn't help but think to herself.

"Let's see, this was the terminal that you used wasn't 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. I'm guessing you wanted to buy these two right?" Keiko smiled.

Before she could even respond, Keiko bought them all immediately.

"Ah well, it's not like I'm 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 wouldn't it?" Keiko laughed.

Being swept along by her momentum, both Shiro and Lisandra looked at each other and shook their heads.

"She's quite hyper isn't she?" Shiro chuckled.

"In that regard, she's quite similar to you. You're 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 don't need the rebirth pills since they're low quality." Shiro replied while giving her the pills.

"Well I'll 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, it's only natural that you'll be busy. Don't worry, I'll be staying here for around two months." Shiro smiled and gestured for her to check her phone.

Nodding her head, Keiko couldn't 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.

'Her memory will return… right?' Keiko thought to herself since Kuromi played an irreplaceable part in her life. If she couldn't 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 couldn't dispel. Seems like they want me to have a look before doing anything serious." Keiko shook her head.

"Why don't 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 couldn't 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. I'll 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.