"Honkai?"
The shopkeeper looked at the girl in front of him. He scanned her from head to toe. She did not look like someone who would know things about honkai.
He judged from her accent and knew she wasn't a local nor a Russian.
"Ahem. You might have misheard things. We only sell…"
"Siegfried Kaslana. Where is he?"
"..."
"..."
Both the shopkeeper and Shi Tian behind her fell silent.
'It's better to play mysterious. Use the Kaslana Family name to intimidate this guy…' Shi Tian thought as he facepalmed. 'But I can't stop her from doing this…'
The Russian shopkeeper, bearing a clean-looking beard and a mustache, looked at her again. The infamous white hair throughout the honkai circles made him remember something.
"Kaslana?" He clicked his tongue. "Are you searching for that guy? You are two years too late."
The middle-aged man shook the bag of chips in his hand and poured the few remaining bits into his mouth.
"Wh…"
"Yes. We are looking for him."
"Hm?"
The shopkeeper looked at the black-haired boy behind the girl. He was a dozen or so centimeters shorter than the Kaslana girl.
The said boy held the girl's wrist.
"If that's all you need, it won't take much time. Your man bought supplies from me."
He did not talk much. He repeatedly emphasized how he was a 'normal' trader who sold guns. Sometimes, there are things related to the honkai—things that sell at a premium.
There are mercenaries whose job is to hunt down zombies and honkai beasts. Unlike America and England, honkai-related incidents happen more often in Russia. The closer they are to Siberia, the more things like that happen. The Second Herrscher's to blame.
This shop is established partly to give supplies to the people dealing with honkai incidents.
He watched as the two small people whispered amongst each other. He did not care much about their conversation.
"Should we beat him up? It won't be too long."
"No… This is a gun store. It's a bit risky."
"..."
Kiana did not speak further. She realized how dumb it was. Emotions were getting ahead of her.
"We should accept it. That guy won't speak up. Even if he knows something, it's not something we can dig up from him."
Shi Tian presented his logical analysis. Their clues ended right here.
"There's one last thing we can do."
"Hum?"
Kiana's eyes lit up.
"Money."
*****
The shopkeeper totally misunderstood Kiana's identity. He thinks she is an official Kaslana Heir. When we wanted to buy guns, he did not ask for papers and the likes. When we asked for honkai related things, he did not shy away either.
He brought out his hidden armory in the form of an iPad catalogue. Unassuming people would think this was a restaurant, not a front for selling honkai-related stuff.
"This…"
"Have you seen something like this before?"
"Yeah. The old man's pair of guns."
"..."
I almost forgot.
I am surprised to see guns glowing with white and purple lights. Swords two meters long that looked extremely sturdy. Vests that can withstand high-caliber bullets.
In short: What the fuck is this?
It has been a month since I came to this world. Heck, it was not only me. Kiana hasn't seen much of these high-end stuff either. Her biggest impression comes from Shamash... which is a whole different breed.
That's a Divine Key!
"I programmed that entire thing. Rest assured everything's accurate."
I am dumbfounded to see his methods of payment including all sorts of cards. This store is the legitimate high-end store for the honkai.
"Where did you get these items?" Kiana asked.
The shopkeeper looked at her with some hesitation.
"That's classified."
Figures.
"I will look around for a while."
After seeing her nod, I separated from her and walked around.
Hm…
I remembered the spots where thick spiritual qi appeared. That indicated the appearance of honkai energy. The converted qi amounted to a first-grade spirit vein.
That guy stored most of the honkai-related stuff in the storage room behind him.
I stopped at one of the displayed guns. It looked strange compared to the rest. It has a violet-silver body. There is a huge circular space on its back. Eight triangles are present throughout its black circular rim.
Honestly speaking, it looks like a toy. A Nerf gun of sorts.
"Hm… This really looks familiar."
I can't remember this gun's specifics, only that I used it in the game. It should be one of the placeholders… yup. It's a placeholder when I don't have any five stars yet.
Just like that, I closely examined the ones on the "painted" spiritual qi spots. There are eight of them. Six are guns. Two are swords.
They all share the same characteristic. They presumably have parts that are supposed to glow like the ones in the catalogue. Only, they do not glow. They might have been destroyed.
After I satisfied my curiosity, I went back to Kiana. She already began ordering a new pistol. In this regard, I remembered her dumb mistake.
Before going to the airport, Kiana had to dispose of the guns she bought during her trip. She generally chooses a locker and pays for its ten-year usage.
Later on, I asked her about private planes. It is more convenient than airlines and she can carry her gun with him.
Her exact reaction was:
"Ah?"
Nobody brought up that idea with her. She never thought about it either. She always assumed that she had to travel in airlines.
Maybe this was why she did not have any airs of a rich girl… or maybe she's too lazy to think about it. That's the Tuna for sure.
Hence, she can secure her guns now. She won't be fighting with a baseball bat anymore.
"Don't you want to buy something?"
She touched my shoulder and gave the iPad to me. I looked at her shopping cart and saw three items. All of them are guns.
'She must be mimicking Siegfried…'
It was then I realized something.
Swords.
My seventeen different sword techniques.
They won't be wasted now!
Thinking of grasping a sword, practicing it, giving spirituality…
"I want something."
…I am finally on the right path of cultivation..!
*****
The shopkeeper sent out the two small guys who had certain favorites—swords and guns.
He looked dazedly between the payment information he received and the duo's backs. He recalled the black card Kiana handed over.
Its design is very nouve-riche. Though it does not have any logos, the purchase receipt (invoice) showed one name: Massive Electronics.
He instantly recognized one of it. He is, after all, someone from Anti-Entropy.
Their Executor created a plan. That was to set up "hidden stores" all around Russia. They will present themselves as a neutral trader-slash-black market dealers of honkai weapons.
It seemed useless at first. The Russian government mainly cooperates with Schicksal. It's hard to penetrate their rule in Russia. Even Cocolia, an ex-spetznaz with connections to the Russian Military, only had a dozen or so people in different cities. All of them are high officials. It is something befitting of her current military official position.
The only use of "black market dealers" was to connect to smaller forces who knew the honkai.
That was where they were mistaken.
When their enemy organization, Schicksal, stepped into Russia, some Valkyries individually investigated things and looked for other sources of information.
As to where?
Black market dealers.
Hence, the Anti-Entropy branch of Russia held a rough grasp of Schicksal's appearances. They can vacate the premises in time, allowing Cocolia's side to remain low-key.
Each 'dealer' was chosen by the Executor herself. The plan itself was as foolproof as possible.
"ME Corp…"
The man thought hard about how to report it to his superior.