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ArabicHonkai Star Rail: My Death Feeds Their Madness — Chapter 43
Chapter 43: The Second Life, Cangcheng
Star Calendar 6298. Aboard the Xianzhou Cangcheng, within the bounds of the Qingyun explore.
A cold, rhythmic rain pattered against the ornate eaves of the city, casting a misty veil over the bustling streets. Pedestrians hurried along the slick cobblestones, their colorful umbrellas blooming like flowers in the grey downpour, many pausing to seek shelter beneath the grand archway of the academy that shared its name with the explore. Overhead, a multitude of star skiffs veered from their usual aerial routes, descending gracefully to dock within Qingyun Academy’s expansive parking plaza to escape the sudden squall.
The sharp, clear chime of the dismissal bell rang out, cutting through the drone of the rain.
Kagashi gently closed his textbook, the soft thud drawing the attention of the dozens of young, restless faces seated below the podium. His gaze swept over them, calm and inherently gentle.
“Class dismissed, students,” he announced, his voice carrying a quiet warmth.
“Goodbye, Teacher Kagashi!” A chorus of neat, childish voices rang out, echoing off the classroom walls.
It mattered little whether they had spent the hour dozing at their desks or listening with rapt attention; for these youths barely a decade old, the end of the school day was a universal cause for celebration. Chairs scraped against the floor as the majority of the children grabbed their bags and bolted for the door, leaving only a dedicated few lingering behind.
Once the initial rush had cleared, a small cluster of students gathered around the podium. They looked up at Kagashi with wide, expectant eyes, their young faces brimming with an insatiable curiosity about the universe. Kagashi answered their questions with endless patience, his tone measured and encouraging.
A quarter of an hour slipped by before these studious children finally packed away their notes, offering cheerful waves as they departed.
“See you tomorrow, Teacher!”
“See you tomorrow,” Kagashi replied, offering a faint, lingering smile.
Before long, the lively classroom emptied out, leaving only Kagashi and the two students assigned to cleaning duty. Leaving them to their sweeping, he gathered his lesson plans and walked out into the quiet corridor, heading toward his private office.
As he approached his door, his footsteps slowed. Two unfamiliar figures were waiting in the hallway. They stood with a mix of curiosity and subtle apprehension, shaking the rain from their umbrellas. The moment their eyes landed on Kagashi, the uncertainty vanished from their features, instantly replaced by rigid, military-grade respect.
“Teacher. It has been a long time.”
The visitors were two young women, appearing to be around twenty years of age. Their facial features bore a striking, sisterly resemblance, yet their eyes were a study in contrast—one possessed irises of striking crimson, the other a muted, stormy grey. They shared the same rare, silver-blue hair; the elder wore hers at shoulder-length, while the younger’s cascaded down to her waist, both tied back into neat, practical ponytails. A damp chill clung to them, the edges of their dark clothing darkened by the rain.
Kagashi paused, his dark eyes studying their matured features and disciplined posture. He sifted through his Remembrance, piecing together fragments of the past until the recognition clicked into place.
“You are… Mianxue and Qinghan, aren’t you?” he asked, his tone laced with mild surprise.
“Even after a few years, I didn’t expect Teacher to still recognize us with how much we’ve changed.” A bright sparkle flashed in Mianxue’s red eyes, and a genuine, radiant smile broke across her face.
“You’ve come all this way to see me, so you must have something important to discuss,” Kagashi said, his voice returning to its usual placid rhythm. “Come in out of the cold.”
He pushed the office door open, gesturing for the sisters to take a seat wherever they felt comfortable. Setting his lesson plans on the desk, he immediately moved to a small side table to prepare tea, the familiar ritual grounding the room in a sense of hospitality.
“There is no need to be so polite, Teacher, you really shouldn’t!” Qinghan protested, waving her hands frantically as she watched him warm the teacups.
“Guests are guests,” Kagashi replied with an indifferent, easy smile.
The fragrant steam of freshly brewed tea soon filled the small office. Kagashi set the porcelain cups before them and took a seat opposite the sisters, his long fingers intertwining as he rested his hands on his lap.
“So, do you two sisters require my assistance with something? I imagine it has nothing to do with ordinary schoolwork.”
Mianxue and Qinghan exchanged a fleeting, hesitant glance. The silence stretched for a long moment, filled only by the drumming of the rain against the windowpane. Finally, Mianxue, bearing the weight of the elder sister, spoke up.
“…Teacher, we have passed our coming-of-age examinations. We also passed the Cloud Knights’ enlistment assessment and have officially joined the army.”
“Hmm. And then?” Kagashi prompted gently.
“Our assessment scores broke the current records. General Teng Xiao happened to be inspecting the camp at the time, so we had the deep honor of meeting him.”
At the mention of the name ‘General Teng Xiao’, a flicker of understanding crossed Kagashi’s eyes. He had already deduced the true purpose of their visit. Yet, his serene smile did not waver in the slightest.
“I see,” Kagashi said lightly. “General Teng Xiao reviewed your files, noticed that you happened to be my former students, and tasked you with bringing me a letter and a message. Is that correct?”
The sisters froze. Their expressions mirrored sheer astonishment at his flawless deduction, coupled with a deepening curiosity about the hidden currents flowing beneath this conversation.
When the General had first given them this assignment, they had been entirely baffled. Why would the Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Luofu, currently stationed in Cangcheng, ask two fresh recruits to seek out an academy teacher for ‘tutelage’? In truth, they still didn’t fully comprehend it. This ‘tutelage’ was not meant for academic culture; the General explicitly wanted them to learn martial arts from Teacher Kagashi. The letter was an introduction; the message was a demand.
“Go back,” Kagashi said, his tone perfectly polite but utterly unyielding. “The Cloud Knights possess a thorough and rigorous training regimen. I am merely a humble teacher with a few superficial bits of knowledge. How could I possibly teach you martial arts?”
He took a slow sip of his tea before continuing. “—please convey my exact answer to General Teng Xiao: Thank you for your kindness, but Kagashi must respectfully decline.”
Troubled expressions immediately clouded the sisters’ faces. The rejection had been delivered before they could even make their formal request, an impenetrable wall that left them at a loss. Even with their limited experience, it was painfully obvious now that Kagashi and the General shared an extraordinary, complicated history.
“Teacher… the General issued this to us as a top-level mission order…” Qinghan murmured weakly, her grey eyes pleading.
Kagashi fell silent. His gaze lowered slightly, fixing on the surface of his tea.
The sisters, whose attention was entirely captivated by his face, felt their hearts violently tighten. The Teacher in their Remembrance—though rarely one to laugh out loud—had always been a beacon of gentle patience. He had never raised his voice, never reprimanded a student harshly.
Yet, in that split second, the atmospheric pressure in the small office seemed to plummet. Neither Mianxue nor Qinghan dared to draw a heavy breath. For a fleeting, terrifying moment, they sensed a deep, icy anger emanating from the man sitting across from them. It vanished as quickly as it appeared, so brief it felt like a hallucination, leaving them doubting their own senses.
But the suffocating weight in the air had been undeniably real.
“Give me the letter,” Kagashi commanded softly.
“…Ah? Oh! Yes!”
Mianxue snapped to attention, hurriedly retrieving the sealed envelope from her coat and presenting it respectfully with both hands. Kagashi broke the seal right in front of them, unfolding the heavy parchment.
To the esteemed Teacher Kagashi, greetings upon reading this letter:
These two soldiers possess extraordinary talents; after a year of diligent training, they can be of great use.
Within Cangcheng, none surpass your swordsmanship. I wish for you to impart your art to these two for a period of one year.
Teng Xiao respectfully bows.
On the 21st of the first month.
Kagashi sighed, shaking his head in mild, helpless amusement. If the man wanted to talk, he should just talk. But whenever it came to writing letters, Teng Xiao always insisted on avoiding modern syntax, wrapping his demands in archaic formalities.
“You two may return first,” Kagashi said, folding the letter and setting it aside. “Deliver a message to General Teng Xiao for me. Tell him: ‘See you at the old spot tonight.'”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Though they hadn’t secured a definitive agreement, Kagashi’s tone heavily implied that there were deeper circumstances at play—matters that could only be settled between him and the General directly. Relieved to be dismissed from the heavy atmosphere, Mianxue and Qinghan bowed deeply and quickly took their leave.
Kagashi remained seated in the quiet office, utterly motionless. Countless fragmented scenes of a blood-soaked past drifted through his mind, ghosts of a life he had tried to bury. All those turbulent memories eventually coalesced into a single, quiet sigh that dissipated into the cold air.
It was time to go home.
By the time he gathered his things, the Teachers’ Building was largely deserted. Occasionally, he would cross paths with a lingering colleague, exchanging polite nods and warm greetings. His quiet demeanor had earned him an excellent rapport throughout Qingyun Academy.
Stepping out of the building’s main doors, he found the rain had grown significantly heavier. In the distance, a few unfortunate souls who had forgotten their umbrellas were loudly cursing the Realm-Keeping Commission.
The Xianzhou Cangcheng was a colossal vessel sailing through the endless void of the universe. Its explore possessed the technological capability to permanently maintain a perfectly comfortable, simulated climate. Why, then, did the authorities waste the immense computing power of the Jade Abacus network and big data just to simulate a miserable, seasonal weather cycle?
Hearing their grumbling, Kagashi chuckled softly to himself.
Theoretically, locking the weather into an eternal spring would win the Commission a great deal of public support. But such comfort was detrimental to survival, especially in these dark, turbulent times against the Abominations of Abundance. Humanity still needed to remember how to adapt to the harsh, unpredictable shifts of nature.
Reaching the bottom of the academy steps, Kagashi reached into his Spatial Jade Abacus to retrieve his own umbrella. As the device shimmered, his eyes caught sight of a somewhat familiar figure pacing anxiously at the foot of the stairs.
The man was staring out at the torrential downpour, occasionally scratching his head in sheer frustration and nervously checking the time on his wrist.
Piqued by curiosity, Kagashi walked over, his footsteps light against the wet stone.
“Why would a great merchant like yourself come all the way to Qingyun personally to deliver teaching equipment?” Kagashi asked, his voice cutting through the sound of the rain.
Yu Huai whipped his head around, a flash of immense relief and surprise lighting up his eyes.
“Old Kagashi! Thank the stars you haven’t left yet. Do you have a moment to help me out? I swear I’ll treat you to a massive meal later!”
Kagashi’s brow furrowed slightly at the man’s frantic tone. “What happened?”
“Alas, it’s a disaster,” Yu Huai groaned, running a hand down his face. “The weather over in the Zhenshan explore is even worse than it is here in Qingyun today—gale-force winds and blinding rain. Huiyu got caught in a traffic accident while picking up our daughter from school. Their star skiff nearly crashed into the lower levels!”
Kagashi’s expression instantly tightened, the casual warmth draining from his face. “How are your wife and little Jingliu?”