Honkai Impact 3rd: Don't Die For Me/ Book 3 Paradise

Chapter 26 Adapting

Koleston was an impressive city, at least that's what Sakura concluded spending countless afternoons wandering the streets with Kallen. Their dates were always pleasant though Kallen always had slight listlessness in her mood, a reminisce of the scenes past. Sakura knew that she had roamed those very streets with another. Katsu, or Otto, had taken Kallen to plays and fed her at restaurants. They spent every festival together and made irreplaceable memories.

'With what you've done it's impossible to keep my promise.' Sakura thought on countless occasions. Everywhere she looked she could feel hints of his past. Her spirit was no exception. Those small hands were capable of innumerable things.

Sakura held her own reminisce of the past. Days spent along the shrine's path picking oddities she never noticed and playing with beetles of impressive size. It was in those times when he was most childish, most matching of his body. Which is why Sakura couldn't understand what he found in her home that could bring such a smile. What was so wonderful about such a small village when compared to the grandeur of London?

Sakura wore a cloak to cover her features but it seemed she wouldn't draw too much attention amidst the hustle of the crowd. Perhaps it was the stench that made cities undesirable to live in but even so, it did not take away from the uniformity of the city. The streets though crowded were uniform and boasting townhouses Koleston could never measure up to. If Sakura had to describe their shape she'd say they were upside-down terraces. They were shaped sort of like the hillside farming methods her home used. On top of towering walls and impressive signal towers, a market seemed to occupy every corner. If one were to look at the port they'd see massive ships, fitted to brave crueler waters than Koleston. How were they able to even build a bridge with houses on them?

The only issue was the stench and well to be quite frank it wasn't smelt by much of the common folk. Society was most often catered towards Valkyries, with their heightened senses many places had adopted sanitary orders to make it more pleasant for Valkyries. As a result one of the most advanced fields throughout history was sewage management. Waste plumbing was mandatory for every town and sanitation teams would sweep through the city every night. London was one of the few cities with treatment centers in the sewers. The waste would be disposed of with Honkai-infused fire, a fire that was also used to make Honkai metal.

Sakura sighed, Koleston was more spacious than London. Perhaps that's what was best about Koleston, which was larger than London. Though wondrous and impressive she had to admit the city was too stuffy. Perhaps all Western cities were like this. At the very least they were thousands of times more interesting than rocks beside a road.

It wasn't before long when Sakura made it back to her base. Sasha, Gertrude, Agon, and one other huddled by the chimney fire. A blizzard was raging and yet people were still shopping and running errands amidst the frost and snow.

"It's not so bad outside," Sakura announced. She set aside the groceries she brought, hard root carrots and strips of meat that were of fair quality. She wanted to buy fish but the weather prevented even the bravest of fishermen from taking up their poles. As a result, the price of fish was sky-high.

"Speak for yourself." Agon sputtered.

"We're not all mad Londoners!" Gertrude agreed. "Why can't the weather be sunny year-round? Like Koleston?"

Sakura shook her head in exasperation. Why was everyone on her team so spoiled? Sasha's behavior she could understand, Otto took her in and he spoiled everyone. She took off her cloak and rolled up her sleeves. A few ingredients were stocked in this house and she planned to make a stew.

"Is it alright to go out?" A boy asked, shivering.

"Henry now is not the time to observe architecture!" Sasha chattered. "You're not like us and we're not like the Londoners! We'll freeze to death!"