Raiden Mei successfully enrolling in St. Freya was a cause for celebration.
Finally, everyone in the house had found something to do, even if it was just going to school. At least it was something.
What was the point of binge-watching dramas and being a housewife all day? That kind of life was just too good!
No, this kind of person must be dealt with severely.
When Raiden Mei returned, she didn't mention anything about Yukinoshita Yukino. Instead, she asked about other related matters.
"By the way, Kiana, I've seen a lot of cases of Stigma Battlesuit addiction out there. What happened to those people in the end?"
Raiden Mei didn't mention Yukinoshita Yukino by name, but that didn't mean she couldn't ask about the topic. She thought for a moment and added, "I forget who I talked to about this, something about mental treatment?"
Bronya raised her hand. "It was me. There are a lot of similar problems in Academy City. This kind of thing keeps happening. I remember complaining to you about it at some point, Mei-nee-chan. Kiana is just too much. I say that wretched place should be shut down for good."
Raiden Mei's interest was piqued. As expected, her own family was the most direct. "Why shut it down?" she asked curiously.
Bronya explained seriously, "That place has all sorts of psychiatrists, and the treatment is a chaotic free-for-all. I'm not saying the treatment isn't effective, but... Kiana, can you please stop making a mess for me? People escaping reality is one thing, but how did they escape reality and become criminals with weird fetishes?"
"Mei-nee-chan, have you ever seen someone f*cking an electric scooter? Well, I have. Ever since I became the head of the Security Patrol, I've seen all sorts of weirdos. Especially those who've worn the Stigma Battlesuit and developed an escapist mentality. They're the weirdest of the weird. This thing Kiana had someone build is completely ineffective!"
The small girl's face was full of complaints. She even wanted to deliver a severe blow to Kiana's mental hospital.
The curious smile on Raiden Mei's face instantly vanished. What kind of weird fetish was that?
How could they discuss such things at the dinner table? Kiana was furious. She slammed her chopsticks down. "You think I wanted this? Do you have any idea what kind of situations those people are in? You think I don't know? They say it's psychiatric research, but it's all bullshit!"
"I won't even mention how many people in there are just padding their resumes and collecting a paycheck. If you threw them out into society, they'd all starve to death. I only just found out about this myself not too long ago. I'm afraid there will be more cases like this in the future."
The white-haired Tuna clearly knew more, which once again caught Raiden Mei's attention.
Kiana spoke animatedly, "I was the one who proposed building this thing in the first place. According to Noldrei, all those people should have been eliminated. He wouldn't have cared if they lived or died. If it weren't for my kind heart, I couldn't stand to see that happen, so I specially gathered a group of psychiatrists to treat them. Whether those people can even walk out of that hospital is another question."
"You think those physicians with their certificates are any good? No! I gave them the same case file, and they came back with eight different treatment plans. Some even suggested trying electroshock therapy. Or, if that didn't work, just letting the person completely immerse themselves in the Stigma Battlesuit. Maybe that would desensitize them?"
"The more reliable ones suggested trying to act like family or friends to lower their psychological defenses for deeper communication. Then there were those who suggested using medication to sedate them..."
Raiden Mei listened as if hearing some bizarre anecdote. "So what did you do in the end?" she urged.
"I gathered all these physicians together and asked them to see if there was any way to treat these people," Kiana said. Her intentions were good. So far, Bronya hadn't found anything wrong with what she'd said.
"But the problem arose after I gathered them all together."
Kiana picked up her chopsticks, stuffed a few more mouthfuls of food in her mouth, and began to recount the troubles she had encountered, even pointing her chopsticks around animatedly as she got worked up.
"It was only after I gathered them that I understood their situation. Unlike Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, which need enough talent to provide mental treatment for dealing with the Honkai, these psychiatrists from the general population aren't as... as... profitable as you might think?"
Kiana thought for a moment before answering, "They're more like tools for prescribing tranquilizers. If the mind doesn't recover with sedation, they just prescribe more and let time do the work. Then they just keep doing recovery training with the patients. Most of the patients in mental hospitals die of old age in there."
She sighed. "I never expected that this state of escapism would be reverse-reinforced by the 'self' in the Stigma Battlesuit, to the point that it manifests in reality. These people can't withstand this first stage and quickly fall into a process of self-doubt. I don't need to say more about what happens next. They either need the care of their relatives or the understanding of their friends. In short, they need a reliable and trusting relationship to get out of it."
Kiana fell silent for a moment, then shook her head. "Actually, these people aren't suitable for the Stigma Battlesuit. I suggest that students who aren't suitable should be withdrawn from the program and allowed to return to normal studies. At least, before they get too deeply involved with the Stigma Battlesuit, they can still live a somewhat normal life. Teaching them some life skills is fine, but there's no need to force them like this. If they had really received some care and love in their lives, how could they have developed such escapist thoughts?"
"You have no idea. If I didn't gather all these people for centralized treatment, or if I had just let them go their separate ways, they would have been taken away for research by some unmonitored institute before they were even treated. Those people love to work on these kinds of unexplored topics. Who wouldn't love such good guinea pigs?"
"Soon, you'd see strange papers like 'On Stigmata and Psychoanalysis' and so on, just to embellish their resumes. Even though these people probably haven't even tried on a Stigma Battlesuit themselves. Some of them don't dare to use themselves as test subjects."
"Mental illness is actually a rich person's disease. I mean, it's a disease that only rich people can afford to have. I don't know how to talk to Noldrei about these kinds of issues. Because he can control his own pleasure, and I can do that too. In other words, as long as I don't want to, I won't get a so-called mental illness."
"I can't just have him modify everyone, can I?" Kiana's face was full of helplessness. She had indeed had the thought of modifying everyone.
Raiden Mei's eyes were opened. So there were so many behind-the-scenes details. It wasn't that the treatment was inadequate; it was that they were rushed into it with no other choice.
"I didn't realize it was so tough for you, either," Mei lamented. "Just running a hospital for treatment has so many complicated problems."
This time, Bronya couldn't say much either. It seemed Kiana really had no choice but to gather these people for treatment. Although there would be many treatment errors along the way, it was still better than being taken away for research by those even more unreliable institutes.
Bronya ate the food Raiden Mei had made, tears welling up in her eyes.
'I'm sorry, my fellow students. Bronya can't save you right now. We can only rely on the wisdom of future generations.'