[Ding Dong!]
[Kiana: @Levi @Stelle, do you two really not need any help over there?]
———
[Valkyrie Dormitory]
Kiana sat on the sofa, though not in her usual posture.
Her long, pale legs rested on the backrest, while her head naturally hung downward with gravity, silver-white hair falling all the way to the floor.
If Raiden Mei saw this scene, she would definitely scold her again.
"So boring..."
After waiting for a long time without getting a reply from the two of them, Kiana let out a weak voice.
Her elf-like eyes stared blankly toward the TV, which was showing a mecha program boys liked.
She didn't like the show. It was mainly for passing time.
"Hm?"
"...Why does that look a bit like Anti-Entropy's Titan mechs?"
After watching absentmindedly for a while, Kiana suddenly noticed that the mechs on TV looked somewhat similar to the Anti-Entropy Titan mechs she had seen before.
"Probably just a coincidence."
No matter what, Anti-Entropy was an organization fighting against the Honkai. There was no way they'd put their own stuff on TV and expose it to the public.
"Sigh~ So boring~"
Pulling her gaze away, Kiana returned to her bored state, her long legs above constantly changing positions.
Trying to entertain herself that way.
At this moment, neither Raiden Mei nor Bronya were home. She heard that some important guest was coming.
Today, they were arriving at St. Freya Academy.
Both Raiden Mei and Bronya had been called away by Theresa.
As for her, she had overslept during her afternoon nap, and Theresa thought she was unreliable.
Or perhaps she was worried Kiana would scare the guest, so she hadn't called her along.
By the time she woke up, she only found the note that kind-hearted Raiden Mei had left on the living room table.
Only then did she realize she had been "abandoned."
"But who exactly is coming?"
Kiana was curious.
It was important enough that her aunt, the principal of St. Freya Academy, had to receive them personally.
It was probably some big shot from Schicksal Headquarters.
Otherwise, she couldn't think of any reason for her aunt to personally receive them.
"But isn't Auntie the Archbishop's granddaughter?"
Within Schicksal, she was basically second only to one person and above everyone else. Almost no one dared offend Theresa.
With that status backing her, "Someone who can make Auntie personally receive them... could it be..."
Kiana's eyes widened slightly.
"Schicksal's Archbishop Otto!"
That guy seemed to be not a good person at all, judging from what Levi and Big Duck Duck had said.
[Kiana: Let me tell you something! @Levi @Bronya]
[Bronya: ?]
Corporate slave Bronya slowly typed a question mark.
[Levi: What news? Hurry up and say it, don't disturb me while I'm watching the show with my fortune teller!]
[Elysia: ?]
[Elysia: Your fortune teller?]
Elysia sensed gossip.
But not many people paid attention to her.
Everyone cared more about what Kiana had said.
[Kiana: That Otto you two talked about! He might be coming to St. Freya today!]
[Bronya: ? Are you sure?]
She didn't remember Otto ever personally visiting St. Freya Academy.
[Kiana: No way it's fake! Auntie personally went to receive him!]
'And she even left me behind...'
———
[Luofu Xianzhou]
Levi froze when he saw Kiana's message.
"Otto came to St. Freya?"
"? Who's Otto?"
Fu Xuan slowly turned her head to look at him.
And, "What place is St. Freya?"
"A place where my friends live."
Seeing that he wasn't even trying to hide his intention to brush her off, Fu Xuan shook her head and turned back to look in the direction of the Ambrosial Arbor.
The revived Ambrosial Arbor had originally possessed an immense aura.
Now, however, that aura had become extremely unstable.
Clearly, Shuhu had begun to act.
As one of the most troublesome enemies in Xianzhou history, Shuhu's revival and recovery were something Jing Yuan and the others absolutely could not ignore.
From the very beginning, Dan Heng, who had regained the High Elder's power, had already broken the seal of Scalegorge Waterscape alone.
Many Cloud Knights had now gone there.
Trying to deal with Shuhu before tiny Shuhu became giant Shuhu.
But judging from the complete lack of movement around the Ambrosial Arbor, they had most likely failed.
Shuhu, the Emanator of Abundance, had once defeated Jingliu, Imbibitor Lunae, and many of Luofu's top experts in succession.
In the end, it had only been dealt with through the self-sacrifice of Baiheng, the Foxian pilot and one of the High-Cloud Quintet.
Now, there was no one like Baiheng.
Nor could they place their hopes on such a thing.
"If this is a play, then whose entrance are they waiting for?"
Fu Xuan stared at the figure only visible through her third eye.
She muttered blankly.
Shuhu could basically be ruled out. Its role was clearly that of the villain.
———
Pulling his gaze away from Fu Xuan, Levi continued staring at the chat group, stroking his chin in thought.
'If what Kiana said was true... then Otto coming to St. Freya was probably, maybe, perhaps because of Yae Sakura.'
As long as Theresa followed Yae Sakura's instructions, after hearing that Kallen had an old friend in the Far East, Otto would find out who that person was with just a little investigation.
After learning that the pink-haired fox who had cuckolded him was still around, his purpose for coming to St. Freya would naturally be to investigate Yae Sakura's whereabouts.
Even if Theresa kept insisting she was dead, Otto would only give up after seeing the body with his own eyes.
If she was still alive, he'd definitely reduce her to ashes.
Even if she was dead, he'd dig up the body and burn it. Then put the ashes in a metal box, weld it shut, specially design a rocket, and launch it out of the solar system.
But right now, Yae Sakura was indeed so dead that not even a body remained.
However...
[Levi: Protect our Himeko!]
[Kiana: ?]
If Otto found out that Yae Sakura had left a stigmata on Himeko, he would definitely do something.
Although Theresa was protecting her, giving Otto no chance to make a move for now, there was an old saying: "It's not the thief you fear, it's the thief thinking about stealing."
The best outcome was for Otto to never find out.
[Levi: So!]
[Elysia: Give Himeko maternity leave?]
[Levi: Exactly right!]
"My goodness, Elysia's answer..."
Levi widened his eyes as he looked at the chat group.
Don't be fooled by his "Exactly right," making it seem like he and Elysia were thinking the same thing.
What he actually wanted to say was for Himeko to be more careful, and if necessary, go elsewhere on assignment to avoid trouble.
But Elysia directly came up with "maternity leave."
Smack!
Levi slapped his forehead.
"How come I didn't think of that!"
'I really haven't read enough books. Tomorrow I'll go to the fortune teller Commission library and check out some little yellow books.'
'What's Qingque acting crazy about this time?'
Beside him, Fu Xuan silently watched his actions, suspicion showing in her eyes.
Although Qingque was usually somewhat unreliable, she had never seen behavior this crazy before.
'Could yesterday's gate duty have given him some psychological issues?'
Thinking back to how Levi had specially contacted her this morning to plead for Qingque, he had probably noticed something strange with his friend, which was why he came to plead.
Otherwise, with that guy's personality, he'd definitely be enjoying himself.
He might even deliberately stroll past the fortune teller Commission entrance a dozen times.
The two weren't ordinary friends.
They were friends who enjoyed making trouble for each other without benefiting themselves.
Not noticing Fu Xuan's strange gaze, Levi's attention remained fixed on the chat group.
[Levi: Sweetie! I'll send you some sugar tonight!]
[Elysia: Deoxy*ribose?]
[Bronya: ??? Wait...]
[Asta: ...Sis?]
[Stelle: That's pretty bold.]
[Kiana: Deoxy*ribose... what does that mean?]