Bronya did not hate Cocolia. If not for her, neither Bronya nor the other children in the orphanage would have survived as long as they did. Even the experiments Cocolia conducted later, and the things she couldn't reveal to Anti-Entropy, were essentially not for herself, but for the children of the orphanage and the future of this world.
However, the methods of implementation were questionable.
The Cocolia of the past sacrificed the minority to save the majority in the orphanage, causing Seele to disappear into the Sea of Quanta and Bronya to lose her friend, her legs, and her emotions.
In the end, Cocolia still failed to save anyone.
Bronya didn't hate her, but she questioned this method of salvation.
Before obtaining a definite result, was it worth putting others in danger for the sake of salvation?
And Raiden Mei's situation made Bronya even firmer in her thoughts—Mama Cocolia was wrong.
Raiden Mei becoming a Herrscher was very likely directly related to Mama Cocolia. Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent Bronya to Nagazora City in advance before the 3rd Eruption broke out.
Bronya didn't know what purpose Cocolia harbored, but she saw with her own eyes—she saw Evan holding back the tide of Honkai Beasts at the edge of Nagazora City, saving the last survivor of the defense squad. She saw the 3rd Herrscher give up destroying the world and come to St. Freya Academy because of Evan.
This was a salvation Bronya had never seen before. Not a single person was hurt; only Evan was giving.
Bronya also wanted to become such a person. At least, she wanted to become someone who could help Evan, who gave the most.
Now, having done a trivial thing, did I help him?
Bringing the finished Beetroot Soup to the dining table and watching Kiana and Himeko Murata reveal surprised expressions after tasting it, Bronya felt as if she had returned to the orphanage in a trance. Back then, Seele and the others had the same expressions, eating bread and drinking the soup she made.
On Bronya's face, which had always lacked expression, a faint smile gradually appeared.
This smile wasn't obvious, but for Bronya, it was eye-catching enough.
Noticing the changing expression on Bronya's face, Kiana reached out with a look of amazement and pinched her cheek.
"Bronya, you smiled?"
"I... smiled?"
Bronya herself seemed unaware of her condition. Her expression of confusion at this moment made Kiana even more surprised.
"Not just smiling. Your expressions look much richer than before. Although you're definitely still far behind me, this is still very obvious progress."
"Bronya feels that becoming like Idiot Kiana would be the worst possible situation. Bronya will pay more attention in the future and strive not to make similar 'progress'."
"You!"
Hearing Bronya mocking her again, Kiana's face turned angry. But remembering that the food she was eating was Bronya's work, she tried hard to hold back and not refute the other party's words, lest Bronya use the Beetroot Soup as a threat.
I'll fill my stomach first, then bicker with her and compete.
Although from the beginning, Kiana had always been at a disadvantage in bickering with Bronya, the people of the Kaslana family never gave up. As long as she persisted, there would be a day of victory sooner or later!
Time passed silently. It wasn't until around 9:00 PM that Raiden Mei, who had changed her clothes, finally returned home.
Seeing her changed attire and the shyness hidden in her eyes, Himeko Murata understood what had happened. Bronya was playing games in her room as usual. Only Kiana, the idiot, surrounded Raiden Mei, asking about the locations of her later date with Evan, claiming she wanted them for reference.
The gentle Raiden Mei endured her inner shyness and amusement to lie to Kiana. Fortunately, Kiana didn't notice the loopholes in Raiden Mei's emotionally fluctuating words. After satisfying her curiosity, Kiana began to squander her evening rest time.
Unlike Bronya who played Honkai God Domain every night, unlike Himeko Murata who leisurely drank beer, and unlike Raiden Mei who researched new dishes or honed her swordsmanship, Kiana didn't have anything she absolutely had to do at night.
Sometimes she would play Honkai God Domain with Bronya; sometimes she would ask Himeko about Schicksal to see how it differed from St. Freya Academy; sometimes she would go to the kitchen under the banner of helping and cause trouble for Raiden Mei; and sometimes, feeling full and satisfied, she would lie on the bed like a salted fish (slacker) playing with her phone, closing her eyes to sleep directly when sleepy.
On rare occasions, Kiana would fall asleep, get startled awake by the phone smashing into her face, and then, losing all sleepiness, lie by the window counting stars.
Kiana didn't have overly persistent hobbies for most things. After all, as a Euro-King who could casually draw the Super Deluxe Grand Prize in the arcade, her luck in various games was also extremely exaggerated. Rare items that others had to spend a lot of time raiding dungeons multiple times to farm, or highest-level rewards obtained only by emptying the prize pool, were very easy for Kiana to get.
Coupled with not liking beer like Himeko and not loving cooking like Raiden Mei, Kiana felt she was very free right now.
Don't want to read manga today. Hmm, let's go to Evan's house for a spin. I feel unexpectedly energetic.
Greeting Raiden Mei and the others, Kiana excitedly crawled out holding a pile of snacks. Raiden Mei opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something to stop her, but ultimately didn't say it.
With a meaningful arc on the corner of her mouth, Himeko Murata spoke.
"Don't worry. Evan will handle the aftermath in the room."
This sentence sounded a bit abrupt and strange.
But Raiden Mei understood. Her worries gradually dissipated. She didn't show any strangeness because of the other meaning implied in Himeko's words, just nodded with a slightly blushing face and returned to her room.
After all, Raiden Mei knew—about the relationship between Himeko Murata and Evan.
Evan hadn't specifically hidden it from her.
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