A major event shook the Honkai world at the start of the year.
Of the last two publicly known S-rank Valkyries in Schicksal, Siegfried defected. In the subsequent pursuit, he vanished without a trace.
As for Anti-Entropy... Anti-Entropy didn't even make it to the teamfight. They arrived far too late.
Anti-Entropy was simply too far from Europe. And Siegfried's defection had been anything but stealthy, he'd taken K-423 with him, effectively stomping on every alarm Schicksal had before choosing to run. He believed his own strength was enough to handle Schicksal's pursuit.
Besides... he had to do it. Even little Kiana supported him. He was, in Kiana's eyes, a father who stood tall and unshakable.
Early Morning
Shiraha stood before the bathroom sink, patting his cheeks, studying himself in the mirror.
"The plot just got a whole lot clearer."
From here, the story should go: Theresa completely breaks, her spirit crushed. A Honkai eruption in Manchester, England, Ragna saves Rita. And the real Kiana is rescued and renamed Bianka.
"What are you thinking about?"
Elysia's drowsy, slightly husky voice drifted from behind him. Her state was always a bit off when she first woke up, her voice perpetually soft and cottony.
Shiraha felt a slight weight settle on his shoulder.
But Nee-chan's half-awake, half-drowsy mental state always improved a lot after draping herself over a child for a while. Shiraha had long grown used to serving as a human body pillow every morning.
His smile was radiant. "I was thinking... why time moves so slowly. I really want to grow up faster."
Elysia was still groggy. "Isn't it better that it moves slowly?"
Shiraha smiled but didn't explain further.
He'd arrived far too late. If only he'd come ten years earlier, there'd be nothing left for Otto to do.
After Siegfried's defection, Schicksal's strongest combatant was Ragna. And after Ragna fell in battle, Schicksal couldn't even scrape together a handful of A-rank Valkyries. From that point on, Schicksal had only one trump card left, Li Sushang, sound asleep.
If he'd come ten years earlier with his current circumstances, he wouldn't need to juggle the seals of multiple factions. He'd only need to think about how to protect his Earth.
Elysia didn't press further. She just murmured words even she couldn't quite make out, still half-asleep.
Shiraha turned his head and nuzzled his cheek against Nee-chan's face where it rested on his shoulder. "But it's not too late yet. Nee-chan... I'm going to go assemble my galactic battleship."
Elysia understood this time.
"I'd almost forgotten, your club still has that martial arts tournament this year."
Though Elysia had absolutely zero interest in an elementary school martial arts tournament. Other people's kids just weren't fun. Teasing them came with a sense of guilt.
Fully awake now, Elysia stretched her limbs with lazy grace, her eyes rapidly clearing, glimmering like starlight on water.
"That said, your Uncle Ryoma's expression hasn't been great lately."
Shiraha nodded slightly, rinsing his face. "Seems some operation of Anti-Entropy's was a massive failure."
He paused, adjusted his collar in the mirror, then flashed a bright smile.
"I told you. This world can't function without me."
Elysia watched this little adult brimming with confidence and couldn't suppress a laugh. She didn't refute him either.
New semester. New atmosphere. Even Mei-nee, who'd been training relentlessly with her sword, had changed into a pretty purple dress today. Her soft, delicate little face wore an expression of firm resolve.
Shiraha asked casually, "By the way, did Mei-nee study properly for the new semester's placement exam?"
Mei's little face stiffened.
Oh no!
She'd been so focused on saving the world and helping Shiraha break free from his cage that she'd completely neglected her studies.
Shiraha understood instantly and thoughtfully offered a solution. "It's fine, Mei-nee. I'll help you cheat."
Mei's little head shook rapidly. "It's okay. I wasn't going to get first place anyway. I'll just work harder next time."
Her tone was magnanimous, though a trace of unhappiness lingered, clearly, she did care after all.
Downstairs, Himeko was still there. The reason, Shiraha didn't know, but she really had been setting aside time lately to play with the two kids. It almost felt like... carrying out a mission?
"Good morning, Uncle Ryoma!"
Shiraha was as cheerful as ever, his face always beaming with a child's bright smile.
Ryoma Raiden nodded. That was his entire response.
Dull middle-aged men were just that boring, couldn't even manage a smile and a "good morning" in return.
No wonder Mei went through her daily greeting like a formality before dragging Shiraha off to run around everywhere, never once considering a father-daughter trip to the amusement park with Ryoma.
"By the way, Shiraha, that martial arts tournament of yours. Isn't it starting soon?"
Ryoma suddenly asked.
"About two months left."
Shiraha searched his memory.
To the teachers, this sort of thing had initially seemed like pure nonsense. Only on account of Ryoma Raiden's influence had the tournament been set as a club activity, to be held during the spring-summer school festival.
Ryoma looked thoughtful. "Have Himeko go talk to your teachers. Start laying the groundwork now. Let's make it a lively event when the time comes."
He paused, then added, "Don't worry about publicity. ME Corp will coordinate."
Shiraha's talent was simply too extraordinary.
Although genetic variation did occur in Honkai heredity, Anti-Entropy still wanted to search, were there any siblings of Shiraha's out in this world?
If not, that was fine too. To Ryoma Raiden, the martial arts tournament was ultimately just a trivial matter.
Shiraha looked at Himeko. She wore a helpless smile.
"Will there be a lot of people coming?"
Mei asked curiously, her violet eyes brimming with anticipation.
Just imagining the scale of her martial arts tournament expanding even further sent a thrill of barely suppressed excitement through her. Her back straightened unconsciously.
Ryoma pondered for a moment. "There should be quite a few. Elementary and middle school divisions will still be at your school. The high school and youth divisions, I'm planning to hold those at ME Corp."
This world truly did have hidden talents among the common people. Ryusuke Murata back then. Shiraha now. Ryoma figured holding something like this every decade or so wasn't a bad idea.
"Hurry up and eat. Eat and get to school. Your Himeko-nee is currently a PE teacher at Chiba Academy, she'll be checking in on your club twice a week."
After briefly explaining Himeko's situation, Ryoma sank back into his own thoughts.
Anti-Entropy hadn't been peaceful lately either. Just days ago, the Siegfried operation had gone awry. Though they hadn't succeeded in bringing him into Anti-Entropy, Schicksal's weakness was undeniable.
That sounded like good news but Anti-Entropy had its own internal unrest.
Years ago, to survive, Anti-Entropy had adopted an Executive polity. This had led to factionalism within the organization. Now, the Executive based in Siberia was riding the momentum, Cocolia was steadily emerging as the new face of the hawkish faction.
Most importantly, Cocolia was geographically close to Schicksal.
Whatever future plans they had against Schicksal, she'd be in a perfect position to execute them. At the very least, there wouldn't be a repeat of this embarrassment "couldn't even manage to extract someone."
Ryoma recalled the recent Executive meeting, Cocolia seizing the opportunity to press her advantage, and sighed again. If the extraction operation had been carried out by Cocolia... perhaps the outcome really would have been different.
As for whether sending Himeko to a school campus was a waste of her talents,
Ryoma glanced at Himeko.
Himeko had a separate mission. Also concerning Shiraha.
.
.
.
.
Read advance chapters on [email protected]/Lost_moon