The young ladies of St. Freya High School were very enthusiastic. As soon as class ended, Ming Yu and the other three were surrounded. For those with good sources, the fact that the four of them were survivors from Nagazora was no secret at all. Theresa had no intention of hiding it either; in fact, it was the best identity for them.
Whether it was Ming Yu with his blank past, Mei and Bronya who came from Anti-Entropy, or Kiana's identity as Siegfried Kaslana's daughter, none of them were identities that the higher-ups would easily accept. Even if they weren't fatal if exposed, they would still be troublesome. In comparison, the identity of a Nagazora survivor, though somewhat vague, was the most suitable for the four of them to hide behind for now.
Large-scale Honkai Eruptions were themselves extremely rare occurrences. The surrounding girls were deeply sympathetic to their plight and greeted them with great warmth.
"Ming Yu, will you become a Valkyrie in the future too? Your Honkai resistance must be quite good, right?"
"Mei, what's Nagazora like now? You must have suffered a lot to escape from there."
"Bronya, now that you're at St. Freya, just think of this place as your home. We'll all take good care of you."
"Kiana, you must have been through a lot to get from Nagazora to here. But it's all in the past now. Just think of this as a new beginning!"
"Ming Yu, I heard that a Herrscher and powerful Honkai Beasts appeared in Nagazora. Did you see them? What were they like?"
…
Ming Yu and the others forced a smile as they dealt with everyone's enthusiasm, trying their best to answer the questions.
Suddenly, a path gradually opened in the crowd, and a girl with glasses walked up to the four of them. The newcomer pushed up the glasses on her nose and said slowly, "Is it not a pleasure to have friends coming from afar? My name is Fu Hua, and I am the monitor of this class. If you encounter any problems at St. Freya, you can come to me for help."
Mei looked at the girl before her, a little surprised, but she still nodded and said, "Then we'll be in your care from now on, Fu Hua."
Ming Yu and Bronya also nodded. Kiana looked a little lost, probably not understanding what was said.
Squinting slightly, Ming Yu carefully sized up the girl in front of him. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, with a typical Eastern Asian face, but her hair was a grayish-white, tied back simply in a long ponytail, exuding a heroic aura. The red-framed glasses on her nose, however, added a touch of intellect, making her look more like a capable secretary than a battle-hardened warrior.
Fu Hua nodded, gave Ming Yu an extra glance, and then returned to her seat.
Not long after Fu Hua left, the second class began, freeing the four of them from the vortex of people.
"Everyone's so enthusiastic," Ming Yu sighed, stretching. Perhaps because many of the people here were also survivors of Honkai incidents, their acceptance of the four newcomers was very high, with no strange looks at all.
"Hmph, why is Ming Yu so much more popular than me?" Kiana said, puffing her cheeks.
Ming Yu scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. As the only boy in the class, he had underestimated his popularity. Just now, at least three girls had asked for his contact information. Although he felt immense pressure, a tiny part of him was still a little excited. At least it was proof that he was well-liked. His presence here was not just because he was a rare male, but also partly due to his Honkai Energy resistance, which was different from ordinary men in this world.
In terms of men alone, the entire academy city was not lacking in them. Even if they were rare inside the academy, they were common in the city outside of it. So Ming Yu's specialty stemmed more from his Honkai Energy resistance than just from being a rare male student inside the academy.
"You're very popular too, Kiana," Mei said comfortingly.
"In the time just now, Kiana's name was called three times, Mei-neechan's was called ten times, Ming Yu-gege's was called thirteen times, and Bronya's was called fifteen times. The conclusion is that Kiana is the least popular person," Bronya stated matter-of-factly. But it was true that the stoic little loli was incredibly popular. Her small, delicate face gave off a sense of fragility, and coupled with the exoskeleton encasing her legs, she was even more pitiable, easily sparking the protective instincts of the St. Freya girls.
Kiana's face paled, and she growled, "Shorty, are you trying to start a war?!"
"Alright, alright, class has started," Mei had to step in and mediate. Ming Yu shrugged helplessly from the side. *This must be what they call a love-hate relationship. It looks like they're fighting, but this is just how Kiana and Bronya interact.*
Kiana snorted and returned to her struggle with the text. Bronya also turned off her taunt mode and went back to being a quiet little loli.
This class happened to be history, and just as Ming Yu expected, the person who entered the classroom was Welt.
Ming Yu stared in a daze at the brown-haired, glasses-wearing man on the podium. The Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, the First Herrscher, working as a history teacher at St. Freya High School under the guise of an ordinary person—Ming Yu would be the first to not believe he was here without a purpose.
Both Schicksal's Overseer, Otto, and Anti-Entropy's Sovereign, Welt, had started laying their plans in St. Freya long ago. Otto had sent Fu Hua, and Anti-Entropy had sent their Sovereign himself, as if they had long predicted that Kiana would come to St. Freya. Or perhaps, the game had already begun the moment Kiana stepped into Senba Academy.
As if they could see the future, they waited for the Honkai to erupt in Nagazora, for the Herrscher to appear, for Kiana and the others to meet Himeko while fleeing Nagazora, and then to enter St. Freya. Everything was so natural, as if it were just a series of accidents and coincidences.
The terrifying thing was, they hadn't dispatched a single person directly. Every participant was completely unaware. Whether it was Himeko who rescued Kiana, or Theresa who recruited them into St. Freya, they all believed they were acting on their own volition. But it was precisely this that allowed the plan to unfold step by step, with an unbelievable smoothness.
Looking at Welt talking eloquently on the podium, Ming Yu couldn't help but feel a wave of fear. Otto and Welt were too certain. Any single accident could have disrupted the plan, yet they hadn't put many safeguards in place, as if they firmly believed that events would unfold exactly like this.
"Ming Yu, Ming Yu," Mei's worried voice suddenly sounded in his ear. "Are you okay?"
Snapping back to his senses, Ming Yu realized he had broken out in a cold sweat, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts from his mind, Ming Yu replied in a slightly trembling voice, "I'm fine, I'm really fine. It's nothing."
"You…" Mei looked at Ming Yu's pale face; he didn't look fine at all. But she couldn't force him to talk. Sighing inwardly, Mei said, "If something is on your mind, you can tell us. We'll all help you."
Declining Mei's kind offer, Ming Yu sighed internally. *Unfortunately, this is something I really can't talk about.*
The game had already begun. What role would he play in it? Clenching his fist, Ming Yu's desire for power ignited once more.