Evan continued to attend Tachikawa Academy, and Mei remained a student at Senba Academy. Kiana, however, did not stay a lazy bum; taking advantage of Evan's absence from the dormitory, she practiced the Gun Kata her father had taught her alone. On the surface, it seemed that nothing much had changed.
But in reality, the changes brought about by the Honkai eruption in the outskirts of Nagazora City were not as simple as they appeared.
Major corporations aware of the Honkai's existence, although unable to determine if another eruption would follow, had already begun transferring some important projects originally set up in Nagazora City as a precaution. The passenger flow at Nagazora Airport was significantly higher than usual.
Workers could be seen installing strange equipment in many places around the city. The official explanation was that these devices were air purifiers, a new project heavily invested in to create a better urban environment. The citizens naturally felt happy about this. Only a few insiders knew that these were high-tech devices capable of both monitoring Honkai energy concentration and slowing its increase, provided out of friendship by St. Freya Academy.
Strange to say, the cost of such equipment was usually exorbitant, and St. Freya Academy produced very few of them. Given that Nagazora City had only experienced one small-scale eruption, it seemed completely unnecessary to deploy these devices. St. Freya Academy seemed a bit too sensitive.
However, for the management of Nagazora City, this was undoubtedly a good thing. Originally uneasy because of the Honkai in the suburbs, they now felt much more confident, and in turn, they gave St. Freya Academy a generous amount of funding.
It was called a "friendly provision," but one would be a complete fool not to offer any return. In this Honkai world, in this Far East region, St. Freya Academy was undoubtedly the ruler behind the scenes. Without their protection, who would fight the Honkai?
Meanwhile, on the ME Corp side.
Bronya, who was in the weapons research lab of the ME Corp Nagazora branch building, was communicating with Cocolia.
"Various data indicate that this place was not empty before; a weapon should have been stored here."
"That doesn't matter. Could a mere ME Corp build a Divine Key on its own?"
As the President of ME Corp, Cocolia mercilessly belittled the company under her command while continuing.
"Bronya, I asked you to contact Raiden Mei at Senba Academy earlier. Did you succeed?"
"Yes. Sister Mei is a very gentle person. Is she really a potential Herrscher?"
Bronya's words made Cocolia raise an eyebrow. If she hadn't been able to see through the video call that her familiar adopted daughter's face still lacked expression, Cocolia might have thought someone had swapped Bronya.
She wasn't the type to express goodwill towards a person so simply. That Raiden Mei seemed to have a very good personality.
However, it didn't matter. Whether Bronya became friends with Raiden Mei or not didn't matter. She would be the villain.
"That's right. You might not know, but yesterday evening, a small-scale Honkai eruption occurred in the outskirts of Nagazora City. I suspect that was the influence brought by Raiden Mei."
"Bronya has already checked the data. The Honkai was observed at 16:20 yesterday, and just one hour before that, Bronya was talking to Sister Mei at Senba Academy. So, Sister Mei's suspicion can be ruled out."
Cocolia didn't know whether she should be gratified that Bronya was showing more emotion than usual, or have a headache because she had formed a friendly relationship with the potential Herrscher Cocolia targeted.
"In any case, stay vigilant. I have a premonition that Honkai eruptions will continue to occur in Nagazora City until the true Third Honkai Eruption arrives."
"I will protect the people of Nagazora City."
Bronya made a promise.
Cocolia sighed imperceptibly. This child was too kind now. Even though she had been a ruthless assassin before meeting her. Was it because life in the orphanage was too warm?
Or was it because that girl who disappeared into the Sea of Quanta, that failed experiment, had changed Bronya a lot?
"Alright, Bronya, listen to me carefully. If it's a small-scale Honkai eruption with a power below 100 HW, you can indeed use Project Bunny to absorb the Honkai energy and slowly lower the concentration. But if it exceeds this range, do not attempt to lower the Honkai energy concentration alone. As long as Raiden Mei becomes a Herrscher, and we retrieve her, we will be one step closer to eliminating the Honkai."
Bronya remained silent, only nodding to indicate she heard Cocolia.
She vaguely guessed what Mother Cocolia wanted to do. The word "retrieve" was fine when used on herself, who had prosthetic legs, severely damaged human emotions due to an accident, and a bio-chip implanted in her brain. But using it on Raiden Mei was worth pondering.
Bronya felt resistance to this. In fact, ever since that girl disappeared into the Sea of Quanta and she failed to bring her back, Bronya had questioned some of Cocolia's plans.
Is sacrificing a few to save many really right?
Thinking of that experiment, thinking of that girl, Bronya felt a pain in her chest.
It hurts. Even though my emotions are missing because of that accident, why does it still hurt so much...
Aside from fighting, Bronya had nothing left.
"Bronya? Bronya! Are you okay?"
Seeing the girl in the video remain silent for a long time, Cocolia asked with some concern. Bronya quickly recovered and spoke.
"If a Honkai erupts in Nagazora City, Bronya will do her best. Mother Cocolia, please rest assured."
Immediately after, the communication was cut off from Bronya's side.
Cocolia stared blankly at the darkened electronic screen for a while, then sighed helplessly.
"I didn't ask you to do your best, Bronya. You just need to protect yourself. Leave the rest to me."
Originally, Cocolia had planned to use the bio-chip to control Bronya and retrieve Raiden Mei when necessary. But seeing Bronya's expression and behavior just now, Cocolia suddenly hesitated.
She decided to change her plan slightly.
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