Most of what Evan had told Theresa earlier was true—for example, that after sleeping almost an entire day he was now full of energy. At this moment he indeed had no intention of sleeping, and kept trying to find changes after obtaining [Jizo Mitama · Void], whether in his body or in his vague, intangible soul.
However, he found nothing—no gains at all.
The weapon drawn from Advanced Supply couldn't strengthen his body like a Stigmata, nor could it materialize in reality like a normal weapon to be wielded against enemies. Aside from being visible as an icon on the virtual interface, [Jizo Mitama · Void] was no different from not having drawn anything at all.
While Evan felt helpless about this, a knock came at the door. The visitor wasn't Kiana or Raiden Mei, nor Bronya; they should still be asleep at this time, making up for the rest they'd lacked before. The one at the door was Himeko Murata.
"Well, how's the rest? Sleeping alright here?"
Himeko, unaware that Evan and Theresa had taken a late-night trip to Nagazora City to dispose of a newborn Pseudo-Herrscher, simply assumed Evan had had a full night's rest.
"Pretty good. Compared to the boys' dorm at Tachikawa Academy, the bed here is much more comfortable."
Evan didn't bother explaining. After briefly praising St. Freya's living conditions, he followed up with a question.
"Is there something you need? Don't tell me I'm already starting regular classes at St. Freya today?"
"Of course not. You've just escaped from a large-scale Honkai eruption. St. Freya isn't so heartless as to throw you into schoolwork immediately. You'll get some buffer time—short as two or three days, long as a week. During that time, you'll get used to the academy's environment and shake off the psychological shadow of the large-scale Honkai. Though… you don't really look like you've got any shadow."
"...Sadness, yes. After all, the city I lived in has now been abandoned. But it hasn't reached the level of a trauma."
"But I've got a shadow, you know?"
Himeko's words made Evan freeze for a moment. An A‑rank Valkyrie who had clearly faced Honkai more than once was saying she'd developed a shadow? Evan thought back and realized she hadn't even truly fought strong enemies when she'd arrived in Nagazora aboard the Hyperion.
"Uh?"
"Don't look so confused. My shadow was caused by you. I'd already prepared myself to lay down my life in a death match against the Third Herrscher, but the moment I got off the Hyperion you gave me a tongue-lashing, like I'd done something utterly heinous. It really hurt, you know?"
At that, Evan reacted. Himeko was referring to when he negotiated with St. Freya for Raiden Mei's sake.
At that time, having guessed that the so‑called "shackle" would be some kind of bomb or similarly awful device, his attitude had indeed been a bit harsh, and he'd even used Himeko as a bargaining chip to threaten Theresa—
"Sorry. And… thank you for cooperating back then. Otherwise, with the state I was in at the time, things might really have gone off‑track and ended badly."
"I figured as much. If I had used my battlesuit's power to force my way free back then, or even dragged Kiana away from Raiden Mei, things would have come down to a head‑on clash. It would've been St. Freya Academy versus the Herrscher, with you pushed onto the opposing side as well. That's not a future I wanted. Someone who's willing to risk everything for others could never be a bad person."
Evan didn't plan to refute Himeko's words by saying something like, "Even if you used the battlesuit you couldn't have broken free," just to preserve his pride. The fact was, Himeko hadn't even tried to resist at all. To argue against such pure goodwill would have been utterly foolish.
"So, thank you. Truly."
Evan expressed his gratitude once again, which brought a bright smile to Himeko's face. She tilted her head slightly—a gesture different from Theresa's kind of cuteness, carrying the unique mature charm of an older-sister type like Himeko.
Though in terms of actual age, Theresa should be much "older" than Himeko.
"Really, from the bottom of your heart?"
"Yeah."
"Then go have a drink with me. Back in Nagazora, when you treated me to dinner I said I'd return the favor if I had the chance. Now's the time. You don't have anything else to do next, right?"
"No, I don't. Looks like I'll have to trouble Miss Himeko."
Last time had really just been a meal. The restaurant hadn't had much in the way of alcohol, and Himeko, carrying out a mission, hadn't ordered much to drink—much less ordered any for Evan. Seeing now that he seemed quite capable of holding his liquor, she showed an intrigued expression.
"Oh? So that means—your alcohol tolerance is good?"
"Average, I guess. But I should at least still have the strength to carry a drunk Miss Himeko home."
If he could carry her home drunk, then Evan was implying his tolerance was better than hers.
Himeko had already decided she would see for herself whether this was empty boasting or confidence backed by experience. For now, though, her focus was elsewhere.
"So you're already planning to get me drunk. You look pretty upright, but your bad ideas are plenty, huh, Student Evan."
If this were a pure-hearted boy, he would at this point be blushing furiously, head lowered, heart pounding from being teased by such a beautiful woman. Evan, however, kept a perfectly straight face.
"How could I? Kiana and the others are living at your place too, aren't they? There's no way I could do anything bad."
"So if they weren't there, there might be a chance to do something bad? You really think far ahead, huh. Not only did you imagine the scene of carrying me home, you also considered the possibility of doing bad things. Impressive."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Himeko had expected Evan to try and deny her teasing, yet what she heard instead was a response like tacit acknowledgement.
The atmosphere suddenly turned ambiguous.
Himeko cleared her throat lightly and turned to lead the way.
"Let's go. Time for a drink."
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