Everything that was meant to happen had happened. As for what shouldn't have happened... well, for the current Evan and Himeko Murata, there was no such thing as "shouldn't have."
The physical constitution of an A-rank Valkyrie was indeed extraordinary. Himeko hadn't caught a cold or fever from standing in the chilly wind for so long, nor was she overly fatigued by what transpired with Evan afterward. Early the next morning, she woke up and returned to her own residence.
According to Himeko, she didn't want Raiden Mei and the others to discover her current relationship with Evan. The feeling of being a latecomer snatching the lead made her a bit embarrassed.
However, in Evan's view, Himeko likely harbored some intention of covering for him to prevent him from facing the "Nice Boat" ending—or in this case, a literal cleaver.
There was no need to worry about the idiot Kiana as usual. Bronya, whose emotions were introverted, wouldn't show any outward strangeness regarding the relationship between Himeko and Evan until her own inner knots were untied. As for Raiden Mei, her normal personality was gentle and virtuous; she had likely already noticed some of Evan's greedy thoughts and was willing to accept them.
However, the Herrscher Mei inside her was a different story.
If things were exposed too early, the Herrscher Mei might erupt in a fury comparable to a true Herrscher, potentially destroying the entire island St. Freya Academy sat on with a single bolt of lightning.
Previously, when the Herrscher Mei saw Evan asking Himeko out late at night for serious business, she had nearly exploded. So, Evan's apprehension was well-founded.
Regardless, things had come to a temporary close.
Evan took a deep breath, casting aside the various thoughts in his mind, and began to attempt something he had planned to do upon returning to the real world.
With the flow of energy, a tachi gradually appeared in Evan's hand. It was the final product of the Black Box left to future generations by the human civilization of the Previous Era, which was far more powerful than the current one. Originally, Evan had obtained its ethereal form from the Supply System. After sealing Higokumaru's power, the Divine Key finally took its complete form—[Jizo Mitama].
Merely its existence began to affect the surrounding space. The power of Corruption stirred restlessly, wanting to assimilate everything nearby and bring it under its master's control.
After confirming that it could indeed manifest in the real world, Evan quickly put [Jizo Mitama] away. As expected, [Jizo Mitama · Void] had completed its transformation into [Jizo Mitama]. Evan planned to keep it as a trump card. Unless he encountered an unbeatable enemy or an insurmountable predicament, he would stick to using the Nitrogen Crystal Sword for now.
If he were facing Theresa or Raiden Mei, it wouldn't be too big of a problem if he suddenly had a powerful weapon of unknown origin. But Evan had to consider Otto's existence.
That guy, who had successfully defeated the Black Death after becoming the Overseer of Schicksal and accumulated unknown numbers of trump cards and methods over five hundred years—if he knew Evan possessed [Jizo Mitama], he would undoubtedly try every means to obtain its data and then formulate countermeasures.
Evan briefly browsed the virtual interface. Seeing that his Friendship Points had risen significantly due to the existence of Kallen and Yae Sakura, he performed a few Friendship Supplies before walking out of his house.
Although St. Freya Academy had entered a holiday period, some people were still busy.
Theresa, the principal, had to handle affairs not only within the academy but also across the entire Far East branch. Kiana, having failed her exams, was rarely seizing the time to study with only two days left until the makeup exam. And Evan had taken on the responsibility of providing food for the Jizo Mitama Space.
Although neither the Pseudo-Herrscher Yae Sakura, the Previous Era's Herrscher of Corruption Higokumaru, nor the soul-form Kallen needed to eat to survive, they still enjoyed delicious food. Evan naturally wouldn't deprive them of this basic joy of life.
Walking toward a certain direction in St. Freya Academy, Evan began to think of an excuse.
The existence of [Jizo Mitama] couldn't be exposed, so what should he say?
Although Evan could buy ingredients at the ordinary supermarket in the academy, St. Freya was essentially a closed system. Over time, his abnormal shopping records would eventually be discovered. Instead of trying to hide it, it was better to put it out in the open beforehand.
The Logistics Department of St. Freya Academy could meet Evan's needs, providing him with large quantities of fresh ingredients regularly. However, Evan naturally wouldn't go to a logistics manager he had never met before. He went directly to the Principal's Office.
The office was empty.
Evan originally thought about taking out his phone to ask Theresa where she was, but then he remembered some of her habits and checked the time.
It was just past seven in the morning.
With a slight wry smile, Evan leaned against the wall in the hallway outside the office and waited quietly. About half an hour later, the petite girl finally appeared, yawning.
"Mmm? Evan? Why are you here? Do you need something?"
Seeing Evan, Theresa, who had clearly just woken up from sleeping in, was a bit groggy at first. She quickly snapped out of it and looked puzzled.
"If it was something urgent, you should have contacted me. Didn't I give you my number before?"
"I heard you like to sleep in, Theresa. Since it wasn't anything too urgent, I didn't want to disturb your rest."
"That's quite considerate of you. So, tell me, what's up? If you want me to let Kiana pass the makeup exam directly, forget it. Although she's my niece... no, because she's my niece, I hope she can be a bit more capable."
"It has nothing to do with Kiana. It's about me."
Hearing Evan's words, Theresa's expression gradually became serious.
"Did you run into some trouble? Is it a health issue? Did your previous injuries not only fail to heal but get worse?"
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