Around lunchtime, Himeko and her group arrived at the doors of the temporary office via bus.
Connie, the ever-reliable head steward of Schicksal, had already arranged a welcoming banquet.
Consequently, the group headed straight back onto the bus to a reserved hotel for lunch.
The entire lobby had been booked out by Schicksal; today, there were no outsiders, only members of their organization.
While everyone was caught up in the lively drinking and the clinking of glasses, Durandal, holding a glass of juice, sought out Himeko. The latter was currently locked in a drinking match with Eden and Elysia.
"Himeko," Durandal called out.
Hearing her name, Himeko turned back with a glance full of charm. Her cheeks were brushed with a faint crimson; she was clearly tipsy.
She lifted her glass, tipping it slightly toward Durandal and then toward Elysia before speaking.
"Durandal, coming to find me at a time like this... aren't you afraid your girlfriend will get jealous?"
At that, Durandal couldn't help but glance at Elysia.
Elysia returned a reassuring look, then turned to Himeko. "Alright now, the bond between Durandal and me is as solid as gold. Your little attempts at stirring the pot won't work on us. Go on, if Durandal is looking for you now, she must have something important to say."
Hearing Elysia's words, Himeko downed her glass in one go, swallowing that fresh serving of "dog food" along with the wine. Setting the glass down, she followed Durandal to the side.
"I know what you want to ask me," Himeko said, her eyes suddenly regaining their clarity.
Naturally, she wasn't actually drunk. Her earlier behavior had simply been a way to stall for time.
But since her little trick had been so easily dismantled by Elysia, Himeko knew the moment had come where she had to make a choice.
"The reason I requested a rotation swap with Dystopia this time is because there are two promising seedlings among the newcomers in Sapphire City. I want to personally teach them a few more things."
"After all, people like us never know when we might fall on the path of fighting the Honkai. I'd hate for my skills to die with me because I didn't find anyone to inherit them."
"You mean Hua and Carole?" Durandal asked.
Himeko nodded. "Exactly. Hua has a steady temperament and remarkable combat talent. In terms of actual fighting, I don't have much left to teach her."
"But it's precisely because she's too steady—stiff, even—that she's bound to suffer for it in the future. So, what I plan to teach her is how to navigate the world and deal with people."
"As for Carole, her personality is the exact opposite of Hua's. She's a bit too flighty. Though she's talented, her heart isn't fully in her training."
"However, children like her always grow into incredibly reliable adults once they've experienced enough. I have to admit, seeing her is like looking at a version of my younger self."
"But they are members of my Schicksal organization," Durandal pointed out, hitting the heart of the matter.
"Indeed they are." Himeko glanced at Durandal. "That's why I followed them here. I'll stay with them until the Third Honkai Eruption is resolved. Of course, if the time comes when I absolutely must leave and they haven't grown into the women I envisioned... perhaps I'll choose to..."
As expected, Himeko watched as a dangerous shadow began to creep across Durandal's face.
She quickly pivoted. "Oh, honestly, you're such a bore. You can't take a joke at all. I have no idea what Ellie sees in you."
Durandal's eyebrows shot up. What did Himeko mean by that? Was she trying to steal Elysia away?
Though the possibility was slim, Durandal still countered: "The things Elysia likes about me happen to be the very things you're complaining about."
Himeko: "..."
Well, thinking about it, that was probably true.
Did people with flighty personalities just have a shared taste for the steady, reliable types? For some reason, an image of a figure with gray-blue hair flickered through Himeko's mind.
She shook her head. Maybe she really was a bit drunk.
Himeko forced the random association out of her head and looked back at Durandal.
"Alright, no more jokes. Don't worry, I'm not going to kidnap Hua and Carole and drag them off to Fire Moth. After all, I'm well aware that in that environment, far from growing, they would..."
Himeko cut herself off. She hadn't jumped ship yet; badmouthing her current employer wasn't the best look—especially not in front of her potential new boss.
If Durandal thought she'd badmouth Schicksal to some other organization later on, she might think Himeko was unreliable.
In truth, Himeko was overthinking it. As the counterpart to Himeko in a previous era, Durandal understood her reliability—and her occasional lack thereof—better than anyone.
"In any case, I might be working under you in the future, Lord Durandal~"
Himeko instinctively reached to raise a toast, only to realize she was no longer holding a drink. Seeing this, Durandal handed over her own glass of juice, adding, "I haven't sipped from it."
Himeko: "..."
It didn't matter if it was wine or juice, she just wanted to clink glasses with Durandal! Now that Durandal had given her the juice, the other woman had no glass left. Who was she supposed to clink with?
Just then, a gray-blue figure happened to walk by. Himeko's eyes lit up instantly as she stepped forward.
"Captain Himeko?" Hua looked at her, startled.
Her surprise mostly stemmed from the fact that Himeko was holding juice just like hers, rather than red wine or champagne.
"Come, let's have a toast!" Ignoring the confusion in Hua's eyes, Himeko raised her glass.
Though Hua didn't quite understand what was happening, she politely obliged and clinked her juice glass against Himeko's.
"Alright, go get something to eat! We might have a mission to clear out Zombies this afternoon, so don't head out on an empty stomach." With a wave of her hand, Himeko sent a bewildered Hua on her way.
As for Durandal, she had already made her way back to Elysia's side.
Elysia was still holding a wine glass, chatting with Eden and taking occasional sips.
Notably, two figures in green had joined them.
One was Dr. Mobius, wearing her glasses and holding a glass of red wine. Standing beside her was Klein, who was repeatedly trying to swap Mobius's wine for the glass of juice in her own hand.
However, lacking the height advantage, Klein wasn't having much success.
"Klein~ didn't I tell you? I can drink three glasses of this without getting drunk, and this is only my second!" Mobius looked at Klein, her tone laced with both annoyance and a hint of a spoiled pout.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL