It was already dinner time, but guess why these guys weren't cooking and were instead playing Old Maid?
Even though they were guests, Ana and Shun, who were now busy working in the kitchen, expressed, "I have no objections."
Raiden Mei, who had originally planned to enter the kitchen to help Shun, watched the atmosphere between Shun and Ana and felt a strong sense of "I shouldn't be here, I should be under the car."
Like a deflated ball, she sat back down again. Fortunately, the atmosphere here was very cheerful, so Raiden Mei temporarily put those thoughts aside.
"Wow, you prepared so much. Can we even finish it all?" From the way Ana said this, it was clear she didn't know about the Kaslana appetite.
"I hope that when you see Kiana's food intake later, Ana, you'll realize that this amount isn't even enough for Emperor Kiana to burp once."
Shun recalled the time he was too lazy to cook and took Kiana to an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet, which directly wiped the "smile" off the boss's face.
Shun expressed his hope that Kiana could learn to be modest and take a few lessons from Raiden Mei's virtues. Moreover, Theresa was also a hidden Kaslana. Although no one mentioned how much she could eat, she definitely could eat a lot.
"Is… is that so?" Although there were always rumors that every Kaslana could eat several pigs in one meal, Ana had never seen it with her own eyes. In her view, a person's stomach was only so big—even if stuffed full, it couldn't hold that much.
"Anyway, you'll definitely have your eyes opened later." Shun felt that Ana still lacked experience.
"Hahahahaha, the soup is here!" Shun came out of the kitchen carrying a clay pot, only to find that the four of them were no longer playing games in the living room but had all sat down at the dining table.
"What's wrong?" Such a serious atmosphere shouldn't be appearing here. Shouldn't the atmosphere with Kiana and the others be very cheerful right now?
"There is a traitor among us." Theresa tried hard to put on a serious expression, but no matter what expression her face made, it only gave off a cute feeling.
"Ah, tell me, what are you guys up to again?"
"Hey, this is a very serious problem. We're having a trust crisis!" According to Theresa, they had originally decided not to touch the food on the table before Shun and Ana returned.
But when they all came to the dining table together, they discovered that several pieces of fried chicken were missing compared to before.
Hearing this description, Shun calmly glanced at Kiana, causing the other party to break out in cold sweat.
Who else could the culprit of this kind of thing be? Shun estimated that Theresa and the others still didn't understand Kiana well enough. Raiden Mei, who could guess the truth but didn't want to say it, could only watch everyone with an auntie-like smile.
After all, she had never left her seat, so no matter how much they suspected, they wouldn't suspect her. In that case, she would just "smile and that's it."
Guessing in his heart how long it would take for Kiana to be caught, Shun stopped paying attention to what was happening outside. There were still a few dishes left unfinished, and he had to go back to help Ana.
Sure enough, not long after, Shun heard Kiana's pig-slaughtering-like scream from the kitchen. Probably because she hadn't wiped the grease off her hands cleanly—the trace was so obvious that it couldn't escape a Valkyrie's notice.
"What's wrong? You're smiling so happily. Did something good happen?" Ana turned her head and asked.
"Huh? Am I smiling that happily?" Only then did Shun belatedly realize that the corners of his mouth had almost curled up to the sky.
"Maybe. What exactly you're thinking, you know best yourself. But since you're smiling, it must be something good, right? I just heard it getting noisy outside. Did something happen?"
Shun briefly explained what had just happened to Ana, and sure enough, he received bursts of laughter from her.
"Kiana is obviously still a child. Everyone knows that plate of fried chicken was prepared for her. Principal Theresa and Himeko wouldn't eat it."
"Yeah, and Raiden Mei and Bronya wouldn't eat it either." Shun added.
"So that plate of fried chicken was originally prepared for her, yet she still had to steal some."
Shun thought to himself that perhaps Ana still didn't understand him. He had competed with Kiana for food more than a few times before. When eating out at banquets, Shun always sat at the kids' table.
Kiana? Just a defeated opponent under his chopsticks. However, the portions prepared this time were all very large. Even if Shun ate, he was only tasting. Compared to Kiana's starving-ghost way of eating, there was still a big gap.
Another twenty minutes or so passed, and Shun and Ana came out carrying two plates each to the dining table outside.
"Ohhh, is dinner ready, Shun? I'm already so hungry I can't stand it!" Seeing Shun come out, the previously listless Kiana instantly perked up.
But this was someone else's house. Shun was just the one cooking. Unless Himeko or Theresa said something, what could he decide?
"What are you looking at me for? Eat!" Himeko opened a can of beer and took a gulp, then looked at everyone in surprise and said.
"Mhm, Himeko tea… Himeko, I toast to you." With that, Shun also opened a can of chilled beer and clinked it with Himeko's.
"Not bad, you know how to play along! No one used to drink with me here before. Now that you're here, Shun, there will finally be someone to drink properly with me in the future!"
Shun knew the reason why Himeko liked drinking. Because the artificial Stigmata constantly brought her pain, Himeko could only numb herself with alcohol.
Otherwise, could you imagine a 20-year-old MIT PhD graduate, now 26 years old, getting drunk every day?
However, artificial Stigmata… were difficult to deal with. Himeko herself had almost no Honkai adaptability. She had become a Valkyrie entirely by burning her life force with artificial Stigmata.
World Serpent probably didn't have any good solutions for someone like Himeko who had no Honkai adaptability from the start.
But Himeko had never been willing to just lie at home. She wanted to stay active on the battlefield.
Like a bundle of firewood, she burned brightly while simultaneously consuming her own life.
However, now that he was here, he definitely wouldn't let Himeko do any dangerous things again. If it really came down to it…
He would just stuff the Plague Gem into Himeko's body, induce artificial Honkai, and turn her into a Herrscher once more.
Shun's combat power here could grow through snowballing. Having obtained part of Elysia's authority, as long as the person who became a Herrscher was one of his own, he could cut off their connection with Honkai, make the Herrscher defect, and add another Herrscher of Human: Ego's combat power to his side.
Yes, he should talk to Theresa about Himeko's matter later. After all, she was her good friend. Theresa should have some say in deciding things for Himeko.
When Shun came back to his senses, he found that the fried chicken he had just been about to pick up with his chopsticks had already been completely wiped out. He didn't need to guess who did it.
"Kiana! …" Shun put down his chopsticks and patted the table, nearly choking Kiana, who was still puffing her cheeks while chewing something.
"Ouch, what are you doing!"