Chapter 146: Before Departure
"You are...Higokumaru?"
The next morning.
The transformed fox girl was pulled by Kirataka and appeared in front of the girls.
Faced with this familiar yet unfamiliar little fox, their reactions were different.
Kiana walked forward curiously, reached out her hand, and touched Higokumaru's ears and tail.
Well, this soft and furry touch is exactly the same.
She couldn't help but sigh:
"It's really Higokumaru..."
'...So, Kiana, you recognize people by the feel of their body?'
Kirataka complained silently in his heart.
"Can you fold up these ears and tail?"
Kiana asked curiously while touching Higokumaru lovingly.
Although they are used to seeing her fox-like appearance, if she goes outside, the rate of people turning their heads to look at her will reach 300%.
Well, the kind that makes everyone who passes by look back three times.
"Of course."
As the rosy-colored girl answered, a cherry-colored aura flashed on her body, and her ears and tail immediately disappeared.
Without the fox tail and ears, she looked no different from the other girls.
Bronya had already seen Higokumaru last night, so she didn't show any obvious reaction.
Seele just welcomed Higokumaru's arrival with a smile.
She had always liked Higokumaru very much, so seeing her transformation like this, she would naturally be happy for her.
Mei, who was about to go into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, was more concerned about Higokumaru's appetite:
"Higokumaru used to be full after eating two or three pieces of fried tofu. Now I think you need to prepare more, right? Can I make more for you?"
Higokumaru's eating habits are quite monotonous: she eats fried tofu for breakfast, fried tofu for lunch, and fried tofu for dinner.
"Yeah, thank you, sister Mei, sister Mei is the best!~"
Higokumaru simply pounced on her and acted coquettishly.
Looking at this happy scene, Kirataka breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that they didn't notice the crucial question of where Higokumaru slept last night after she grew up.
Although Bronya had seen through everything, she was obviously not the kind of person who would add fuel to the fire.
But... the good times didn't last long.
Seele beside him seemed to have thought of something, sniffed him, and said:
"Brother Kirataka smells so good."
"Uh... yes..."
Kirataka answered with a guilty conscience.
This little fox has no sense of boundaries. After it turns into a human form, he must hold her while sleeping.
After sleeping in her arms like a human-shaped pillow for a whole night, there would be some fragrance of the young girl left on his body.
Specifically, it has a strong cherry blossom aroma.
Seele nodded thoughtfully and said nothing more. No one knew what she was thinking.
"So will Higokumaru still sleep with Kirataka in the future?"
Even stupid Kiana figured out the key to the problem and asked.
"Of course, the master's body is so warm to hug. Big sister, come and hug him at night."
Higokumaru answered simply.
From her perspective, she is probably just sharing what she likes, but that may not be the case for others.
'Your big tail is also warm... No, no, that's not the point.'
After these words were spoken, all the girls present fell into a subtle silence.
Seele crossed her hands in front of her chest, her pretty face slightly flushed, as if she was recalling her previous experience in the world bubble.
But, at that time, she didn't fall asleep while holding Kirataka. Woo… It's so embarrassing to think about that.
Kiana, however, bent her head slightly, probably wondering if it was really warm.
Hmm... Paramecium's thoughts are in sync with Higokumaru's!
"Can we really let Bronya try it too?"
It was Bronya who spoke first to break the deadlock.
Seele: "Hey, Sister Bronya…?"
"Just kidding."
"Hmm? What were you guys talking about?"
Mei poked her head out from the kitchen and looked at them curiously.
"Ahem, nothing..."
"Breakfast is ready, come and eat."
Mei brought out a sumptuous breakfast from the kitchen, including Higokumaru's favorite freshly-baked fried tofu.
"Oh yeah, it's fried tofu!"
Higokumaru immediately ran over.
Even though she has grown in size, her simple personality remains unchanged.
…
In the afternoon, in Theresa's office.
Kirataka, Mei, and Bronya stood in front of the petite principal's desk.
He had already told Theresa about the new girl, Higokumaru, but the principal didn't take it too seriously.
——Her academy accepted both Mei, a genuine Herrscher, and Kirataka, who was suspected to be a pseudo-Herscher. No matter how special the girl named Higokumaru is, she is not more special than the Herrscher.
Besides, there has been no major eruption since the Manila eruption, and there seems to be no sign of a new Herrscher being born, so Theresa didn't think too much about it.
The matter of Higokumaru's check-in was easily arranged.
Then, the next thing is about Raiden Ryoma.
"…Mei's father?"
Kirataka explained the basic situation to the leader of the Far East Branch, as well as his plan to apply to carry out this mission as a small team.
The personnel list for the team operation included him, Mei, and Bronya.
Kiana had just returned from the mission in Singapore, and she had been practicing attentively with Fu Hua recently, so Kirataka had no intention of attacking her this time.
Moreover, there is indeed no conflict between Cocolia and Kiana, which makes them somewhat incompatible with their "revenge team."
"I haven't found the whereabouts of Raiden Ryoma yet... Where did you get the information?"
Theresa looked at the blueprint of the fortress where Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned that Kirataka handed over, and looked at them with a puzzled look.
This is normal. With the resources and intelligence network of the Schicksal Far East Branch under her control, they were unable to find any clues, but Kirataka and the other three students found relevant information. This is a bit unreasonable.
Moreover, the information provided on this drawing is too detailed. It's almost like... it's like information stolen from the inside.
Kirataka had naturally prepared a set of responses to this. Mei at the side took the initiative to step forward and said:
"Principal, it was Dr. Einstein of Anti-Entropy who gave me the relevant information."
There are more people who are dissatisfied with Cocolia than just the group of people from Schicksal. Even within Anti-Entropy, there are also quite a few other executives of the same level as Cocolia who are dissatisfied with her actions.
Among them are two Anti-Entropy veterans, Dr. Tesla and Dr. Einstein.
Like Raiden Ryoma, both of them belong to the conservative faction in Anti-Entropy and oppose the actions of the reformist Cocolia.
However, as scientists are their main profession, they are obviously no match for Cocolia who specializes in political gamesmanship. In addition, Welt, the leader of the alliance, has not returned to Anti-Entropy for a long time, which has led to Cocolia now having the upper hand within Anti-Entropy and becoming the only dominant force.
In fact, even if Kirataka did not ask the World Serpent for help in investigating intelligence, the conservative forces of Anti-Entropy would rescue Raiden Ryoma one day in the future.
Therefore, it is very reasonable to say that the source of the information came from Dr. Einstein.
"...is that so."
Theresa nodded thoughtfully.
She was no stranger to the name Einstein.
It's not because she is the historical - but in the previous Anti-Entropy invasion incident, she had already come into close contact with Dr. Einstein. Compared with Cocolia, the blue-haired woman with glasses gave her a much better impression.
Well... speaking of which, according to the information Theresa learned, she and Einstein are both the type who will not age any longer. In a sense, they are the same type. This may be a factor in her good impression of her.
Is this considered... sympathy?
"If you want to rescue Raiden Ryoma, I won't stop you, but... you really don't need my help? It's okay for me, the principal, to help you out once, right?"
The white-haired girl raised her little pink fist.
As a school principal who cares about her students, it is normal for her to help her students beat up the Anti-Entropy people.
As the former S-rank Valkyrie, she is currently the true ace of the Far East Branch and the strongest fighting force.
"Principal, you can't just leave St. Freya Academy at will, and... after all, it was Cocolia who got us into that disaster. I think it would be better for us to take revenge and rescue her ourselves, especially for Mei."
Having said that, Kirataka glanced at the purple-haired girl beside him and said:
"And, if necessary, Mei will unleash her true power."
In terms of combat power, there is no problem.
Although she has been keeping herself in pretty good shape since entering school and has not shown any signs of wanting to go berserk, the purple-haired girl next to him is a genuine Third Herrscher.
Moreover, unlike Kiana who is still fighting with "herself" and trying to seize power, the other "Mei" in Mei's body is quite cooperative.
And when it comes to revenge on Cocolia... all Mei are quite enthusiastic.
Theresa thought for a while, then nodded and said:
"...That's right, then you guys just do your best and remember to keep in touch. If you need reinforcements, I'll bring people over right away."
As the leader of the Far East Branch, she really couldn't go out easily.
If it was in the Far East, like the disaster when Nagazora City eruption, she could quickly provide support, but if they were too far away...
The situation of other branches must be taken into consideration.
In principle, operations to be carried out in Siberia should be handed over to the Shenzhou branch or the European headquarters for nearby handling. Only when the branch cannot handle the situation on its own will it request support from other branches.
If you rashly step into the areas under the jurisdiction of other branches, some negotiation problems will arise.
In that case, let Kirataka and the others act freely. She will help them resolve the negotiation issues between branches and give the green light for their actions.
Theresa was not worried that Mei would have any impact on the residents in that area of Siberia. After all, there were no residents in that area in the general sense.
——Since the second Honkai eruption more than ten years ago, Siberia has become a wasteland unsuitable for human habitation. The amount of Honkai energy remaining there is still quite exaggerated even after more than ten years.
Because it is so sparsely populated, Schicksal naturally did not set up a branch in that land.
Those who still stay there for a long time are just some warlords and the like, fighting for territory in the deserted land. Of course, there are also some Anti-Entropy forces led by Cocolia.
If the power of the Herrscher is released in a place like that, it won't cause any big problems.
Rather, as a member of Schicksal, she was happy to see Cocolia's territory damaged and that old witch suffer a defeat - the old witch had sent people to attack her students last time.
Then, Theresa looked at the virtual panel in front of her and added:
"The weapon system upgrade of Bronya's Project Bunny 19C has just been completed today. Go pick it up from the engineering department when you return later."
——During the last combat training, she promised the silver-haired girl that she would use the weapon system of Schicksal to help her upgrade her firepower.
Although it took some time, she successfully fulfilled her promise and completed a comprehensive upgrade of the Prroject Bunny's weapon system.
"...Thank you, Principal."
The silver-haired girl thanked her.
For her now, the Project Bunny accounted for more than 80% of her combat power and was a very important partner.
All in all, Theresa agreed with their actions.
Kirataka said jokingly:
"I didn't expect that you, the school principal, would agree so easily for us to rescue the top leaders of Anti-Entropy."
Anti-Entropy and Schicksal have been fighting each other in various fields for a long time and are open enemies, but Theresa doesn't seem to care about this.
Whether it was taking in Mei, the daughter of a high-ranking member of Anti-Entropy, in the beginning, or now agreeing for them to rescue Raiden Ryoma.
Theresa sighed and replied:
"We are all organizations fighting against Honkai, so why are there so many conflicts? Besides, Anti-Entropy and I don't have any deep hatred."
'After all, the one who really had a huge conflict with that organization was probably my grandfather.'
Although Theresa was not clear about the specific reason why Anti-Entropy and her grandfather had a feud, based on her understanding of her grandfather, she was probably afraid that he had done something bad and had become their mortal enemy.
Besides, because of certain things that happened in the past, she didn't trust Otto 100%... Otherwise, she wouldn't have reached an agreement with Dr. Einstein from Anti-Entropy last time.
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