Reconnaissance mission
For a few weeks now, Kiana and the others have been staying at Kouro's house.
Himeko's damaged house had also been repaired, but now they are still living in Kouro's house.
They seemed to have gotten used to living in his house.
He was happy with them staying here. At least it made him feel less lonely while staying at home.
Fortunately, Kouro is also not bothered by Herrscher Mei and Ayame, so he can live his days in peace.
His relationship with all of them was also slowly improving.
__
In the afternoon, on Saturday.
"We're home!" x3
Kouro, Himeko and Mei came inside carrying several grocery bags filled with groceries and daily necessities in both hands.
"Welcome back!" x4
Kiana and the others answered from the living room before then helped them put the remaining grocery bags into the kitchen.
After finishing that, Kouro and the others then sat on the sofa to relax for a while watching TV.
Fortunately, the sofa was relatively large, so it fit them even though it became a bit cramped.
Staring at the TV which was showing general news, Kallen, who was a little bored, then asked casually.
"Nee... Kouro-kun, have you decided where you want to go after graduating from this academy?"
Kiana, Ayame, Mei, Himeko and even Bronya pricked up their ears to hear Kouro's answer.
"Now that you mention it, isn't it about time for the new semester to start?" Kouro said while remembering the previous things that happened at the academy.
It didn't feel like he had been attending this academy for more than half a year.
To be honest, Kouro did not have much to learn in this school, compared to Kiana and the others who progressed rapidly after entering this academy, he could be said to be ordinary and even his progress tended to slow down.
His martial arts skills had reached the [Master] level after training with Fu Hua a few days ago.
And now even though he has the [Dominator's Touch ], but this ability will not be very useful for now.
This is because every ability he has can only develop rapidly when he is fighting.
He also did not forget that the source of his power came from the system that by killing other living beings he could become stronger.
The academy actually also has missions such as hunting Honkai beasts, but these rarely appear because honkai beasts only appear in places that have a high concentration of Honkai energy.
Whereas in this academy, even the surrounding cities rarely have places that have such a high concentration of Honkai energy.
Even if there was one, it would be quickly monitored by the academy.
Nagazora City was a special case, as the eruption that occurred there was human-made to awaken the third Herrscher.
But since this place was peaceful and cozy, Kiana and the others were rather comfortable living here and even Kouro was like that despite problems like the kidnapping of Mei earlier.
But he, who had knowledge of the future, knew that this peace would not last long.
"... I think... I'll join Schicksal. "
Kiana and the others had 'as expected' expressions upon hearing that.
"... You guys don't seem surprised that I chose to join Schicksal. "
There were many reasons why Kouro chose to join Schicksal.
One of them was that Schicksal would be the center of a plot that would happen in the future.
So he wanted to maximize his advantage as someone who knew the future.
Well... Although it seems like the future has changed since the beginning.
Then the other reason, Kouro remembered that he had a privilege granted by Otto if he joined Schicksal.
The privilege was to grant him a rank equivalent to Valkyrie rank-A.
There were 5 ranks in the Valkyrie system starting from the smallest, namely, rank-D, rank-C, rank-B, rank-A, and rank-S.
And usually a Valkyrie who has just entered Schicksal is ranked B.
To rank up also cannot be arbitrary even if you have strength exceeding your rank as long as you have not fulfilled the required mission quota, you will not rank up.
If he's not mistaken, it takes the completion of 100 missions to advance from B-rank to A-rank.
Don't think this is small, because the missions to be done are always dangerous and even life-threatening for Valkyrie, so usually they will only receive missions once every 2 weeks and the missions they do are not necessarily successful.
So you could say that for an ordinary Valkyrie, it takes about almost 3 years to get promoted, even if they are still alive.
And for an A-rank to rise to S-rank... Kouro didn't know, because from what he heard from Himeko it took special requirements to advance to the S-rank.
"But isn't it the case that with your grades, you can join Schicksal right away?" Himeko asked.
Kouro was seen scratching his cheek before saying embarrassedly. "Well... I actually wanted to enjoy my time with you guys. After all, times like this are rare for me. "
Ayame, Kiana, Bronya looked at each other, since they were so familiar they could talk to each other with just a glance.
'Kouro's embarrassed face! ' Ayame with slightly flushed cheeks.
'Quick photo it, Bronya!' Kiana looked at Bronya.
'Alright, *picture*.'
'Niceee! Bronya, don't forget to share it with me later.' Ayame raised her thumb to Bronya without looking conspicuous.
Bronya looked at Ayame with a flat face before opening her ten hands, '100,000 Yen. '
'Expensive!' Kiana widened her eyes.
'That's not expensive, Bronya once found a photo belonging to a Kouro subject that was auctioned on the internet for nearly 1 million yen. '
'What?!' Kiana wore a surprised expression.
'I sent it already, Bronya. ' Ayame looked at Bronya casually.
'Eh?! You really bought it?'
'Hmm? So what? I have money.' Ayame looked at Kiana in confusion.
Kiana had forgotten that Ayame had an influential and wealthy family.
'Damn it! Just explode rich people!'
Kiana wanted to cry because she still hadn't found her father's bank card, especially now that she was only given about 10,000 yen per month by Theresa which she would immediately spend on snacks, so it could be said that she had no money.
'Bronya... You said selling Kouro's photo can make a lot of money, right?' Kiana looked at Bronya with strange eyes.
Bronya felt uncomfortable with Kiana's gaze so she quickly nodded stiffly.
Kiana then turned to stare at Kouro with a frightening look that even gave Kouro goosebumps.
"Wh-what's wrong Kiana? Why are you looking at me like that. "
"It's nothing. "
"Ok...Ey... By the way, speaking of grades, what about yours Kiana?"
Kiana's movement stopped before saying, "...I don't know, but the class rep said that my grades were still lacking so she previously requested a bonus exam for me."
'Class rep... Is that Fu Hua?' Kouro thought.
*Knock*
*Knock*
*Knock*
"Ah! Wait a moment. " Mei opened the door to see that the person who came was Fu Hua.
"Fu Hua-san! Come in, are you here looking for Kiana?"
"Sorry to interrupt. " Fu Hua entered and walked towards them.
Seeing Fu Hua, Kouro then turned around and said to Kiana. "Speaking of the devil, look she has come."
Fu Hua then looked at Kouro for a while before turning to look at Kiana. "Kiana, the mission we are going on is a reconnaissance mission. "
Kiana who heard that then did an akimbo movement. "Reconnaissance mission, huh? That's an easy mission!"
After saying that Fu Hua then put on a strange expression before looking at Kouro.
"What's wrong?"
"The higher-ups also want you to join this mission, Kouro. "
Kouro raised his eyebrows when he heard this.
'Has Otto already started the plan?'
"Alright. When does the mission start?"
"Tomorrow. "
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Schicksal HQ.
In a dim room with a large communication screen.
There was Otto sitting relaxed with a red wine in his hand.
He then heard someone's voice from behind him.
"Overseer Otto we've sent Fu Hua to do the mission. Her reputation is quite good so there is a high probability that this mission will succeed. " Amber said from behind Otto.
"Good."
"But... " Amber put on a confused expression.
"But? Just ask what you're confused about. " Otto said with a smile looking down at the wine in his hand.
"Why did you tell Fu Hua to bring the two of them?"
"Why? Isn't it good to see the progress of our experiment. Moreover, I'm a little interested in the plan that Ashborn mentioned. "