217 Shokubutsu jōgi

In the end, Kouro was able to clear up their misunderstanding after telling them why he suddenly disappeared without cause.

Listening to Kouro's story, they all wore amazed expressions, of course Kouro did not tell dangerous things such as the resurrection of the Herrscher of the End, about the Herrscher of Shadows, or even about himself who had become a Herrscher.

Kouro only told the part after he defeated the Herrscher of the End, and made it like an 'Alice in Wonderland' story.

Of course there were some girls who realized that Kouro was hiding important parts such as Rita, Bianka, Himeko and Theresa, but they didn't ask because Kouro must have a reason for hiding those parts.

"I see... I believe you Kouro, but you're not hurt, right?" Bianka said while looking at Kouro with concern.

Bianka herself had actually also been to another world when she was 12 years old along with Rita, they went to another world because at that time Otto assigned the two of them to observe a 'Bubble Universe' using the 'Genius' device.

It was there that Bianka earned the nickname 'Durandal' because she obtained the legendary Sword 'Durandal' which is currently an anchor inside her body to hold the Bubble Universe from falling into the Sea of Quanta.

Her originally careless, impatient, and hot-tempered personality faded after experiencing many things from this mission.

Durandal was willing to carry a very heavy responsibility, namely carrying the Bubble Universe that has a human civilization in her body and waiting for a solution so that the Bubble Universe can return to the [Imaginary Tree].

And the person she thought might get the solution was Otto Apocalypse.

Let's return to the original topic, Bianka asked that because she was worried that Kouro also carried a huge responsibility like her.

"Thank you for worrying about me, but as I told you, I'm not hurt." Kouro said with a gentle smile.

The memory of his time in the other world then involuntarily flashed through his mind reminding him of how much responsibility he carried.

Ayame, Kiana and Higokumaru were staring at his face with unknown expressions, it seemed that somehow the three of them knew Kouro was lying.

Kiana alone could tell because the smile plastered on Kouro's face was the same smile she always showed when injured to make others not worry about her.

As for Ayame herself, as Kouro's childhood friend, she really knew Kouro's true emotions even if he was acting.

Then for Higokumaru, she can feel other people's emotions using her Herrscher ability.

She also felt strange towards Kouro's emotions when he saw her, as if Kouro was relieved and happy to see herself alive.

The three of them knew Kouro's true emotions and somehow hated themselves for not being able to comfort him.

While thinking about how to comfort Kouro, Ayame then heard the voice of her Herrscher persona in her mind.

["Segs?"]

["No!"] Ayame quickly denied.

["Really? But from what I know the most effective way to cheer up a man is Segs."] said her Herrscher persona trying to influence her.

"..." Ayame looked speechless with a flushed expression. It seemed like she was currently seriously considering her Persona Herrscher's words.

["Bu-But... Doing that right, should be after marriage..."] Ayame replied weakly while covering her flushed face with her hands, afraid of being noticed by Kouro.

["Don't you want to get married to Kouro?"] retorted her Herrscher Persona which instantly pierced her heart.

["I-I... Of course I want to marry Kouro!"] Ayame retorted loudly.

["Then what are you waiting for? Segs!"] her Persona Herrscher's voice echoed in her mind.

Himeko, Kiana, Kouro and the others looked at Ayame whose face was flushed by herself with her thighs pressed together and rubbing together.

"What's wrong with her? Did she pee?" Kouro asked in confusion and turned to look at Kiana beside him.

Kiana scratched her head before answering, "I don't know...? It's possible."

After a few minutes, Ayame was wearing a determined expression with both her clenched hands raised before turning her head and finally realizing that she was currently the focus of everyone.

"...Are you okay?" asked Kouro after a moment of silence.

Ayame's movements faltered slightly before nodding her head with an embarrassed expression.

Kouro blinked perhaps it was just his feelings but for a moment he saw Ayame's eyes take the shape of 'Love', but after he blinked once more, the shape of Ayame's eyes returned to normal.

'Looks like it was just a hallucination.' Kouro thought with a calm expression.

Seeing that Ayame was fine, Kouro finally turned to look at Theresa and asked, "Theresa-san, how much did I miss during this month?"

"Hu-Hum! There's a lot! Sakura and Higokumaru are now joining St. Freya's academy as teachers. But the most important thing is that Mei and Ayame have become Rank-A Valkyries."

Ayame gave a 'Peace' sign to Kouro while Mei herself just smiled.

"Mei has the nickname 'Lightning Empress' because of how quickly she can defeat Honkai Beasts like lightning strikes, as for Ayame... She has the nickname 'Shokubutsu jōgi' for being able to control plants and can capture Emperor-type Honkai Beasts without any problems."

"Not only that, your team members have also all reached Rank A thanks to their hard work." Theresa said while looking at Lin and Ana.

Susannah then said with a sad frown, "Me, Alvitr, and Kiana-chan are the only ones who haven't advanced in rank at all..."

"You don't need to be sad, you guys have a lot of potential, really, so just focus on trying hard." said Bianka looking at them.

"Right, you don't need to be sad, I believe you can become stronger, maybe even the strongest." Kouro said with his last sentence as he focused on Kiana.

"By the way, what about Nakuru?" she asked.

He had complicated feelings for this unique friend who had a top-notch natural beauty even without makeup and could compete with Kiana and Mei in terms of facial beauty.

It was unfortunate that Nakuru turned out to have a 'branch', even so Kouro still considered him a friend.

Here Kouro was completely unaware that Nakuru was actually Shadow.

"Nakuru? She also became a Rank A Valkyrie. She's even the first Valkyrie of your generation to rank up with pure fighting ability." Fu Hua said.

Fu Hua still remembered how Nakuru had easily defeated an Emperor-type Honkai Beast with her bare hands.

"Right! Incidentally, since Kouro has returned from his adventures, how about we take a walk together as a celebration for his return? Of course, Kouro himself is the treat!" Theresa said while smiling at Kouro.

Durandal, Mei, Kiana, Ayame and the others looked at each other before nodding and saying.

"We don't mind. "

Seeing how they quickly decided without asking his opinion made him sigh helplessly but suddenly, Kiana then hugged his right hand and smiled brightly at him.

"Let's go, Kouro!"

Looking at all of them, Kouro subconsciously smiled, but he also did not forget to contact Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan using the telepathy of the sense division skill.

[ "Bai Xuan... Hei Xuan... I'm really sorry for making you guys wait so long, but it looks like you'll have to go back to being my shadow..."]

Kouro did not realize that Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan were currently staring at him from afar with unknown expressions.

...

["We understand."] replied Hei Xuan with her eyes looking at Kouro who was surrounded by girls while smiling brightly without any particular intention.

Bai Xuan looked at her twin with a worried expression, right now Hei Xuan must be feeling how painful it is to see the person she likes together with other girls especially this time Kouro is surrounded by girls who are also interested in him.

"Bai Xuan..."

Compared to Hei Xuan herself... Kouro was more familiar with the girls.

As if realizing Bai Xuan's concern, she turned to look at her with a faint smile.

"I'm fine, Bai Xuan... I'm really fine.... I now know my limits."

Seeing how calm Hei Xuan was, Bai Xuan seemed to open her mouth wanting to say something before suddenly her expression changed seeing Hei Xuan's expression.

"You know, Bai Xuan... As Kouro's shadow warriors, we will always be nearby 24 hours. That means... I have more time together with him compared to those girls."

"I can see Kouro bathing, I can see Kouro changing clothes, I can even see his sleeping face, I'm... Always together with him."

Bai Xuan subconsciously backed up with a slightly scared expression.

"Just thinking about it makes me unable to bear it- I can wait for Kouro to let his guard down while he's asleep, then I..."

Hei Xuan was smiling lewdly with her pupils in the shape of '♡' except that the color was more intense.

"Hey Xuan... You!"

"Bai Xuan. Will you do me a favor?" asked Hei Xuan, turning to look at her with calm eyes.

Bai Xuan's eyes trembled slightly, this sudden striking change in Hei Xuan's personality was likely due to the shock that her relationship was not too close to Kouro and realized that there were many girls who liked Kouro.

No, there was actually a major factor that made Hei Xuan's personality suddenly change like that, namely the title [Savior of Light] owned by Kouro.

This title that increases Kouro's charisma actually has a hidden characteristic, that is, there is a very small possibility of making girls who know him and like him become crazy about him.

So indirectly, Hei Xuan's personality change was caused by Kouro himself.

Bai Xuan saw her licking her lips and was silent for a moment before saying.

"... Alright. "

__

Kouro who was currently unaware that his virginity was currently being sought after by some entity hungry for his affections.

He then noticed that his shadow enlarged slightly for a moment before returning to normal signaling that Bai Xuan and her twin had returned inside his shadow.

"Alright, let's go."

His left hand was then hugged by Ayame as she silently looked at Mei who strangely only smiled at her and Kiana.

They walked around and visited famous French tourist destinations, creating new memories together, they certainly did not forget to take pictures of their sightseeing as memories, of course using Kouro's cell phone.

They went shopping at the mall, grabbed a snack from a street vendor before having lunch at a top-tier restaurant, and the list goes on, all paid for by Kouro of course.

Fortunately Kouro had a lot of savings, especially since his uncle and aunt were now transferring a good amount of money every month since he contacted them again when he became an Einherjar.

Time quickly passed.

It was late evening with the sun almost setting.

At the Schicksal headquarters, in front of the door of Kouro's dorm room.

Kouro stared at the setting sun while sighing helplessly as he recalled the outing he had taken together with the others earlier.

It was a pity that he did not find the opportunity to confess to Mei.

He recalled the previous outings, where when he was always alone with Mei, a third character would always appear to interrupt his moment to confess.

Whether it was Ayame, Kiana, Bronya, Susannah, Himeko, Higokumaru, Sakura and others, they would always appear suddenly when he was alone with Mei.

This continued to happen until their walk ended leaving him with no chance to confess to Mei.

Kouro sighed helplessly for the umpteenth time before entering his dorm room which he had not entered for a whole month.

As he walked into his room, his eyebrows raised slightly to see that his room was not dusty and dirty at all, there were even signs of someone cleaning his room.

He looked around, no valuables were missing.

"This smell... Mei? Is she the one who cleaned my room? I should thank her later."

Kouro's nose sensed the fragrance often used by Mei.

Kouro then opened his closet and saw his various clothes folded neatly which made his pause slightly, he then opened his drawer which was where his underwear was stored.

"Hmm... Looks like there's nothing missing... No, wait, it looks like the one underwear is missing?"

Kouro counted his stored underpants before being convinced that one was missing, either because it was stolen or because it was damaged.

Well... He didn't really care either way, after all he only lost one pair of worthless underwear.

He picked up a plain white t-shirt and trousers and put them on before folding the clothes he wore earlier and putting them into the wardrobe.

After that, Kouro then lay down on his bed while staring blankly at the ceiling.

'... Soon the game plot will begin, with my power now I can be sure to change the destiny of some characters.'

'The opening of Honkai Impact's game plot is with Kiana Mei and Bronya investigating an air warship approaching a city called Sapphire city. They were then given the task by Himeko to hijack the air battleship called [The Selene] so as not to harm the residents.'

Kouro's eyes went a little cold as he thought about the plot of the next game and the characters who would die.

"Wendy... The Herrscher of Wind. I must save her from her death." Kouro muttered.

Wendy was a Rank A talented Valkyrie at the Schicksal branch in New Zealand, she was also one of Theresa's students and after being advised by Theresa to take part in an experimental project...

She ended up being paralyzed by the Gem of Desire implanted in her body, leaving her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life while harboring hatred towards Schicksal.

Now, the first thing she needed to do first was to find out who was behind Wendy's death, fortunately he knew very well who was behind it.

"Cocolia... She extracted the Gem of Desire from Wendy to fuel the battleship [Selene] or [The Moonlight Throne] only to end up using the Gem for the Mecha robot [Wotan] to defeat Kiana and company, but failed in the end."

"Then... Cocolia changed her target to her own adopted daughter Bronya and controlled her to eliminate Mei using the chip implanted in Bronya's brain."

"That means... The person I need to meet to change Wendy's destiny is Bronya..."

Having reached this conclusion, Kouro simply sighed.

"*Huff* I can't sleep."

After formulating a plan, he didn't get out of bed and let the time pass until 9pm. after that, Kouro then stood up from his bed and walked out of his room towards Bronya's room.

Standing in front of Bronya's room, Kouro put on a complicated expression and took a deep breath before knocking.

"Bronya! It's me Kouro, I have something I want to discuss with you, may I come in?"

The door seemed to open slightly and Bronya peeked through the crack, after confirming that it was really Kouro, Bronya finally let him in.

(E/D: FBI waiting in the 4th dimension. Also genderbend Shadow and add "her" to the harem… Potachu if you're there know this. I shall carry on your legacy.)