The Future and Further Education 4k

"This year."

"This year... Little girl, would you like to join Moth Chasers to Fire someday?"

Moth Chasers to Fire?

Come to think of it, this woman's introduction earlier had been "Captain of the Fifth Squad of Moth Chasers to Fire."

Before this, Hua had never heard of this organization.

"It's a supranational military organization responsible for fighting Honkai," Liu Bai explained from beside her. "It answers to the United Nations. It's huge—so huge there's practically no end to it."

"We're the unit specifically responsible for handling these 'zombie' incidents."

Compared to Liu Bai's straightforward explanation, Himiko's words to an outsider like Hua were somewhat guarded, though that was completely understandable.

"Sorry, this officer... Captain, but my daughter isn't..."

Hua's father wanted to refuse on his daughter's behalf. He did not want her joining a force that clearly had to carry out dangerous missions.

"I'll join."

Yet before Hua's father could finish speaking, and before Liu Bai could even try to persuade her, Hua agreed of her own accord.

"Hua! You... Captain, my daughter..."

"Dad, I think this zombie incident is only the beginning. I have a feeling things like this might become more and more common in the future."

Hua spoke to her father with utmost seriousness.

Liu Bai's introduction to Moth Chasers to Fire had deeply concerned Hua.

Just how terrifying was Honkai, that countries around the world had joined forces to establish a supranational military organization called Moth Chasers to Fire?

Hua was not a child who understood nothing. Though this was only her first contact with Honkai, Liu Bai's few words had already made her vaguely realize that something even more horrifying stood behind the monsters known as Death Soldiers.

Death Soldiers were not ordinary movie zombies that could be slaughtered as long as your gun still had bullets.

In a head-on one-on-one fight, a Death Soldier like that could easily take an adult's life. Even having a handgun would not reverse that fate.

Yet what had Teacher Liu called such a monster? Among Honkai monsters, it was "extremely weak in combat—even as cannon fodder, it took up too much space."

Not everyone had an exquisite inherited martial art like hers, much less the support of a wise and learned man like Teacher Liu.

Once the number of such monsters increased...

Could she and her father keep themselves safe under those circumstances?

The answer was obvious.

No.

"...Don't look so serious, little girl."

Himiko truly had not expected a girl who had not even started high school to possess such astonishing awareness—greater even than that of many formal Moth Chasers to Fire soldiers.

"I'm only making a reservation so someone else doesn't poach you in the future. Go focus on school... I'll be taking this corpse for retrieval... Oh, girl, what's your name?"

"...My name is Hua."

Future and Further Education

Not long after, Himiko left with the Death Soldier's corpse after leaving Hua her contact information and having the father and daughter sign a confidentiality agreement.

As for the residents drawn over by the sound of police sirens, they were told that someone had broken in to steal and been caught on the spot.

That explanation naturally fooled all the neighbors perfectly. This "unlucky thief" would probably become the old folks' favorite topic of conversation after meals for quite some time.

After the fight, the father and daughter looked at the dishes on the table, which had already gone somewhat cold. For a moment, neither knew what to say.

In the end, Hua's father, as the father, spoke first. "Being a soldier isn't bad either. It's an honor, isn't it? How could my daughter be worse than anyone else? Maybe you'll even make our family's fist art famous."

"...Mm. I won't disappoint you, Dad."

"Your dad's getting old... Useless. Even when I do things, I start hesitating."

After Hua explained why she wanted to join Moth Chasers to Fire, her father had already realized something.

—When you found a cockroach in your house, was there only one, or had you only found one?

"As for martial arts, there's nothing more Dad can teach you. That set of fists from earlier... Dad is ashamed to say he's no match for you. Going back three generations in our family, I'm afraid no one could compare to you."

"I only took advantage of an opportunity."

Hua spoke with complete honesty. Without the all-around seventy-five percent boost Liu Bai had brought her, she could not have defeated that Death Soldier so smoothly.

"Knowing how to seize an opportunity is a skill too! Your dad doesn't even have the chance to seize one!" Hua's father did not care about her explanation.

In his view, if his daughter's martial arts had reached that level, then even if she could not win, she would at least be able to protect herself and escape.

As for what opportunity she had taken, Hua's father did not ask. He felt that question might put his daughter in an awkward position.

Everyone had a few secrets, didn't they?

"Forget it, forget it. You've got your own mind, so Dad can rest easy. Eat up, eat up. If we don't eat now, it'll really go completely cold."

"Teacher Liu, are you there?"

After changing into pajamas and lying in bed, Hua should have been asleep at this hour, but she could not fall asleep no matter what. She softly called Liu Bai's name.

"I'm always here. What's wrong?"

The voice that made Hua feel incomparably secure sounded from beside the desk.

Teacher Liu must be reading at the desk again, right?

In Hua's mind, she pictured a gentle young scholar with a monocle.

...What kind of fixed impression was that?

Hua could not help laughing at her own imagination, letting out a soft laugh beneath the covers.

Fu Hua Compatibility +5%

Liu Bai tilted his head in confusion. He had no idea why Fu Hua had suddenly started laughing under the covers, nor did he understand why her compatibility had increased.

After laughing for four or five seconds, Hua finally remembered that Liu Bai was still beside her. Blushing, she pulled the blanket over her head.

The Immortal in this era was way too cute.

Another ten-odd seconds passed before Hua poked her head out and carefully asked:

"Teacher Liu, tell me... if I hadn't been here today, or if I'd hidden and called the police like Dad told me to, then Dad..."

"He would have been injured and hospitalized."

"Hospitalized... How long would he have been there?"

"..." After Fu Hua's father was hospitalized, before he could even be discharged, he would encounter the Great Honkai just like Fu Hua, who was attending school in the city.

In other words... parting would have meant a final farewell.

"Probably... a long time? After all, no one can say for sure when it comes to injuries from battle."

Though this crisis had passed safely, Liu Bai still did not want to tell Hua such a cruel reality.

...But if that was the case, then during the Great Honkai in the future...

Warning! During the simulation, do not directly reveal the future to the host in any way.

For the first time, the system issued Liu Bai a warning.

A rare occurrence.

...He could not tell her directly?

Just like the occasional extra scenes before, the system had given him a hint this time... No, he should have said that he had always known this rule.

The matter involving Finn in the previous simulation had not triggered a warning, because he had found tangible evidence in the Dead Sea Scrolls at the time. Moreover, he had not directly stated Finn's true purpose, only warned Edison.

"By the way, Hua, now that I think about it, your dad isn't that young anymore, is he?"

"Mm... Why are you suddenly bringing that up, Teacher Liu?"

"I think running a martial arts school is too unstable. Your dad isn't some fake martial artist either. Since you're planning to join Moth Chasers to Fire in the future, why not have your dad ask Himiko whether he can get a position as an instructor or something? It's relatively safe, and it pays."

"An instructor?"

Liu Bai's suggestion stunned Hua for a moment. Then, she had to admit that his proposal was quite feasible.

Just as Liu Bai said, her family's fist art was not some scam. It was martial arts that could truly kill enemies on the battlefield. Even if someone questioned it, they could not erase the fact that Hua had beaten a Death Soldier to death barehanded—Hua did not believe Himiko would conceal something like that.

Besides, her father was not young anymore. Being a soldier was clearly somewhat unsuitable for him, and no matter what, he counted as a special talent.

If Captain Himiko was willing to help as well.

Then it was almost certain.

"...Mm, I understand. I'll tell Dad about it tomorrow."

After what had happened today, after the world had lifted part of its veil before Hua, her desire to inherit the martial arts school had indeed faded considerably.

Of course, she still wanted to inherit the martial arts school. It was just that "inheriting it and living an ordinary life" had become "retiring and inheriting it to live an ordinary second half of her life."

An ordinary life.

Hua actually only wanted to be an ordinary person. She had no interest in fighting and killing, but the reality of this world gave her no way of knowing that such a wish was fundamentally impossible.

However, Hua did not blame Liu Bai, who had "dragged" her into fighting and killing. She only felt gratitude toward him.

—Why blame him? Was she supposed to keep waiting foolishly for disaster to descend and take away one important person after another from her side?

When facing monsters like that, if she did not dare throw a punch, then she could protect nothing.

"Hua, I'm sorry."

Liu Bai suddenly spoke.

"Though I expected this day long ago, seeing a student who should have lived without worries force herself to transform into a warrior still leaves me feeling a little melancholy."

"Teacher Liu, I'm already about to start high school." Hua turned over in bed. "I think high school students—no, even middle school students—can't really be considered carefree anymore. They should already be starting to plan for their futures."

"Honestly, not everyone is called Hua, and not everyone can be as sensible and self-disciplined as you."

Liu Bai rolled his eyes. Hua's performance would make her the kind of child every parent compared their own child to.

Then he thought of his former self.

Well, he had worked a little hard in high school, but turned into a lazy bum in college.

Thinking about it that way, Liu Bai instantly lost all desire to keep chatting.

"Sleep, Hua. If you don't, you might not be able to get up tomorrow morning. I won't ruin a girl's adorable sleeping face."

"...Mm. Good night, Teacher Liu."

The Death Soldier's sudden attack was like a stone cast into the still waters of this home and this world's future.

Hua and Himiko's first meeting happened far earlier than it should have.

Hua's father was not injured and hospitalized.

Stories began to spread among Moth Chasers to Fire soldiers about a female martial artist who had killed a Death Soldier with her fists.

You revealed part of this world's true face to Hua early on, causing Hua to develop a sense of crisis regarding the future.

Thus, Hua took the initiative to request joining Moth Chasers to Fire—though she was rejected, she received a Moth Chasers to Fire reserve soldier certificate from Himiko.

Taking this opportunity, Hua also successfully persuaded her father to temporarily close the martial arts school and join Moth Chasers to Fire as an ordinary instructor.

For the rest of the vacation, you and Hua continued your usual teaching and training.

Soon, the entire vacation passed, and Hua successfully enrolled in Canghai High School.

Fu Hua Compatibility +15%, Cunxin Fist upgraded to Lv. 3.

Canghai High School was an outstanding school, with the finest teachers and educational resources among the surrounding cities. However, you and Hua soon discovered something terrible.

—Most students from out of town could only live in the dormitories.

Though the dormitory conditions were not bad, your private space with Fu Hua disappeared completely—of course, more importantly, as a male ghost in a girls' dormitory, you were far too dangerous to those youthful and beautiful schoolgirls.

Pah, pah, pah! I'm a gentleman!