But before Otto could finish speaking, Rita presented a fresh set of clothes, with a Schicksal-issued communicator placed on top.
What a thoughtful, attentive maid.
Still, this made Otto slightly uneasy. Rita was far too observant; perhaps the moment he let his guard down, she would notice that he was not the real Otto.
It was better not to get too deeply involved with a woman of her caliber for now.
"Just as expected of you."
Otto took the clothes and felt them briefly. To his surprise, there were even men's boxer briefs among them.
Had Rita chosen these?
Preparing clothes specifically for someone else felt a little like what a married couple would do.
Hehe.
"Lord Overseer, allow me to carry that for you."
Rita extended her hand toward Otto, indicating that she could hold the katana for him first.
For some reason, however, Rita sensed a faintly dangerous aura from this deep-purple katana.
Was she actually afraid of a sword?
"It's fine."
Otto shook his head and placed Judgement of Shamash on the table.
Lightning flickered across the blade, drawing the eyes of both girls. Kiana even wanted to poke the thing with her finger.
"There's electricity on it. You'll get zapped into grilled Bronya."
Though he was mainly saying that for Kiana. As a powerful Valkyrie, Rita could easily withstand the surface-level shock.
Sure enough, Kiana hurriedly pulled back her hand and stared at Judgement of Shamash in disbelief.
"Does this thing run on batteries? Why is it flashing like that? Don't tell me it's leaking electricity?"
Seeing Kiana's unconvinced expression, Otto picked up Judgement of Shamash and extended it toward her.
As the dark-purple blade still crackling with lightning approached, Kiana quickly hopped a step backward.
Kiana moved away, and seeing her act like a startled little animal, Otto smiled and placed Judgement of Shamash back on the table.
He was not worried about this Divine Key being stolen.
"All right, you two lovely ladies. I need to change clothes. Could you give me some privacy?"
"Yes, Lord Overseer." Rita replied and was the first to leave the room. Kiana shoved both hands into her coat pockets and followed Rita out.
Actually, now that she had regained her mobility, she should have run away immediately. Who knew what that Blonde Villain wanted to do to her?
But she had heard the surname Kaslana from his mouth. Maybe he had clues about Stinky Dad, so Kiana could not leave.
If she missed this chance, she did not know how she would ever find that Stinky Dad who had disappeared without a word.
Even if there was only the slightest hope, she had to seize it.
She had to find Stinky Dad, then punch him right in the face!
Who told that guy to leave without saying goodbye?!
That had been the purpose of her wandering everywhere these past years.
"Miss Maid, why do you look like you respect that guy so much? And what did you call him, Pork Chop?"
After leaving the room, Kiana caught the scent of roses drifting from behind Rita and struggled not to drool.
Holy crap, this was the first time she had seen a girl this beautiful in all these years.
How could she be so pretty, and smell so nice?
Still, Kiana could tell that this beautiful maid sincerely respected that man.
The kind of respect that came from the heart.
"Because he is Lord Overseer. Also, please just call me Rita."
Rita smiled sweetly. She could tell that Bishop Otto thought highly of Kiana and clearly had some plan in mind, so she would not ask unnecessary questions.
She could not ruin Lord Overseer's arrangements.
The two chatted outside the room, their voices carrying clearly enough for Otto inside to hear.
Otto found it a little regrettable that Rita had not come in to help him dress, but he had hands and feet. He did not need anyone's help.
After getting dressed, Otto stretched. Singing an Empty Fort Strategy for Raven earlier had drained quite a bit of his energy.
Then he snapped his fingers at Judgement of Shamash, and it vanished immediately.
In truth, he had merely stored the Divine Key in the system inventory. Once he obtained it, it had bound itself to the system and could be kept there.
He walked to the window and pulled open the curtains.
Otto looked at the sunlit street and smiled.
He quietly spoke to himself.
"From now on, I am the Bishop of Schicksal."
No matter what had happened in the past, he had to live in the Honkai World under this identity from now on.
Live well.
Live better than everyone else.
"First, I need to build good relationships with The Big Three, Rita, Durandal, and Fu Hua."
He had to avoid a death ending.
The Bishop of Schicksal would not die at someone else's hands.
Want the maid as my wife.JPG
Do You Want to Know Which of Siegfried and I Is Your Dad?
"Lord Overseer, your black tea."
Just standing nearby, Otto could smell Rita's sweet fragrance.
Rita leaned over slightly and placed the freshly brewed black tea before Otto.
They were in an upscale dessert shop, though Otto and the other two were the only people inside.
In front of Kiana, who sat across from Otto, was a dazzling spread of desserts.
Otto lifted his black tea and inhaled its aroma. The rich scent of tea mixed with Rita's sweetness, making it quite intoxicating.
"Why aren't you eating? I think a cute girl like you should enjoy these things."
Otto took a small sip, set down his cup, and spoke to Kiana across from him.
Though the table was filled with desserts that looked incredibly delicious, Kiana had not touched any of them. She sat awkwardly in her chair, unused to this atmosphere.
She was a child who had grown wild.
"Even if someone like you compliments me, I won't be happy about it."
Kiana muttered quietly.
Ever since they first met, this Blonde Villain had kept calling her cute.
No one had ever praised her like that before.
"Is that so? I thought you would like hearing that." Otto chuckled. "But I suppose that makes sense. A cute little kitten like you must be tired of hearing such compliments."
Otto would never be stingy with sweet words.
As long as the other person took even one sentence to heart, he came out ahead.
"I imagine you have plenty of questions for me, but please allow me to deal with some work first."
His right index finger lightly rubbed the smooth tabletop as Otto turned to Rita.
"Rita, once you return, begin investigating an organization called World Serpent."
"I have a rough grasp of information on some World Serpent executives: Gray Serpent, an underground intelligence broker; Clio, founder of Kamijou Pharmaceuticals, also known as Jackal; and the mercenary Raven are all World Serpent executives. You can follow the lead of Kamijou Pharmaceuticals and investigate further."
That was the advantage of knowing the plot. He did not have to worry about World Serpent plotting against him from the shadows.
But Chen Tianwu probably had not joined World Serpent yet. After all, he and Anna would not meet until next year.
"Kamijou Pharmaceuticals? Isn't that the pharmaceutical company that works closely with us?" Rita asked doubtfully.
"What pharmaceutical company is ever legitimate these days? Kamijou Pharmaceuticals is actually a subordinate organization of World Serpent. Some patients are used in World Serpent's human experiments."
"Hmph. Fawning over me on one side while wagging its tail at World Serpent behind my back. What a company without any principles."
Since he knew the script, he would not allow those people to do whatever they pleased.
Besides, he also had a main quest to capture World Serpent and Anti-Entropy executives.
Suddenly, Otto remembered that Raven was a World Serpent executive. Damn it, he could have completed the quest right away.
What a massive loss.
He immediately felt miserable. Why had he tried to act cool back then? Why had he let her go?
"Oh, right." Otto added, "Make a trip to the Far East while you're at it. Raiden Ryoma of ME Company should be in prison by now. He is an Anti-Entropy executor."
"Rita, go rescue Raiden Ryoma."
"Are you planning to earn some goodwill with Anti-Entropy?" Rita guessed. A mysterious organization had suddenly appeared. Was Lord Overseer worried that Anti-Entropy might stab Schicksal in the back while it fought World Serpent?
"No. Lock Raiden Ryoma up here in Schicksal."
Otto said indifferently.
It had always been Otto stabbing others. When had anyone else ever gotten to stab Otto?
Raiden Ryoma was Mei's biological father. If he wanted a Herrscher to join Schicksal, Mei was his first choice.
The system required a Herrscher whose Herrscher Core had awakened. The danger of the Herrscher of Thunder awakening was far lower than that of the Herrscher of the Void.
Because the pufferfish would inflate. She was hard to control and might even smash his Soul Steel face to pieces.
Otto did not want his face smashed apart by Black Tiger Afu, and he wanted even less to have the Herrscher of the Void choke him.
And as long as Mei's biological father was in his hands.
There was nothing she could do.
She would obediently come to Schicksal and make lunch and dinner!
"Yes, Lord Overseer. Then Rita will return now and handle these matters."
The understanding maid could tell that Bishop Otto had things to discuss with Kiana, so it was inconvenient for her to stay any longer.
"Mm." Otto responded. Rita gave a slight bow and left.
The fragrant breeze at his side was gone, but Otto sighed in relief after Rita left. Rita put far too much pressure on him. She knew what the original Bishop Otto was like, so he could only keep pretending.
It was torture.
So he turned and smiled at Kiana, who had been sitting across from him for quite some time. His relaxed smile was completely genuine.
This Bronya had no idea what kind of DIO the original Otto was.
So he did not need to pretend. He could just interact with her normally.
"By the way, cute little kitten, I don't think I've introduced myself yet."
"My name is Otto Apocalypse."
"M-My name is Kiana Kaslana," Kiana said.
Otto nodded. "Mm. It's a lovely name, perfectly suited to a cute girl like you. Your white hair is like the bright moonlight."
It was an ordinary compliment, and Kiana was already getting used to it.
If Otto did not say something like that, she might have felt a little uncomfortable instead.
"So, what do you want to ask me? If you want to know whether I'm an ass man or a breast man, then I'm an ass man."
Otto said with a smile, then reached out and pulled a plate of tiramisu from in front of Kiana toward himself.
Before you continue