Elysia Is the True Cheat in Honkai! Chapter 33

It felt like I had merely slept for a very, very long time. When I woke up, I saw you fighting there.

Worried that something might happen to you, I really wanted to help. Then, somehow, I gave you a lot of combat experience. I was even worried that it might throw you off your game.

Thankfully, it didn't burden you too much.

But after that, I got sleepy again and dozed hazily until now. Still, I have vague impressions of everything you went through..."

Alicia seemed to be trying hard to recall something, but in the end, she could not remember and could only answer like this.

However, perhaps feeling that her answer had made the atmosphere somewhat gloomy, the girl's voice quickly became lively again:

"Still, you were able to calmly accept a voice suddenly appearing in your mind, and even communicate with me without any difficulty.

And those combat experiences—you accepted all of them smoothly and put them to use right away. Gwen, you're amazing too, you know~?"

"It's just that, for certain personal reasons, I have more experience with this sort of thing."

Gwen gently shook his head and replied calmly.

"What, was I not your first time?"

In an instant, Alicia asked as though something had provoked her.

Listening to the girl's voice, Gwen even had the illusion that the beautiful pink-haired girl had suddenly leaned in close, questioning him with her warm breath against his face.

"If we're talking about Stigmata, then Alicia, you really were my first."

Unsurprised by Alicia's shocking choice of words, Gwen responded in kind:

"But if we're talking about fairy tales in my head...

Prometheus, put on a little show for your old friend!"

"Sorry, I am an artificial intelligence, not an AI for putting on shows."

Prometheus, who had said little during this time aside from assisting Gwen when he used his armor, said:

"Also, I am happy to hear news of you again, Miss Alicia."

—Gwen had already asked Prometheus about this before. The result was that Prometheus could not hear Alicia's voice and could only communicate with her through Gwen's relaying.

"Prometheus?

Since when did you have a feature like this?"

Alicia's attention instantly shifted to the fact that Prometheus could also speak within Gwen's mind—

Or rather, was this girl expressing her delight in this way?

"Unfortunately, this is not one of my functions. It is an effect achieved through an external object."

Prometheus's voice remained as calm as ever:

"Furthermore, I can only communicate directly with Gwen. I cannot hear your voice and must rely on Gwen to relay it in order to communicate with you."

"That really is a shame..."

Alicia sounded slightly dejected at this:

"I can't let you hear my voice, Prometheus..."

"To me, vocal tone is not important."

Prometheus answered calmly...

Alicia: So You're Saying You're Very Strong? ### Although they had said they would talk deep into the night, Gwen and Alicia's conversation did not actually last very long—

Although Alicia had entered a half-asleep state after somehow transmitting part of her combat memories to Gwen, leaving her perception of what had happened in between quite hazy.

Still, as an outstanding warrior, after learning about every battle Gwen had fought that night, Alicia quickly wrapped up the conversation and left Gwen more time to rest—

In Alicia's perception, Gwen's body had no major problems. In fact, he was in unexpectedly good condition. Yet the fatigue he could not conceal was still clearly detected by her.

How could the considerate Pink Fairy Lady allow an exhausted warrior to drag his weary body into a late-night chat with her?

Thus, despite saying they would talk through the night, Gwen still fell asleep before midnight.

As for the fact that she had awakened from a single sleep to find herself transported from the Previous Civilization to fifty thousand years in the future, Alicia was immensely shocked and desperately wanted to learn about this new civilization and search for the traces left behind by the Previous Civilization.

However, as a considerate beautiful girl—self-proclaimed—Alicia did not chatter away while her host was asleep. Instead, she suppressed the joy and excitement in her heart, refrained from disturbing Gwen's rest, and looked forward to seeing this world through Gwen's eyes after dawn.

Still, although she tried to rest for a while herself so that she could greet this new world with even greater energy after daybreak.

Alicia discovered that, whether because she had slept too much earlier or because her current strange state did not allow her to grow tired, she—who had once been able to fall asleep the moment her head touched a pillow—could no longer drift off peacefully.

After an unknown number of hours, when Alicia finally began to feel sleepy, she ruled out the second possibility—her current self still needed sleep.

However, before Alicia, who had stayed alert all night, could take even a brief nap, she suddenly found herself sharing the outside view—

On the alarm clock, the minute hand had just reached "12," while the hour hand pointed straight at "6."

"Hello! A new day begins with a wonderful encounter~?"

Realizing that Gwen had likely awakened, Alicia, though already feeling tired, still greeted him in her crisp, melodious voice, like that of a lark.

"If it's with Alicia, then I think I'd be very happy to."

Gwen, awakened by his biological clock, quickly came to his senses and replied to Alicia, "Still, Alicia, you sound a little tired. Didn't you sleep well?"

"Oh my, you noticed..."

Alicia did not hide it and readily admitted it.

"After returning to this world as if by a miracle, how could I not be overwhelmed with excitement?

But you, Gwen—getting up so early, are you planning to do morning training?"

"That's right."

Having gotten out of bed and entered the bathroom, Gwen confirmed, "For various reasons, I have far more ways of gaining power than most people.

But precisely because of that, I need even more training to master those powers...

You could call it a kind of pretentiousness—

I just feel a little guilty accepting other people's praise without making an effort, relying solely on power obtained through other means."

"Hmm... Looks like you hold yourself to very high standards, Gwen..."

"Not really. If it were truly necessary, my moral bottom line would probably be quite flexible.

It's just that, if conditions allow, I'd still like to keep that bottom line a little higher."

Gwen paused before continuing.

"Alicia, as we discussed yesterday, considering my personal privacy—and the fact that you're a girl—there will be times when I block your perception of the outside world."

This had also been one of the things Gwen and Alicia had discussed last night—

From a conventional perspective, Gwen did not seem to be losing out, but in terms of embarrassment, he still did not want to be watched.

"Mm-hmm, I understand, I understand."

Alicia expressed her understanding.

Still, her lively tone gave Gwen the same kind of irritation Mobius tended to provoke—

"I've already covered my eyes."

A few minutes later, after taking care of his morning hygiene, Gwen left the house without disturbing Mei, who lived with him, or Choukai next door. He made his way to the training ground as usual, greeted Yolandale, who had arrived at almost the same time, and began the day's morning training.

"Wow, Gwen, is this girl named Yolandale your friend?"

In Gwen's mind, Alicia—already feeling tired but still forcing herself to observe this world—spoke with great interest.

"Even among all the beautiful girls I've known, someone with such a heroic presence is a rare type..."

"Yes, Yolandale is indeed my friend."

After completing a set of movements, Gwen stopped and adjusted the equipment while responding to Alicia in his mind.

"However, although Yolandale ranks near the top in the Valkyries' private beauty rankings, she often lacks a clear understanding of her own charm.

And compared with being praised for her beauty, she would rather be praised for her hard work—

Before I arrived, she was indeed the most obsessive... I mean, the most hardworking person in Schicksal—

It's not like no one has tried to replicate her training..."

After finishing another set, Gwen confirmed that his senses had not been wrong. The previous settings were no longer suitable for him, so he adjusted the data and resumed his training.

"And what happened?"

Alicia felt completely awake now and asked eagerly.

Even in Fire Moth, which had once gathered humanity's greatest elites, Alicia had never encountered this type of beautiful girl.

"Their bodies couldn't handle it. Even with Schicksal's current technology, they nearly couldn't be saved and had to give up."

Gwen explained.

"So, Gwen, if you can train in sync with Yolandale, does that mean your body is very strong too?"

Alicia swiftly shot back.

"You, inside my body, should know that better than anyone..."

Keeping himself from rolling his eyes, Gwen answered calmly.

"Besides, although my training schedule incorporates parts of Yolandale's program, there are still considerable differences."

At that moment, Yolandale, having noticed Gwen's earlier movements and glanced at the values displayed on the equipment, asked in some surprise, "Gwen, have you improved again?"

Mei's Breakfast

"I unexpectedly gained a new power. You'll probably find out later."

Gwen answered casually.

Given Yolandale's position, she would certainly learn later that Gwen had awakened a Stigmata and could obtain some power from Herrschers.

But while she was still only A-rank, Gwen had not gone over Otto's head to tell her any of this, lest that bastard Otto start getting ideas.

"Then I need to keep working hard too."

Knowing full well that confidentiality regulations existed, Yolandale did not ask further. Instead, brimming with fighting spirit, she likewise made slight adjustments to her training targets...

"She's really motivated!"

In Gwen's mind, Alicia commented.

"After all, Yolandale's experiences had made her clearly understand what she was facing, and what she was carrying on her shoulders.

And her strong sense of responsibility drove her ever onward."

Watching Yolandale's long hair sway constantly with her movements, Gwen sighed with emotion.

"Mm... It seemed she was a girl with quite a story..."

Muttering that, Alicia did not press the matter any further. She left the time to Gwen himself, allowing him to properly experience the strength that had improved so greatly compared to his memories—

Though theoretically speaking, the Gene Lock's greatest function in its early stages was to unlock human potential, improve energy-use efficiency, and allow its user to grasp and unleash their own strength to the fullest extent.

Compared to the power and enhancements Gwen had gained, however, the boost brought by the first-stage Gene Lock was clearly not enough to let him completely master those powers outright.

Thus, while Gwen would not lose control during ordinary training and end up crushing a cup just by picking it up, he was still quite some distance away from perfectly controlling his own strength—

After noticing this, Alicia also stopped chatting so Gwen could devote all his attention to training.

After finishing his morning workout, Gwen and Yolandale went their separate ways—

Rita had prepared breakfast for Yolandale, but Gwen still needed to buy breakfast for Choukai, along with his own portion.

Only, today he needed to bring an extra serving for Raiden Mei as well.

It was only when he was chatting with the young shop clerk while buying breakfast that Gwen suddenly remembered there seemed to be an extra resident in his home, thus avoiding the mistake of bringing back one breakfast short.

However, after Gwen pressed the doorbell continuously for two minutes and still no one came to open the door, he realized that perhaps buying only two breakfasts would have been the right choice—

Choukai had not come home at all last night.