Honkai, Kaslana's Way of Survival

"Maybe I saw her on a poster somewhere? After all... no, never mind. See for yourselves."

Spoiling things while the audience was enjoying themselves wasn't a good habit... Come to think of it, the Spirit of the Spring's outfit looked pretty nice. Should he make one for Bianca and K423 after they got back?

Unlike Kaino and the others, who were watching from the sidelines, the girl walked step by step toward the Spirit of the Spring, her voice growing colder and colder.

"Ice cream's on sale, right? Limited-time offer, and if you're late, it's gone, right?"

"You're the Spirit! Of! The! Spring! Right?!"

Bone-chilling cold radiated from the girl's body as three ice spikes materialized to her right, aimed at the Spirit of the Spring.

"Not only did you steal my name, you even neglected your duties... Today, I'm going to teach you a proper lesson!"

"Hey, hey, hey, wait a second, miss. Let's talk this out. No need to get physical!"

The Spirit of the Spring raised both hands over her head and replied with a cheeky grin.

"Hah. Then tell me, why did you steal my name?!"

"Huh? Steal your name? Do you have any proof? The stamp is with me."

The Spirit of the Spring held the stamp high and pointed with her other hand at the circle of Beast Tamers around them, including Kaino.

"You can ask everyone here too. Who is the real Spirit of the Spring?"

"You... you..."

The woman was so furious that she couldn't speak. She actually followed the other's finger and looked around. When she spotted Kaino, her eyes immediately lit up.

"You, come out!"

Pointing at Kaino, the woman's voice rose unconsciously.

"You come and judge this. Who is the real Spirit of the Spring?!"

Kaino blinked, pondered briefly, then raised the guidebook in his hand.

The woman looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"The Spirit of the Spring stamped my book, so naturally, whoever stamped it is the real Spirit of the Spring."

Kaino said it as though it were only natural.

Although everything had ended happily in the end, she had indeed put them in danger by sending him to capture Bella. It wasn't too much for him to take a little revenge now, was it?

Besides, the stamp for the beginner division had already been given.

As for whether she knew the judges in the advanced division and might rig things against him?

What a joke. No matter how rigged it was, could they really rig it to the point of making someone capture a Judgment-class Honkai Beast?

"You, you! We clearly met before! You saw me eating instant noodles with your own eyes!"

The white-haired girl clenched her teeth in anger, her chest heaving. She suddenly swung her hand, and the three ice spikes behind her shot toward Kaino.

Kaino only glanced at them and couldn't even be bothered to dodge. The three ice spikes all grazed past him. Unless she was some master of edge shots, she clearly didn't intend to hurt a contestant.

But just because Kaino didn't dodge didn't mean nothing would happen.

A flash of lightning streaked past, and the three ice spikes instantly shattered. Bella, who had still been standing among the crowd, appeared at Kaino's side. One hand extended before her, she stared coldly at the white-haired girl.

"This power of lightning... You're Bel—"

After witnessing Bella's power, the white-haired girl's anger faded, replaced by utter disbelief.

But Bella showed her no kindness. Still glaring at her coldly, she interrupted the white-haired girl.

"Shut up. Someone who tried to harm my master has no right to speak my name!"

"And I remember you, girl. Every time I soaked in the sea, you would sneak over and disturb me. You were endlessly annoying!"

The white-haired girl clutched her chest with one hand and staggered backward, trembling.

Was this... a little too much?

Seeing the white-haired girl—or rather, the real Spirit of the Spring—wear such a heartbroken expression, Kaino finally felt a trace of pity.

And also, could the people around them stop looking at him like that?

That whole "master" thing... It wasn't like he had told Bella to call him that!

Herrscher of Sentience

"Um... Bella, let her go."

Poking Bella's side, Kaino tried to calm her down.

"She doesn't bear any hostility toward me. If possible, don't make things too difficult for her... I have a feeling she's about to cry if this keeps up."

"As you wish, Master."

Bella took a step back and stood at Kaino's side. However, her eyes remained fixed on the white-haired girl, guarding against any attack she might launch at Kaino.

Clap, clap.

The Spirit of the Spring raised both hands and clapped, drawing the Beast Tamers' attention away from Kaino and Bella and back to herself. After secretly giving Kaino a huge thumbs-up, she turned back to the white-haired girl.

"Well? I told you I'm the real Spirit of the Spring, didn't I? The public has sharp eyes. What else do you have to argue?"

"You... damn it!"

The white-haired girl looked back at the Spirit of the Spring. Having never suffered such a huge blow or such baseless accusations before, she was nearly at her breaking point, and a mist had clouded her once-golden eyes.

"Nonsense, twisting right and wrong... Shameless! Liar! Big bad villain!"

She looked just like a child who had been thoroughly angered.

"I'd say that's about enough, isn't it? Look at her... you're practically making her cry."

The Captain, who had been standing nearby, could no longer watch and stepped forward to stop the Spirit of the Spring's mischief.

"Who... who's crying? Are both of you blind? This is obviously sweat! I'm just hot!"

The white-haired girl stubbornly tried to preserve her last shred of dignity.

"Alright, alright. It's because you're hot, you're hot."

The Spirit of the Spring smiled and casually slung an arm around the white-haired girl's neck. With her other hand, she scooped up a Houmu Ice Cream from beside the fountain and held it out before the girl.

"Since you're so hot, why not have some ice cream to cool off? And not just this—the whole pile of snacks by the fountain is yours!"

"Who wants to eat that? It's just some ice crea... wait."

The white-haired girl had originally tilted her head with an unyielding expression, but then her nose twitched and she abruptly turned toward the ice cream.

"That smell... is that the sea salt ice cream from the Houmu Drink Shop?! ...No, this isn't the time to be talking about ice cream!"

"I know, I know. I'll give your stamp back too. And I promise you, I won't stamp people at random again."

The Spirit of the Spring pulled out the stamp from her pocket and placed it together with the real Spirit of the Spring. Then she released the girl's neck and clapped her hands again.

"All tamers, look over here! Let me introduce myself again. My name is the Herrscher of Sentience—though you can just call me Xiao Shi!"

A Herrscher?

Kaino raised his brows, looking at Xiao Shi with considerable surprise.

It was not that he was shocked a Herrscher had emerged in this strange World Bubble. After all, Bella had said that her original master had also been a Herrscher. It was just that...

Were Herrschers in this world really this lively?

Kaino felt that he now understood why this world had still become a World Bubble even though both the Herrschers and Honkai Beasts stood on humanity's side.

"Ahem!"

Xiao Shi coughed heavily, and then a dazzling smile returned to her face.

"So, does anyone want a photo with the cute and charming Xiao Shi? It'll only cost 2,000—no, just 20,000 credits!"

Under Xiao Shi's expectant gaze, the tamers who had gathered to watch the show immediately dispersed.

Kaino pondered for a moment, then opened the Imaginary Space and took out the hell money he had not spent earlier, handing it to Xiao Shi. "Will this do?"

Xiao Shi stared blankly at Kaino, her gaze carrying an emotion somewhere between seeing a kindred spirit and encountering a fellow scammer.

Kaino shrugged and put the hell money away, then looked toward the Spirit of the Spring, who was eating ice cream.

Noticing Kaino's gaze, the Spirit of the Spring quickly glanced at Bella, who was watching her from not far away, then straightened her back. "What?"

"I brought her back as promised. And you said you'd introduce me to the judge for the advanced division."

"And you still have the nerve to bring that up! You clearly knew I was the Spirit of the Spring, yet you didn't testify for me just now!"

Kaino had barely mentioned it before the Spirit of the Spring exploded. She had wanted to fling away her ice cream in feigned fury, but after hesitating, she could not bear to do it.

"Ahem, I couldn't be sure which of you was the real Spirit of the Spring. It's true that I know you, but Xiao Shi had the stamp. How was I supposed to tell?"

With a grin, Kaino muddled through it and took out a sea salt ice cream he had packed earlier from the Imaginary Space, handing it to the Spirit of the Spring.

"Sea salt ice cream~ So, do you want some? If you do, then I'll... Xiao Shi, what are you doing? Bella, help me hold her!"

Just as Kaino was about to bribe... soothe the Spirit of the Spring, he suddenly discovered that Xiao Shi had slipped through the opening he had made to retrieve the ice cream and into his Imaginary Space. Startled, Kaino hurriedly grabbed hold of her.

Fortunately, whether it was Kaslana's immense strength or Bella's strength as a dragon-type Honkai Beast, neither was weak. They easily dragged out the Herrscher, who had nearly crawled all the way inside.

"Ow, we're all friends here. Don't be so violent."

Xiao Shi, who had landed hard on her backside, stood up and rubbed her waist with one hand as she complained with the other.

"I saw you pulling everything out of that hole, so I thought it was something like Doraemon Hou's magic pocket. But when I went inside, it was just pitch-black... I'm still a little dizzy!"

As she spoke, Xiao Shi sighed. "I thought we were like-minded and could become great partners. What a pity, what a pity..."

"That hole is extremely dangerous. Even if you're a Herrscher, don't go in there carelessly."

Kaino could not help sighing as he watched Xiao Shi pitifully play the victim. Was the Imaginary Space really somewhere one could just enter whenever they pleased?

Normally, it would have been fine. As a Herrscher, Xiao Shi would not need to fear suffocating in there. But the World Bubble inside his body was currently drawing in Honkai energy from there at a furious rate to reverse-evolve itself. If her Honkai energy were drained along with it, wouldn't that be the end of her?

Still, it was not convenient to tell her any of that. Kaino simply ignored her and continued discussing the advanced division judge with the Spirit of the Spring.

"Spirit of the Spring, continue."

"Oh, you mean that judge? Isn't it her?"

The Spirit of the Spring, who had been happily watching Xiao Shi make a fool of herself, raised her brows and pointed at her.

"Huh?"

Everyone present stared at Xiao Shi in disbelief—except Bella.

"What? What's so surprising? I'm a diligent junior division judge. Otherwise, why do you think I so readily believed her and handed over my seal for her to keep?"

Spirit of the Spring took another bite of ice cream and spoke as though it were only natural.

"I've already introduced you. Stop bothering me."

So your so-called introduction was getting yourself scammed so we could meet?

Kaino fell silent for a moment, then picked up the guidebook and held it out before Xiao Shi.

"Xiao Shi? My dear good friend Xiao Shi? How about helping me stamp one for the senior division too?"

A bright smile returned to Xiao Shi's face.

"I refuse!"

To Honkai Ranch!

"So, Captain and Seele, see you later."

Kaino waved at the two standing not far away, saying goodbye to the pair he had only met that afternoon.

Watching them walk away, Kaino let out a soft sigh.

Even in the end, Xiao Shi had not agreed to his request to stamp it.

Her reason was simple: she had just promised Spirit of the Spring that she would not stamp things recklessly anymore—though Kaino felt that was entirely an excuse, and that there was another real reason. But with Spirit of the Spring right beside them, he could not say it aloud.

What if she really burst into tears on the spot? That would be rather troublesome. As he had said, Kaino did not have much experience comforting children.

The last time he had comforted Li Sushang, he had already given it everything he had...

"What's with all the sighing? Can't bear to part with that newly appeared Seele?"

Red Seele drifted over to Kaino's side, propping her cheek up with one hand as she spoke in a teasing tone.

"What are you thinking?"