The Sudden Cohabitation Incident

As for the follow-up interrogation of Welt, that could be left to Theresa, the leader of the Far East Branch.

Ming Yu then went over to Mei and Bronya. He first picked Mei up and temporarily leaned her against a tree near the beach.

The purple-haired girl still had her eyes closed, breathing quietly.

Hmm... Mei had taken the drug Bronya gave her. She probably would not be waking up anytime soon...

If Bronya had not pulled this stunt, he would not have needed to do anything in this incident. After all, that artificial First Herrscher could never have been a match for the Herrscher of Thunder inside Mei.

—In the story he was currently experiencing, Mei had not had a bomb installed in her heart to monitor Honkai energy levels like she had in the original timeline. Therefore, whenever necessary, the other self within her could unleash all of her power without restraint.

The reason was probably that, back in Changkong City, the battle between Aunt Himeko and the Herrscher of Thunder had been avoided. As a result, Theresa and the others had not intended to use a bomb to prevent the Third Herrscher from going berserk.

And then there was Bronya...

Ming Yu ran back over and picked up the unconscious silver-haired girl.

Compared to Mei, petite Bronya was much lighter. Holding her felt as though he were cradling a ball of cotton.

He leaned the girl against the tree trunk in the same manner. Just as Ming Yu was about to stand up, a small hand suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

"Hmm?"

Ming Yu turned back and saw Bronya staring intently at him with her gray eyes.

"Bronya, you're awake."

Ming Yu said with a soft laugh.

She had not taken the drug with its safety effect. She had merely been knocked unconscious by the attack, so it was only natural that she had not fallen into a deep sleep like Mei.

Given Bronya's constitution, this much time was enough for her to wake from her coma.

"..."

Bronya's lips parted slightly, as though she wanted to say something.

But in the end, all her words became a single expression of gratitude.

"...Thank you."

She had come so close to making an irreparable mistake.

"It's nothing. Saving lost girls is my duty."

Seeing that she had regained her senses, Ming Yu spoke in a joking tone.

"Ming Yu, you..."

Bronya said hesitantly.

To her, the boy who had entered St. Freya Academy alongside the three of them was an exceptionally mysterious existence.

At first, when she had met him in Changkong City, he had seemed like an ordinary person.

After entering St. Freya Academy with the three of them, the strength he displayed while fighting Class Monitor Fu Hua had not surpassed hers by much.

And now, he had defeated that man who called himself Joyce, someone her attacks had been completely incapable of affecting.

He had to be hiding his identity... For example, perhaps, like her, he was a "spy" sent into Schicksal by some mysterious organization?

Bronya felt there was a strong chance that this guess was correct.

Perhaps that mysterious donkey-eared woman who had approached her in Changkong City came from the same organization as Ming Yu.

Thinking of this, Bronya decided to be direct and asked bluntly:

"Ming Yu, are you and that donkey-eared woman... from the same organization?"

"Donkey ears?"

Ming Yu was briefly stunned. Then, on second thought, Yae Sakura's fox ears really could be mistaken for some other creature's ears if one did not look closely...

He nodded without trying to hide it.

"You can understand it that way."

Having a nonexistent organization for Bronya to believe in would make her feel more at ease.

Sure enough, the silver-haired girl pursed her lips slightly and asked in a low voice:

"You... can you really find Seele?"

"I already told you. Saving lost girls is my duty, so I'll help you find Seele."

Ming Yu replied with a smile.

In a sense, that girl stranded in the Sea of Quanta truly was a lost girl.

"I won't tell Theresa and the others about you drugging Mei this time. But in return, you need to make a choice. I need you to completely betray Cocolia."

"...Bronya understands."

The silver-haired girl nodded faintly.

As long as she could bring Seele back, she was willing to do anything.

The one who had made Seele disappear from this world was Cocolia, whom she had always respected. But if Cocolia had merely been deceiving her to make her work for her...

Then there was naturally no need for Bronya to continue obeying Cocolia's orders.

"Ming Yu! Mei! Bronya!"

An energetic voice suddenly came from the direction of the woods. Kiana had arrived with Fu Hua and the others.

"Whew... All right, let's head back first."

Ming Yu extended his hand toward the silver-haired girl sitting on the ground.

After hesitating for a moment, Bronya placed her hand in his and used his strength to barely stand up.

The Sudden Cohabitation Incident

The next day.

Due to the Anti-Entropy invasion, Theresa temporarily gave the students affected by or involved in the incident a short break to recover and rest.

As the student who had defeated the invader Welt, Ming Yu naturally spent the day accompanying the Headmaster through the process of interrogating Welt and explaining the course of events to her.

Of course, this time, Welt was the only invader who had been captured.

Or rather, he was the only real invader. After all, his mission had been to capture the Third Herrscher alive.

If Ming Yu remembered correctly, the invaders who had infiltrated the underground area of Central Church were Cocolia and Dr. Einstein. However, neither had invaded in person; they had used special means to infiltrate remotely.

Their true purpose was not to obtain anything from Schicksal's database. Instead, they used the invasion as a pretext to lure Theresa there and conduct a private deal with her.

For instance... a deal to oppose Otto.

"Whew... Finally done."

It was not until evening that Ming Yu left Theresa's office.

As he walked toward the dormitories, he considered what to do next.

At present, there was still one unavoidable issue concerning Bronya that needed to be dealt with.

—Although she might have begun to resist Cocolia psychologically and no longer intended to work for her, a biochip capable of controlling Bronya's actions had still been implanted in her brain.

As a girl weapon created by Cocolia's Valkyrie Project, Bronya did not possess her own personal freedom when necessary.

According to the original timeline, it would not be until after the Wendy incident, when Bronya voluntarily overloaded and burned out the biochip in her head rather than harm her companions, leaving herself near death, that she would break free from Cocolia's control and begin living her own life.

However, the future likely would not unfold as it had in the original timeline. Ming Yu planned to find a way to deal with the biochip in Bronya's head ahead of time.

In theory, with his ability to manipulate electromagnetism, he might be able to destroy the chip in her brain without surgery. But that would be far too risky. One small mistake could cause irreversible damage to her brain.

Although he could keep adjusting and trying through rewinding, the effects on the brain might not become apparent in the short term. It would be better to choose a safer method.

The only thing he could think of was borrowing the power of Yae Sakura—or rather, Jizo Mitama.

As the ruler of the data realm, the Herrscher of Corruption's authority was always quite useful in this regard. Handling a tiny biochip would naturally be effortless.

However, that pink-haired shrine maiden had not yet mastered the authority of Corruption, and Higokumaru had yet to be subdued. For the time being, he could not borrow its power.

Hmm, was there some other way...

While considering his future arrangements, Ming Yu walked back toward his dormitory. Before long, he had reached the door.

When he opened it, he heard lively sounds from the living room that did not belong there.

"...?"

Ming Yu looked up at the room number. Yep, he had not gone to the wrong place.

He then entered the living room and found two girls who could be considered uninvited guests.

Kiana was kneeling on the floor, staring fixedly at the television. With a controller in hand, she was fiercely battling enemies in the game and seemed completely unaware of his arrival.

Meanwhile, Bronya sat on the sofa, looking thoughtfully at Yae Sakura, who had taken the form of a little fox.

The sounds of stir-frying coming from the kitchen also made it clear that the last purple-haired girl was here as well.

Although these beautiful girls were all adorable and Ming Yu welcomed them to visit his dormitory, there was a more important question at hand—

Ming Yu glanced at the three differently shaped suitcases piled in the corner of the living room and could not help asking:

"You three... why are you in my dormitory?"

Clearly, they had come prepared. They did not look as though they had merely come to hang out.

Kiana happened to lose the game. She set down the controller and, hearing him, rolled her eyes before answering as though it were obvious:

"Because our dorm was destroyed by that invader!"

The destruction caused by Welt's invasion and his fierce battle with Bronya in the dormitory had temporarily rendered their dorm uninhabitable.

Although Theresa had already arranged for a construction crew to repair it, it was not something that could be finished in a few days.

Thus, the temporarily homeless girls had appeared here.

"I understand that, but why my dormitory...?"

The area occupied by St. Freya Academy was severely disproportionate to the number of students it housed, so there were quite a few empty dormitories. Finding an unoccupied villa for these three girls would not have been difficult.

"What, you're that unhappy about having me move in?"

Hearing Ming Yu sound somewhat unwilling, Kiana stood up, put her hands on her hips, and questioned him.

"It's not that I'm unhappy..."

Ming Yu coughed lightly.

"At least give me some advance notice."

He should at least have been given time to clean up and prepare the rooms... After all, Yae Sakura was temporarily staying here too.

Fortunately, judging by the harmonious way they were getting along with the little fox, they had not yet discovered Yae Sakura's existence. The little fox excuse he had used to fool Mei last time could still work for now.

"We wanted to give you a surprise. Besides, weren't you busy helping Headmaster all day?"

Kiana answered with a pout.

"...It was Mei and Bronya who applied to the Headmaster."

The silver-haired girl beside her finally quietly added the real reason.

Theresa had originally intended to arrange another vacant dormitory for them. However, at Bronya's initiative, they had ultimately decided to move here.

Mei naturally had no objection to this. If anything, she would be quite supportive.

As for Bronya herself, she had her own reason.

He had promised to find Seele. He was already the only lifeline she could see.

Staying closer might be better. Perhaps she could do something to help, though she did not know what she could do now.

With two of the three voting in favor, Kiana naturally agreed as well.

According to Theresa, moving closer would also make it easier for them to tutor Kiana in her atrocious studies.

As for Himeko, she had temporarily moved in with Fu Hua.

—As she put it, "You have to leave the young people some private space."