Who Isn't a Herrscher?

She spoke softly and slowly.

"Because your chest isn't as comfortable as my sister's or Kanata's."

"..."

The atmosphere between them instantly fell silent and still.

Luo Mio did not turn his head, only glancing slightly toward Asagi Momiji.

Asagi Momiji's cute, cherry-pale lips were slightly parted, and she stared blankly at Luo Mio.

Then her gaze shifted away, looking elsewhere.

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap...

What the hell did I just say?!

Luo Mio roared inwardly.

When Asagi Momiji said that, Luo Mio took another look at her.

Her lovely, delicate face had a boyish Band-Aid stuck to the side of her cheek, and her black hair was tied into a high ponytail.

She had the normal height of a girl and a slender figure.

It was just that her chest did not have the same size or fullness as Touka's, Stella's, or Kidewara Kanata's.

And because he had thought of that, Luo Mio's mouth had unconsciously spoken what was on his mind.

Just then, a voice sounded within Luo Mio's consciousness.

"Mio... I never expected you..." Fu Hua's clear, classical voice rang out.

Luo Mio: "...(?_?)"

"You don't need to say anything."

No, wait—

Before he could finish, Fu Hua's voice disappeared.

Within the Consciousness Space, Fu Hua, dressed in crimson and pure white, looked downward with her vermilion sunset-colored eyes.

Perfectly ordinary...

Then a sorrowful sigh echoed through the Consciousness Space.

Luo Mio awkwardly glanced at Asagi Momiji again.

Her eyes were mournful and hollow, unfocused as she looked at Luo Mio.

Realizing the harm his words had caused, Luo Mio turned to Asagi Momiji and said,

"It's okay, Sis Momiji. It's okay."

"You have to know that even so, you're still a one-in-ten-thousand beauty with both strength and looks!"

"There are definitely lots of students at Buku Academy who admire you!"

"Let me tell you something."

"Sexy is nothing in front of cute!"

Hearing Luo Mio's desperate attempt to make up for it,

The hollowness in Asagi Momiji's eyes gradually began to shine again.

Then she slowly spoke.

"Really?"

"Really, really..."

Only after Asagi Momiji's expression slowly improved did Luo Mio let out a breath.

Looks like I need to watch my mouth from now on.

After the two finished lunch, Luo Mio bid Asagi Momiji farewell on the excuse that he wanted to watch Ikki's match.

Luo Mio left the hotel and walked along the streets provided by the committee toward the arena where Ikki was competing.

In a shadowy corner of the street.

Within the faintly shifting space hidden in the shadows, an elegant figure appeared.

"Honestly, Void, I feel like you're slowly turning me into a criminal who takes you around to peep on other people."

Edelweiss spoke to Void, who was secretly observing Luo Mio through space, in an elegant and helpless voice.

Void's cute, pleasant voice then replied carelessly, "You're already called the World's Most Evil Criminal anyway. What's the difference?"

Edelweiss raised a beautiful eyebrow slightly.

"Where did you throw away my title of the world's strongest swordsman?"

"Oh, they're the same, they're the same."

Void answered Edelweiss in a casual tone.

Hearing Void's perfunctory response, Edelweiss could only sigh helplessly.

She then looked at Luo Mio walking away and asked, "So? Is there any problem?"

Void stared intently at Luo Mio through space and observed, "For now, it seems that Brother hasn't been assimilated by the power."

Edelweiss asked curiously, "What if he had been assimilated?"

Void spoke in a speechless tone, saying something shocking.

"If he were successfully assimilated by the power—Honkai—then this civilization would be finished."

Edelweiss looked in surprise at the space beside her with her silver-gray eyes, then looked in the direction Luo Mio had gone.

A Chill Down the Spine~

"You performed pretty well in this match, Ikki."

Luo Mio walked beside Ikki as he spoke.

In today's four o'clock match, Ikki had faced a third-year student from Jumen Academy who had participated in last year's Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival. Today, Ikki had defeated his opponent with utterly overwhelming strength.

"You've won six in a row now, right?" Luo Mio counted on his fingers.

"Amazing! Every match has practically been a one-sided stomp, 'Uncrowned Sword King (AontherOne).'" Luo Mio teased.

Hearing Luo Mio's teasing, Ikki shyly scratched his cheek with his index finger.

Luo Mio looked at Ikki, who seemed like a completely different person on and off the field.

Off the field, he was a shy and sunny young man. On the field, he was the calm and sharp Uncrowned Sword King.

"Ikki!"

Stella's lovely voice sounded from behind Luo Mio and Ikki.

The two turned around to see Stella waving at them with a brilliant smile on her face.

"Stella."

As Ikki looked at his lover, affection unconsciously showed in his eyes.

"Miohua, Ikki."

Behind Stella stood two other women.

They were Touka and Kidewara Kanata.

Touka wore her usual school uniform, her hair ending in twin braids. A pair of large glasses rested on her pretty face, and her chestnut-gold eyes looked gently at Luo Mio and Ikki.

Kidewara Kanata wore her usual outfit as well, with a wide-brimmed sunhat on her head. Beneath it was her refined, lovely face and her dazzling golden hair flowing behind her. Her azure eyes, the full and alluring figure beneath her white Western-style dress, and the parasol in her hand made for a picture of beauty.

"Good afternoon, Sis Touka, Senior Kanata," Ikki politely greeted the two women.

"Good afternoon, Ikki."

"Good afternoon, Kurogane."

Touka and Kidewara Kanata also greeted Ikki.

Luo Mio looked at Touka and asked curiously, "Sis, Sis Kanata, why are you here?"

Touka smiled and said, "Kanata had a match this afternoon, so I went with her."

"Oh." Luo Mio asked again, "Who was her opponent?"

Upon hearing that, Touka's face showed a hint of embarrassment.

"Sis?"

Touka coughed, then glanced elsewhere and said awkwardly, "Renren..."

"..."

Upon hearing that, Luo Mio looked at Touka in disbelief. "That... Senior Usamaru Renren?"

Touka nodded embarrassedly.

"Hiss..."

Luo Mio and Ikki were both too shocked to speak.

Although it was a melee involving the eight major academies, there was still a certain chance of drawing a schoolmate from the same academy as an opponent.

Luo Mio had not expected that besides him and Ikki, there would actually be Hagun Academy students facing one another—and it was even a battle between Student Council members.

"Then the result..." Luo Mio glanced at Kidewara Kanata, who stood beside Touka holding a parasol.

Kidewara Kanata noticed Luo Mio's gaze and gave him an elegant smile with her poised, lovely face.

Luo Mio: "..."

All right... the result was obvious.

Kidewara, one of the Far East's foremost noble families—the young lady of the Kidewara family, Kidewara Kanata, had entered active combat zones under "special recruitment" while still a student.

And her strength had clearly already reached the very top of the pyramid among student knights.

"Then Senior Usamaru, she's...?"

Ikki asked Touka.

Kidewara Kanata smiled knowingly. "As for Renren, don't worry. She should be with Saishiro Rai right now."

"Don't worry. Renren has only lost one match so far, so she still has five chances left," Touka added from the side.

"Then that's fine..."

Since both Touka and Kidewara Kanata had said so, Luo Mio did not say anything further.

Beside Ikki, Stella's eyes burned with fighting spirit as she looked at Kidewara Kanata. "Senior Kanata is really strong!"

As a thoroughgoing fighter herself, Kidewara Kanata looked at Stella as well.

"Stella is very strong too!"

"I hope we get the chance to spar on the field."

A fierce blaze of fighting spirit ignited between the two.

"Um, shouldn't we head back to the hotel now?"

Luo Mio said to the two of them.

The five of them then headed toward the hotel.