The blue-haired girl leaning against the windowsill spotted the familiar figures and immediately jumped down from her little stool in delight, opening the door to welcome them.
"How was it, Rosia? Did you have fun with the class monitor today?"
Though she was covered in travel dust and exhaustion still showed on her face, the moment she saw the girl, it was as if the weariness of the entire day had vanished.
The task assigned to them had been simple. They had all been low-level Honkai Beasts, but there had been far too many of them. After clearing out most of them, they had returned, leaving the rest for a specialized unit to handle.
"Mhm! Sister Fu Hua introduced me to lots and lots of Valkyrie sisters."
Rosia nodded her little head.
"Is that so? That's good, then."
Bronya did not pay it much mind. Though Rosia was truly adorable, most of the Valkyrie students at the academy were fairly normal. There were few like Kiana, who spoke without a filter. Besides, Kiana usually only talked big—she had the heart of a pervert but not the guts to act on it.
There was no harm in letting Rosia meet more Valkyries at the academy and interact with them a little.
With Rosia's personality, she would not be short on friends once she grew up. It was good for her to make more now.
"Rosia, good, good, good..."
Unlike Bronya's relatively calm reaction, Kiana directly squeezed Bronya aside and came over to pat Rosia's head.
"Sister Kiana..."
Just as Kiana was about to pinch Rosia's cheek, Mei stopped her.
"Ah... Mei, what are you doing...?"
Kiana looked a little aggrieved. She had finally finished a mission—couldn't she even relax after coming back?
"Kiana, keep clean. Go wash your hands."
Raiden Mei said helplessly.
With the gun kata Kiana used, there was no way her hands could stay clean after an entire day.
"Fine, fine."
Faced with Mei's advice, Kiana could only obediently listen.
"By the way, hasn't the frequency of Honkai outbreaks in Shenzhou been a little high lately? I remember Shenzhou used to be able to deal with them internally. This time, they had us go on a mission..."
Kiana asked curiously.
"Perhaps. Let's just hope it isn't a sign of a major Honkai eruption."
Raiden Mei gently shook her head.
"Rosia, do you want to play a game?"
Bronya handed her a controller.
"Um... I haven't really played games before, Mother Bronya."
Rosia said worriedly.
"It's fine. Mom will play a co-op game with you."
Bronya smiled softly.
Though there were still issues with her emotional core, Bronya had now learned how to show a smiling expression in front of Rosia.
"Bronya! Why do you only play competitive games when you play with me?!"
Kiana complained gloomily from the side.
"Because idiot Kiana always insists on doing things her own way, making Bronya spend ages fighting every time."
Bronya grumbled.
Although Kiana was very lucky and always found hidden treasure chests, if what she found was a hidden BOSS, things became rather troublesome.
And that idiot Kiana always liked provoking the BOSS, then died especially quickly.
A perfectly good two-player game made Bronya feel like it was even harder than clearing a solo run without taking damage.
"Dinner's ready."
Before long, the fragrance of food drifted over, and Bronya and Rosia put down their controllers.
"Oh, right, Rosia. When I was buying apple candy for Kiana earlier, I heard someone say..."
Before Raiden Mei could finish, panic filled Rosia's eyes.
"Um... Sister Kiana, was the apple candy good?"
Rosia pursed her lips and looked at her pleadingly. This made Raiden Mei understand something. She smiled faintly and did not continue.
"It was all right. That vendor was pretty mean, though. The candy was sweet enough, but the apple had this astringent taste, and it was a little bitter too."
"Ah... Next time, I'll buy some for you, Sister Kiana. It'll definitely be the sweetest and most delicious kind."
Seeing the smile on Raiden Mei's face, Rosia let out a sigh of relief and spoke with a serious little expression.
"Mhm."
Neither Kiana nor Bronya became suspicious. After all, people generally did not pay too much attention to other things while eating.
After dinner, Rosia gave Raiden Mei a grateful look.
Only after returning to her room did Rosia finally relax.
"See? I told you selling apple candy was all effort for no reward. Keep an eye on that Raiden Mei too. There's something a little off about her as well."
"Rosia" did not think it was much of a surprise. Rosia had gone so openly, after all. How could such a cute little girl not draw attention?
"It's fine. Sister Mei will keep it a secret for me."
Rosia smiled.
"Hmph. So when are you planning to practice using the stigmata again?"
"Rosia" sat at the bedside, staring at her profile.
"Hmm... That depends on when you'll let me enter the Stigmata Space again."
Rosia turned around, propped up her chin, and smiled as she met her gaze.
"Tch..."
At Rosia's words, "Rosia" blushed slightly and turned away.
She could manifest many things in that Stigmata Space under her control, provided she had come into contact with them before.
Most of the things inside were usually influenced by her subconscious. They had nothing to do with her!
"Practicing in reality is enough. It's far too unnecessary to do it in the Stigmata Space."
"Rosia" gave a light cough and immediately corrected herself.
"Is that so? It's okay, I was just a little curious. Ever since I went in last time, I haven't seen it again. What a pity..."
Rosia wore a slightly troubled expression.
Because "Rosia" had been very angry the last time she entered, there had been almost nothing around except her. Rosia wanted to see what "Rosia" usually thought about.
"...You little fool, don't think so much when there's no need to!"
"Rosia" pinched her cheek.
"No, it's just that you're always worrying about me. Sometimes, I want to worry about you too."
Rosia said with some annoyance as her cheek was pinched.
"...Just take good care of your Mother Bronya."
Seeing the serious look on this little fool's face, "Rosia" pursed her lips. The next moment, she turned into red light and disappeared.
"What's there to be embarrassed about?"
Rosia puffed out her cheeks. After thinking for a moment, she took a notebook from the drawer.
"December 16th. Today, I finally found the limited-edition Houmu doll Mother Bronya likes. It's a shame I couldn't afford it, but the clerk sister and the store manager sister were both nice people. They agreed to save it for me. I hope I can give it to Mother Bronya soon..."
"December 20th. Mother Bronya went on a mission today. It was a little lonely, but Sister Fu Hua was also very gentle. I really like the cute Valkyrie sisters. Mother Bronya doesn't seem to like apple candy very much, so next time I'll definitely make the sweetest apple candy and give it to her and Sister Kiana..."
"And also..."
"Apple candy isn't sour at all."
P.S.: Please vote, meow meow.
The reward event will begin on time at 60,000 words, meow.
How should I put this? The more I've been writing lately, the more complicated my feelings have become. A long time ago, probably around 2017, I only got to know Honkai after starting from Kenghuo. Later, I read more and more books. Updates on so many of them were too slow, so I started writing my own. Then, as I kept writing, I realized that so many authors who had been writing Honkai with me had moved on—either to Genshin, Honkai: Star Rail, Arknights, and so on...
The popularity of Honkai Impact 3rd is visibly declining now. Of course, part of the reason is that my own ability simply can't carry it either. ()
Many people who have read my previous books probably know my personality too. I'm an inspiration-driven author—I basically start writing whenever my brain gets hot...
If nothing unexpected happens, this will probably be the last Honkai Impact 3rd book I write.
After that, I'll probably have to think about making a living...
As for the reward event, let's keep it simple.
One extra chapter for every 150 monthly passes.
One extra chapter for every 1,000 recommendation votes.
One extra chapter for every 10,000 in donations.
One extra chapter for every 100 blades.
Blades and donations aren't really recommended, meow. Just some free votes will do. ()
There's no upper limit. After all, not many people are reading this book. It'll last three days, until next Monday afternoon.
In the unlikely event—I mean, the unlikely event—that there are readers who want to donate treasure chests, you can join the reader group and find me. Public chat or private chat is fine; we can discuss the update schedule.
If you have any good ideas, you can also come discuss them in the group, meow.
QQ group number: 627561618
There is an illustration here. It can be viewed after updating the app.
There is an illustration here. It can be viewed after updating the app.
Please support me, meow.
We Were Painting a Picture
"Let's stop playing. We'll leave it here."
Bronya glanced at the time, took off her headphones, and typed.
"Oh? Going to bed this early doesn't sound like your style."
A player named Otto replied.
"It's late. My daughter is asleep, and I want to check whether she kicked off her blanket."
Bronya typed in explanation.
"Ha, your biological daughter? How old is she?"
Otto asked curiously.
"Ten, I guess. All right, that's it. See you next time. Oh, and Uncle, remember to find yourself a partner soon. Don't get to your age without even having a child."
Otto fell silent.
After typing the final line, Bronya shut down her computer.
Otto was a player she had met recently whose IP address was in the Far East. His skills and mentality were both quite good—he could even laugh cheerfully after being insulted.
Bronya could not stand that sort of thing anyway. If anyone dared treat her like that, she guaranteed she would leak every one of their browser histories.
Before you continue