Hell Girl World.
Academy City.
Bronya's bedroom.
The blue-and-white metal automatic door, printed with a yellow Homu logo, slid open.
A graceful figure stepped into the room.
"Man Sui, you're here."
Bronya was half-lying on her bed, eyes fixed on the virtual screen floating before her.
"I'm not disturbing you, am I, Bronya-sis?" Man Sui asked politely, bowing slightly.
"No, I'm free at the moment."
Bronya shook her head.
After spending several years as the Sphere Leader in the Hell Girl world, she had mastered her mother's way of doing things.
If you wanted to find something to do, the work was endless.
So instead of overworking herself, she made others do the work.
The key was knowing how to delegate—to assign tasks to subordinates.
Her own responsibility was merely to check occasionally whether those below her were doing their jobs properly—and to make surprise inspections to ensure no one was slacking off or engaging in corruption.
To better supervise her officials, Bronya had even assigned each one a special Seraph-class Honkai Beast that followed them constantly, recording everything they did.
Concepts like human rights or the right to privacy simply didn't exist here.
If a monitoring Seraph vanished or was destroyed, the relevant official's full record could be instantly reviewed—from start to finish—to uncover what had happened.
Even if an official embezzled funds, there was no chance to spend them.
The surveillance center was alerted immediately to any irregular behavior—sudden large expenditures, receiving expensive gifts, or other suspicious acts.
Reports were automatically forwarded to the nation's chosen ones, the higher-ranking officers responsible for oversight, and the Church of Revelation's investigative agents.
High-ranking officials investigated local administrators, while the Church's investigators, using the monitoring network, secretly kept an eye on those high-ranking officials in turn.
And when investigations concluded, if the Church's agents declared something was amiss, both the superior and subordinate officials would be reexamined.
As for rulers who feared rebellion—well, they had clearly never seen what it looked like when a star shattered.
Having never met Seele, Bronya could be terrifyingly ruthless when conducting her work.
Man Sui sat on the edge of the bed. She wore a thin, flowing blue-and-white dress, her soft black hair gathered low with a white flower pin, giving her a faintly ethereal grace.
Bronya asked, "So, what brings you here? Something you need to discuss with me?"
"Bronya-sis, how long have we known each other?"
"Eight years. Why ask?"
"Bronya-sis… have you ever thought about…" Man Sui hesitated, trailing off.
Bronya raised an eyebrow. "Just say it directly."
Biting her lip, Man Sui said softly, "Finding a good match."
"Huh? You mean, you want to introduce me to a man?"
Bronya was taken aback.
If Mom ever heard about this—
The world might literally end.
Man Sui waved her hands quickly. "No, that's not what I meant! I meant…" She lowered her head slightly, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
Bronya immediately understood.
It wasn't the first time someone had hinted at such feelings—there had been a girl named Qionghua who'd said similar things before.
"I'll never marry anyone," Bronya said firmly.
"I see… I understand," Man Sui said quietly.
Seeing Bronya's unwavering expression, she knew the girl was serious.
Her heart ached.
Had she just been rejected?
"But… if you just want to be with me, I can keep you company."
Man Sui blinked, stunned for a moment, then broke into a radiant smile. She gently clasped Bronya's hand, her grip tightening.
"Bronya-sis, then let me ask one more thing."
"What is it?"
Bronya frowned slightly, sensing something odd in Man Sui's tone.
"How many people… have you said those exact words to?"
"..."
Bronya looked at the smiling Man Sui, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"Uh… Man Sui, your grip is a little tight…"
Bronya's voice trembled slightly.
Truth be told, she had said those same words to more than one person before.
She liked maintaining that delicate balance—relationships that were neither clear nor ambiguous.
Neither accepting nor rejecting.
Say yes to one person, and the rest would be difficult to handle. Say no, and someone would get hurt.
It was something she had learned from her mother.
"Well, I suppose this is just how my life will be."
Man Sui leaned against Bronya's shoulder, basking in the calm, quiet warmth of the moment.
...
A few hours later, the automatic door slid open.
Musashi walked in, hugging a stuffed bear in her arms. "Bronya-sis, can I play with you?"
She stopped in surprise upon seeing a stranger in her sister's room.
Quickly pulling up a network search, she found the woman's name.
Man Sui—Chosen One.
So, she was one of the humans Mom had personally selected!
"..."
Man Sui looked at the silver-haired, red-eyed little girl before her, then turned to Bronya with an odd expression.
"This is my mom's new daughter, Musashi," Bronya explained quickly.
Ah—so she was Lady Kiana's daughter.
Man Sui nodded in understanding.
"Bronya-sis," Man Sui said with a teasing smile, "Qionghua and I talked it over. We decided we'll come visit you every Saturday."
"So, what do you think, Bronya-sis~? There are still many things we don't understand. We'd love to learn from you."
"My little sister is here, though!" Bronya protested.
"What's the problem? We're just talking about official matters, like the South-North Water Diversion Project!"
That project was already completed! What else was there to discuss? Bronya thought irritably to herself.
...
Houkai Universe.
Kiana Kaslana was quietly observing the worlds.
The Hell Girl world had developed rapidly under her accelerated guidance. Infrastructure was nearly complete—only the people themselves lagged behind.
The Arpeggio of Blue Steel world had been left entirely to Yamato and her fleet to handle.
Kiana had little interest in that world's humanity, as long as they didn't interfere with her plans.
To blend in more with humans, Yamato had even changed her name—to Amabane Kotono.
In the Highschool of the Dead world, the Honkai squads led by Iron Maiden had pushed civilization to the brink of extinction through their constant use of nuclear weapons.
Instead of attempting governance, they initiated a global purge using concentrated nuclear strikes on densely populated cities.
To Kiana, the humans of that modern world were simply not fit to be ruled—they cared too much about freedom and individual rights.
With no possibility of true obedience, only fake submission and hidden defiance—she saw no reason to stop the genocide.
She didn't involve herself directly in that world's affairs—only kept an eye on things from a distance.
Occasionally, she'd check how the Honkai squads were performing.
Her clone spent each day wandering around with Aisha—saving whoever she felt like saving, killing whoever she felt like killing.
Living freely, following her whims.
As for the Honkai Impact 3rd world—
The humans of Earth were still dreaming.
Kiana decided to wait and watch for a while longer.
She didn't want to ruin their beautiful dream.
For now, she planned to visit the Sea of Quanta—to see if she could bring Sa and Vita back to the Houkai Universe.