[St. Freya Academy]
Levi opened his eyes again inside Kiana's room.
Looking at the small, pale hands, Levi knew he had successfully entered the vessel.
[Ding! Panel expanding!]
[Name: Levi]
[Abilities]: Hacker (MAX), Big Eater, Super Strength, High Honkai Resistance, Kaslana Gunfighting Technique, Archery Mastery (MAX)]
[Temporary Ability: Herrscher of Flamescion...]
[Commission Mission: Get NO.1 in the exam]
[Client: Kiana Kaslana]
He glanced at the panel that now automatically popped up.
At first glance Levi didn't notice anything strange, until he looked a second time at the line that said [Temporary Ability].
Levi rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "What the heck?"
'Herrscher of Flamescion?!'
'I… no, wait, isn't Kiana supposed to be the Herrscher of the Void?'
'When did she become the Herrscher of Flamescion?'
'Doesn't the system give me the strongest ability available at the moment?'
'How did it pull a mid-to-late-stage power?'
A whole string of question marks popped up in Levi's head.
But he couldn't find any answer. His system was a mute, couldn't talk.
Even though it now seemed to have "leveled up" and become much more convenient, it still gave no hints and no responses.
Everything had to be figured out on his own.
"Kiana, you're going to be late for the exam! If you don't come out now, Bronya and I are going first!"
Raiden Mei's urging voice came from outside.
Levi stopped thinking about why the ability had changed from Herrscher of the Void to Herrscher of Flamescion.
He stood in front of the full-length mirror, looking at Kiana's usual outfit.
The St. Freya Academy uniform, plus two braided ponytails hanging behind her.
She looked pretty darn dowdy.
If he were the Herrscher of the Void, fine.
But…
'We're the Herrscher of Flamescion right now. How can we dress this dowdy?!'
Who cared about Flamescion or not, Kiana only wanted to know what on earth Levi was trying to do.
'Let's do a makeover!'
———
Seeing that Kiana's door still hadn't moved, the anxious Raiden Mei walked up, wanting to see what Kiana was doing inside.
Click!
Just as she reached the door, Kiana's room opened from the inside.
"Let's go."
Levi spoke to Raiden Mei in front of him.
Then he glanced at Bronya by the dorm entrance and raised a brow.
He didn't expect that even though he'd "let Bronya go" in Changkong City, this little one still took the initiative to follow along.
And just like in the original storyline, she shared the same dorm with Kiana and Raiden Mei.
Was this fate?
Levi withdrew his gaze and casually walked to the entrance, changing into outdoor shoes. He turned back and looked at Raiden Mei and Bronya, who were both frozen in place.
"Aren't we going? Mei, weren't you just saying we're almost late?"
Raiden Mei snapped out of it and stared at the high-ponytailed "Kiana," cautiously asking, "Levi?"
"It's me," Levi nodded. "But outside, still call me Kiana. I don't want unrelated people knowing I'm mentally ill."
Bronya's eyes lit up.
'Finally! I've been waiting for this!'
Seeing Levi's empty hands, Bronya immediately handed him the pen and paper she brought.
Levi paused, suspiciously taking them, and asked inwardly, 'You and Bronya have a good relationship?'
"How could I possibly have a good relationship with her?!'
Kiana gritted her teeth at Bronya.
'Always following behind Raiden Mei going "Mei-sis, Mei-sis."'
If she still had the power she had when Levi controlled her body, Kiana would've sent Bronya to Siberia ages ago.
How could she tolerate someone competing with her for Mei's affection?
Hearing Kiana, Levi glanced at the obedient-looking Bronya. After thinking for a moment, he understood why she was acting like this.
'She must've seen me come out, huh?'
Obviously, the way he name-dropped Seele back in Changkong City had dealt quite a blow to Bronya.
He rubbed Bronya's head, earning a look in return.
(ᗜ ‸ ᗜ)
Sometimes you had to sacrifice a little to reach your goal.
For example, Bronya was currently sacrificing her future height in exchange for Levi's affection.
———
"Mei, how do you think my outfit looks?"
"V-Very pretty."
"It's pretty? Then look at me a few more times."
"!!!"
On the way, Levi kept teasing Raiden Mei.
He found it quite fun.
Especially how easily Raiden Mei blushed under his charm.
'What do you mean your charm?!'
Kiana started shouting again.
'This is obviously my charm!'
'My body, my voice.'
'Everything is mine. How did it become your charm?!'
'Raiden Mei is blushing because of me, what does it have to do with you, Levi?!'
Levi: 'Yes yes, nothing to do with me.'
Levi rolled his eyes at her ranting.
Little Kiana dared to talk back to him.
Once Raiden Mei evolves into the fully-powered Herrscher of Rice, he'd abduct her to the Xianzhou.
Let Kiana sit alone in an empty room, crying her heart out.
Seeing the classroom up ahead, Raiden Mei slapped her cheeks lightly.
She pointed in that direction, eyes drifting, not daring to look Levi in the eyes.
"That's your exam room. Mine is on the other side… I'm going first!"
Then she ran away like she was escaping.
Watching her back, Levi touched his own face and laughed. "Am I that scary?"
She couldn't even look at him.
"So hurtful~"
Even as he said that, the smile on his face didn't fade.
Bronya gave him a sideways glance.
The more she got to know Levi, the more she felt he was a bit scheming.
Noticing Bronya's gaze, Levi toned it down a little.
The two walked toward the exam room one after the other.
Although Raiden Mei said that was Kiana's exam room, in reality Bronya and Kiana were assigned to the same room, even sitting next to each other.
And sitting beside Bronya meant you could "reference" her answers during the exam.
At any other time, this would've been Kiana's dream exam setting.
But right now neither of them had attended many classes, there was no way they could score very high.
Rather than referencing Bronya, she might as well guess.
There was even a chance guessing would score higher than copying, no, borrowing, Bronya's answers.
Not long after Levi sat down, he noticed someone staring at him.
Following the gaze, he saw Fu Hua sitting in the second-to-last row by the window.
As expected of the true protagonist of the Honkai world, Fu Hua. Even her exam seat was protagonist-exclusive.
Levi smiled and greeted her. Seeing his gesture, Fu Hua showed no embarrassment at being caught looking and calmly nodded back.
When Levi turned away, Fu Hua pushed up her glasses.
"So she's the Kiana Otto mentioned? She feels a bit different from the photos…"
She recalled the pictures of Kiana she saw from Otto.
In the photos, Kiana looked innocent and easy to fool.
Nothing like the Kiana in front of her now, who seemed like a normal person.
'Achoo!'
Kiana suddenly sneezed. 'I can still sneeze looking like this?'
And also, she just knew someone was talking bad about her.