In the brightly lit room, Asakura Miyuki sat stiffly in her chair.
She glanced at the white-haired girl beside her. Kiana was currently eating a pork cutlet bowl.
[MyWife.jpg]
After killing a man with a single kick, Kiana had immediately chosen to turn herself in, and Asakura Miyuki, of course, had gone with her.
However, Asakura Miyuki was a little confused.
They hadn't been mistreated in any way. The person in charge here was incredibly deferential to Kiana, as if she weren't a murderer, but a venerable living ancestor.
After being shown into this room, no one had even come to interrogate them.
But Asakura didn't dwell on it too much.
She watched Kiana's side profile. She thought Kiana looked very happy, but that happiness was tinged with a shadow of gloom.
It's all because of... those guys.
Her dark eyes were deadened, and the hands resting on her knees clenched into fists.
At that moment, the door to the room was thrown open and a blond man in a white suit rushed in. Asakura Miyuki's fists tightened even more.
I won't let you pass judgment on Kiana.
You don't judge those animals, so what right do you have to judge Kiana?
There is nothing about Kiana that needs to be judged!
But the blond man who entered simply looked at Kiana eating, and let out a sigh of relief.
Then, he plopped down in the seat opposite her.
"Honestly, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
When Kiana saw Otto enter, she paused, chopsticks in hand, with a few grains of rice still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
"Otto... I killed someone."
Her tone was a little lost.
Kiana's heart was not as calm as her appearance suggested. She remembered the twisted flesh and the blood that had pooled on the ground.
She covered her mouth, but she didn't throw up.
Eh?
Asakura Miyuki was surprised. Did Kiana-san know this blond man?
They seemed quite familiar, and when Kiana saw him, an expression of immense relief washed over her face.
It seemed Kiana relied on him a great deal.
Was this the person Kiana was calling earlier?
But for some reason, Asakura Miyuki sensed danger from this blond man.
What was their relationship?
Lovers?
Her hands clenched slightly.
"What I want to know is, are you okay? Are you injured?" Otto asked with concern. Kiana shook her head, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
On the way here, Otto had already learned the details of the incident and had mobilized Schicksal's power to stabilize the situation.
Having understood what happened, Otto wasn't particularly concerned. The one who died was a beast, and the investigation had already uncovered their history of assaulting the girl. The others wouldn't escape justice either.
"Honestly, you know I had to cancel a date with a very pretty young lady because of this, right?"
Otto picked up the glass of water in front of Kiana and took a sip. He and Mei had been about to go to dinner when Kiana's call came in. Otto had nearly died of fright.
He had thought the Queen had awakened.
Naturally, their candlelight dinner was off. Otto had sent Mei back to his hotel room and had Fu Hua protect her from the shadows.
He, meanwhile, had rushed over to Kiana's side in a panic.
"Hmph," Kiana snorted lightly, assuming Otto was joking.
But then she asked timidly, "Am I going to be a lot of trouble for you?"
Someone had died. This was no small matter.
"Why would there be trouble? You didn't kill anyone."
"My little darling just happened to be at the scene of the crime."
"The real killer was one of his accomplices, who is now a wanted fugitive."
"I'm sure he'll be brought to justice and punished soon enough."
Otto shook his head dismissively. What was the status of Schicksal's Overseer? And the Far East was Schicksal's territory. Handling something like this was laughably simple.
He had already wiped Kiana's slate completely clean.
However, Otto didn't want to dwell on the topic. He could see the faint shadow in Kiana's heart; after all, this was the first time she had killed someone.
This wasn't a good place to talk, anyway. They would have a heart-to-heart when they got home.
Suddenly, Otto remembered the daily mission that had refreshed that morning.
[Have a Valkyrie scrub your back in the bath. Mission Reward: 100 Crystals. Mission Status: Incomplete.]
He had actually been planning to give up on this mission.
But now, he seemed to see a glimmer of hope for its completion.
He looked over at Asakura Miyuki, using her as a way to change the subject.
"You must be Asakura Miyuki. Such a cute little girl. My Kiana has told me about you."
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself. I'm her guardian, Otto," he said with a smile.
Oh, so he's the father-in-law.
Asakura Miyuki understood. Otto had the air of a mature man, so she assumed he was Kiana's father.
Of course. Kiana inherited her father's handsome looks. She's just like a prince.
"H-Hello. I'm Asakura Miyuki!" she said.
Otto nodded. He held no ill will toward a girl like her and was saddened to hear of her ordeal. She should have been a treasured daughter living under her parents' care.
"I'm very sorry you had to go through such a terrible experience. But you don't have to worry, those men will never come near you again."
"I promise you."
He wasn't like Welt, who wanted to protect everyone, but as the Overseer of Schicksal, he could at least protect the girl before him.
"Thank you."
A twisted expression, imperceptible to others, flashed across Asakura Miyuki's face. When those men had humiliated her, she had become numb. But when they had tried to lay a hand on Kiana...
That was unforgivable.
"I'll have someone take you home. Go home tonight and get a good night's sleep. Forget all about this unpleasantness," Otto said. He didn't notice anything amiss with Asakura Miyuki, thinking only that she seemed like a good kid.
Her record was clean, after all.
"Will Kiana be alright?" Asakura Miyuki asked with concern.
Otto smiled. "She will be. I'm here."
After sending a subordinate to take Asakura Miyuki home, Otto remained seated, watching Kiana eat her food bite by bite.
"You don't seem very happy," Otto remarked.
"Yeah..." Kiana put down her chopsticks.
"Then let's get out of here. We can talk on the way home."
Otto led Kiana out of the building. It was then that Kiana began to realize that Otto's power might exceed her imagination. She had killed someone, yet she was still able to walk freely under the sun.
They walked side by side as the setting sun cast its light upon them. They weren't holding hands, but as they walked, their shoulders would occasionally brush against each other.
Kiana looked at the blood-red clouds on the horizon.
"I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted to kick him off of Asakura."
"I know."
Kiana was wearing her White Comet battlesuit. Valkyrie armor enhances the wearer's strength, and what's more, this White Comet was secretly the God-Killer armor, Knight Moonbeam.
With her normal strength, a kick would have only knocked him unconscious. But with the armor's amplification, it was perfectly normal for it to be instantly fatal.
If the kick hadn't been fatal, Otto would have had to seriously investigate whether there was something wrong with the suit.
"Don't dwell on it. He was a wicked beast. I have evidence of all his crimes, and his accomplices are being rounded up."
That, however, was a job for others. Schicksal didn't have the time or inclination to be arresting common thugs.
"You just need to smile like you always do."
Kiana had a kind heart. She was the type of person who would blame herself for what Sirin had done in the past. Of course, she would be affected by this.
"But you did very well this time. You called me as soon as something happened."
Otto was very pleased with Kiana's actions. It meant he held a certain weight in her heart.
"Can you still eat? I came here without having dinner."
"Yeah, I can eat," Kiana took a deep breath. Although a smile didn't return to her face, the shadow of her first kill had been lessened slightly.
However, at that moment.
A dissonant voice rang out.
"You two."
"You've really made me search for you."
Before Otto and Kiana, a wild [First Herrscher] had appeared.