While Miss Raven, who had infiltrated Schicksal, was transforming into a dog-head strategist, what was Li Zihan doing?
The answer is: making tea.
"Hua, what brings you here to see me?"
The boy, who had tried to confess to Rita and was brutally rejected, looked at the woman before him with long, blue-gray hair, dressed in a gorgeous hanfu, and asked listlessly.
Although he had long known that Sis Rita was a freebie that came with Dull Goose—that to get Sis Rita, he had to KO Dull Goose first—being rejected after trying to confess was still quite heartbreaking.
The boy, who despite his unhappiness had still done it several times with Sis Rita in both her normal adult and loli forms, sighed.
Don't tell me I really have to get Sis Rita pregnant to solve this?
The boy, who had idly activated his future sight and seen a route where he got Sis Rita pregnant, then married her and had children, grumbled in his heart.
"I just came to see you."
The Immortal, who had slain the Heretic Monkey God—a being with the nature of Bartleby the Hero—in the Campione! world through a life-risking burst of power, looked at the boy who was slightly different from her memory and gave a faint smile.
Becoming a God-Slayer was an excellent buff.
When a Heretical God is sent to the altar as the cornerstone of the rebirth ritual, the god's remains will grant the fool stained with divine blood the magical power at the limit of the human race, a magic resistance that can withstand Authorities, an Authority that changes according to one's will, and—
—a body that is perfectly intact, and even more outstanding than before.
The Immortal, whose body had long since returned to normal, looked at the boy who was identical to the one in her memory, and a slight smile appeared on the corners of her lips.
This guy hasn't changed at all.
"Just to see me?"
As if hearing something incredible, the boy was stunned for a moment. He looked at the Immortal, who had practically made it her life's mission to protect Shenzhou and resist the Honkai, and his gaze turned a little strange.
"What's there to see?"
"Who knows? Perhaps it's fate from a past life."
The girl, who indeed shared a fate with a certain someone, chuckled lightly. The meeting fifty thousand years ago, the journey together five thousand years ago—it all surfaced in her mind, scene by scene.
So feminine.
Looking at the Immortal's face, this thought leaped into the boy's mind.
The woman before him was smiling lightly, her eyes bright, a trace of charm flowing from the corners of her brows.
Just by looking at her smile, Li Zihan felt his mood lighten and expand, like a white cloud in the sky blown by the wind.
Could she have been swapped out?
Feeling that the Immortal before him was completely different from the one in his impression, a few doubts couldn't help but rise in Li Zihan's heart.
He had also interacted with the Immortal during the Second Eruption, but he was always treated as a junior. Even when he suggested they try dating, the Immortal had the expression of someone playing house with a child.
But now, meeting again, the other party was like a completely different person.
Although a person's spirit and energy can be related to their experiences, wasn't this difference a bit too big!
The boy, who knew full well that he would try to alter the past in the future through his Authority of Time, felt his mood become a bit lost for the first time in a long while.
"It's been a while since we've met. Won't you treat me to some water chestnut cake?"
As if giving a hint, the Immortal, who had previously always given the impression of being detached from the mortal world and above worldly concerns, showed a girl's unique playfulness for the first time ever.
"I understand."
Li Zihan also started to laugh.
Although he didn't understand a thing without pushing his Clairvoyance to the max, at a time like this, all he needed to do was say he understood.
He rolled up his sleeves and prepared to head to the kitchen.
Then, a slender hand patted him on the shoulder.
Li Zihan turned around and saw a pair of beautiful azure eyes.
"It's just a pastry. There's no need for you to personally cook."
The woman, who was like a banished immortal, raised the corners of her mouth slightly and spoke.
"But, besides me, there's no one else in Chaldeas who knows how to make Shenzhou pastries."
The boy, whose actual cooking skills were quite touching and who was relying entirely on the experience stolen via the Fire-Thief Authority, reached up and scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"I know a very good shop in Nagazora City."
The Immortal's gaze swept over the boy's cheeks, and then, as if remembering something, she laughed.
"Want to go check it out together?"
======Line Break========
Miss Raven—Xiola—was a very unlucky child.
Due to the leadership of a certain Mr. Ye who wished to remain anonymous, a once-unbreakable alliance had turned into a rotten mess where high-ranking military officers felt they couldn't even support their wives and children without selling arms.
After the Second Honkai War, the shortage of resources plunged parts of Siberia into famine, and some people even froze or starved to death in large numbers.
And before being taken away by Kevin's number one sycophant, Gray Serpent, Miss Xiola's childhood was spent in that harsh environment.
Because of her unfortunate childhood, Xiola started her life with nothing. She struggled to climb up, dealing with various people in various countries, experienced many things, and spent more than ten years finally accumulating her own assets.
Then she bought a small island and planned to build a big house on it, to live a new life of freedom and peace from then on.
However—
For various reasons, she now needed to struggle for a few more years.
The woman, who would absolutely not let Chaldeas go bankrupt before her house was completed, looked at the strongest in Schicksal, who seemed a bit dense and was also a die-hard tsundere, and asked.
"Do you understand the habits of the person you like?"
"...I don't know."
"Are you good at accompanying others and taking care of your lover?"
"...Not good at it."
"Well then, are you good at acting spoiled and making people feel protective of you?"
"...What the hell is that?"
"If you were to plan a date, what would you arrange?"
"Go for a run together, practice boxing, and then do yoga!!"
"If the person you like ignores you, what would you do?"
"W-Who likes that guy!!"
...
Damn it, this is hopeless.
Xiola looked at the strongest in Schicksal, who, apart from having a very pretty face, probably had zero feminine charm, and her expression became somewhat wooden.
Her understanding of the person she likes was limited to the useless fact that he likes pretty girls, she had no idea how to display her charm as a woman, and her dating venue was estimated to be the gym...
And she was a die-hard tsundere.
And this emotionally clueless die-hard tsundere just had to fall for the Director, who was never short of all kinds of cute girls around him?
She's a lost cause. Just wait for death. I'm out.
Miss Raven, feeling that it would be more reliable to quickly take on a few more part-time jobs at Chaldeas and save up the money for her villa before Chaldeas went GG, wanted to run away.
But when she thought of the reward Miss Dull Goose had promised, Miss Raven's feet, which had been shuffling towards the door, turned back around.
As long as she could get that sum of money, she could resign right now and embrace her new life.
So, regardless of the consequences, she had to at least try to give her a makeover first.
Xiola looked at the very prim and proper-looking girl and sighed.
For that money, she was going all in!
"Let's go, Miss Bianka. First, let's go to the commercial street to buy some clothes and cosmetics to change your image."