A fine, misty rain fell.
The rising white mist fell to the ground like droplets of light.
Kiana held her right hand flat, catching a drop of cold rain in her palm and playing with it curiously.
"Kiana, stop playing with the rain. Honestly, you're like a child."
Beside her, Mei sighed with a somewhat speechless expression.
She had said it several times already, yet Kiana was still playing with the water. If left alone for a moment, she might dive into the curtain of rain and start frolicking.
Hearing this, Kiana shrunk her neck like an elementary school student being scolded by a parent. Seeing that Mei wasn't truly angry, she tucked away her aggrieved expression and instead looked up with a grin. "It's normal to like playing with water~ Mei, look over there, over there—it's playing with water too."
Mei instinctively turned her head and saw a mud-covered Husky rolling around and frolicking in a puddle.
Its entire body was covered in mud, with only its eyes remaining bright blue, as if wrapped in dark chocolate. It was having a great time.
In short, this dog was a lost cause.
With a face full of black lines, she said to Kiana, "Do you really have to compare yourself to a Husky?"
"I'm just saying," Kiana's eyes darted around as she looked for an excuse, only to suddenly discover a pink-haired figure. She shouted, "Eh~ Isn't that Dr. Tesla? Is that her dog?"
Tesla, dressed in a formal gown, approached from a distance. Hearing Kiana's words, she looked at the little dog outside the ballroom window.
Then, her expression changed drastically, her eyes widening. But then, as if making a decision, she became calm again and walked up to the two of them.
"Hello there~ Has the ball not started yet?"
"Wait, wait, wait, aren't you going to do something about your dog?" Kiana asked in surprise.
"What? Would anyone really raise a species that frolics in the mud on a rainy day? The great Dr. Tesla certainly wouldn't."
Tesla waved her hands, acting as if nothing was wrong.
However, judging by the dark aura emanating from behind her, she had definitely snapped.
Kiana's legs trembled, and she broke into a cold sweat. Luckily, she hadn't snuck out earlier.
Otherwise, Mei would have definitely thrown her out!
Tesla sat on a lounge chair and comfortably looked over the ballroom's layout.
After a few glances, she said slowly, "Your decorations are quite nice. Countless times better than that Birds Nest Head's."
Kiana looked at the ballroom layout.
This was a corner of the Academy's sports field, an open-air ball.
It was just several extremely long dining tables pushed together.
On them were Theresa's favorite bitter gourd cakes, bitter gourd soup, bitter gourd mooncakes, and a whole bunch of other bitter gourd products. Although they came in various shapes, their core was entirely made of suffocatingly bitter gourd.
There were also various alcohols shimmering with neon light, reflecting a crystal-clear glow under the warm orange lamplight.
However, was this stuff prepared for normal people?
If this counts as 'nice,' just how harsh are the conditions at Anti-Entropy!
Kiana's lip twitched, and she shook her head.
Only the last few small tables held various delicacies, with each dormitory contributing its part.
Creamy soup, borscht, charred toast pizza, cream stew, mashed potato chicken wings, skewers... that was the dining table for normal people.
It was also decorated with balloons and ribbons, looking very atmospheric.
Before the hungry Kiana could go and eat, she suddenly saw a curious Tesla pick up a glass of bright green liquid. Tesla murmured in confusion, "What kind of wine is this? Why is it green?"
"Hey! Wait!"
Kiana shouted to stop her, but she saw Tesla down it in one go. Very reckless! And then!
"Pfft!!!"
Tesla's pupils contracted as if she had drunk poison, and she spat out all the green liquid in her mouth!
In that instant, she felt as if the God of Technology was beckoning to her.
"That was... the super-concentrated Bitter Gourd Juice meticulously prepared by Aunt..."
"I forgot to tell you, normally no one even looks at that table."
Tesla: "..."
"Water, water, water!!!"
The bitterness in Tesla's mouth was so intense it felt like her mouth was splitting. She panicked and scrambled to find water.
Reaching out, she found a glass of white "water" on the table and poured it directly into her mouth.
Behind her, Kiana sucked in a breath of cold air.
Hiss!
Sure enough, in the next second, Tesla's pupils constricted, and her soul seemed to drift away, as if she saw Einstein beckoning to her.
Only then did Kiana's voice arrive belatedly.
"That... was wine brought from Bronya's hometown... rectified vodka, 96% alcohol."
Tesla felt her tongue go numb instantly, feeling dehydrated, as if someone had punched her in the stomach.
Panicking, Tesla was completely frantic. Since the whole table was full of alcohol, she could at least have some soup, right?
She quickly uncovered a lidded round bowl and took a large gulp with a soup spoon!
However, Tesla didn't see that there were mosquitoes on the sports field. Those mosquitoes had originally approached, seemingly wanting to fly into the soup, but after catching a whiff of the scent, they immediately fled, flying in circles to get away.
The taste of the "soup."
An indescribable salty fishiness!
Like water boiled from a rotten mat that had been fermenting in sweat for three summers!
Seasoned further with the taste of bitter, salty seawater!
Tesla couldn't get up again; she was completely defeated.
Kiana wiped the sweat from her forehead, pinched her nose, and covered the soup. She said cautiously, "This was brought by the Class Monitor; it's something she really likes to drink. It's supposedly called Laoshan Oldenlandia Water. The Class Monitor said she was afraid we'd get sick drinking cold things and that we should drink more hot water, so she heated up the Oldenlandia water. Um~ Drink more hot water."
By this time, Tesla, foaming at the mouth, could no longer hear her voice.
"Sigh~ Why is everyone in such a hurry? Don't you know that 'haste makes waste,' or in this case, 'hot tofu with a beautiful girl's flavor' can't be eaten in a rush?"
Kiana marveled, sighing at Tesla's free giveaway.
She really is too unlucky.
"That kind of thing doesn't even exist!" Mei retorted.
The two of them carried the dazed Tesla to a lounge chair and waited for the others to arrive.
Soon, Theresa, Fu Hua, Himeko, Einstein, and the others had all arrived.
Many of the Academy's Valkyries, having nothing to do in the evening, also came to join in.
Everyone was welcome, and they all let loose to eat, drink, play, and dance.
Kiana rested her cheeks in her hands. After waiting for a long time, she still hadn't seen Yunduo or Bronya.
Everyone else was also waiting, chatting with each other and enjoying this hard-earned relaxation.
They waited and waited. Finally, ten minutes later, Kiana saw Bronya arrive at the ball riding Project Bunny.
But she was alone.
"Eh? Where's Yunduo? Did she not come?"
"She... should still be in bed right now."
Kiana and Mei stared at each other, their heads full of question marks.
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