Over at St. Freya High School, Ryn and Mei were grabbing Kika's legs, trying to drag her out of her room.
Kika, clinging to the wooden door for dear life, shouted:
"Go away! Let go of me, I'm not going! Aaaah—"
"You were the one who said you'd stop at nothing! It hasn't even been that long and you're already showing your true colors. Get out here!"
Mei gritted her teeth and pulled with all her might. She was too weak; she couldn't do anything. The Herrscher of Thunder had awakened this time because her territory was invaded, but what about next time, when there was no Herrscher of Thunder? Mei didn't want to go through another experience where her friends were fighting while she could only watch.
"Yeah, just yesterday you agreed to have Durandal give you special training. How can you back out today!"
Ryn chimed in.
Yesterday, Mei had suddenly remembered what Ryn had told her about Durandal. Combining that with what she saw when she was one with the Herrscher of Thunder, she proposed the idea of training with Durandal.
So, Ryn contacted Durandal and learned that she happened to be free recently. He prepared to take Kiana and the others to Schicksal for some extra training from Durandal, and everyone had happily agreed at the time.
Kika hadn't said she would go, but she hadn't said she wouldn't go either!
"No! You guys were the ones who said you wanted special training, I never said anything! How did I get dragged into this?!"
Kika had no intention of following Ryn and the others to Schicksal. Those training maniacs at Schicksal would definitely drag her into it, and then there was that perverted loli-con Rita. It was too dangerous!
Finally, Kiana, who couldn't stand it anymore, stepped in. When someone from the Kaslana family makes a move, you know it's serious.
Kika, along with her wooden door, was dragged out of the room by Kiana.
Downstairs in the living room, Theresa and Himeko, who were eating breakfast, were stunned when they saw the wooden door.
Kiana scratched the back of her head sheepishly, but still had a goofy grin on her face. She then quickly dragged Kika out of Theresa and Himeko's line of sight.
"Auntie! I'll definitely fix it when I get back tonight!"
"Kiana! Are you a husky?! Why are you wrecking the house again?!"
Theresa slammed her hands on the table angrily, then crossed her arms, glaring at Mei and Ryn who were trying to sneak past behind her.
Having been spotted by Theresa and Himeko, Ryn and Mei dropped the stealth act. They gave Theresa and Himeko an apologetic smile and then bolted out the door.
If they didn't run, they would get a scolding from Theresa. After Theresa's scolding, Himeko would give them a lecture. If Himeko finished her lecture and Theresa still hadn't cooled down, Theresa would drag them to the training room for a good lesson, euphemistically called "The Principal's Care."
And the clever Bronya, upon seeing the idiot Kiana dragging both person and door away, had already chosen to jump out the window with Project Bunny.
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Originally, Ryn planned to fly Kiana and the others directly to Schicksal, but Himeko found out and gave him a stern lecture. Then, Himeko had Ryn properly submit an application for an aircraft, and then she legitimately lent Ryn the Helios transport ship, which was docked on the Hyperion.
As soon as Ryn learned that he could apply to the school for an aircraft for official reasons, he immediately asked Himeko if he could borrow the Hyperion.
Himeko blinked her large eyes and then handed Ryn a list of the Hyperion's various expenses.
"The school doesn't reimburse for private use. But if you choose to pay for it yourself, I can consider lending it to you. If you're willing to pay a little extra, I'll even pilot it for you myself."
"No, no, the Helios is fine too..."
Ryn grabbed the departure approval for the Helios and fled Himeko's office. He had no desire to end up in debt like Himeko.
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The Helios was also part of the Hyperion, so it was managed by the AI, Ai-chan. However, after Cortana connected, she unceremoniously shoved little Ai-chan aside.
Then, for the entire trip, a fuming little Ai-chan bickered with Cortana, Kika bickered with Mei, and Ryn and Kiana were kissing (not!).
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Knowing that Ryn and his group were coming, Rita, who had no missions, arrived at the Schicksal docking bay early to welcome them.
Seeing that there was still some time, Rita took out her phone, which had a Theresa keychain charm, and started watching some of her treasured videos.
"I'm gonna teriri you up~", "Theresa is the cutest in the world~", "Waaah~ teriri's magic is all used up, I need to take a good rest~
"
From time to time, Theresa's voice would come from the phone, and each time, the corners of Rita's mouth would uncontrollably curve upwards.
"Ah~ every time I see Lady Theresa, I feel like my whole heart is healed..."
Rita covered one side of her face in a state of bliss, her face unknowingly turning beet red.
The time was about right. Rita put away her phone, readjusted her uniform, and then waited quietly for Ryn and the others to arrive.
Before long, Rita saw a battered-looking aircraft in the distance, flying shakily towards her.
"How should I put this... I suppose this is just what you'd expect from the folks at St. Freya High School..."
Rita brushed her bangs aside and turned to run. If she stayed here any longer, she might get hit by the aircraft.
In the end, Ryn had to use his powers to control the ship, preventing a crash. But even though it didn't crash, the Helios would definitely need a trip back to the factory for repairs.
Project Bunny punched open the broken hatch of the Helios, and then the group scrambled out, stumbling over to the edge of the sky fortress. They lined up and leaned over, vomiting rainbow-colored substances down from the heavens.
After they finished, Ryn, annoyed, called out Cortana and knocked her on the head.
"You idiot, what kind of crappy piloting was that! I'm never letting you fly again. I could fly better than that with my eyes closed!"
Cortana, squatting with her head in her hands, looked indignant and pointed at Kiana to rebut, "It was clearly you who listened to Kiana when she said, 'If we use your powers to speed up the Helios, will we get there faster?' The ship suddenly broke the sound barrier several times over and couldn't take it, so it started to fall apart! The fact that I managed to fly it to Schicksal like this just proves how good my skills are!!"
Kiana, seeing everyone looking at her, pointed at Mei and said, "It was Mei who said we were running out of time for our appointment, so I thought maybe we should speed things up a bit..."
Mei had just been patting Kika and Bronya on the back. Hearing her name brought up, she lost control of her strength for a moment and knocked Kika and Bronya to the ground.
"But we really were about to be late... It's all Kika's fault. If she hadn't been having a tantrum about waking up, we wouldn't have been late..."
"No, this has nothing to do with me! You guys are the ones who dragged me here!" Kika shouted, aggrieved. But after a moment's thought, she pointed the finger at Bronya. "It's all Bronya's fault. If she hadn't taken me to run dungeons last night, I definitely would have woken up early. If I had woken up early, I would have just run away and not given you a chance to catch me."
"???" A dozen question marks popped up over Bronya's head. How is this my fault?!
Bronya couldn't take it anymore. She pointed right back at Ryn and shouted, "It's all Ryn's fault. If he didn't make games, the Bronya wouldn't be addicted to them! It's all Ryn's fault!"
"No, it's Cortana's fault." "No, it's Kiana's fault." "It's Mei's..." "It's Kika's!" "It's Bronya's!" "It's Ryn's!"...
Watching the group go around in circles, arguing loudly, Rita patted the wrecked Helios and lamented, "Ah, youth..."
The next second, as Rita touched it, the Helios completely fell apart, turning into a pile of scrap metal.
The sound of the Helios collapsing caught the attention of Ryn and the others. They simultaneously stopped arguing and pointed at Rita, shouting, "We found you! It's all your fault! Get ready to pay up!"
A vein popped on Rita's forehead. She then gave each of them a punch, knocking them all out. Then she grabbed them by their feet and dragged them towards Durandal's training room.