"Listening to you, it seems my previous methods were effective. Then let's continue. You know a Valkyrie has three Stigmata in total; I only repaired one of them before."
Watching Raiden Mei disappear from sight, Evan quickly cast aside various beautiful thoughts and began discussing serious business.
In fact, Evan had sought out Himeko Murata at night specifically for serious matters. After all, she wanted to hide her physical condition, and the process of healing by touching the Stigmata on a Valkyrie's back was somewhat ambiguous to describe, so it was naturally better to keep it discreet.
As for Himeko's plea for Mei to keep it secret, claiming that exposing such an ability would attract unnecessary prying—Evan wasn't too worried.
Even Raiden Mei, a Herrscher, had been accepted by Theresa and had her relevant information well concealed. Evan's ability was essentially beneficial to Valkyries. Even if Otto knew, there wasn't sufficient reason to deploy S-rank Valkyries. And as long as S-rank Valkyries weren't deployed, mere A-rank Valkyries wouldn't cause Evan much trouble.
He had been living at St. Freya Academy for a few days. During this time, Evan interacted daily, actively or passively, with Theresa, Himeko, Mei, Kiana, Bronya, and Fu Hua—six Valkyries in total. Although his relationship with Fu Hua was still just a nodding acquaintance, his relationships with the others were very good. The friendship points provided by the six of them allowed Evan to draw from the Friendship Supply four or more times a day.
Evan had not only saved up the 20,000 gold coins needed to repair Himeko's remaining two artificial Stigmata but also strengthened his own Stigmata. Even with the extra expenditure, his strength was improving faster than before.
"So, what method are you using to repair my artificial Stigmata? You said before it was something as important as life—what exactly is it? If the cost is great... I feel much better now; you don't need to continue paying the price."
Himeko had indeed felt the changes in herself during this period. The feeling of her body being much lighter, as if relieved of many burdens, and the significantly reduced pain made Himeko feel like she was in a dream. But she wouldn't let Evan become a victim just to continue this dream.
Evan now felt that his casual remark back then was a bit reckless.
However, gold coins were indeed not easily obtained. In the future, even if he acquired enough Stigmata and gained further endurance and control over Honkai energy, he probably still wouldn't be able to repair Valkyries' artificial Stigmata continuously. Just like when he absorbed the Honkai energy from the Nagazora City guard, Evan needed to endure the corresponding pain and then recover slowly through his body's self-healing ability.
"The price I pay will slowly recover over time. Although it's not easy, it's not overly exaggerated either. Since I've come to find you now, naturally, I've made complete preparations. Let's go to your private training room. Change into that special combat suit, and I'll help you repair the artificial Stigmata."
Himeko looked at Evan steadily for a while, then spoke.
"Before that, come with me to the medical department first. I want to confirm your physical condition."
Although Himeko showed distrust in him, the concern revealed along with that distrust warmed Evan's heart.
"Alright."
Evan followed Himeko to the medical department as requested.
Late at night, and unlike before when there was an emergency like a large-scale Honkai eruption, most of the medical staff had returned to their quarters to rest. Only a few staff members were still on duty.
"Major Himeko, are you here to confirm training results again? Although effort brings rewards, rewards from short-term exercise can't be tested even by precision instruments, you know?"
A staff member on duty happened to pass by and saw Himeko without showing any surprise. It seemed Himeko had visited the medical department many times.
"I know."
Himeko didn't chat much with the other party. She nodded slightly as a response and walked past the staff member. Sensing Evan's thoughtful gaze, Himeko scanned the surroundings to ensure no one else was around, then explained in a low voice.
"Because of my poor physical condition, I secretly came to the medical department several times hoping to find drugs to alleviate the pain. I've always used 'testing body data to confirm training results' as an excuse... Besides that, I also estimate my remaining lifespan through the continuously deteriorating body test data."
Himeko hadn't intended to say the second half of the sentence, but after a slight hesitation, she chose to tell the truth. Not because she thought her lifespan problem was solved, but simply because Himeko wanted to reveal her feelings to pave the way for further development with Evan.
Because she didn't have much time left, she had to hurry. Himeko didn't want to die casually without even having been in love. It was precisely for this reason that she wouldn't care about Evan's emotional status with others. Himeko even felt she was being a bit too greedy; after all, she was older than Evan, and as a rare male, Evan didn't lack girls who liked him.
Both Kiana and Raiden Mei had feelings for Evan; any fool could see that.
Even that emotionless Bronya had a somewhat special attitude toward Evan.
While thoughts flowed through Himeko's mind, Evan recalled the changes in Honkai energy after repairing one of Himeko's artificial Stigmata by consuming gold coins, and spoke.
"Before giving me a checkup, test your own body data again, Himeko. The repair I performed on the artificial Stigmata should have done more than just alleviate your pain."
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