When Fu Hua finally left the arcade, she was smiling, holding a donut in her hand as if it were a precious treasure.
After parting ways with Evan earlier, she had returned to the arcade and bought twenty game tokens. This allowed her to draw ten times. This donut was the prize she won on the sixth draw. In that instant, Fu Hua felt an unprecedented satisfaction, and her entire spirit was lifted to a higher level.
The remaining tokens weren't used for the lottery but were used by Fu Hua to try out other game machines. They were all very interesting games. She decided she could use this place as an entertainment venue after training in the future.
With her current state, she could achieve twice the result with half the effort. Indeed, combining work and rest was very useful. She thanked Evan for letting her discover this place.
Fu Hua's steps were light and brisk. The staff member, who watched her leave and stared for a moment into the night that swallowed Fu Hua, finally couldn't suppress her inner curiosity. She took out a few tokens from the counter, went to the lottery machine, and inserted two.
"Congratulations, you won..."
Listening to the machine's electronic voice, the staff member showed a speechless expression. After a long while, she muttered to herself.
"As it turns out, there really was no problem with the machine. So a person's luck really can be that bad."
Despite the winning rate being as high as 50%, Fu Hua, who had returned, only won a prize on her sixth draw. Adding the previous ten attempts, it took her sixteen draws to win a prize. Such luck was simply unheard of.
The staff member felt her horizons had been broadened.
However, none of this mattered.
Time to get off work, go home, and sleep. The arcade had two big customers today, business was good. It's a good day. This way, I don't have to worry about the Principal ordering the arcade to be closed.
The staff member closed the arcade's main door and walked further away, disappearing into the night just like Fu Hua before her.
After a not-so-short period of silence.
On the small path behind the arcade, a semi-translucent fox let out a flustered and exasperated low growl at the figure beside it.
"Sakura, are you crazy?! This is St. Freya Academy, an institution specifically responsible for fighting the Honkai in the Far East! Even if you, originally just a Pseudo-Herrscher, have accumulated power no less than a Herrscher over these five hundred years, coming here is courting death! Even if you can destroy everything here, there is still Schicksal waiting for you! Have you forgotten?!"
"Those two people just now had a lot of fun playing here."
The beautiful shrine maiden with waist-length sakura-colored hair and a pair of unique fox ears muttered to herself in a daze, as if she hadn't heard what the giant fox beside her said.
This behavior made the fox even more irritable.
"Did you not hear what I said?! This is St. Freya Academy! Once you expose your existence, you will face endless attacks until the day you die! Do you think anyone will still be soft-hearted and only seal you?!"
Yae Sakura's gaze became distant.
"I never thought of hurting anyone. I just wanted to come and see that girl who resembles Kallen, and check on the recent situation of that Herrscher who awakened in Nagazora City."
"What, do you think the Herrscher brought to St. Freya Academy is still alive? Five hundred years have passed, yet you are still as naive as before, Yae Sakura. You haven't forgotten the ending of that Pseudo-Herrscher who appeared in Nagazora City later, have you?"
Yae Sakura turned her head to glance at the baring-teeth fox, then looked back into the distant night.
"Higokumaru, you should know that the Pseudo-Herrscher was originally just a Zombie who had lost all mind, forcibly birthed by Honkai energy. I am different from it."
"In the eyes of St. Freya Academy, there will be no difference between you and it."
The fox called Higokumaru continued to refute with great displeasure.
Seeming long accustomed to Higokumaru's behavior, Yae Sakura's expression and tone remained calm.
"Then let's make a bet. Let's use the condition of the Third Herrscher as the stake. If she has already been killed after coming to St. Freya Academy, I will leave immediately. But if..."
"If she is still alive, what do you want to do? Tell those people that you are Yae Sakura, a Pseudo-Herrscher who has lived from five hundred years ago until now and just broke free from the seal not long ago? That is simply courting death!"
"I'm tired, Higokumaru. I'm tired of days like this. Now, a girl with many similarities to Kallen has appeared before my eyes. I cannot ignore her. Even if I have to pay with my life, there is nothing to hesitate about."
Hearing the death wish revealed in Yae Sakura's words, the fox began to go crazy.
"You're crazy! You're crazy!!"
Yae Sakura used her power to disperse the semi-real, semi-virtual fox beside her.
Over these long years, Yae Sakura had grown from the weak shrine maiden who couldn't resist Higokumaru's will into a powerful Pseudo-Herrscher capable of contending with it.
However, it was only contending. If Higokumaru really wanted to fight to the death, Yae Sakura couldn't do much either. The reason Higokumaru dissipated so easily just now was because it hadn't reached the final juncture. It didn't resist with all its might to avoid causing too much noise and attracting St. Freya Academy's attention.
Five hundred years had long made Yae Sakura and Higokumaru one entity—glory together, loss together. If Yae Sakura died, Higokumaru wouldn't be spared either. This was why Higokumaru was so agitated upon hearing Yae Sakura's words just now.
Closing her eyes and opening her perception, as a Pseudo-Herrscher who had lived for five hundred years, Yae Sakura could sense the existence of Honkai energy more precisely. The Herrscher's Honkai energy, different from humans', and the special rhythm possessed only by a Herrscher Core, were as conspicuous to Yae Sakura as a light in the dark.
A moment later, Yae Sakura opened her eyes in surprise.
"How can this be? St. Freya Academy actually has the auras of three Herrschers?!"
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