A small recap.
The chaos last night wore Kiana down. It did not affect me much. I am even refreshed after fighting for a while. Zombies are no longer enough to test my full capabilities. We did not encounter honkai beasts. Cocolia did her job well.
Then…
We ate some dinner. Kiana went to sleep early while I did my usual qi cultivation sessions at night. The plant’s efficacy did not completely disappear after breaking through the late stage.
Then…
I decided to act carefully. I contemplated whether to wake her up or not… and decided not to.
Scratch that.
I am going back to sleep. I can’t think of any explanations when Kiana wakes up. Since it already happened, would sleeping beside her for ten more minutes matter?
I half-expected this joke of a plan to fail.
However, a sense of fatigue swept over my head. My body felt somewhat heavy. I really felt like sleeping.
What the hell?
My spiritual qi instantly became active. The Jing dantian began to ‘nurture’ my fatigued body. Simultaneously, my Sword Heart became more active.
What?
I can’t…
******
9:08 AM.
The first one to wake up was not Shi Tian.
“Mn…”
Kiana uncovered her sleeping mask. She rubbed her droopy eyes as she first went for a stretch.
“Hm..?”
Only to be startled by the ‘narrow’ space. Her hands struck something. When she opened her eyes, she saw a neck. She is hitting someone in the neck.
That’s right, a neck.
The plain dark blue t-shirt came to her eyes. There are also the black jogging pants.
“Ow…”
“..?”
Kiana’s brain did not work particularly well today. She paused before looking up.
It is Shi Tian’s face.
“E-eh?!”
Her entire body jolted. Her soul almost jolted out of her body. She instinctively rolled her body further from him.
It did not take long when…
Bam-!
…she fell straight to the ground.
The slight pain did not register in her brain. She is utterly confused. The last few times she ‘sleepwalked’, she always pressed her foot on his face. Now that they are sleeping right at each other, her embarrassment is through the heavens.
Kiana hastily stood up from the ground. She did not mind anything at this point. She stared at Shi Tian who woke up due to her ‘uppercut’. His droopy eyes indicated he was still sleepy.
Feeling the embarrassment growing stronger, she made up an excuse.
“O-oh no! We missed breakfast!”
Without grabbing anything, she ran out of the room.
Coincidentally, Bronya happened to see this entire escapade occur. They did not appear during breakfast. She wanted to check up on them, thus leading to this. Kiana’s face turned so red it was noticeable even at her distance.
Her eyes shifted between the running Kiana and the opened door.
An outrageous thought popped up:
‘...Are they per...’
Fortunately, Shi Tian came out looking like normal. That is enough to dispel her thoughts.
Shi Tian immediately spotted Bronya.
“Oh. Is breakfast already over?”
“Da. It is free time.”
“Do you have any chores to do in the town? We can do it while eating breakfast.”
“Nyet. Most of the shops in the town are closed.”
Bronya’s words did not come off as a surprise to him.
Just then, he saw Kiana rushing back to their room.
“H-hehe… I forgot to get my stuff.”
Her awkward smile made Shi Tian’s mouth twitch. His Sword Heart allows him to confront his inner struggles more easily. It resulted in his talent to make up a ‘calm’ expression.
It was almost broken down by Kiana.
His last bit of will condensed everything into a sigh. He simply made way for her.
“Are the other kids alright?”
Bronya gave him yet another look. Shi Tian is tall enough to be mistaken as fourteen or even fifteen years old. Later on, he revealed he was only twelve years old. This level of maturity is rare to see in kids.
“It did not affect them much.”
“That’s good.”
“...”
“...”
Shi Tian skimmed through his memories. His biggest challenge when talking with Bronya is this awkward air. She will never initiate a conversation on her own.
“Oh, right. Have you learned any martial arts?”
“Nyet. The Bronya prefers to fight with weapons.”
Shi Tian looked at her with skepticism. He knew about her feats of killing people with stockings. He also saw her take out a bicycle’s chain as a weapon during their first meeting.
It is not an exaggeration she is a small John Wick.
Duck Wick, if you may.
“Do you want to spar? From the looks of it, you are accustomed to fighting.”
“...The Bronya will comply with your request.”
By this time, Kiana prepared the towel and her change of clothes. She awkwardly passed through Shi Tian for the third time. The pace of her walking made her look like she’s running.
Shi Tian was about to continue the conversation when he heard a ringtone. Inside the room, the phone placed on the desk is ringing.
“One moment. Let me answer the call…”
*****
Out of all the cafes present within this town, only three are open. The riot must have contributed to the chaos last night, which made it easier to cover-up the ‘zombies’ as fanatical rioters or people committing harassment and violence.
There are not a lot of people inside.
“Welcome.”
I smiled at the woman in the cashier. I… no, we are already notorious throughout the town as the duo who eats a lot of food.
Kiana is not with me in the present. I easily slipped out since she is feeling very awkward about what happened this morning.
It did not take long before I saw two people waiting for me.
“...”
At the corner of the cafe is a middle-aged man. The classic brown hair and slight stubbles…
I won’t even ask why Welt Yang is not with the two women. Then it dawned on me. His identity is kept confidential even within Anti-Entropy.
A secret guard, then…
My thoughts stopped once I sat on the chair.
“Good afternoon.”
“Hm.”
“Good afternoon.”
The woman with a chicken coop… no, Einstein. Her calm voice formed a contrast with Tesla’s willful tone. It also did not help that she…
Einstein played a huge part in traumatizing my four years of engineering life. Calculus 1 is good, Calculus 2 is hell, Calculus 3…
When I found out that there was a Calculus 3, my face crumpled due to PTSD. It made me doubt the nature of life.
Seeing the very same person who gave me PTSD, as a woman atop all, feels very strange.
“Ahem. I will start explaining…”