St. Freya High School.

It was afternoon, and the weather was bright.

Perhaps because summer was still a considerable time away, even though it was the hottest part of the day, the weather wasn't scorching or oppressive. On the contrary, it was quite refreshing.

Logically speaking, it should have been good weather for an outing.

Many students at St. Freya High School had found their good jiyou and gone out in groups to have fun.

However, the girl named Bronya, who had entered St. Freya as a transfer student, hadn't gone out. Instead, she sat in her dorm, lost in a daze.

She was waiting for someone.

The boss had been gone for nearly a month.

He went to the Sea of Quanta to find Seele.

"I've come to say goodbye. I'll be heading out first. I'll be back with Seele in a few months."

That young man, who could always solve so many problems with ease, had reached an agreement with the Forerunner of the Previous Era and subsequently departed for the Sea of Quanta.

Honestly, for her to start waiting from this moment on was probably a very foolish thing to do.

The boss had clearly said he would only be back in a few months.

Yet here she was, waiting for him like an idiot.

Such behavior was clearly abnormal.

Was there something wrong with her central nervous system?

Bronya's thoughts ran wild.

She couldn't quite figure out the situation anymore.

She was supposed to be staying by the boss's side for Seele's sake, but now, she found herself caring more and more about the boss himself.

The girl, whose emotions had been amplified after being hit and affected by the power of Jizo Mitama in the past, looked increasingly bewildered.

What... kind of feelings am I holding onto, that I would choose to stay and wait for the boss to return?

After pondering for a moment, she subconsciously avoided the answer.

She had promised Seele that they would live together from now on.

That was a promise that could not be broken.

If she just found a cute girl to entice the boss away, her own confusion would naturally dissipate.

The girl, who was certain the boss was a lolicon and a sucker for a pretty face, thought to herself.

As long as the boss got together with another girl, then everything would be over.

Everything would be over.

The boss would be with a suitable girl and find happiness, and she could be with Seele, living a peaceful life.

Yes, as long as she did that, things could go back to the way they were.

The girl, whose every action had revolved around rescuing Seele, thought to herself.

But...

Did she really want to go back to the way things were?

The thought of this already-decided matter now made Bronya's heart grow restless.

The severely weakened Herrscher of Erosion, Ling, residing within Yae Sakura alone, was able to stir up her killing intent as a guardian miko towards the villagers, leading her to slaughter the entire Yae Village.

Bronya, who had been exposed to Jizo Mitama twice, had also clearly become abnormal under the guidance of the Key of Erosion.

I should go out for a bit, to clear my head.

The more she thought, the more frustrated she became. Bronya stood up, glanced at the bright sky outside her window, and made up her mind.

Subsequently, her entire body began to float. She pushed open the bedroom door, floated down the stairs, and arrived in the living room.

The first thing she saw was the white-haired dango who was a perennial freeloader.

On the recommendation of a certain vice-principal, she had been assigned to the same dorm as this white-haired dango and the daughter of the Raiden family.

Because the Rice Herrscher was underdeveloped in her skills, being assigned to her dorm didn't mean she got to freeload off of her meals. On the contrary, Miss Bronya, who often had to cook, had taken on the role of the dorm's head chef.

And this white-haired dango, along with another white-haired dango and a certain red-haired teacher, were frequent freeloaders.

"Shorty, are you going out to play?"

The white-haired dango, who wasn't exactly tall herself, was playing Kallen Fantasy. Noticing the gray-haired duck floating by, she asked casually.

"Mhm."

Even though she was extremely frustrated, Bronya maintained her sanwu face, her tone flat.

"The Bronya is going to get some exercise, and buy some groceries to prepare dinner."

Miss Banya, who had unconsciously shown off her cooking skills and dealt a heavy blow to Miss Mei's confidence, casually made up an excuse.

However, the Rice Herrscher was the Rice Herrscher. Even after being crushed by Banya's Michelin-chef-level skills, she could still pick up a spatula, study, and practice her cooking.

Perhaps, one day, Sister Mei really will surpass me in cooking.

Miss Banya, who had barely ever learned to cook and was running purely on talent, thought aimlessly as she recalled the serious expression on the nice girl's face when she cooked.

"If you're going to buy groceries, I'll go with you."

The white-haired dango, who was usually only useful for physically demanding tasks like moving furniture or picking up takeout, suddenly and uncharacteristically put down her game console and jumped off the sofa.

"I was planning to buy some groceries too."

Miss Bronya was momentarily stunned.

Her saying she was going out to buy groceries was, of course, complete nonsense.

She was annoyed to death; how could she possibly be in the mood to buy groceries and cook?

But she couldn't very well say that after rejecting a certain someone numerous times, issuing friend-zone cards in bulk, she was suddenly starting to miss him a little.

"Paramecium, why would you want to buy groceries?"

Bronya, completely unable to understand why a culinary failure who could actually come up with the idea of grilling ingredients with a fire-type Honkai weapon and then eating them would want to buy groceries, couldn't help but ask.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm not a paramecium!!"

The white-haired dango, whose intelligence had been dropping off a cliff as the number of close people around her increased, widened her eyes and yelled.

"Alright, alright, you're not a paramecium."

Bronya, who vaguely recalled that Miss Kiana's combined scores in all her academic subjects still hadn't broken fifty, chimed in with a deadpan tone.

"So, Kiana, why are you going to buy groceries?"

Can you even cook?

"It's mainly because Ah Li always looks down on Skyfire Cuisine. He says it's definitely worse than Great Britain's lunch."

"I'm going to redeem the reputation of my old man's Skyfire Cuisine!"

The white-haired dango, unconsciously letting a certain name slip, rolled up her sleeves full of motivation, struck a pose like a bodybuilder, and limbered up.

She didn't look like she was about to cook at all; she looked more like she was about to pick a fight.

"Wait, Ah Li?"

Miss Banya, vaguely remembering this was the Paramecium's name for the boss, froze.

"Yeah, Ah Li's back."

"Mei and my great-aunt have already gone to pick him up."

Miss Kiana, who had Li Zihan's contact info, pulled a phone from her pocket and skillfully scrolled to Li Zihan's location.

Then, she pulled up a photo.

In the photo, a young man with vibrant red eyes and a girl were standing near what looked like an airport, waiting to be picked up.

It was the boss... and Seele.