The next morning, Jun An didn't wake up, as he had imagined, to find a Theresa acting cute in his arms. Instead, he saw the World's Cutest Archbishop wearing a "Guilty" sign, kneeling on the ground in the traditional dogeza pose in the living room.
"Theresa!"
Himeko furiously scolded, "We just offered incense for the Captain yesterday! Eleven or twelve years old, and you went from the living room to the bedroom! To my room! And you even wanted to jump him first thing in the morning!"
"Ptooey! Disgusting! I even locked the door!"
"For this kind of thing, you could spend some money, right? Even hire a prostitute? It wouldn't cost much, even if you did it secretly?"
"Even rabbits know not to eat the grass near their own burrow!"
The more Theresa heard, the more ashamed she felt, but she still struggled to explain.
"It's mainly because his size is just right now, you know? If we waited until he grew up, it would probably hurt a lot, wouldn't it..."
At that point, it might not even be a question of pain, but something on the level of whether he'd get snapped off, whether his defenses could be broken, or whether he could even get inside. After all, when the Captain was fully grown, he was really big. Back then, she only reached his waist; the sizes were completely mismatched.
"Huh? You still dare to talk about this?!"
Himeko immediately became even angrier. "Doing this kind of thing to the child you picked up yourself, don't you feel even a little guilty?!"
Himeko absolutely could not tolerate this!
If it were just as the doctor had said—finding a boy who resembled the Captain as a substitute—that would be one thing. Himeko had even intended to try and talk her down, understanding how heavy the blow of losing the Captain was for every single one of them.
But bringing someone back and immediately doing this kind of thing, what was that about?!
On a smaller scale, this was a matter of humanity and character. On a larger scale, this was the Overseer of Schicksal preying on a young boy! How could she, an Overseer, follow the path of a priest?
Did she have any consideration for Himeko, who, until this morning, had been working overtime and had even carried two large boxes to the dorm for her?
"Well, there is a little bit of that."
Theresa didn't dare meet Himeko's gaze, after all, she had jumped the gun...
"Then do you want to join in?"
"Ha, join in!?" Seeing Theresa hadn't learned her lesson, Himeko immediately grabbed her ear. "Theresa, you..."
"Captain!!"
At that moment, Theresa's keen sense of smell detected the Captain's scent amidst the Captain-filled aroma of the room, immediately spotting the peeking Captain. "Captain! Quickly explain to Himeko! You were clearly happy last night too, weren't you!"
Jun An silently averted his face and slowly closed the door.
"What the hell are you closing the door for!"
"Feels like I'm going to get yelled at too later, no way! Besides, I'm not wearing any pants!"
"What does it matter! You were raised by me and Himeko anyway, it's not like we haven't seen you bare-assed!"
"That doesn't mean I should talk about this stuff bare-assed!"
"You don't have any clothes to wear anyway! Just explain things clearly like this first!"
Theresa immediately rushed forward to push the door open, while Jun An tried hard to push it closed. After a brief standoff, Jun An finally lost to Theresa due to the difference in strength.
Seeing the two bickering, Himeko couldn't help but wonder if this little Jun An before her was the real deal. After all, he really did have a mole on his inner thigh.
"Stop arguing. Wear my clothes first."
Himeko quickly found a men's shirt and a pair of her jeans that had been gathering dust for a long time because they were a size too small, giving them to the Captain so he could get dressed and talk.
"Alright, Captain, quickly explain how you came back to life!" Theresa immediately hid behind Jun An.
Jun An naturally couldn't reveal the matter concerning his resurrection and the System. So, he casually bluffed, saying that, like Sirin, his consciousness had been dormant during this period, only returning yesterday when the time was right.
"Himeko, if you still don't believe me, then I'll tell you something only we know."
Jun An thought for a moment, then said, "Himeko, you once wanted to drink some fine wine, so you had Bronya make you some '82 Lafite. But because Lafite only has a shelf life of ten years, you ended up drinking wine that was twenty years expired that day, making you vomit until you collapsed. I was the one who took you to the hospital."
"I still remember you had your stomach pumped once. Because this incident was too embarrassing for you as the second-in-command of the Far East Branch, you told me and Bronya not to tell anyone."
"Th-that kind of thing, Theresa found out later too! Who knows if she told you!" Himeko coughed twice. "Tell me something else others don't know."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive!"
Jun An could only sigh helplessly and say, "You occasionally hold Theresa's dresses up to yourself, thinking you might look cute in them."
Eh!?
Himeko instantly sensed something was wrong, but by the time she wanted to cover Jun An's mouth, it was too late.
Jun An continued, "When I was little, you let me sleep in your room. The real purpose was actually... well, to use my presence for your own 'inspiration' while you... took care of yourself beside me at night..."
"Stop! Stop!!! I know you're the Captain! I know you're the Captain!!"
Himeko, on the verge of tears, clamped her hand over the Captain's mouth and whispered, "Seriously, if you were awake back then, you should have hinted at me!"
"It's not like I didn't hint, but every time you just thought I was turning over, felt lucky about it, and then you seemed to get even more into it..."
Jun An felt he had done his best to warn her at the time.
"I already said I know, I was wrong about this! You keep this matter completely under wraps!" Himeko sighed helplessly. "Why didn't you send a message on your account beforehand when you came back? It made me think Theresa was about to become a predator priest."
"Right now, apart from those two boxes, I'm penniless." Jun An sighed helplessly. "Later, I'll have to trouble you two to help me buy some usable clothes, a phone, and daily necessities."
Currently, besides an empty room and two boxes of Yen, Jun An truly had nothing. Even the set of clothes he originally came with had been made sticky by Theresa and was unwearable.
"Okay, Theresa and I will go buy you some clothes and a phone later. I'll also help notify the others that you're back, to avoid further misunderstandings." Himeko was very reasonable and immediately grabbed Theresa's ear to leave. "Also, Theresa, we need to settle the score for you jumping the gun without honor."
"Ow ow ow, I admit defeat on settling the score, but can we discuss contacting the others?" Theresa pried Himeko's hand away, looking at both of them with pleading eyes.
Himeko and Jun An were somewhat confused. "Why?"
Theresa's eyes darted around evasively. "Well, the Captain's resurrection is quite unbelievable, right? Directly posting information from his account would definitely make people think it's hacked, causing a lot of trouble."
"Especially since the Captain's account is still an S-rank Knight's account. The moment it becomes active, who knows how much chaos it would cause. Mei might drop her work, Eden and the others might immediately stop their concerts, if Kiana impulsively rushes back from the moon..."
"In short, many people hold important positions in various fields around the world. Their time isn't easily mobilized, but they would absolutely drop everything and rush back for you, Captain."
Theresa closed in on Jun An. "Young Captain, you wouldn't want to cause trouble for their subsequent work, right?"
"Er, that's true." The others might be manageable, but if Kiana really did rush back directly from the moon, the Honkai energy passively emanating from her alone would be enough to trigger a massive Honkai Eruption.
"Himeko," seeing the Captain agree, Theresa pulled Himeko out the door and whispered, "Don't forget, the Captain is super busy! The time he can spare for us is already limited!"
Himeko thought about it, and it was indeed true. Ever since the Third Honkai Eruption, Jun An had been running all over the world, eliminating Honkai and Honkai Beasts everywhere. Coupled with his heavy workload, he really didn't have much free time.
"But..."
"Three rounds."
Just as Himeko was about to say something more, Theresa dropped a bombshell.
"Right now, the Captain and I are hitting it off. If you agree, not only will I help you get your turn, but I'll also let you have three rounds!"
"Theresa, now this is where you're wrong!" Himeko immediately adopted a serious expression. "And for the part where you jumped the gun, that'll be ten rounds."
"No way, five rounds at most," Theresa stated. "Otherwise, nobody gets to play."
"Deal."
And so, having reached an agreement, Himeko and Theresa went off to buy clothes and daily necessities for Jun An. As for the matter of Jun An being alive, due to Theresa's strong insistence, it was currently being kept secret. They would visit everyone one by one when the time was right.
Watching them leave, Jun An began to tidy up Himeko's room and the messed-up living room.
"System."
[I am here.]
"I wasn't just sent here for no reason, right? What's the mission?"
[Mission Content: Investigate the cause of the host's death one year ago, and beat the culprit senseless.]
[Note: If needed, this system will provide the most suitable confinement procedures to facilitate repeated torture by the host. If necessary, the culprit can be killed.]
[Mission Reward: Return to the host's original Earth for one year or a random Herrscher Authority.]
"Feels like you have a bit of a personal grudge embedded in this mission."
[Note: I am merely a system without emotions, assisting the host in correcting the worldline.]
[Repeating: I am merely a system without emotions.]