When Xiyue walked into the classroom with a stack of exam papers in her arms, smiling sweetly, she addressed the students below the podium.
“On this exam, apart from a certain few students, everyone did quite well.
Worth praising.”
As she said it, she swept a glance over the Main Trio in the back row.
Catching sight of Kiana fast asleep and snoring away, her gaze went cold.
Kiana would pay for that later.
Then she turned her eyes to Fu Hua: red-framed glasses, hair in a braid.
“Class Monitor, come up and pass back last week’s mock papers.”
Hearing Xiyue, Fu Hua stepped up onto the platform, took the stack, and began handing it out group by group.
Xiyue watched Fu Hua’s clean, pretty face and that utterly unremarkable chest, and couldn’t help marveling inwardly.
Who would ever imagine that a girl who looks like a high school sophomore is actually a person from the Previous Era?
Although, credit where it’s due, it really does fit.
Truly worthy of being called the Shenzhou Tablet.
And Fu Hua, mid-handout, suddenly felt as though she’d been insulted somehow.
She shook her head and flung the strange notion away.
The only person behind her was Xiyue, and surely Xiyue-sensei didn’t mean her any harm?
Impossible.
“Set the papers down and correct your own mistakes,” Xiyue said.
“Now take out your textbooks.
This period we’ll cover Lesson Eight.”
Mei looked at Kiana snoring away beside her, an anxious expression crossing her face.
She saw the big fat zero on Kiana’s paper, then noticed that Xiyue’s gaze, all through class, kept landing squarely on Kiana.
Mei knew it.
Kiana was done for.
Bronya, head down playing a game, glanced at the ninety-six on her own paper, then shot a look at Kiana’s.
“Dummy Kiana.
A dummy after all~”
Then she went right back to her game.
As the academic-subjects class rep, Mei knew Xiyue’s temperament well.
This young, privately warm and approachable teacher was, in fact, quite the schemer, especially when she looked at you with those narrowed eyes.
Mei poked Kiana with her pen and whispered.
“Kiana, wake up, wake up.
Stop sleeping.”
But Kiana was sleeping deeply now, deep enough to start talking in her sleep.
“Heh heh, I’m Schicksal’s strongest Valkyrie, the Flamescion!
I’m definitely not some Herrscher.”
“Mei only likes me.
She’d never like some Captain.
She’s mine forever, and no one can take her away!”
Good thing they sat in the very back row, or the whole class would have heard Kiana’s sleep-talk, and that would have been a colossal embarrassment.
Hearing it, Mei laughed helplessly and was about to nudge her again when Xiyue’s voice rang out.
“Mei, don’t let your attention wander~”
Mei looked up to meet Xiyue’s not-quite-smiling, narrowed eyes, hurriedly straightened, and listened intently. Get faster updates on g.com.
Kiana, Mei thought, you’re on your own now.
A class period is both long and short.
Just as Xiyue finished covering the key material, the bell rang, and the instant it did, Kiana sprang up.
“Oh yeah, class is over!”
Sadly, Kiana’s joy didn’t last long before Xiyue cut it short.
Xiyue looked at her, smiling sweetly, and said gently.
“Kiana, Sensei hasn’t dismissed class yet~”
Then, giving Kiana no time to react, she addressed the rest of the students.
“Everyone else is dismissed.
Kiana, come with me to the office.”
The smile slid off Kiana’s face.
Realizing what was coming, she put on a pitiful expression, looked at Xiyue, and pleaded.
“Xiyue-nee, can we please not go to the office?”
Hearing the Paramecium say that, Xiyue nearly laughed out of sheer exasperation.
This little academy bug really was something else.
She narrowed her eyes and replied softly.
“What do you think~”
Then Kiana let out a wail and was promptly hauled off by Xiyue to the office, where this little Paramecium endured a full hour of “moral instruction,” released only when Tuna was on the verge of breaking down.
She also made Tuna copy out the test paper three times as punishment, plus recite classical poetry, with Mei supervising.
Tuna trudged back to the dorm in a sulky heap.
The moment she stepped inside, she threw herself at Mei, buried her face in Mei’s chest, and tearfully poured out her woes.
“Wahhh, Mei, Xiyue-nee is a devil!”
“Making me memorize lessons.
I’d rather die.”
“Next time I’m eating all her food.
Not leaving her a single bite.”
But she got no sympathy from Mei.
Instead, Mei mercilessly pushed her off, and then, under Mei’s watchful stare, Tuna copied out her papers in tears, wailing miserably as she wrote.
“Academics?
Not even a dog would sit through it!”
…
Meanwhile, Xiyue returned to her dorm thoroughly satisfied.
Seeing Tuna shuffle out of the office with that mournful face had left her with a pleasure she couldn’t quite put into words, and she marveled that tormenting Tuna really was a joy.
Then she gathered herself, sat down at her computer desk, and got ready to finish Otto’s assignment.
Kiana Kaslana Observation Report.
She padded it out with a couple thousand words of fluff, then tacked on the single line that actually had anything to do with the subject.
> Based on these days of observation: on any given day, Kiana is either sleeping, eating, gaming, and snuggling, or on her way to sleeping, eating, gaming, and snuggling.
No other anomalies displayed.
Awaiting the Overseer’s instructions.
Then she clicked send to Otto, and this month’s salary landed straight in her pocket.
Schicksal’s number-one salary thief, that was her!
After that, she flopped onto the bed for a good long nap, looking forward to tomorrow’s stream.
…
The next day, Xiyue woke up on her own and couldn’t wait to open her phone and start the stream.
She greeted the channel happily.
“Morning, everyone~ It’s been a whole night.
Did you miss me?”
The words had barely left her mouth when a pink comment flickered past.
Miss Pink Elf♪: Missed you, missed you so much~ A wonderful day begins with watching Yuexi’s stream~
Wants to Buy an Island: (╹▽╹)
No Exams Thanks: Miss you, miss you, miss you, hurry up and do the main story!
This young lady can’t wait to watch Kiana cut everyone down.
Slay, slay, slay!
Chlorinated Kiana: ?
Kitty Snuggles: What is this thing?
Seeing Elysia’s comment, Xiyue was delighted.
Worthy of Elysia, she could always lift the mood.
“Heh heh, I missed you all too~”
Noticing the two extra viewers, she smiled.
“Welcome, Chlorinated Kiana and Kitty Snuggles, to our channel~”
Knowing by now that her audience were all Honkai characters, Xiyue could guess these two’s identities.
Chlorinated Kiana needed no guessing; you could tell who it was from the name alone.
Our esteemed Queen, the Herrscher of the Void.
The other was a bit harder to place.
Kitty Snuggles.
Could it be Pardo?
Or maybe Durandal’s Honkai cat?
She couldn’t quite figure it out, but no matter.
She’d know once they spoke up later.
“Enough chit-chat.
Today we’re streaming the main story!”
Then she clicked into Chapter 1 of the main story: Dusk, Girls, Battleship.
No Exams Thanks: Here comes the dazzlingly cool Kiana!
A colossal battleship filled the entire screen.
The announcer’s calm voice interwove with the shrill blare of alarms.
Across the giant screens of a high-tech city flashed two huge words, AIR RAID, as countless Assault-class Honkai Beasts swarmed densely toward the battleship.
Kiana, get aboard, quickly.
A stirring track kicked in.
Kiana’s figure appeared, unhurried, expression placid as she watched the battleship, then she strolled toward the enormous vessel, taking her time, as two jets streaked past overhead.
The unmanned jets slammed into the Honkai Beasts and erupted in a violent blaze of fire.
At that moment Kiana broke into a run, flipped forward in a dashing somersault, spun in midair, and drove a kick straight at one of the jets.
“Nya-go!”