Chapter 70: Party
The tense atmosphere was instantly broken by Mei blushing as she shook her head and waved her hands rapidly, speaking in an embarrassed tone.
"W-what did you say!?"
"Well... I mean, you look really worried about him, furthermore, I can see that he's not avoiding you, after all, Kouro has Gynophobia."
"Eh?" x3
Hearing Ayame's words, confusion filled their faces, they could not imagine 'that' Kouro who was not afraid of facing dozens of Honkai Beasts, was instead afraid of women.
Even more so for Mei and Kiana, after all their first impression of Kouro when they first met him was that he was an easy-going and jovial person who liked to joke around, they also did not see any irregularities from Kouro that showed that he had Gynophobia such as nervousness, anxiety and so on.
Mei suddenly remembered when Kouro said that he was her boyfriend. (Chapter 31)
Mei immediately blushed and shook her head to get rid of the thought.
Ayame looked at Mei with a look that said 'are you his girlfriend or not?
Realizing Ayame's gaze, Mei replied in a quiet voice, "... I'm... No-not his girlfriend."
"Thank goodness-Eh, no. I mean, really?"
Herrscher Mei clucked her tongue inside Mei when she heard her answer, if it weren't for the fact that she couldn't control their bodies as she pleased, she would have locked Kouro inside the room and showered him with affection every day.
(A/N: Please note that Herrscher Mei's knowledge of love only comes from the memories of Mei's original personality, so this is purely affectionate, not erotic, but it would be a different story if Mei read Ero books. (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵).)
Mei looked at Ayame again and spoke with a smile, "You know, Kouro often mentions you in our talks, he often says that he regrets leaving his first friend."
"Really?"
Mei nodded her head and added, "Yes, moreover, as his first friend, you must know Kouro better and know a lot about him."
Mei spoke with a beautiful smile and a dazzling light seemed to appear behind her.
'Ma-Mabushi! (Dazzling!). '
This was the first time Ayame had met someone who had such a kind and gentle personality.
'She's completely different from the rumors. Damn, my heart hurts for believing those dirty rumors! I hereby vow to never believe in rumors until I confirm it myself!
Ayame then waved her hand and replied quickly, "No, no. I'm not. Compared to me who just reunited with him after so many years, you guys who have been with him now should know him better."
Mei and Ayame complimented each other, as if they were old friends.
Himeko watched the situation with an interested gaze, besides, it's not every day that you get to see girls fighting over a boy, although she felt hurt that she remembered that she was almost in her thirties, yet still didn't have a boyfriend.
Bronya just watched silently while wearing a strange expression.
While Kiana just tilted her head listening to their conversation and spoke in an innocent tone.
"Well, I once lived with Kouro in the same dormitory, we had fun together, had dinner together, and he also promised to spend time with me until I was satisfied. But, Huh, too bad that promise couldn't be kept because of the Eruption that happened."
Mei and Ayame, who had been complimenting each other, stopped and they looked at each other before turning to Kiana after reaching a consensus in silence.
"Your name is Kiana, right?" Ayame smiled the world's sweetest smile at Kiana.
"...Kiana-chan." Mei called out with the same smile although the black aura surrounding her made it less convincing.
The two of them began to approach Kiana slowly, "...Mei-senpai, why are you looking at me like that? Mei-san, no, Mei-sama, can you stop looking at me like that?"
Kiana turned her head towards Himeko with a look that said 'please help', Himeko returned a smile that said 'it's your own fault, don't drag me down.'
Kiana looked at Bronya next and gave her a pitiful look, asking for help.
Seeing that, Bronya felt pity and opened her mouth to say something, but Mei's words made her hesitate.
"Bronya-chan..." Mei turned to Bronya.
So Bronya decided to close her mouth and cupped her hands together, "I hope you can get out of there safely."
Kiana then lured (dragged) by Mei and Ayame to a secluded place.
"NOOOO!!!" The scream of a frightened young girl was the only thing that could be heard.
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Meanwhile, the man who was the source of this disaster was changing his clothes.
Kouro only took a short shower before using 'status recovery' to rejuvenate himself, and after that, he put on the clothes he had prepared.
Kouro wore a plain white t-shirt with a black blazer on top, he wore black cargo pants and paired them with blue sneakers.
After finishing changing, he opened his Quest interface.
[Main Quest]: End the Third Eruption.
Quest Reward:
1. Coupon: Skills Enhancement (Intermediate) x5
2. 50,000 gold coins
3. Skill [Power Strike]
"Accept all rewards."
[Coins: 69,518]
Looking at his coins growing, Kouro then moved the interface to his skills to see what he could improve.
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Skills:
Combat:
Weapon Mastery (Advanced), Martial Arts (Advanced),
Commons:
Cooking (Intermediate), Parkour (Master), Mechanical Mastery (Advanced), Riding (Beginner), Swimming (Advanced), Acting (Master), Singing (Advanced), Painting (Advanced),
Logistics:
Stealth (Advanced), Learning (Advanced), Survival (Beginner), Hacking (Advanced).
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Kouro chose to upgrade his Riding and Survival skills to the intermediate level and after his upgrade, he could feel his knowledge and experience of the related skills increase.
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Skills:
Combat:
Weapon Mastery (Advanced), Martial Arts (Advanced),
Commons:
Cooking (Intermediate), Parkour (Master), Mechanical Mastery (Advanced), Riding (Intermediate), Swimming (Advanced), Acting (Master), Singing (Advanced), Painting (Advanced),
Logistics:
Stealth (Advanced), Learning (Advanced), Survival (Intermediate), Hacking (Advanced).
Kouro then looked at his final reward.
[Power Strike]
SP required for Active: 150
Cooldown :10 Seconds
Increases the next attack by 190% for 5 seconds.
Kouro smiled happily as he read the description, he finally had a very powerful offensive skill.
Too bad Kouro couldn't try this skill for now, he was afraid that if he used it, his house would be destroyed.
All the action from bathing, changing clothes, to upgrading skills, only took less than 8 minutes.
As he exited his house, he heard a faint scream that made him pause.
"Hm? Is it just me?" Kouro shrugged his shoulders and decided not to think about it too much, he quickly ran towards the direction where he left Mei and the others.
Upon his return, the first thing Kouro noticed was Mei and Ayame who were talking to each other very intimately, and Kiana who was crouched in the corner muttering something.
Seeing Kiana like that, Kouro turned around and asked Mei and Ayame, but the only answer he got was a smile.
Somehow, Enhanced Intuition told him that if he continued to ask, it would bring great danger.
So he turned to Himeko and Bronya, but they answered him with vague answers like 'mental hit', 'Karma', and so on.
Seeing that he wasn't getting clear answers from everyone, Kouro finally decided to approach the victimized Kiana, he patted her on the shoulder.
Kiana felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at Kouro, she grasped Kouro's hand tightly as if holding on to her only hope.
Kouro felt his hand grasped tightly by Kiana and he felt pain as if his hand was about to be crushed so he removed his hand from Kiana before asking.
"Wait a minute, what's really going on here?"
"That..." Kiana stood up and wanted to explain, but then she saw Mei and Ayame looking at her, and as if she remembered something scary, she shook her head quickly.
Kiana thought hard for a moment and used her brain for the first time to think.
"That's... I'm just sad because I remembered that we haven't had a party to celebrate our joining the St. Freya academy yet.
Kouro had not expected Kiana to think of that.
Ayame heard Kiana's words and exclaimed, "Party? Good idea Kiana!"
Mei and Bronya nodded in agreement with the idea.
"Hey! If you guys want to have a party, I, as sensei, will definitely come." Himeko added.
She actually just wanted to use the party as an excuse to drink.
Kiana breathed a sigh of relief when the idea magically appeared in her head and gave her a chance to save herself, though, she also wanted to celebrate.
Seeing that everyone seemed to agree to throw a party, Kouro then asked them.
"That's a good idea, but where are we going to hold the party, from what I see, Himeko-sensei's house hasn't been completely cleaned up yet."
Upon hearing Kouro, for some reason, Mei and the others suddenly turned to him, "Wh-what?"
"We'll use your house instead, it's empty anyway, so please..." Kiana said while looking at Kouro with a pitiful gaze.
"..."
"Please."
"..."
"Pleaseee"
Seeing Kiana acting 'cute' like that, Kouro sighed and said.
"Alright, I'll allow it."
After receiving permission, Kiana spontaneously hugged Kouro, "Hooray, you're the best, Kouro!"
However, after realizing that she was hugging her, she quickly separated from Kouro.
[Time jump]
(A/N: I was too lazy to think about the process of making a party)
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In the afternoon at St. Freya Academy, inside Kouro's house, in the living room to be precise.
"Cheers! !"
*Ting!* x 7
Kouro and the others were seen toasting together.
Gloup! *Gloup! *Gloup!
Kouro, Kiana and Bronya drank milk, while Ayame and Mei drank orange juice, only Himeko herself drank beer, Theresa was also invited and she herself drank her own homemade bitter melon juice.
"Thank you everyone, for inviting me." Theresa said with a smiling face
"Kyaah! Best to drink beer after work." Himeko exclaimed while putting down her empty glass.
"You're not even working."
Ayame looked at Kouro in surprise, "Kouro, I didn't expect you to still drink milk. I thought you would drink beer like Himeko-sensei."
"What's wrong with drinking milk? Isn't drinking milk good for a child's growth? Besides, I'm still underage to drink alcohol."
"Growing children?
Ayame and the others had completely forgotten that Kouro was just a 16-year-old teenager.
Well, it wasn't their fault, after all, Kouro could always be counted on at critical times and the composure he showed against Honkai made him look like a veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time.
Mei and Kiana gripped their glasses tightly and vowed in their hearts to become even stronger to help Kouro who always bore the burden alone.
Kouro stared at the surface of the empty glass in his hand while pondering.
'One more week before school starts. Time to revise my plans.'
"Kouro! What are you doing there? Come here, let's eat together." Kouro lifted his head and saw everyone sitting on chairs waiting for him
Kouro smiled slightly 'But first let's enjoy the party. '
That day, Kouro's quiet house was finally filled with everyone's laughter.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone