Yeah... my wordings might need to get some work if you guys believe that I'm bashing Otto wholly. Keep in mind that they're just hating his actions, not his existence. He did do some good, it's just his methods being a bit too dark.
And I do have some ways to back Otto up, just wait a bit. In good way or bad way, your guess.
If you are also questioning while some reactions aren't there, there's a small detail explaining why in the later part of the last chapter if you miss it.
Again, thank you all for the supports!
"A Kaslana's trait…" HoO looks at her companion and sees her having a thoughtful look on her face. If one thing comes to mind immediately when a person talks about a Kaslana, it would be their oath in protecting innocents against the Honkai. However, HoTE said that it's something comical, so it might be something…
"We are Kaslana! It's obvious that she's talking about our strength!" The teenage Kiana exclaims loudly, her mouth working before her brain proceeds any further.
"...Idiotka doesn't seem to realize her bad traits." The Silver Wolf of the Urals narrows her eyes while saying in a deadpan voice, already knowing what HoTE is about to show them.
Rita also turns to observe Bianka, who's not very interested in the conversation, and starts guessing as well. Durandal is technically a Kaslana, so the Maid would say that this 'trait' might carry over. But, other than having a strong sense of justice and unnatural strength, she's not that far off from a normal human being…
Except her common sense is slightly screwed.
"Oh…"
"Hm? Is something wrong, Rita?"
"Ah, it's nothing, Durandal. Just thinking for myself."
"Could it be that they like to play?"
"Idiot Roza. That's just Kiana."
"If you are talking about playing, I have to hand it to Bronya, Liliya." The MC turns her gaze towards HoTr who gives her a Fumo expression in return. "Oh don't try to deny it. If you aren't the number one gamer in this group then no one is."
Cecilia and Yae Sakura turn to their lover, their mind starts thinking if there's anything embarrassing that could be noted as a trait…
"Anyway, let's start the vision."
"Kiana… Wakey wakey Kiana."
A certain Valkyrie is still deep in her sleep as a voice of a man calls for her.
"...OH." The teenage Kiana realizes what this is about.
"So it's me waking her up. Doesn't seem unusual here." Siegfried comments, hearing his voice in the background.
True enough, it's a Siegfried in common dress knocking on the door of the girl's bedroom.
Seeing that she's not going to get up, he pulls out the ultimate card: "If you don't get up right now, daddy's gonna eat your pizza toast."
That's enough to make her snap her eyes open and sit up instantly. "OLD MAN! I'm getting up now! Leave mine alone!"
Though… in front of her eyes is her usual room… with no Siegfried and the door is still closed.
"Tch… It was just a dream…" The girl stretches her arms and gets out of bed. "Whatever. He sucked being a dad anyway."
"Wow… I'm not that bad aren't I?" The older Siegfried scratches his head, a bit embarrassed that his own daughter is calling him out.
"Well, you are!" The teenage girl doesn't change her opinion.
"Have to agree with her there." Even HoFi joins in with a smile, causing the man to try to laugh it off.
His younger self tucks his tongue out, knowing what happened due to the previous private conversation, though he's happy that the girl's still living her fullest without a problem.
"You have to be gentle with MEI okay, KEVIN?" The man snaps his eyes towards the Pink Elf who's chirping happily, with the doctor's face blushing up. "They're your descendants, meaning you're gonna have a kid with her, right?"
All Flamechasers watch in amazement as the usual cold, stoic boy turns his head away from the doctor with his face showing awkwardness. The girl herself tries to keep her composure but the redness on her face betrays her.
"Though… not to be rude, but how are we still sitting with you with no problems?" ELYSIA speaks out about one of her concerns. "I thought your body's temperature was too…"
"That's me." HoTE raises her hand up. "For the moment, any negative effects on your well-being are negated while the positive ones remain."
"...Which means that I can still carry the Judgement of Shamash even when my body temperature is still normal."
"Something like that, KEVIN. It's a bit complicated, we can talk later."
After her usual morning routine, Kiana dresses up and looks around the food cabinets, checking if anything is missing. Mei is a bit surprised that Kiana is already in the room as she asks: "Kiana? What are you looking for so early in the morning?"
"I'm going for a grocery run. Be right back."
'...Grocery run.' Rita manages to stiffen a laugh as she looks at Bianka. Now she knows what the vision is about now.
"Wait, Kiana." As the white-haired girl wears her shoes, the former Lightning Princess calls for her. "I got training after this. I have made some curry for lunch."
"Yes, I hear you." Kiana replies without turning her head back and starts running off…
"Wait Kiana! You're wearing the wrong shoes!" Ignoring Mei's warning about the mismatched shoes she's wearing.
"I gotta have some pizza toast!"
HoO lets out a small giggle, while HoFi scratches her head in embarrassment.
HoV snorts: "Of course this idiot wore the wrong shoes."
"Cut her some slacks. Everyone can make that kind of mistake once in a while… Or when YATTA messes with their heads."
"Yatta?" Phoenix Hua questions in confusion.
"The youngest Herrscher."
"And what does that mean?" HoS cracks her knuckles, not liking what she's hearing.
"Just one of the nicknames us Captains give you. Nothing offensive, just cute things..."
In response, HoS draws out her weapon case, much to most's surprise, and tries to bonk HoTE. The weapon hits a barrier, however.
"Just sit down, will you?"
"How many more do you have?"
"At least one for each person in here. I will tell you later."
HoS grunts and returns back to her seat, sulking a bit that she couldn't hit HoTE due to the protection. Phoenix Hua shakes her head in disappointment at her rash reaction.
"I guess this is about how you cook." Cecilia giggles, remembering the first time they met.
"Oh come on now. I'm not that bad!" The younger Siegfried exclaims with a fake tear.
Sirin starts having second thoughts about being adopted to the family. Sure, the lady is nice, but if the man's cooking is being brought to the table… The thought is disrupted when baby Kiana starts touching her face, so she starts playing with her again.
After her shopping spree, she's ready to make the toast.
"Spread the tomato first… adding some cheese… Stupid old man made me super hungry."
About the already cut peppers… "I guess I 'cut' these vegetables myself."
"Cheating Idiotka." Both Bronya and HoTr say at the same time, causing the teenage Kiana to start berating her companion and HoFi to tuck her tongue out at her fellow Herrscher.
Both Meis giggle seeing her friends 'fighting' each other over smallest things.
"But the onion…" Still, Kiana has to use the knife for the obvious reason. "I guess I still have to cut them myself…"
In one smooth transition of Kiana cutting the onion, the vision changes the time to when she was small and Siegfried is still with her. Due to the cutting onion, her eyes start tearing up. "My eyes… et burn…"
"Please sit down, Ellie." EDEN holds ELYSIA's arm in order to stop her from jumping towards the baby.
"But she's cute!"
"Doesn't mean you can just snatch her from them."
To prove her point, Sirin and both Bellas are holding her defensively.
"Alrighty baby doll, I'll teach you a super secret Kaslana technique!" The older Kaslana gives her a thumbs up, suggesting that he has an idea to fix the problem…
"All your secret techniques are terrible, old man." Which Kiana can clearly see through.
"Just cut the onions with your eyes closed to keep out the burns… AWESOME, RIGHT?"
The PE crew is having a curious yet already knowing look that they can see a disaster about to come.
Otto's trio rubs their eyes, not believing that someone actually believes that method to work without consequences. Not even Kallen herself, even if she doesn't do the cooking too much.
Both Siegfried covers their faces in embarrassment while Cecilia sighs disappointedly.
Sushang swirls one of her hair strands in confusion, not knowing why he thinks it's a good idea to do so.
Susannah is watching expectedly, probably thinking that it works, somehow.
HoV and HoS are ready to laugh at the man's face when the vision shows the result.
The rest sigh…
*SLASH!*
"WHOAH! My finger! It's bleeding! IT'S BLEEDING!"
"I knew it…"
The two Herrschers laugh out loud, causing the man's embarrassment to go deeper.
"How did he think it's a good idea?"
"I guess he's just unique, Seele." The shy one replies, giggling quietly at the man's discomfort.
Rita giggles, not because of the foreseen outcome, but at Susannah who looks depressed, thinking the cooking method is actually legit.
"Typical Kaslana." Ai-chan comments with a giggle.
"Typical Kaslana." Doctor MEI, Yae Sakura, Cecilia, Mei and HoO agree.
"So the Kaslana trait we're talking about…" SU starts.
"Is about them being bad cooks." KOSMA finishes.
"And I thought the story of him gathering soldiers just for a noodle party is just a myth." KALPAS chuckles, remembering such a story.
"I can assure you it's true." The singer, the unfortunate soul that had to get through that, confirms.
"It's not that bad…" It's surprising that the SNEK is the one defending the leader of the group.
"To normal people, it is." SAKURA shakes her head.
"Other than the kids, do we have 'normal' people in here?"
HoTE's question causes all to look around… then shrug their shoulders.
"Exactly my point."
"But KEVIN's noodles are not that bad…"
"And Kiana's toast is good too. I tested it myself." Himeko adds, now remembering that she did get one before.
"Well, I think the Kaslanas aren't that horrible at cooking. Rather, it's because of stupid outcome when they're in the kitchen." HoTE replies. "If it's not their cooking skills, then it's the materials they gather… Or anything unexplainable."
"As much as I don't like slandering someone, she's correct." Cecilia says, much to Siegfried's surprise. "Ziggy, remember the first soup you gave me? It's very cold and sour."
"Oh come on now! You know the conditions I was living in back then!"
"But you could at least heat it up right, Mister?" ELYSIA adds. "You shouldn't treat a girl so cruelly."
"That's not…" He holds his tongue when he sees the stare she gives him. While it's not threatening, it clearly tells that she has every counter for any of his defenses. "Fine, I'm sorry."
"I know you well, Ziggy."
"Superior human-being, humiliated by everyday family tools."
"Hey, what about you, Cap?"
"Didn't exclude myself here, Ai-chan."
"I was always afraid of cutting onions."
The past continues for a second, with Siegfried's finger now bandaged.
"And the old man's stupid advice made it worse."
Washing the knife, Kiana starts cutting the onions.
After sprinkling the onions and the peppers, she starts looking for the bacon but the pack somehow disappears. "Hm? Where did Mei put the bacon? Did someone eat it?" A door suddenly bursts open, Kiana turns to see a drunk Himeko crashing into the room. "Himeko!"
Said teacher blush, not expecting that the vision would show this moment.
"You stayed up drinking again?" The girl's used to the Major's habit as she approaches the woman.
Raising the beer can up, Himeko replies: "Don't stop me, girl! I can have *hiccup* another six pack!"
"Get yourself together!"
"I… I can't imagine Captain doing this…" HUA shakes her head, not believing the one she admired could fall to such a hobby.
"She's a nuisance sometimes…"
"I'm not that bad Hua!"
"But she does have the pride of a Valkyrie. Having a hobby doesn't change that." The two Hua defend the teacher's pride… just a bit.
"Given some of her parallel selves are, I'm not surprised." HoTE speaks after taking a bite of her cake. "And from what I heard, PE's situation is worse than CE, so HIMEKO probably didn't have the luxury to enjoy her hobbies."
'This is the same woman who sealed me…' HoV rubs her eyes, remembering the time she's defeated by her. She then turns to see HoTE giving her a smirk face, so she slaps it away.
After getting the teacher onto the sofa and taking away the empty beer can, Kiana heads back to the kitchen and sees the bacon pack midway.
With the bacon beautifully placed, Kiana starts pulling more cheese out. "The old man isn't here to stop me from adding a ton of cheese…"
"Kiana! Just add a little! We gotta save them for another meal!" Kid Kiana tries to get more cheese into the pizza only for Siegfried to hold it out of her reach.
"It was hard to get cheese back then…" Kiana talks to herself as she places the toast into the microwave and starts it up. "Look, old man, you can get cheese anywhere now…"
"Cheese is not that hard to find, right?" EDEN questions in surprise.
"Well… it was due to the circumstances." The older Siegfried replies. "There were some problems that cut us out from getting resources."
All who know the story stay silent, not wanting to talk about it…
"Watch closely! This is the most crucial step!"
"Wait… is he…"
"Yes, he's using THAT to cook." Teenage Kiana confirms KEVIN's surprise, along with all PE members' stupefied expressions.
Though it's only for a second as ELYSIA starts giggling while KALPAS laughs out loud. "Cooking with that weapon of destruction!? You are mental! I like that!"
"Well, the Oath of Judah is used as a utensil holder in Theresa's case…"
"OI! Don't call me out!"
"And Mei used both of her Thunder and Origins power just to cook dinner. And Kiana used her blade to cook BBQ."
The two girls immediately blush with their hands covering their faces.
"Now now Captain, teasing them is fun, but if there's nothing coming to hand…"
"Hey, if you have power, who can judge you?"
Siegfried pulls the trigger of the gun form of Judgment of Shamash… and both toasts are burnt.
KALPAS laughs a bit louder.
"What reason could you justify using that?" Doctor MEI shakes her head, not knowing if she should laugh or facepalm seeing that.
"I know an earless cat who would bring out a nuke just because of a mouse appearing before him and triggering his PTSD."
"A cat, scared of a mouse!? HAHAHA!"
"Please keep your laugh down, KALPAS." APONIA doesn't really mind the man's behavior, but she notices that the kids are a bit scared of him.
The man eventually calms down, but he still chuckles.
"Such shamelessness."
HoTE's head slowly turns to Dark Seele, and the young girl sees the undeniable evil smirk on her face. "Oh? Who are you to judge us?"
"You dare call me being that low to do such a thing?"
"Oh no no, I would say you know enough to not do what we do." The MC covers her mouth with one of her hands, though it's not enough to hide the obvious smirk getting wider. "But I do have something you wouldn't want to show out."
Veliona instantly pulls out her claws and tries what HoS did earlier, to no results again.
"...Is this normal to you, Cap?"
"Yes." HoTE chuckles much to Ai-chan's surprise.
As kid Kiana looks at Siegfried accusingly, he can only laugh as he tries to cure the burn: "I think this old man burnt the toast. But pizza toast actually tastes better if it's slightly burnt! Hahaha!"
"Burnt is one thing. Charcoal is a different matter." Cecilia's comment causes both Siegfried to scratch their heads and laugh in embarrassment.
"I'm more surprised that everything else survived the fire." KEVIN deadpans.
Back to the present, Kiana starts enjoying the toast when Himeko wakes up thanks to the good smell. Though Kiana handles her some yogurt to deal with the hangover. While the student enjoys her dish, the teacher asks why the toast is burnt. She answers that it's better with a slight burn, reminiscing her better memories in her childhood days.
"AW!"
"Ellie…" Same routine.
"While it has some funny moments…" HoV comments. "It doesn't really show how bad they are at cooking…"
"You sure?" HoTE makes a swipe movement, and the vision is thrown away, replaced with a happy Kallen… holding a ball of white and green.
"AH!" The nun's face brightens like Christmas light, and she immediately hugs her face to hide her embarrassed expression.
"...Right." Yae Sakura lets out a chuckle.
"I take it that it happened when she was with you."
"One of the boat trips on the river, sir Otto. This was when I tried teaching her how to make Onigiri."
"I can imagine her going overboard. This is nothing new." The Overseer lets out a chuckle, making the nun want to find a hole to hide in.
"I have some more…" HoTE swipes her hand again… yet, nothing happens this time. She tries again a few times with no results. "...Huh?"
"Something happens Cap?"
"Not very sure." She gets up and heads to the table to check directly…
When a group of people suddenly drops on her, dropping her face-first to the floor. Almost everyone stands up in surprise, with some ready to fight if they're intruders…
"What the heck? Where are those portals from!?" An irritated voice asks out loud, not expecting what just happened to them.
"Those things feel close to Herrscher of Void's power…" A male voice theorizes.
"Whatever it is, we got dragged through before we could even resist…" A calm voice replies back, and the speaker finally notices the whole group before them. "...Kiana? Mei? Bronya? And… what happened here?" The scenario before her is absurd as she sees some people who are not supposed to be alive standing before them. "...Don't tell me Herrscher of The End somehow returned and killed us all without our noticing?"
"Well…" Phoenix Hua has to stifle a laugh when she says the next words. "If she returns, then thank you for saving us by landing on her."
The rest of the group turn to Hua with confused looks, then finger taps on the floor catch their attention. They turn to see that the person lying underneath them is sending a small glare, causing them to immediately jump away. To their slight horror, the person stands straight up and cracks her neck, revealing the appearance of a person they're afraid of. Without much thinking, the man fires out multiple Key of Reason shots towards the figure, but all collide into a barrier. Before he could do anything further, HoTE immediately teleports them into an empty sofa and disables the man's abilities for a moment.
"...Your sense of humor seriously needs some work." As the man tries to summon his weapons to no success, HoTE flips her front hair strands to the side, stopping them from blocking her view.
"You can't really blame them…"
"Oh, not yours, Hua. I'm talking to the one sending them here. Being a landing pad isn't in my job description." Some chuckle/giggle, seeing the slightly pissed off expression of the woman.
"Sir Welt Yang…" The man turns to see HoTr floating to him. "This person is not HoTE. She was forcefully turned into her… for what reason Bronya does not know."
"Oh I know. To scare the new guys when they come here." HoTE's confirmation causes more chucklings. "Anyway, the man here is Welt Yang, the Second Herrscher of Reason after the original Herrscher of Reason of the Current Era gave his core to him. The girl with red haired is Doctor Frederica Nikola Tesla, and the blue haired girl is Doctor Lieserl Albert Einstein. They belong to Anti-Entropy, an organization also fighting against Honkai but they use advanced technology instead of relying on the Valkyries like Schicksal."
"...What's the meaning of this?" Welt Yang gestures to the whole room. "What do you want to do with us?"
"It's more of what my other self and other Captains want." HoTE shrugs, throwing away the irritated look. "Relax and enjoy, that's all I can tell you now."
"Relax, yeah sure!" Tesla stands up and points a finger towards her. "Like I would believe you!"
"Well… you can ask them." HoTE makes a 'Welcome in' gesture towards the rest of the tables. "If I plan to harm them then they couldn't really be here."
"Bronya can confirm she's not harming us." HoTr reassures the group.
The trio sends a skeptical look towards the MC, but seeing that the others don't seem to be on guard against the person, they drop their suspicion for a moment.
"Good. Now Welt Yang, I have returned your power, but please don't make the weapons. If you do, aim them at me and not the others."
"...Normally you ask people to not aim their weapons at you."
"I'm used to being a damage sponge already, and it's better being me than others, Einstein."
"...Captain, just what kind of world, or worlds, have you gone through?"
"Too many, Ai-chan." Stretching her arms, HoTE changes the subject. "Anyway, let me recheck if…"
Just to interrupt her again, three bottles continuously drop on her head, and the system decides to create the comical sounds, causing many to spurt out some chuckles.
HoO picks both of them up, and reads what's written on them. "...A bleach bottle and a liquid glue bottle… and what's in this last one?"
"...That's a sign alright." HoTE groans.
"Sign? For what?" Siegfried questions, not understanding the situation.
"Well… how do you feel when you see a black cat passing in front of you when you are outside?"
"...What does it have to do with this?" Benares speaks after a long time.
"It's usually associated with good luck." Yae Sakura explains. "And…"
"It's actually bad luck in our culture." Otto interrupts.
"Different cultures aside, it's a sign, and these items dropped by him are guaranteed to be the same. Mei, can you give me the last bottle?" HoO complies and turns it to HoTE. The woman opens the cap and gives it a sniff, then puts a drop in her palm. When it does nothing, she takes a sip from it.
"It could be poison, Cap."
"Knowing that guy, no poisons could be this clear." She replies after taking the sip. A few seconds later… "It's holy water… *Sigh* Yeah."
"Sorry, but I don't believe true Holy Water exists." Einstein comments.
"In your world, no. In worlds where Magic is superior, yes."
"...I take it that it's bad?" SU theorizes.
"It's not just bad… Whatever we're watching next is probably cursed."