28

Chapter 28

The next morning Raynold was already back in his backyard. Meditating on yesterday's events. That silly nagging feeling he had about Rita he could not simply forget about it.

In the end, he needed to utilise his Lotus meditation and ponder on it.

The answer to it was quite simple, yet annoying.

He has a thing for professional and uniformed ladies who do things for him.

It appears not just his memories and drive have transferred over to this world. But, his 'taste' as well.

Though it doesn't help that Rita was just standing behind him and doing nothing. She has been doing that for the past 3 hours.

He woke at 6 and now it was 9 and she has been just standing there the whole time.

"Tell me Valkyrie what is your true goal?"

"So you knew."

"From the very beginning," Raynold said with a matter-of-fact voice.

"...I see…Schicksal wants me to monitor you. Learning anything I can about your character. My personal goals are to grow strong enough to protect humanity. I was inspired by a Valkyrie just like 99% of other girls. The remaining 1% is that girls are born into Valkyrie families, that's if those Valkyries survive long enough to have families see it as a duty."

"Not hiding that you are a spy?"

"I am not mad enough to oppose you if you find out my true nature."

"Your true nature…Hmm… What is your true nature? You are a maid. Do you wish to serve a powerful Lord or are you one of those silly Saints?"

"Silly Saints?"

"People who throw themselves into the fire without training long enough to be strong enough to overcome the fire. Something like what Moths are…"

For a second Rita had a pained smile on her face.

"To be a Valkyrie I need to accept that I may die fighting against Honkai. Me asking you to be trained is a ticket that I may survive longer while fighting against Honkai."

"Oh? You think I will train you for free?" He asked that with an amused tone which made Rita slightly frown and wonder. He never asked anything from her previous understanding of the situation.

"You don't?"

"Of course not. I collect talent. Kitten is my Kitten, while Seele had a stigmata which I studied, now she is like my little sister and I am her Big Brother. Bronya is in a similar boat, she is like family to me. While Mei brought her wealth, connections, and stigmata to the table."

Now that he said that, he realised that Mei's situation is almost like she is his wife… bringing her wealth and stuff to the table… It's like ancient Japanese marriage ceremonies. It was so… On target, he even freaked out internally.

"I see… in that case… I will be your maid."

At that moment Raynold's whole body shook. He nearly lost his concentration and landed on his ass, since he has been floating in Lotus position. Thankfully his back has been facing Rita so she didn't see his expression.

"...You don't mince words."

As he said that he took a deep breath and at that moment he realised that he should face this like a proper warrior.

"I am very serious, my Lord~ and I mean by what I said. I will be your proper maid. To serve a human who conquered HONKAI and became TRUE HERRSCHER will be my greatest honour." She said that with a slightly sultry tone.

Hearing all those sugary words only made him more serious about facing her.

So he landed on the ground and turned around, one of his hands was in a pocket. He looked quite relaxed but at that moment Rita had a few drops of sweat rolling down from her face as he saw her staring at her with his Herrscher eyes.

"Then show it to me. Summon your weapon and attack me with everything you got. I want to see how serious you are. If you are serious enough to leave your cult and serve me."

For a second she closed her eyes and summoned her scythe. This was the first time when Raynold saw cultist weapons. And to say the least, he was impressed by the meticulousness of the cultist crafting.

"You misunderstood something, my Lord. We Valkyries are part of Schicksal because it's the only organisation that had the means to fight off Honkai. This was before you appeared like a saviour."

"...You almost beat me with that cringe alone," Raynold said with quite a disgusted look. Saviour? Him? What crap is that?

"...My apologies. Sometimes 'cringe' is the harsh truth." She smiled before lunging at him with supernatural speed.

Through her eyes widened to a large degree as she realised that he was not defending herself! She was about to stop, but it was too late! but at the same time, she understood that it was not needed as… she saw him sidestep with minimal distance away from her blade. It was an utterly absurdly perfect dodge she has ever saw!

"Your objective is to touch me." He said while his finger poked her cheek.

"If you can do it then I will accept you as my maid."

"...Quite arrogant…even for a Herrscher." The honey-blond maid said with narrowed eyes.

"A 'Herrscher' once said to me as well. It took her a month to touch me." Raynold said with a bright smile which made Rita for a second feel a shiver rushing through her back.

Regardless she swung her scythe in a backhand motion as ice rushed out from her scythe.

"Oh… imitating our concepts. How cute."

"Using Fire to fight against Fire, My Lord. In this case ice." Rita said that as she froze everything around her.

'I see… She is better at fighting on the ice. Let's see just how good.'

As he thought about it the maid rushed forward with greater speed and some serious-looking sharp scythe as a flurry of strokes followed.

He is pretty sure she could have killed a band of Honkai Beasts quite easily. This means this girl is not a greenhorn Valkyrie.

'At what age did she graduate from that place? I am pretty sure she was here for a few years already.'

Raynold had to slightly get more serious as he started to try to dodge.

This lasted for over 5 minutes of intense swinging as Rita started to breathe heavily.

'This…is bad…'

Honestly… This was absurd… She knows she is one of the best Valkyries to graduate! She even trained under Overseer himself!

But in front of this guy…she is like a little girl swinging an oversized weapon!

'Is This the difference in power between a Human and a Herrscher?'

For a second she pulled back and straightened her back. There was resolve in her eyes.

There is no way in hell she will give up just like that! The goal is for her attack to reach him. By any means necessary!

So she swung her scythe through the ground and created several ice rocks before using them as bullets she started to send them at him.

Raynold who saw this slightly raised his eyebrow and dodged all of them with hands behind his back.

"Not the first time I have to do that. Mei used actual thunder strikes. And Kitten tried to pin me down to the—"

At that moment the ground froze with his legs.

"Cute."

At that moment Rita appeared in front of him and tried to make him lose his footing.

Though she didn't expect him to just…move an entire block of ice.

Her mouth slightly opened wide when she was him, easily pulling out hundreds of kilos of dirt if not more.

'He is not even trying!'

Before once again he appeared in front of her and this time squeezed her nose.

"Not a bad trick, but you were just a second too late.".

Rita for a second looked quite serious as she ignored his poke at her. This was not the first time someone tried to rile her up.

But maids are supposed to be professional no matter the circumstances.

Though that moment she got a certain glint in her eyes.

'This is the only way I could win this…'

The honey-blond maid remembered yesterday's circumstances. How mechanical he was when she was next to him and was acting quite sultry.

He might be the strongest Herrscher, but he was still a man!

Sure enough, once again Rita got very serious as if she was preparing herself for one last try.

Raynold nodded at her before motioning to come at him.

Seeing the invitation clearly, she lunged at him.

Though midway she threw her scythe away which confused him for a bit before.

Then…

She just threw herself at him.

Which only made him even more confused!!!

Then she pretended to fall…bad… on him.

Without even thinking Raynold caught her.

And this was where Rita grinned from ear to ear. Hugging him in the process.

She ended up kissing him on the cheek like a proper lady who was caught by her 'knight'.

"My deepest gratitude to my dashing knight." She said cheekily as her finger poked his cheek.

This was where he just sighed as he realised that he had lost this one.

Instead, he just hugged her waist.

"...I guess I lost this one."

"Hmm…your rules were extremely simple. You should be more specific in the future." She explained with a small smile.

"I guess I should. Since you won, you will be my maid."

This made her smile even more.

"Yes, my Lord~"

The honey blond said that with a cuddle.

Though this didn't last for very long as…

"AHhhhh!!! Rita!!! What are you doing with Ray!??" Kiana roared like a lion as she appeared in front of them there was a trail of small orange cubes. She just used her void to accelerate herself and appear in front of them.

"Oh, Kiana. I just won and became his maid."

"...Won? Impossible! Are you even Herrscher!? How can you WIN!? IS IT EDIBLE!?" At that moment her blue eyes were spinning in confusion! What is WIN!? She never won! Well, she WON a couple of times. But that was because Raynold allowed it.

"...No, I just touched him. Well, more like hugging him."

"GAHH! You cheated!"

"In life and death battles there is no such thing."

"...Y-You Valkyries… Are cheats!!!" Kiana shook her head and she was quite pissed, well… I'm very pissed.

"Maybe? But now I am his maid." Once again she snuggled into Raynold who didn't know how to proceed. He is going to need to meditate on this.

"..."

Kiana that moment stomped for a bit before disappearing in a burst of black and orange.

"...Where did she disappear to?" For a second Rita was worried. After all, the girl was a Herrscher.

"... Let's see…"

Raynold spread his senses. At that moment he felt something very heavy drop in the Sahara Desert.

"She is in Africa, slaughtering whatever is left from Honkai Beasts.

*Sigh*

I was safe keeping those…" Raynold said with a sigh. He was stashing those over there just so that he could use them as target practice for his void power practice.

"...Impressive range of travel…"

"It's not bad, she can't circle the whole globe in a single go, yet. But, she is quite close to doing it." He explained to the maid. The honey-blond scythe user was STILL hugging him and he was hugging her back. Which made Kiana pissed in the first place, not the fact that she was his maid…

"...By the way, when are you planning to let me go?" Raynold asked her with a curious tone. Though he was still hugging her.

"Same can be said about you, my Lord~ I am just doing what you are doing." Rita teased him.

"But, you are the one who started it." The teen swiftly countered.

"And you are the one who answered it." She said with a smug look.

"...I suppose you are right."