Chapter 200: Mei: Is this... your first encounter with Kevin?

Elysia, "If you're not convinced, you can try surpassing me?"

"That probably won't be necessary. Look, your 'competitor' has already appeared."

Scar swiped in the air, pulling up the training pod records. For the first time, the number "2" was written next to Elysia's name.

Elysia blinked, a trace of surprise flashing in her eyes, "The one ranked first is... a name I've never seen before. A newcomer?"

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"This is also my first time seeing him. I heard that a strange guy joined MOTHs recently, and his reason for joining was... his little girlfriend? That's so interesting. Maybe it's him? Haha... ha? Cough cough!"

Scar chuckled, but when he noticed Elysia's slightly narrowed gaze, he suddenly realized—the girl in front of him had also joined because of... her little boyfriend.

Quickly stopping his laughter, he patted the mysterious man's shoulder and winked.

"■■, you're pretty impressive. Really making us men proud."

The mysterious man held his forehead, "....Scar, Elysia and I are not in that kind of relationship."

Scar, "I understand."

Elysia marveled, "Wow, I really envy that girl. How romantic! I'd love to meet him and his girlfriend."

Scar, "Isn't tonight the organization's 'Traditional Night'? The newbie shouldn't be absent, right? Since you're so interested, why not look for him at the ball?"

Elysia, "Hmm... Then I have to prepare properly. Since it's a ball, I should find a dance partner, right?"

Saying this, Elysia poked the unmoved mysterious man beside her.

Mysterious man, "I can't dance."

Elysia, "I can teach you~ Remember to dress up nicely when you go back. Tonight, I want to see a handsome and charming ■■~?"

Mysterious man, "I haven't agreed yet."

...

Elysia, "A ball... I've already thought of over a dozen outfits, but I guess I need to try them on to decide?"

"Which dress should I wear? Something extravagant, like this trailing gown? Or something elegant, like this backless evening dress—wait, is that too bold?"

Knock knock knock knock knock—

Elysia, "Hmm? Who could it be? Wait... no, he wouldn't be so polite as to knock."

Elysia opened the door.

Mobius angrily shouted: "E-ly-sia—!"

Elysia smiled sweetly, "Ah... it's Dr. Mobius. Your dark circles seem even worse than two days ago. You need to rest more."

Mobius, "Stop putting weird things in my wardrobe—!"

Mobius threw a pile of clothes at her, then slammed the door shut in frustration.

Elysia picked up the clothes from the floor, looking regretful, "Aww, Dr. Mobius is still so shy. I even prepared these clothes for her out of kindness. She should try something different once in a while."

"...Huh? This one is... hmm, good idea! I'll wear this to the banquet!"

Elysia changed into the outfit, looked at herself in the mirror, and nodded in satisfaction, "I wonder what ■■ will wear. Will he be surprised to see me like this? I'm looking forward to it~"

That night, at the banquet hall.

Young woman A, "Wow, the food here is amazing! Way better than my training school!"

Young man A, "Look, there's champagne too!"

Young woman A, "What are you thinking? There are minors here. No way they're serving alcohol—it's sparkling water."

Young man A, "Huh? How boring."

Elysia, dressed as a maid, "Excuse me... would you like some drinks?"

Young man A, "Ah... thank you."

Young woman A, "...Weren't you just complaining that it was boring?"

Elysia, "No need to thank me. Seeing how much you're eating, you must be thirsty. Here, take these."

Elysia carried a tray and moved through the crowd.

She puffed her cheeks, feeling a little aggrieved, 'How annoying. Standing up a beautiful girl like me... If I find you, you're in trouble.'

'Oh well, I should look for that new recruit first.'

Young woman B, "...Wow... I didn't expect the MOTHs' banquet to be this formal. Even the maids serve drinks."

Elysia looked at the girl thoughtfully, thinking to herself, 'She doesn't recognize me. She must be new. But the one I'm looking for... judging by the name, it should be a boy, right?'

Mature man B, "...That maid, no matter how you look at her, is clearly a powerful warrior."

Elysia, 'This one has a strong presence... but he doesn't seem like a rookie. Maybe he's transferred from another base?'

Young woman C, "...Excuse me, have you seen a young man with white hair?"

Elysia's eyes lit up, 'Ooh, they're talking about girls here, so I won't interrupt. But that purple-haired girl... she's quite pretty. I'll remember her.'

A familiar voice spoke from right in front of her, "Who's the beautiful girl you've got your eyes on this time?"

Elysia's face lit up with joy as she quickly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the mysterious man's, "You're here! I almost thought you were going to stand me up. Not bad, you look pretty handsome~"

The mysterious man pulled away from Elysia's embrace, straightened his clothes, and simply responded, "Mm."

Uneasy man C, "...Might as well sneak into the archives and check directly..."

The mysterious man and Elysia exchanged glances.

Exhausted man D, "...Forget it... just leave it to fate."

Uneasy man C, "Things outside are getting worse by the day. It's already the 'third time'... At this rate, we won't be able to hide it for much longer..."

Exhausted man D, "And you still worry about this... does it even matter? Do you think it's your concern...?"

"Look, isn't it better to be like them? Just throw these problems away... just 'celebrate' like nothing ever happened."

...

Elysia murmured with concern, "...■■, can we really win against Honkai?"

Mysterious man, "..."

"Whoa, careful!"

A strong, clear voice rang out. Hearing it, the mysterious man instinctively wrapped an arm around Elysia's waist and caught the tray of drinks.

He let go of Elysia, placed the tray on a nearby table, and handed two drinks to the white-haired young man.

"Elysia, don't get distracted while walking."

Elysia apologized, "Sorry, I almost bumped into you just now."

The white-haired young man took the drink and stammered nervously, "N-No... it's my fault for standing in the way here."

Then, he turned to the mysterious man and thanked him, "Thank you for the sparkling water, senior. I was feeling a bit thirsty. I didn't expect you'd come to the banquet too."

Mysterious man, "No need to thank me. If it weren't for someone's invitation, I'd probably be at home playing games right now."

Elysia stuck out her tongue playfully, then curiously asked the white-haired young man, "Oh? How do you two know each other?"

Mysterious man, "I met him a few months ago on a mission. He seemed promising, so I brought him in."

The white-haired young man raised his sparkling water and made a toast to the mysterious man, "Speaking of which, I still have to thank you, senior. Otherwise, Mei and I would've been separated."

Mysterious man returned the toast, "No need. Even without me, you could've joined MOTHs through the official recruitment process."

White-haired young man, "Ah, right! Senior, have you seen Mei?"

Mysterious man, "Sorry, I just arrived."

Elysia raised her hand, "You can tell me! Maybe I've seen her."

White-haired young man, "Hmm... She has purple hair and might be wearing glasses. Have you seen her?"

"...Sorry, I just joined recently. This is my first time at an event like this, so I'm a bit nervous."

Elysia pointed to where she had seen the purple-haired girl earlier, "A girl with purple hair... I did see one, I think over..."

The white-haired young man scratched his head, "Wow! Thanks so much. Oh, by the way, I haven't introduced myself yet... how rude of me."

Kevin, "My name is 'Kevin.' A new recruit in MOTHs. And you?"

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"So... this was your first encounter with Kevin?" Mei asked Elysia standing next to her.