". . . This does not suit me in the slightest."

"What're you talking about! It fits you like a--"

"Like a claustrophobic fat man who had inhaled methamphetamine for the 5th time."

". . . What an odd but seemingly accurate simile."

The priest wore a skintight suit that was too tight on the boy that it made breathing very difficult, with Himeko overlooking the boy. Despite being tasked as the 'assistant captain', it was the secretary that was more in line with such an occupation. Instead, the boy played as the errand boy/guard, as Himeko assigned him to be, much to the boy's disappointment.

He truly thought he had some skill as an assistant captain, due to his non-existent charisma and non-existent handsome looks. He was good looking, but not on the level of being extremely charming, and more often than not, people had the capability to mistake him as a girl now, which he disliked.

Must the difference of tradition in Japan and Europe, the boy assumed.

"Can I not wear this into battle? This is too tight and does not help me in battle," the boy inquired.

"Then what're you gonna wear when we need to deploy you? You need protection," Himeko replied.

"You're saying that as if my life isn't expendable."

That seem to hit one of Himeko's buttons, as she proceeded to grab the boy's collar and slammed him to the wall.

"So you think your life is nothing more than just that?! An expendable resource?!" She exclaimed, silencing any chatter in the Hyperion as her voice echoed through it. The only other faint noise heard other than from Himeko's office was from the hub, where the crew members continuously type on the keyboard in a feverous attempt in obtaining data and sending it to Shicksal's database. Soren seemed surprised at the woman's sudden outburst, before smiling soon after.

"I am quite happy that you do not think human lives as expendable."

Surprised at the boy's smile and statement, she soon let go of him, calming herself down. All the while the boy took off the suit, showing off red marks as a result of the suit, while also being almost naked if not for the existence of his white boxers.

"Well, what did you expect? You have much to live for. Speaking of, why exactly did you accept Bishop Otto's order to become my assistant when I have my own secretary? Isn't that just a conflict of jobs?" Himeko asked, ignoring the fact that there was a borderline naked boy that was dressing up in his priest getup so casually in front of her.

"It may seem so. And I do have places to take care of."

"If so--"

"But I only had them if I did not ask for Bishop's help. He accepted, under the condition that I. . ." The boy let Himeko knew what he wanted to say.

". . . Accept his offer of fighting against the Honkai."

"Correct. He knew of my resistance against the Honkai, or rather, he knew me since way back, way back when I was born."

"You two must have some sort of history together."

"Only when I turned 6. That is where he arrived and saved me."

"Personally?"

"Yes."

"I see. Did you prepare your weapons?"

"You gave me those, thinking that it was an appropriate weapon for me to wield."

Glancing to the side, the two saw a halberd with only one side having the head of an axe, and a revolver that seem rather antique with a chain taped onto the hilt.

Yes, taped. As if it would have any use for the boy whatsoever.

"Right. We di--"

"Madam! We detect a large Honkai energy in the middle of Nagazora City!" The secretary burst open the door, cutting off Himeko. The two turned to look at each other.

"Is it a Herscherr?" Himeko questioned.

"It is. You have to see her."

Soren took hold of the spear and revolver, hastily wrapping the chain on his left shoulder, before following the two to the hub.

'I am impressed by how fast they run in their outfits.'

Did I forgot to mention that the secretary was in military outfit and Himeko still wore her date dress and yet the boy only managed to catch up slightly?

.

"That's the Herscherr?"

The three stared at one of the screens that appeared. On it was video of a girl with jet black hair with wings materialized out of Honkai energy, holding onto a girl with white hair. There was blood aplenty on her back and the two wore similar school uniforms but with different color schemes, which may insinuate a different in school years.

To the boy, they seem almost like ordinary students.

"Prepare for suppressive fire!"

"I shall be outside."

"No, you stay, Soren."

Taken aback by Himeko's sudden order, the boy shook his head.

"I will not stay here and do nothing. I have done enough of that already."

And with that, the boy left, much to the dismay of Himeko, before seeing that the girl had electricity all around her.

"PREPARE THE DEFENSIVE FORCE FIELDS!!!"

.

BOOM!!

The Hyperion shook, causing the boy to stagger ever so slightly, before he grit his teeth and continued onwards. He didn't plan to back out now, not when he wanted to prove himself that he wasn't just there to be an errand boy. Warnings began blaring through the hallway he was running in, with red lights accompanying the fanfare of these warnings.

"Warning, warning. 40% external damage detected."

"For God's sake, please let such a damage not be crucial."

Soon, he found the way to the runway and opened the door, revealing the runway to be in quite a mess.

Simply put, 1/3rd of the entire surface was on fire.

Seeing this damage, the boy now knew the gravity of the situation, and decided that this fight was no joke whatsoever.

"For whoever this woman is, she is extremely powerful."

Running past the fiery destruction, he stopped in his tracks when he felt a surge of electricity was about to come down in front of him.

In a speed of light, a jagged flash of light appeared before him before disappearing as quickly as he saw it, causing him to look up onto the source of the light.

". . . You."

"Well well well. Looks like an ant has arrived."

Something about her voice made the boy feel a bit annoyed, despite the fact that he was unable to understand a single thing she was saying to him. The Herscherr flew above him, having a single wing of pure white that contrasted with the dark sky. Pulling out his revolver, he hastily unloaded them all onto the girl, who simply deflected off the bullets effortlessly with her lightning. Seeing this predicament, the boy prepared himself for the worst.

He didn't quite expect the girl to suddenly charge up for a beam, and he could do nothing to stop it.

"Die, you worm."

With a gesture of her hand, a large beam of electricity poured out, and the boy, without time to react. . .

Himeko arrive just in time to use her broadsword to parry the beam away from the two with the side of the sword.

There she stood in a prototype Battlesuit, aptly named, Nuclear Burst, due to it connected to a thick wire to the nuclear reactor in the Hyperion. It covered her whole body, except for the mid-chest area, and had a visor that covered her eyes. The armor itself was red in color, and the sword's color was no different, and yet, it was able to parry against the electric beam. Soren could see Himeko struggling ever so slightly against the beam, and at this point, the boy felt like he had to do something to help out.

And so, he proceeded to unload all the used bullet casings in the cylinders and took out several bullets with red colours on it for convenient inference.

"Himeko, I shall assist you."

The boy's sudden declaration took her off guard, before she noticed the boy grabbing the sword beside her with a hand, and the other on the other flat surface of the sword that pushed back against the beam. And yet she felt like the beam would result in a temporary stalemate due to the nature of the battlesuit being nuclear powered and had limited amount of power before the juice runs out.

"Hey, I. . . I don't have enough power in this clunky thing to keep going. "

"I shall take your place."

The boy's straightforward response surprised her so much that she didn't notice the boy switched the position of the sword to a more comfortable method, where the sword was now horizontal, and hence easier to have control against.

Suddenly, they heard something they didn't quite expect to hear from the direction of the Herscherr.

"GIVE ME BACK MEI!!"

Hearing such an anguished scream, the beam soon dissipated slowly, and the two soon saw the two girls, unconscious on the sky.

And the two then noticed that they were about to fall thousands of feet from the sky.

Noticing the turn of events, the boy's protective instinct kicked in, as he ripped the tape off of the chain and revolver, wrapped the chain around his waist hastily, and gave one end to Himeko, who seemed confused until she saw the boy running and jumping off the Hyperion to catch the two.

. . . .

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it was for you to do that?!" Himeko reprimanded after taking her armor off and was now in a military uniform. In short, the boy was able to grab hold onto the two girls, and had Himeko pull him back up onto the Hyperion once again. The white haired girl was sent straight to the infirmary for a quick medical emergency, while the girl, unharmed from any sort of visible pain, was sent away to be isolated from any contact for the time being.

"I know."

"And you decided to throw yourself off the Hyperion to save them?!"

"It was worth it."

"Would it be worth it if I let go of the chain?"

"You would not."

"How would you know that?"

"I trust you. Fully."

His surprisingly straightforward answer caused Himeko to flinch, before she coughed out blood, covering her mouth with her gloved hand. Realising this, he immediately became worried as he took a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing the blood from the corner of her lips.

"It seems like you are facing the effects of the artificial stigmata," the boy stated, surprising her even more.

"How do you know this?" She asked, as the boy wiped away the blood on her gloves.

"Theresa offhandedly mention such a thing to me," the boy replied. Realising this, she slowly let out a chuckle.

"I guess you know how long I'm gonna last, right?"

"I do not, but it may not be any longer than several years."

"Correct."

After wiping off the blood from the glove, the boy backed away and smiled towards her.

"Well, so long you are living your life the way you want, I will not stop you," the boy stated, smiling softly once again.

"You. . . You're not gonna rant me about my life choices?"

"Why would I? You are the captain, I am simply your assistant. Whatever choices you make, I shall support you."

Seeing the boy's smile made her shake her head.

"You're taking the assistant captain role a little too seriously, aren't you?"

"Maybe I am. But that will not stop me from being able to support you."

". . . Hm. . ."

Suddenly, Himeko began to consider Soren as a potential candidate, but she made sure to put that thought to the back of her head. For now, she had to prioritize on giving Theresa the information about the two.

"Soren, can you come with me to Theresa's office?"

"Whatever you request, I will follow suit."

"What a nice assistant. If only you were older."

"If you wish to date me, I will allow it."

"Wha--"

She blushed out of embarrassment.

"F-forget it!!"