Facing everyone's scrutinizing gazes, Sirin's face instantly turned red.
"I... I'm here because... because…"
Speaking up to this point, Sirin seemed to remember something, suddenly lifted her head and looked toward Van, loudly saying,
"I came here because Brother Van called me! And then, all those things just now, sending everyone's personal belongings to his room, that was because he told me to do it!"
Looking at Sirin throwing caution to the wind, Van couldn't help but laugh.
"Sirin, do you really think such a simple setup and frame job is going to convince anyone?"
Who doesn't know my character, Van?
But then, when Van turned his head to look, what he saw were the subtle expressions of the four girls.
'Wait, girls! You seriously believe that?'
And what was even harder for Van to accept was…
Raiden Mei cleared her throat, her cheeks slightly red, and said, "Actually... if it's Van… then maybe…"
Van, '???'
Seeing the playful expressions on everyone's faces, Van suddenly stopped laughing.
After some explanations, everyone finally understood the whole story.
In summary, tsundere pufffish Sirin had said she wouldn't come, but her body had been pretty honest and followed along anyway.
And not only had she come, but she'd been here all day.
It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say Sirin might know better than Van and the others what they'd done throughout the day.
In the end, when Sirin heard Van was going to bathe in the couples' hot spring with Fu Hua, she got anxious and tried to stop it.
Hearing this, Van interrupted, "Speaking of which… as the person involved, how come I didn't know anything about this 'couples' hot spring' thing?"
Upon hearing that, Fu Hua's face turned red again.
Ivana, meanwhile, curled her lip with disdain, "What, from the sound of it, old geezer, are you thinking of turning down such a great thing?"
To that, Van wisely shut his mouth and stopped talking.
After the whole farce, everyone finished dinner.
Unfortunately, the couples' hot spring discount slot had long since passed.
In the end, the girls decided to go to the women's bath together, leaving Van to head to the men's bath alone.
Looking around the once-bustling room now empty except for himself, Van subconsciously sighed.
But soon after, he felt like this might actually be a pretty decent outcome.
After all, bathing in a couples' hot spring was still a little too risky for him.
To prevent his story from being 404'd due to a "fatal mistake," Van decided it was better to soak in the hot spring alone.
After a quick freshen-up, Van arrived at the men's bath entrance.
Pushing open the wooden door, what came into view was a large bathhouse filled with swirling steam.
At the center of the bath, a blond man with his upper body exposed was leaning back and relaxing.
The blond man turned his head at the sound, and when he saw Van, raised his eyebrows with amusement.
"How'd you end up soaking in the hot spring alone?"
To that, Van shot back bluntly, "Soaking alone is still better than being someone who got his wife stolen by a fox spirit, right?"
Hearing that, Otto's face instantly dropped, and the next second, he turned red-hot.
In a rush, he started shouting something like "They're just normal friends," "The past doesn't matter," and "If you love her, you choose to forgive her", words that didn't make much sense.
Which caused Van to burst out laughing. The air in and around the hot spring was filled with joy.
The steam from the bath rose just like Otto's blood pressure as it slowly swirled between the two.
Looking at Van's familiar and punchable face, Otto was choked for a while, unable to speak.
In the end, he could only turn his anger into action and splashed a handful of hot water toward Van.
"Why didn't I notice before that your mouth is this vicious?" Otto leaned back against the edge in tactical retreat. "If I'd known earlier, I would've scammed you a few more times."
After wiping the hot water from his face, Van scooped up a handful of water and splashed it back.
"Did you not scam me enough already?" Van shrugged. "And back then, you were the Overseer of Schicksal, who dared talk back to you with all that authority?"
Hearing that, Otto suddenly laughed, "But now look at us, one's telling Bible stories to kids at an orphanage, the other's swimming in a sea of high school knowledge."
"By the way, after seeing your own past actions in that exposed video, how did you feel?" Van asked.
Otto paused, then gave a helpless smile.
"To be honest, after seeing what I did in those videos, I wanted to kill myself."
Van raised an eyebrow. "Not a shred of hesitation?"
"None." Otto shook his head.
Van, "And now?"
"Still the same." After a pause, Otto added, "But even so, I don't regret the things I did back then."
"Otto Apocalypse, you really are still dangerous," Van teased. "But luckily, in this world, there's no Honkai. You didn't lose Kallen either."
"So, my old friend, I owe you a formal thank you."
The frivolity on Otto's face vanished instantly, replaced by sincere seriousness.
"Thank you for rebooting the world. Being able to live an ordinary life with Kallen every day, was something I never even dared to dream of before."
"Cut the cheesy talk," Van waved him off. "It makes me feel like you're about to trick me again."
"My old friend, that really hurts~ Am I really that untrustworthy to you?"
Otto's face was full of innocence, but Van knew he was acting.
Van didn't respond to Otto's words and instead changed the topic, "So, do you know the meaning behind me bringing three bottles of wine to your grave?"
Hearing that, Otto paused, then burst into hearty laughter.
Infected by Otto, Van also laughed aloud.
After laughing for a bit, Otto suddenly asked, "Theresa… how's she doing now?"
"She's the principal at St. Freya Academy, very loved by the students," Van recalled. "But her daily routine's still the same, likes slacking off in the office reading manga, and among all vegetables, only eats bitter melon…"
Hearing that, Otto's expression turned complicated, "Already such a grown adult, and still doesn't know how to take care of herself."
"After all, the grandpa who used to handle everything for her is no longer around." Van gave Otto a glance. "You used to even iron the lace trim on her little skirts yourself."
Otto fell silent for a while and finally sighed.
"She needs to learn to be independent."
Even though Otto said that out loud, Van still caught the worry flashing in his eyes.
Just like any parent who says they hope their child becomes independent, yet still gets conflicted about whether that child is doing okay afterward.
"Wanna go see her?" Van asked.
Otto replied vaguely, "If I have time… I will…"
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