Evan reached out and touched the pained Fu Hua, simultaneously pressing the button on the virtual interface.
The answer to this multiple-choice question had been determined from the very beginning. Let alone the 10,000 gold coins Evan had accumulated in just two days—even if that amount were multiplied by ten, as long as Evan had it, he would use it without hesitation.
Evan had not forgotten the reason he desired power—to preserve himself and to change tragedies.
Now, Evan already possessed decent capital. Even with an S-rank Valkyrie as an opponent, if he deployed all his trump cards, Evan didn't believe he would lose. So, should he continue preparing for a future that had not yet arrived and watch Fu Hua endure this pain that wouldn't threaten her life?
Actually, there was no need to think at all.
"Ngh..."
Fu Hua, who had been enduring the familiar pain and transformed from the dashing, cool Class Monitor into a pitiful girl crouched with her head in her hands, felt a warm force flowing through her mind, smoothing out the pain.
The source of that force was very clear. It appeared only when Evan touched her.
"What... did you do?"
"Helped a girl who was suffering."
Such an answer made Fu Hua both laugh and cry, but after her eyes met Evan's, in wordless exchange, she seemed to understand something.
Regarding the 3rd Eruption, Theresa had concealed a lot of information, revealing nothing to anyone except those who directly participated—Himeko Murata, Raiden Mei, and others—including Fu Hua, who had previously been trusted.
Theresa's primary goal was to hide Evan's achievement as the one who ended the 3rd Eruption. The secondary goal was to conceal Raiden Mei's identity as the 3rd Herrscher. When necessary, to create a diversion and attract attention, the intelligence about the secondary goal could be exposed to Schicksal.
After all, Anti-Entropy surely knew Raiden Mei's identity. What St. Freya Academy needed to do was simply protect Raiden Mei's safety and prevent her from being viewed with strange eyes.
Originally, in Fu Hua's understanding, the 3rd Eruption was ended by St. Freya Academy. She was a bit surprised because a Herrscher shouldn't be quickly defeated by an A-rank Valkyrie plus a single aerial battleship. But after learning from Schicksal that the 3rd Herrscher was an artificially induced abnormal Herrscher, Fu Hua felt everything made sense.
However, at this moment, Fu Hua finally realized something was off.
Raiden Mei, Kiana, and Bronya—these girls who personally experienced the 3rd Eruption—all showed an extremely high degree of affection and trust toward Evan.
Not just Fu Hua, but even other students in the class noticed this to some extent.
Everyone assumed it was because of Evan's male identity. Young boys and girls facing disaster together, then developing feelings and bonds for each other—isn't that natural?
Before this, Fu Hua also thought it was natural.
But it shouldn't be trust.
Trust is something that appears when one is deeply troubled and the other party shows a reliable side.
The trust the three girls showed toward Evan indicated the role he played in the 3rd Eruption.
He absolutely wasn't the one being protected. Before the 3rd Herrscher Raiden Mei, Kiana who inherited the Kaslana name, and Bronya with her Heavy Bunny 19C, Evan played the role of protecting others.
At this moment, Fu Hua reached a conclusion. Looking at this person before her who was very good at hiding things—who, although displaying high combat power in practical courses, essentially hadn't reached an overly exaggerated level—Fu Hua's heart was somewhat complex.
"I'll keep it secret. Both the means you just used and other things."
"Mhm."
No excessive questioning, no distrustful interrogation. A very straightforward promise, and a very brief answer.
This was a very high degree of understanding. Perhaps it was created when the two fought side-by-side in the arcade earlier?
Fu Hua didn't know whether to be touched or amused by the current situation.
What casual friendship. In a sense, it could be considered "friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water." After all, the two of us have no exaggerated bonds, yet we have this level of trust.
She understood a little bit why Kiana and the others trusted Evan so much.
Fu Hua stared at Evan for a while, then spoke.
"Do you remember what you said earlier? That if one is strong enough, sacrifices won't be necessary when facing the Honkai?"
"Mhm, of course. I'm not the type to speak rashly."
Not speaking rashly, huh...
"If we use a truly mature Herrscher as a reference point—for example, the 2nd Herrscher—how long would it take you to reach that level?"
Fu Hua didn't believe Evan, who said such things, was the type to rely on others. She wanted to test it.
Just as Evan said, Schicksal in the past couldn't even kill giant Honkai Beasts, but now they could not only kill them but also covet the power of Herrschers. She herself had always been plagued by headaches; even with various medical means, it couldn't be treated or alleviated. But Evan changed that.
Then, could the future truly change as Evan said?
Fu Hua didn't believe it, but she indeed felt a trace of hope. This trace of hope wasn't enough to make her defect and destroy the plan proposed by Schicksal Overseer Otto, but it was enough for her to find ways to delay some time and see whether Evan was just speaking rashly or not.
Evan guessed a portion of the subtext in Fu Hua's words.
"It won't be too long. So, just let things take their natural course."
Now, the time Evan had been at St. Freya Academy was only about half a month. Very short. However, in such a short time, he had repaired Himeko Murata's artificial stigmata, soothed Fu Hua's headache, and beyond that, collected all three Hannah stigmata and strengthened one of them to max-level three stars.
The 10,000 gold coins he kept wasn't prepared in advance considering Fu Hua's headache problem; it was simply because evolving a two-star Hannah stigma to three stars required 20,000 gold coins.
Evan's strength was increasing far faster than when he was in Nagazora City. Even with the 2nd Herrscher as his goal, the time needed to reach a level comparable to or even surpassing her might not be too long.