Honkai Impact 3: Noah's Ark

13: 《Developments》

《Saturday 7:30 PM Present Day》

"You're the second, you're the third," Theresa said with a smile. Noah had found her waiting for them at the doorstep of a bathhouse inn. She was accompanied by Himeko, and both of them were dressed in blue-and-white striped Japanese yukatas-ones designed more specifically for bathing.

They found the inn a few minutes after they found traces of civilization. What had set them off was a provincial road at the side of a mountain, made clear by the large electric fence and lampposts that ran alongside it. The two groups had to walk along the base of the cliff to find an entrance, then climb the rock face at that point. Additionally, the gate was encrypted with a passcode, and Kiana spent twenty minutes burning the sunset light until Noah took over, inputted 5 digits seemingly at random, then somehow opened it on the first try. Few cars passed by, and every time they did, they all rolled down their windows to gawk at the Valkyries. The moment they saw the dark silhouette of the inn, Kiana and Éclair had jumped for joy while Jenny fell to her knees. Noah had chuckled, then was silenced when the girls collectively glared at him.

Theresa patted all the girls as medical personnel came out of the building and took each one of them inside for a medical checkup. When she faced Noah, she gave a him a half-nod-half-bow.

"Thanks for taking care of the girls," she said. Behind her, Himeko nodded in agreement.

"It was nothing ma'am," the boy replied.

The 40-year-old beamed at him warmly. "Well said. Welcome to the Valhala Inn."

The boy studied the English plaque. "A Schicksal-affiliated commercial establishment?"

"Well, it's not like Shicksal can only depend on governments and sponsorships to fund itself, you know?" Theresa said, shrugging. Then, she sighed. "This one was built together with Saint Freya you know? It's run by former Shicksal employees and Valkyries and alumni of my school! The Graduation Trek is a tradition that we've done every year since then to serve as both training and recreation!"

She puffed and beat against her virtually nonexistent breast proudly.

The boy turned to the road. "Will we be using the same route to return, ma'am!"

Himeko burst into giggles and the principal's ears turned red. "Of course not! It defeats the purpose of going to an Onsen if you're just going to get dirty right after you know!"

"That's a good one, Noah" the Lieutenant-Commander said as she calmed.

Noah frowned. "What's a good one, ma'am?"

It seemed like whatever he said was even funnier as the woman began clutching the sides of her stomach as she was attacked by giggles and gagging. Even Theresa began shaking as her face fought between a wild grin and a civil smile.

"Anyway," the principal said, cutting the moment short. "It's time you get inside and have yourself looked at. Dinner's at eight. Apparently, there's only so much time a single boy can have at an inn full of girls, so you have about thirty minutes to wash up before it switches over."

Noah nodded and stepped past the two. It was warmer inside. Soft lighting ran along the ceiling of the hallways, casting the rest of the building in warmth in addition to the easy-to-look-at beige, cream, and browns of the walls and floor. Employees passed him by, mostly dressed in black Japanese working kimonos, and most of them were women, and they all stared at him with looks ranging from pity to disgust and to mischief. A white-clad woman walked up to him, bowed, and asked him to follow her, and led him to a small infirmary where he waited in line for the girls before him.