In the training room of Zeno's underground base outside of Kuoh Town, the three fallen angel maids are currently sparing with each other, or to be more accurate, they are bullying the smallest one in the pretext of evasion training as they keep hurling attack spells and light spear at her. The training room was quite lively with explosions and screaming noises.
"Kya!"
Charmie yelps as she dodges a volley of Touki's bullets that shoot at her. Leila who has a small smile on her face keeps casting various attack spells and shooting them all at the running Charmie. Noa also occasionally throws in a conjured light spear at her to keep her moving.
"Move! Move! Do you want to die?!"
"Kyaaa?!"
Noa yells at Charmie with undisguised glee in her voice as the light spear almost pierces Charmie's little butt. She was fortunately quick enough to avoid that tragedy.
"You bitch...!"
Charmie yelled back and turned to Noa with a glare that ended up triggering Noa.
"Huh? What did you say?!"
With a vein on her temple, Noa cast a big fireball spell and threw it at Charmie's face in anger.
"Kyaaaa!"
Charmie quickly dodged the fireball and ran around the training ground as more attacks flew at her mercilessly. She has been bullied a lot lately by her sisters since the time she came back from her date with her Master.
"Stay still you little...!"
"Aren't we doing an evasion training?!"
Asia watched the three maids "training" with a bit of concern before she turned to Zeno who was cultivating his Touki as he levitated from the ground in a meditation pose while a black purplish aura emitted from his body as it distorted the space around him.
Zeno opened his eyes as the Touki aura faded away. Zeno then fell down to the ground as he stood on his feet steadily. He exhales as he feels the powerful Touki energy contending inside his body. He noted that the quality and quantity of his Touki are increasing by around 20% with every cultivation he goes through. Soon his Touki cultivation will advance to the next stage.
"Here, Zeno-san."
Seeing him finally done with cultivation, Asia walked towards him and handed him a bottle of water like she usually did. Zeno smiled at her and took the bottle. He uncaps the bottle and drinks all of the water in one go before he throws it in a trash bin near the entrance. Then Zeno started teaching Asia hand-to-hand combat step by step as he adjusted her stance. Asia is visibly improving but not enough to be considered a combatant just yet.
Asia was still hesitant to attack other people so Zeno will only teach her how to dodge, block, and deflect for now. He wondered what he should do to make her more aggressive.
While he teaching Asia how to block a punch properly, the disheveled Charmie with a crying face suddenly ran to them and hid behind Zeno.
"Master, Master, they bullying me!"
She cried as she pointed at the two maids' direction while they walked closer toward her with menacing auras around them.
"Don't be dramatic, we just want you to be strong, is that right, sister?"
Leila said with a small smile on her face as Noa nodded her head in agreement with a serious expression.
"That right, this is your fau-, No, this is for your own good!"
She almost let out her true thoughts but managed to maintain the facade with a serious expression. Charmie refused to go with them as she hugged Zeno tightly.
"No!"
She glared at them determined to not let go of Zeno. Leila shook her head like a disappointed parent and walked to Zeno's side while she looked at Charmie.
"Come with us, your training is not finished yet, don't trouble Master with your tantrum."
"Nooo~!"
Leila said sternly as she grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Zeno easily with her Touki activated. Charmie tried to resist and used Touki too but Noa grabbed her other arm first.
"Hahaha... do not be afraid, little one."
Noa said with a smirk before Charmir got dragged away like a criminal by the two maids with her feet kicking in the air.
"Let me go! Master! Save meeeee~!"
She cried desperately for Zeno to help as he watched them wryly. He can only help when they might go too far with her or otherwise the two maids will become even more displeased with Charmie.
"Zeno-san, will Charmie-san be alright?"
Asia asked him with a concerned expression. He glances at her before he tries to reassure her with a smile.
"Well, we have an excellent healer here with us and they will not do anything excessive to her, don't worry."
Asia blushed slightly as he praised her and her worry was lessened by a bit from his words. Zeno decided to continue her training.
"Let's continue, Asia."
"Yes."
The two then continued their training while the screams of Charmie could be heard from time to time in the training room.
÷×÷×÷
Sometime later in the living room inside the apartment of Zeno, Zeno could be seen sitting on a couch with Charmie who used his lap as a pillow while she lying down on the couch as Zeno patted her head gently to comfort her. Leila and Noa are thoroughly exhausting her from their hazing today.
"System roll the Gacha..."
"Stupid Leila... stupid Noa... meanie Master..."
He whispered to the system while comforting the pitiful girl on his lap as the said pitiful girl was busy muttering curses to her sisters and complaining about her Master for not helping her from her jealous sisters in a small voice which Zeno pretended not to hear.
[ Rolling... ]
[ Congratulation! ]
[ You got the Time Chamber! ]
Zeno widened his eyes as the system gave him the information about the time chamber. It is similar to the Dragon Ball series hyperbolic time chamber but without the harsh conditions and gravity. This time chamber has a time ratio of one year inside equal to one day outside and the advantage of this time chamber is that the user can stay as long as they want. An excellent accelerated training tool that anyone will desire.
"This is great..."
Zeno smirks as he gains a powerful tool to speed up his girls' training. One year should be enough for them to grow into a powerful high-class being maybe even breakthrough to an ultimate-class level if they try their best.
He and the girls can't use the time chamber right now though since he will have to bring supplies that will last a year for four people, building materials for him to build a house inside, and furniture for comfort. And to get all that...
"Money..."
He muttered with a wry smile. He will have to find more high-bounty targets to make money if he wants to afford all the stuff he needs without going broke. He wonders if he will ever rid himself of the money trouble in the future and if he can find another way to make more money.
"Stupid Master... ouch! ouch! I'm sorry!"
He immediately pinched Charmie's soft cheek as the girl was being cheeky.
÷×÷×÷
On the weekend at the train station of Kuoh Town, Himiko Murabiki was standing at the front of the station in a black coat over a pink blouse, black mini skirt, pantyhose, and black high-heeled shoes as she waited for Zeno while fidgeting. She ended up dressing a bit formally after she couldn't decide what to dress. She keeps looking at the time on her wristwatch and glancing around to see if Zeno has arrived yet. She feels anxiety building up as she regrets coming one hour early from the appointment time.
Ten minutes later a figure approaches the station from the distance. It's a tall, blonde-haired young man with icy blue eyes in a brown coat over a black unbuttoned dress shirt, black jeans, and black boots. He walks up to her and sees that she is a nervous wreck.
"Murabiki-san?"
Himiko looks up at him, her heart racing in excitement as she sees him finally arrive. She was thinking that she might cry if he did not show up.
"Z-Zavior-san?! I-I'm sorry, I got a bit distracted..."
She stammers before she jogs to him with a nervous smile. Zeno smiles wryly, taking in the sight of her nervousness.
"It's alright, Murabiki-san. Are you waiting long?"
"No no, I just arrived not long ago...!"
Himiko shook her head with her hands waving left and right. Zeno chuckles at her before he extends his hand towards her. Himiko suddenly froze as she watched his extending hand in dazed.
"Shall we go?"
"Y-Yes!"
Himiko snaps out of it and nods quickly with a blush on her face, taking Zavior's hand nervously before Zeno leads her out of the train station. Himiko felt great happiness as she held his hand while following him down a side street, her eyes fixed on their hand-holding with a loose grin on her face.
As they walk, Zeno glances back at her once in a while, amused by her expression. Himiko noticed her blunder and tried to calm down. She took deep breaths and tried to act natural with a blush still on her cheeks. Zeno smirks and continues to walk with her.
After a few minutes of walking, they arrive at a café. It's cozy inside with soft music playing in the background. Zeno guides her to a table near the window. Himiko sits down with disappointment in her heart as they can't keep holding hands any longer. She looks up at Zeno, seeing him looking at her.
"Zavior-san, this place is really nice. Are you coming here often?"
Feeling shy from his glace, Himiko makes small talk with him. Zeno hums softly.
"Not really, it's also my first time in this cafe. I'm glad that you find it appealing enough."
"E-Eh, is that so...?"
He leans back in his chair, studying her a bit awkward expression for a moment before he continues speaking.
"So, how have you been since our last meeting?"
He said with a calm and soothing voice, causing her to relax a little. Himiko feels complicated as she remembers their last meeting, the rejection, and the cause to led to this date... no, this outing. She takes a deep breath before answering.
"I've been... fine, I guess. Haha... I was looking forward to this outing a lot you know?"
Zeno raises an eyebrow, intrigued by her admission. He smiled and wondered if she would act recklessly once again and confess her love to him or something.
"Oh? I also look forward to accompanying you, Murabiki-san"
"I-I see..."
She looks down at her hands, feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks and halting a grin from forming on her lips. After that, the two of them continued to talk for a bit before the waitress came and took their orders. Not long their drinks and snacks arrived and they enjoyed it while talking with each other in a pleasant atmosphere.
An hour later Zeno and Himiko came out of the cafe. Himiko who followed him out hesitated about something for a while before she mysteriously gained courage from somewhere suddenly and courageously took Zeno's hand in her hand with as natural expression as possible. Zeno looks at Himiko with amusement as he thinks that this girl is really bold.
Himiko seeing him glancing at her blushed a bit but didn't separate her hand from him. The two then continue on their pseudo-date as they visit various places together while holding hands most of the time much to Himiko's delight. She all but forgot about the pretext that she had to get a birthday gift for her friend. Zeno found Himiko a bit cute like this so he did not bring it up to remind her.
He wonders how she will react if she finds out that he has a harem at home.