[Dark Knight : Reaper]

"Argh!" Kouro seemed to be blown away before falling on his back with his body covered in sweat in a large room.

"I lost..." he said breathlessly staring at the ceiling, he spoke to Durandal who stood in front of him.

[Fatigue: 85]

Durandal looked sweaty too, but unlike Kouro who was lying on his back, she was still standing straight.

It seemed that in terms of stamina, Kouro was still inferior to Durandal.

Well... This wasn't strange, considering a Valkyrie, let alone an S-rank Valkyrie like her had to be ready 24 hours for sudden missions like the Honkai Eruption.

Durandal was seen wearing tight black hotpants with a short white T-shirt exposing her stomach and with her hair tied in a ponytail, her clothes soaked in sweat revealed a beautiful sight, but alas, Kouro did not have the energy to see that.

"Durandal-sama, your towel and your water" a beautiful and elegant girl wearing maid clothes handed her a towel and drinking water.

She was Rita, Durandal's aide.

Kouro met her yesterday by accident when he was jogging, he met Rita when she was gardening.

And somehow when Rita saw him, she immediately recognized his name and treated him politely even though he had just joined.

Kouro remembered Susannah's words that Rita was a Valkyrie who remembered all the names of people in Schicksal even those who had just joined like him.

By the way, Kouro and Durandal are currently just finishing sparring, more precisely fighting using hand-to-hand martial arts, this sparring has happened frequently since Kouro finished sparring with Ana and Lin.

But even so, Kouro always lost in sparring against Durandal, whether in experience or technique, he always lost.

But he didn't feel sad, instead he felt happy because he had a sparring partner, after all with his current level it was very difficult to find a worthy opponent in sparring.

He remembered when sparring with Kiana, Mei, Ayame, even Theresa and Himeko, he could defeat them all easily although fighting the last two required quite a lot of energy.

Kouro could feel that his martial skills were improving rapidly and perhaps in the next few months his skills would increase by one level to [Grandmaster].

"Kouro-sama do you want some too?" Rita offered drinking water and a new towel.

"Sure, thanks Rita-san. " Kouro took the towel and when he was about to wipe his face, he wiggled his nose, he smelled a fragrant smell like roses from the towel.

He didn't think much of it and quickly wiped his face as he remembered Rita was a maid, so Kouro thought she might wash this towel with high quality soap.

After that he then took the water bottle from Rita's hand.

He quickly drank from it before stopping and blinking his eyes in confusion.

He then stared at the bottle with a weird look, there was actually nothing weird about the water bottle other than the water tasted... 'fresh' perhaps?

Kouro didn't have the right words to describe the taste of the water.

He then looked at Rita in confusion and asked, "Rita-san, what exactly is this water? "

"Mhn? Is it not suitable for Kouro-sama's taste?" she asked.

"No, no, it's... How shall I put it, the taste of this water feels very 'fresh' and unique..."

Actually this water reminded Kouro of back when he was in middle school, it reminded him of the water bottle his classmates gave him after gym class.

Although it didn't taste as fresh as the one given by Rita, the taste of the drinking water was basically the same, and he still remembered that after drinking it, the classmate had a flushed expression and always smiled stupidly before being ostracized by the others.

"Really? Maybe it's because you're so tired and thirsty that the water tastes so fresh to you." Durandal said.

"Maybe... " muttered Kouro, he felt that this water taste was a bit strange, but maybe like what Durandal said, he was just too tired and thirsty.

[Fatigue: 65]

Rita still smiled politely and then said, "If Kouro-sama likes, I can make some specially for you. "

"Really? Of course, thank you. " Kouro innocently accepted Rita's request.

Rita smiled in response to his innocent words, 'Do I have to tell him? Probably not necessary...'

*DING! *

Kouro's cell phone rang which was on a small table not far from they, Rita picked it up and gave it to Kouro.

He read the message before visibly putting on a happy expression, "Finally! My battlesuit is finished. "

"Rita-san, Durandal-san, I'll leave first, see you later. "

Kouro was seen picking up some of his belongings before waving his hand to the two of them and leaving.

Staring at his back, Durandal was then seen staring at the water bottle that Kouro had drank out, "Rita, did you put something strange in the water? "

"Of course not, I just made it from special water that benefits a man... " Rita replied vaguely.

"I see... " Durandal had previously found it strange when Kouro said his drinking water tasted unique, whereas hers tasted ordinary, finally she now understood that Rita made the water specifically for Kouro.

"What kind of water did you use to make the drinking water? "

Rita looked at Durandal who was sweating, it seemed that the sweat was still pouring from all over her body.

"Secret... " Rita said with a mysterious smile.

__

Kouro who finished bathing then went to the Nagamitsu lab.

As usual, he looked at the cool technology and gadgets, he also greeted a few passing researchers before quickly arriving at Nagamitsu's special room.

Staring at the door in front of him that had a prominently colored sign, [Unauthorized entry prohibited], he knocked a few times.

"Who?" Nagamitsu's voice came from inside.

"It's me."

"Come in."

Kouro then entered the room, inside he saw Nagamitsu standing next to a translucent glass tube.

He approached her before turning his head to the side to stare at the translucent glass tube with sparkling eyes, "Is this my Battlesuit?

Inside the tube was a black full armor battlesuit with purple stripes, behind the armor was a pair of long black scarves.

"Yes. By the way... " Nagamitsu looked at Kouro with a strange look.

"What's wrong?" she asked in confusion.

"Are you Overseer Otto's illegitimate child?"

"Huh? Of course not!" Kouro quickly denied with a speechless expression.

How could he be Otto's illegitimate child? After all from what he remembered Otto was a person who only loved one woman and never messed around with other women.

But.... How could Nagamitsu say that so casually? Was she not afraid of Otto hearing her words?

"Well, I think so too. " Nagamitsu nodded her head at Kouro's reply.

"Then why are you asking that?"

"It's because, Overseer Otto is really generous towards you, so generous that it makes me wonder if you're really his illegitimate child... Do you know the reason why he treats you so specially?"

Kouro seemed to think for a moment, 'If I think about it, it's just like Nagamitsu-san said, Otto treats me special. But... From what I know he doesn't do anything useless like this, unless.... Someone asked for it... Is it not because of that person who protected me?'

He still remembered that there was someone who protected him from Otto, he was indeed grateful towards that person but at the same time was also wary because he didn't know why that person was protecting him for.

Wait, is it possible that the person who protected him is here? This possibility is not impossible, considering that his parents used to work for Schicksal, there might be someone who knows his parents and is protecting him from Otto.

But... If that person could do it, that person must have a special background or strength that even Otto could not underestimate.

Well... For now there is no need to think about this, perhaps that person is watching him right now.

"Kouro-kun? "

"Ah, it's okay. I can't think of a reason, but... Maybe it's because I'm a boy so that's why Overseer Otto is giving me special treatment?" said Kouro with a serious expression.

"You know, your words actually sound ambiguous... Well whatever. "

After saying that, Nagamitsu was seen pressing a certain button on her computer before the glass tube lifted up.

Kouro then quickly approached his Battlesuit, no matter how long he looked at it this battlesuit looked really cool.

"This battlesuit is made of Soulium metal, I think you know what Soulium metal is and how rare it is, so I don't need to explain it. Overseer Otto gave it to me after hearing your battlesuit type. " Nagamitsu explained.

"You know what? Even Overseer Otto gave me permission to use the prototype blueprint of the Gods bane's suit as the basis of your Battlesuit. "

"This battlesuit has the codename [Dark Knight: Reaper] which specializes in infiltrators and hiding, but I slightly modified it to follow your battlesuit type, I increased the durability and utility of this battlesuit." Nagamitsu explained.

She then said the functions of the battlesuit.

For example, it can allow him to breathe underwater for more than 10 hours at a depth of 200 meters, has a temperature control that can adjust to the surrounding environment, can hide the user from infrared rays, and can change the style of clothing according to the user's wishes.

Kouro held the battlesuit before looking surprised, it light, too light, for a full armor battlesuit the weight was too light, but considering this battlesuit was made of Soulium metal it seemed normal.

He was then seen wearing the battlesuit suit and looked down at his hands, he felt very light and felt comfortable as if this battlesuit was his from the start.

Kouro tried jumping, doing boxing moves and running, as Nagamitsu said because this battlesuit specialized in stealth, all of his movements were silent.

He then summoned the Xuanyuan Sword from his hand, revealing gold and black swords in both hands, after that he then made several slashes.

Nagamitsu's eyes widened slightly when he saw the Xuanyuan Sword, 'This is... Divine Key? To think he can use it... As expected, Kouro-kun, not just an ordinary person.'

After a few minutes of experimenting, Kouro finally stopped and smiled with satisfaction.

"I like it. "

"Then, since your battlesuit has been completed, you can report to Overseer Otto immediately. "

Kouro nodded his head, he changed the battlesuit into regular clothes before bidding farewell to Nagamitsu and going to the Overseer's room.

After knocking on the door, he then went inside, he saw Otto who was sitting on a chair as usual with Amber standing beside him.

After reporting that his Battlesuit suit was finished, Otto was seen looking at his clothes for a moment before asking, "How is it? Are you satisfied with your new Battlesuit, Kouro-kun?"

"Comfortable."

"Since your Battlesuit is complete, I will give the mission to your team leader."

"Leader?" Kouro remembered he was a captain not a leader, which meant there were others from his team who had yet to be introduced.

"Well, except for the S-rank Valkyries, every team has a leader and a captain and as the name suggests the leader is in charge of leading a team, usually the leader is at the back line as a real-time command giver to the team, while for the captain the task is also the same besides being in charge of the front line- Oh speaking to devil."

"Sorry, I'm late. " A woman's voice sounded from behind him.

Kouro turned to look at the woman before his eyes widened.

He recognized the woman, and a name came to mind after seeing this woman.

Ragna Lothbork.