Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

"Ugh..."

The first thing Mikael did when he opened his eyes was habitually flip the blanket off, and jump out of bed…

"Ouch!"

He rubbed his butt with one hand and his eyes with the other as he stood up. That was when he realized that he had been sleeping on a top bunk, and… "Why did I shrink?"

He looked at his plump little hands, then gestured at his height, and was surprised to find that he was now about the same size as he was when he was at the orphanage?

Three sets of bunk beds were crammed into the small bedroom. The sound of Mikael landing on the floor woke the child sleeping on the bottom bunk. He glanced at Mikael sleepily, but before he could even mock him, his eyes rolled back, and he fell asleep again…

"The Vostok-51 orphanage… what a familiar place… wait! Where are Kevin and Hua? We clearly entered the bubble world together…"

Mikael tiptoed around the room. He didn't see a white-haired little boy that was similar to Kevin… To be exact, there wasn't even a single white-haired child here, which meant that Kalpas wasn't here either.

"Forget it, I can't hold it anymore. I'll go to the bathroom first!"

The memories of the orphanage were quite old and hazy. Plus, the sun hadn't fully risen yet. Everything was still dim. Mikael groped around the hall, which was also used as the dining room and classroom, and finally managed to find the bathroom.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..."

"Ah... that's better..."

White steam rose up, instantly filling the bathroom that was too small for him to even turn around in.

Mikael pulled the cord hanging from the water tank three times. Then, as if by muscle memory, he took a step back. Next, there was a crash of waves, as if a shore had been battered by a tsunami.

It had to be said, that sometimes, muscle memory was very powerful…

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Mikael quickly pulled up his pants. The person outside pushed open the door and walked right in.

Their eyes met...

"Mikael?"

"Kevin?"

"Pffft hahahaha!"

Kevin grabbed Mikael by the collar and lifted him up.

"How did you get so small! Hahahaha! Hua! Come and take a look, Mikael is so small!"

"…"

Mikael's mouth twitched. He squeezed out a few words from between his teeth:

"Kevin, is it comfortable carrying me like this?"

"It's very comfortable, very comfortable! Hahaha! You're so cute!"

He even pinched Mikael's round face.

Mikael's gaze went past Kevin, looking at Hua, who had come over to investigate after hearing the commotion.

Why!

Director, you come out here! Why are those two normal!

Oh, wait, if Hua didn't suddenly grow bigger, Mikael thought that he could accept it.

Mikael grinned: "Hua, would you like me to teach you a deadly martial art move?"

A numbing sensation spread from his fingertips to his whole body, and then the weight in his hand disappeared. Kevin felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't make any movements in time. His body trembled and the corners of his mouth began to twitch…

"N-no… way…"

"One-Inch Punch: Thousand… Enema!"

Mikael's hands remained in the "Yin Seal" gesture, with electric sparks flickering on them. He kicked Kevin into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Sounds of a "waterfall plummeting three thousand feet" soon came from inside, along with Kevin's pleasant groans, forming a lingering and echoing sound for a moment.

Hua silently covered her forehead. She didn't think that she, a girl, would ever have to use this move.

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic... This seems to be the orphanage that Ellie and I used to be in. Hua, when did you wake up, and did you discover anything?"

"I was also a child in this orphanage, like you. Kevin seems to be a caretaker here. He said he lived in a small house outside with another person, but that person didn't know where he was. The bed was still warm."

Mikael didn't speak. He was just staring at Hua with bright eyes, but also a hint of embarrassment.

Hua's cheeks quickly turned red, but in an instant, she understood the meaning behind Mikael's gaze:

"Uh, I couldn't find Elysia."

"...Okay, I thought I would be able to meet her here."

"Speaking of which, is this orphanage that you..."

"Bang!"

The thin wooden door to the hall was kicked open roughly. The gray morning light, along with bone-chilling air, instantly flooded into the room. Mikael and Hua looked towards the source of the sound and were stunned by the uncivilized intruder.

What was clear was--the other party was also stunned.

No one spoke first, and no one even made the smallest movement. For a moment, only the whistling sound of the cold wind rushing through the hall, which seemed spacious because there was only one long table, and the occasional moans from Kevin in the bathroom echoed around them.

This eerie calm continued for over ten seconds before it was finally broken by Kalpas, who spoke harshly:

"Hey! Kid, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and help me take this stuff off my shoulder!"

Mikael and Hua secretly exchanged a glance. He walked over to Kalpas and carefully took the plucked old hen that was tied to his belt and hardened by the cold wind. And Hua stood on tiptoes to take a large bag of potatoes off of his shoulder.

Kalpas himself threw another large burlap sack onto the table. Inside the sack was dozens of pounds of flour. He took an oil paper package out of the flour and threw it on the table. When Hua picked it up and looked, she found a large block of butter.

Mikael secretly closed the door. The sound of the wind was gone, and only Kevin's moaning could be heard.

The hall once again fell silent.

"Listen, kid, I'm happy to do whatever you want to say or do, but... let's just get through today first..."

"?"

"Kal…"

"Get lost!"

Kalpas tried to push Mikael away, but even though he had become smaller, his powers had not disappeared. And since Kalpas hadn't used his full strength either, he was unable to push him.

"I said, let's just get through today..."

"Kalpas…"

A gentle, mature, and calm voice rang out from behind Kalpas. Mikael could clearly see all the muscles in his body tense up.

"Kalpas, you can't be so harsh with the children. Even if they occasionally do something wrong, most of it is unintentional. You need to learn to face their mistakes with a more tolerant attitude… If you treat children with such a harsh attitude, it will only make them feel scared, which will make it even harder for them to see where they went wrong. So, Kalpas…"

"Aponia! Can you just shut up!"

Kalpas turned around, grabbed the bag of potatoes from the table, and slammed it onto the ground.

A round potato rolled to Mikael's feet. He lowered his head, suppressed his laughter, and lightly nudged it with his foot, kicking the potato towards Hua.

"I'm dying of laughter! I didn't think Kalpas would run into Aponia first in this bubble world, and… Hahaha!"

Just thinking of that familiar "Aponia" made Mikael unable to stop laughing.

Hey! Is that XXX? My neighbor is having a domestic dispute! Yeah, yeah, his wife seems to be a foreigner, named something like Aponia! The man is shouting so loudly!

But soon, misfortune fell on his head:

"Mikael, potatoes are for eating, not for kicking. When you kick a potato, did you ever think about the fact that the potato might have pain too? It traveled away from its home, and was treated so harshly, and came to you injured and bruised. Instead of giving it a helping hand, are you going to turn around and bully it again? If you were a potato..."

"Stop! Mom Aponia! I'll pick it up! I'll pick it up!"

"Hua, when your friend is in trouble in front of you, shouldn't you lend a hand?"

"Mom Aponia… I'll pick it up too, I'll pick it up…"

Aponia looked at Kalpas again, "Kalpas, look how quickly these children were able to realize their mistakes and make amends. And at least half of their mistakes are your fault. Shouldn't you, as an adult..."

"Aponia! I…" Kalpas's chest swelled suddenly, before quickly deflating like a balloon.

"I… I'll pick it up..."

"Hehehe!"

Kevin, who had been watching the show through the crack of the door, covered his mouth with his hand, but in the end, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Kevin..."

"I'll pick it up!"

"No, I was going to say, why didn't you flush after using the bathroom? Not flushing the toilet is an extremely irresponsible act, and as a caretaker, if the children learn this irresponsible attitude from you..."

"I'll flush it right away! I'll flush it right away!"

Kevin immediately turned around and hurriedly pressed the cord on the water tank.

Aponia and Mikael almost opened their mouths at the same time. Before they could remind him, they heard the sound of a tsunami and Kevin's terrified scream...