Have You Learned Stealth?

Before Han Jiang even saw a figure, someone had already pointed a lance at his throat.

The gap between them was immediately obvious. Han Jiang knew he was no match for the person in front of him.

Han Jiang tossed his Tang Dao to the ground and raised both hands over his head, looking at the girl holding a Knight's Lance to his throat.

She was tall, with long, silky blonde hair. Her cold gaze seemed to say that she had not been the one singing just now.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, her tone icy.

"I'm a student at St. Freya High School. My name is Han Jiang, and I'm the only male Valkyrie among this year's students," Han Jiang said quickly, afraid that a slight push of her hand would end his life.

The other person gave a soft hum, seemingly unsure what to say next. Her large eyes unconsciously glanced at the drawings on the living room wall.

Cats? Han Jiang muttered inwardly.

Several kittens had been carved into the wall with some sort of tool. Some were as large as stools, while the smallest were only palm-sized.

Every cat was lifelike, as though it might leap right out of the wall.

Han Jiang saw that aside from her Knight's Lance, the girl had no other tools in hand. There was nothing in the living room that could have carved those pictures into the wall.

So those cats had probably been drawn one stroke at a time with her Knight's Lance.

"Don't try to contact anyone else with your communicator." The blonde girl's red lips parted slightly, but unfortunately, the words that came out were a threat.

A Knight's Lance, the standardized armor of a special operations squad, long silky hair, a fondness for cats, and an aloof tone—Han Jiang had recognized her identity the moment he saw her.

"Durandal!"

"What did you see?" Durandal asked again.

Han Jiang's eyes shifted toward the cats of varying sizes on the wall. He shook his head. "No. I didn't see anything."

"Really?"

"Mhm." Han Jiang bobbed his head slightly to indicate a nod. "Really. I'm nearsighted."

That was what he said, but Han Jiang had already used his armor system to silently record the scene.

Han Jiang had recognized Durandal, so he naturally recalled several traits that could describe her personality.

"Hardworking, lancer, earnest idiot, likes cats."

After all, she was a Valkyrie who believed Anti-Entropy troops would go shopping. She probably would not see through a little lie, Han Jiang thought.

Before Han Jiang came here, Durandal had appeared very rarely in the Honkai Impact 3rd game, and she had not shown up often in the manga either.

It could only be said that Han Jiang had gotten lucky. Before coming here, he had happened to catch a version update.

That let him learn a little more about Durandal than before.

"You didn't see anything?" Durandal repeated Han Jiang's words, though her eyes could not help darting toward the cats on the living room wall.

For some reason, Durandal did not want strangers to know about her hobby.

"You must be a Valkyrie from the camp out on a mission, right?" Han Jiang asked, deciding to test the waters.

"Get out. Go to another room." Durandal shook her Knight's Lance.

Han Jiang turned around, crouched down to pick up his Tang Dao, and entered another room.

Durandal followed him inside and gently lowered the tip of her lance to the floor.

With a muffled thunk, the lance tip sank into the floorboards. It must have caught on the steel reinforcement inside the slab, or it would have continued sinking.

"Gulp."

Han Jiang swallowed. If she could use such a heavy weapon to carve nimble little cats into a wall, just how strong was Durandal?

"Weren't you training? Why did you come here?" Durandal stared coldly at Han Jiang.

Han Jiang reached inside his windbreaker and quickly pulled out a self-heating meal. Raising both hands, he said, "I came to eat. I saw that the buildings here were relatively intact, so I thought it would be safer."

Though Durandal appeared expressionless, her mind was anything but calm.

Although the task of monitoring the test subject was easy, she should not have relaxed completely. She had sung and drawn little cats, and she had only meant to loosen up for a moment. Yet before she knew it, someone else had discovered her.

In the years since becoming a Valkyrie, Durandal had never dared relax for even a moment. Yet during this rare occasion, she had been caught by a stranger.

It left Durandal caught in a complicated mix of self-reproach and embarrassment.

She blamed herself for letting down her guard during a mission, and she was embarrassed that an outsider had seen her hobby.

Durandal had always been synonymous with diligence and seriousness. Now, she had no idea how to handle this situation.

The usually formidable Durandal was an expert at dealing with Honkai Beasts, but this particular matter made her feel more pressured than facing a hundred Honkai Beasts.

"Then eat," Durandal said, walking over to the window and looking outside.

Under normal circumstances, Durandal would not mind letting acquaintances see this side of her, but she was currently carrying out a mission.

What she found even harder to understand was why there was a man among St. Freya's Valkyries!

It seemed that not listening to the assault team members' advice and enrolling at St. Freya High School had been the right decision. St. Freya High School's management was far too lax.

"Smells good," Durandal suddenly muttered.

Han Jiang understood that Durandal was a righteous Valkyrie who worked so hard to protect the world, but that bastard Otto was not.

If Otto learned that he had run into Durandal while she was monitoring Kiana, then at his current stage, even ten heads would not be enough for him to lose.

"Then... want some?" Han Jiang held the food out to Durandal.

Durandal hesitated before accepting Han Jiang's lunch. She did not treat herself like an outsider at all and began eating right in front of him.

Han Jiang cautiously asked from the side, "A group of Honkai Beasts just charged toward the camp. Are you here to eliminate them?"

Durandal's eyes flickered. She felt that steering this male student's thoughts in the wrong direction might be a good choice.

"Have you learned stealth? The kind that conceals your presence?" Durandal asked instead.

Han Jiang nodded. He felt that regardless of what Durandal said, he should just go along with her for now.

Whether Durandal had been too absorbed in her own fun to notice him, or whether she had something else to say.

While eating the boxed meal, Durandal said, "I came out to eliminate Honkai Beasts."

"I'm an A... A-rank Valkyrie from the camp. I have the authority to carry out missions alone. My name is Bianca. Thank you for the food, though it doesn't taste very good," Durandal said.

Durandal knew that there were only three S-rank Valkyries in total. If she let it slip, the other party would know her identity.

But there were many A-rank Valkyries. Cleaning up the large number of Honkai Beasts in Changkong City would certainly require A-rank Valkyries.

Besides, she had proactively given him her real name. Without sufficient strength, there was no way he could find any information about her. He was only a student who had just enrolled, after all.

"Oh, Valkyrie Bianca. I really didn't see or hear anything. Today, I only found a building to eat lunch in," Han Jiang hurriedly explained.

Durandal looked at the food in her hands, and a sudden sense of guilt welled up inside her.

But she had already eaten it. He probably would not mind, right? She really had been hungry.

"You really don't know anything?"

"I don't. There are many Valkyries from the camp carrying out missions outside. It's not strange to run into one occasionally!" Han Jiang spoke with great seriousness, as though it were the truth.

There was a lot going on today, so this chapter came a little late...