Having just gotten rid of the awkward situation with Kiana, facing Theresa Apocalypse right after was genuinely exhausting.
"What am I supposed to say to all these people?" Li Pu sighed and said, "You didn't bring all of them here, did you?"
"Sirin... don't tell me she's here."
"I don't want to see Siegfried either."
Being forced to play mom was already making her feel exhausted; if she was forced to play a wife as well, would she actually end up sleeping with Siegfried?
No way!
"How did you notice?" Li Pu really didn't want to dwell on that topic.
"Because I've been watching you," Theresa Apocalypse said without holding back. "How should I put it? I just felt like you were too suspicious, so I've been keeping an eye on you."
"Oh, right, Otto too. But he seems to have other plans for you."
"Figures." Li Pu let out a sigh and said, "I pretty much guessed it, Otto..."
"He should know by now too, right?"
"He probably does by this point," Theresa Apocalypse said. "Rita might have already told him."
"So, this really is an academy that trains Valkyries, isn't it?" Li Pu asked with her hands on her hips. "Kiana, Mei, they're both Valkyries, right?"
"Right now they only count as reserves," Theresa Apocalypse said. "They just have the aptitude, but haven't officially been selected."
"Basically certain, though."
"What, aren't you happy?"
"No..." Li Pu shook her head and said, "As expected, even though I felt like it should be this way. But... whatever."
So this world really did have Honkai and stuff.
Even though she had already anticipated it.
Now that she knew about this sort of thing, she didn't really have any strong feelings left. Things were just what they were; this was bound to happen sooner or later, anyway. It was just that the Honkai hadn't arrived yet.
"I know, I know," Theresa Apocalypse said, as if seeing right through Li Pu's thoughts. "But someone has to step up."
"To fight for the protection of this beautiful world, we cannot let the Honkai run wild."
"Much less watch the Honkai destroy this world."
"Speaking of which," Theresa Apocalypse looked at Li Pu and said, "very soon, by the second half of this year at the latest, Kiana and Mei will find out about all of this."
"They will eventually make a choice: whether to become Valkyries or to live as ordinary people."
"As the principal, I think I understand them quite well."
"They will definitely become Valkyries." Li Pu crossed her arms and said, "No one can stop them. This is probably something destined to happen, nobody can stop it."
"Sorry..." Theresa Apocalypse said. "I won't let them become tools that can be discarded at any moment."
"The purpose of founding this academy is to let them become true Valkyries."
"Not tools bearing the name of Valkyries."
Li Pu didn't answer. To be honest, she just lacked interest in all this stuff. Right now, it felt like she was having a cross-server communication with Theresa Apocalypse, so she decided not to poke holes in it.
"Speaking of which," Li Pu suddenly thought of a question and said, "do you know about that machine?"
"The one Otto used on me."
Li Pu was still quite curious about this. Anyway, she no longer thought that machine was some kind of learning device.
"I don't know about that," Theresa Apocalypse shook her head and said. "Even though I founded this place, the land was gotten by Otto, and most of the funds and engineering teams were brought in by him as well."
"So, I'm not particularly clear on those things."
"Still, thanks to you," Theresa Apocalypse said, "I only just found out that Otto was hiding these things here."
"I'll go negotiate with him and make him tear all that stuff down!"
"No matter what it is, I won't let him hurt those kids."
"Oh..." Li Pu thought for a moment and said, "I think, I feel like I can still negotiate with Otto myself."
"I'm still quite interested in that machine."
"If possible, I plan to keep using it."
Li Pu had no intention of letting Theresa Apocalypse run off to tell Otto to dismantle that contraption. Although she didn't understand the machine's specific use, she could figure out a bit of it after using it once.
That machine definitely had some kind of helpful effect on her.
Besides, Otto was definitely going to find out about this now.
So should she just be honest?
Anyway, it seemed she couldn't avoid acting as a mother to Kiana, so why couldn't she use this machine to boost her own strength?
After all, the first time she caught evidence that the system gave incorrect information, it came from right here.
Perhaps she could go talk to Otto.
This Death Wasn't Tragic
"What should I call you?"
Otto maintained his usual smile.
"Can we not talk about forms of address?"
Li Pu intended to skip that subject. She very naturally bypassed the question and said, "I very much hope to use that machine again."
"You know, the 'learning device'."
Although she didn't know what that thing was actually used for, Li Pu now felt that...
That thing was useful to her!
Not just a little useful, but extremely useful. Maybe she could use that machine to acquire some things she didn't know yet, like clues or secret lore.
Anyway, there wasn't anything else to do right now, and certain matters were already out in the open.
She might as well just make the request fair and square.
"Is that so?" Otto chuckled evasively and said, "I have no idea what 'learning device' you are talking about. And even if such a device existed..."
"Why on earth should I let you use it?"
"Valkyrie Cecilia or custodian Li Pu?"
"Did you forget something?" The smile on Otto's face gradually faded, though it didn't vanish completely. His voice no longer sounded gentle as before, now carrying distinct commands and the majesty of a superior.
"I am the head of teaching at this school, and also the Overseer of Schicksal."
Li Pu felt sweat breaking out on her head. She only now realized that her attitude just then hadn't been very good. Although she had the cheat that was the system, the help it gave her wasn't enough to quickly grant her the capital to stand on equal footing with Otto.
And regardless of whether her current identity was herself or Cecilia...
The former was a custodian and genuinely had no qualification to say such a thing. The latter might be a Valkyrie, but her immediate superior should rightfully be this Otto.
So either way, she was a level—or many levels—below him.
It seemed she had no qualification to make this demand at all.
"This..." Li Pu's momentum weakened drastically as she said, "Um... volunteer work... testing... this..."
She was never an overbearing transmigration protagonist with an awe-inspiring aura that could make people's knees go weak. In her past life, she hadn't been any sort of high-ranking leader either, so her mindset and presence fell quite short.
Once Otto turned aggressive, Li Pu immediately lost her nerve.
Yet she still didn't want to give up. If possible, she was still willing to take this risk.
As long as she didn't die a miserable death, she, Li Pu, might just rise to the next level.
After all, opportunity and risk coexisted.
She still had faith in her Asian face; her luck wouldn't stay pitch-black all the way through.
"I refuse." Otto gave Li Pu almost no room for fantasy as he said, "Just 'do a good job' with your own tasks. If you are needed in the future, you may be notified."
"Please return to your 'post'."
"Leaving one's post without authorization is not a good thing."
Otto refused. Li Pu opened her mouth, wanting to plead a bit more, but ultimately gave up. She stood up, shoved her hands into her pockets, and walked out of Otto's office.
"Lord Overseer?" Rita asked, looking somewhat puzzled. "Weren't you going to let her use your machine?"
"Why did you refuse again?"
"There aren't that many 'whys'," Otto said. "Just go brew me a cup of black tea, and add a small cube of sugar."
Otto offered no explanation, and Rita didn't ask further. As a subordinate and part-time maid, she was well aware of what she should ask, what she should say, and what she neither should ask nor say.
Otto leaned back in his chair, pulling his body in slightly as he looked a little fatigued.
That really is unexpected.
Otto half-closed his eyes.
The end result brought by the machine that awakened past lives wasn't merely as simple as awakening memories of a past life; rather, it copied the past life entirely, using the body of the present lifetime to resurrect one's past self.
It sounded like a great machine, but it also had a flaw.
This flaw was determined by the present life, and also determined by reincarnation.
You never knew who your past self was in your current reincarnation. Long historical epochs were enough for a person to reincarnate two or three times. And this machine that resurrected past lives wouldn't specify which past life to bring back.
In the middle of complete reincarnations, you might carelessly reincarnate into a dog, and that dog could reincarnate into a human in the present.
And if that machine happened to resurrect the past life while targeting that dog...
That would be equivalent to completely wasting a good piece of raw material.
At the same time, you couldn't guarantee that the person you found was actually the correct reincarnation.
It was precisely under such conditions of multiple uncontrollable and unstable factors that Otto had decided to seal away this machine.
Enabling it this time had indeed successfully resurrected the young man's past life, but it had also produced an unexpected situation.
He is also a reincarnation of Cecilia?
He had awakened a small fraction of King Arthur's memories, yet turned into Cecilia first.
This made Otto somewhat uncertain about the current situation. Although reincarnation was indeed a profound and mystical thing, the events happening now deviated greatly from his estimations, making Otto feel like things were slowly slipping out of his control.
From King Arthur to Cecilia, and then to the youth of today.
Going from King Arthur to Cecilia was easy enough to explain, but going from Cecilia to this present-day youth...
The timeline was a bit too short.
There were no precise dates of birth and death, but through estimation and measurement, this youth could barely scrape by as a match for this reincarnation.
Regarding the concept of soul reincarnation, even Otto's research couldn't specifically explain how often a soul reincarnated. Some souls would reincarnate continuously.
While other souls might not!
Still, this is an unexpected harvest. Otto thought for a moment and said: I somehow feel things are getting more and more interesting.
From King Arthur to Cecilia and then to him, could there still be other reincarnations hidden in the middle?
Should I use that machine again and let her awaken?
Suddenly, I'm looking forward to it a bit.
Standing at the door, Li Pu was feeling quite gloomy. She truly hadn't expected to be rejected. She had thought that once she met Otto and unleashed her protagonist aura, Otto would instantly submit and let her use that machine again.
Now it seemed she had thought too much of it.
"Well~ whatever." Li Pu shook her head and muttered to herself, "Looks like I'll have to plan this out for the long term after all."
"Still, for now, it should be enough, right?"
She didn't know much about Cecilia and felt she couldn't bring out much combat power. For the time being, the Honkai hadn't arrived yet, so she still had time to prepare.
Besides, not being able to bring out much didn't mean she had absolutely nothing.
An A-rank Valkyrie—though a relatively low evaluation—should still be able to dish out a fair amount of combat power, right?
Before you continue