Chapter 260

The problem with Mamiya?

"Ah... no, is this stuff really that delicious?" MEI was horrified to see Wendy eating it so non-stop!

"What?" Wendy was so focused on the dessert that she didn't hear what Mei had just said.

"No, it's nothing," MEI said. "I meant I wanted one too."

MEI picked up a Mustard Herring Puffs.

She had never eaten this stuff before.

The smell of fermented Surströmming that I had a very vivid memory of it!

Seeing how happily Wendy was eating, MEI finally mustered up the courage.

I gritted my teeth and took a bite.

Then...

Her face turned completely green.

This...

Probably only idiots...

Only then can you eat it, right?!

P. S.: Herring Bread Roll and wasabi herring toast rolls

PS: These two things seem to actually exist.

Chapter 282 Durandal

St. Freya Academy.

This is not a familiar place for the Silly Goose.

It was a place that felt completely unfamiliar and to the point that I had no connection to it.

Was he transferred back?

No, not exactly.

I was only notified at the last minute that Lord Otto had some business to attend to, so I was summoned from outside to the St. Freya Academy. As for St. Freya Academy...

The Silly Goose is not...

You like it, right?

Although St. Freya is named a 'school for training Valkyrie ', you won't actually feel anything like Valkyrie when you enter the St. Freya.

It looks just like a regular college.

But in reality, this is also a place where Valkyrie are trained. The reason it turned out like this is because of Theresa, the willful short girl from Schicksal.

Her initial intention in creating this academy was that 'Valkyrie are not tools; even Valkyrie can decide their own future.'

Not everyone who studies here will become Valkyrie.

Some are qualified, some are not.

Not all girls qualified to become Valkyrie will actually become Valkyrie, because their aptitude is too low. Even if they are much stronger than those who are not qualified, they still won't go very far on the path to Valkyrie. Schicksal won't invest too much in these girls.

Of course, this is only in relation to the St. Freya Academy.

Only girls with both qualifications and great potential can become true Valkyrie here.

The rest of the people were all just there to accompany her, or even worse. They were merely the 'environment,' or rather, they weren't the environment at all. Their purpose was simply to ensure that the Valkyrie wouldn't become isolated from society, to have a social and school environment similar to that of ordinary people, and to provide her with interpersonal relationships.

They serve as one link in creating the 'environment' for the Valkyrie.

They, the school, and the ordinary teachers together constituted the Valkyrie's last relatively normal living environment.

When the Valkyrie left, they severed almost all ties with this place.

Memories will be sealed away; friends you once knew will no longer be in contact; teachers and classmates will become figures and numbers in photo albums and mobile phones, never to be contacted again.

From that moment on, the Valkyrie's world was no longer the same as that of ordinary people.

If one day in the future they are lucky enough to bump into their former classmates, best friends, or teachers from this place, they might simply reminisce after remembering them, or they might be completely forgotten.

In this way...

What is the significance of this?

The Silly Goose couldn't understand such a profound question; what was the point of its existence?

Have no idea.

However, as some organizations or individuals have said, this place is not actually a place to create the final 'normal environment' for the Valkyrie, but rather a filter.

More resources will be invested in more outstanding and promising Valkyrie.

Instead of recruiting a large number of qualified but untalented inferior individuals and trying to cultivate them all at once.

The former is perplexing, yet tinged with a hint of warmth, while the latter is blatant cruelty. The Valkyrie remain tools; this seemingly respectable academy is actually a far more ruthless selection process.

Eliminate the unnecessary and keep only the truly elite.

A group of students have now graduated from this school.

Silly Goose still couldn't quite figure out what made those people so outstanding. One of the young ladies seemed a bit indecisive, another was a dazed and silly Valkyrie, and the short guy who had graduated not long after transferring was very expressionless. Oh, and there was also a class monitor who seemed quite outstanding but actually seemed to know nothing about his background and appeared and disappeared mysteriously, never participating in any missions.

It feels like this place is interesting in many ways~

They really do produce some talented people.

Durandal strode into the school, crossed the main road, entered the teaching building, and went to Archbishop Otto's office.

The door was pushed open with a bang.

"Report! Valkyrie Bianka Durandal Atagina, captain of the Blade of Unending unit, reporting for duty." Durandal's voice boomed, "Give me any mission you need."

"I will do everything in my power to ensure the mission goes perfectly!"

"Pfft~"

Otto spat out his mouthful of black tea.

"Cough cough cough~"

He pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth and said, "Durandal, how many times do I need to tell you? This is a school! This is for studying! This is not a base!"

You don't need to shout like that!

"I thought it was an enemy attack!"

Well, Otto was really exasperated by Durandal's stubbornness. This was a school! Even if it was Valkyrie Academy, was it really necessary to shout so loudly?

I've said it so many times, why can't you change?

That was so loud, it almost made me spill the black tea!

"I'm sorry, Lord Otto." Durandal seemed to only then realize that this was a school, an 'ordinary' school.

She lowered her voice slightly and said, "I'll be careful."

'You'd notice that, wouldn't you?' Otto thought to himself, 'How many times have I told you? When have you ever actually noticed?'

"That's how it is." Otto, of course, didn't reveal his true feelings.

"Take a look at this first."

Otto gave Durandal a file.

Durandal took the file and looked at it carefully for a while. This seems to be a freshman? I've never seen or heard of this person before. Is he a recent arrival?

What is Lord Otto doing?

Should we assign a new character to the Blade of Unending?

However, their manners are quite good.

Durandal closed the file and said, "Lord Otto is going to assign her to the Blade of Unending, right? This person is quite capable. I'll go and get her now."

"No!" Otto exclaimed, a headache forming in his eyes at Durandal's frantic state. "It wasn't assigned to the Blade of Unending!"

This Durandal is really straightforward. Next time, could you please ask first?

"Her," Otto paused for a moment before saying, "Is a freshman this year."

"You should have seen it, according to the medical examination test."

"Her qualities and potential are outstanding."

"If she can be properly trained," Otto said, "She will definitely become an outstanding S-rank Valkyrie."

"Yes, I know," Durandal said. "You want me to train her?"

"Yes," Otto said, holding his teacup. "A promising talent shouldn't be wasted."

"Oh." Durandal was somewhat prepared; she was being groomed. Lord Otto had summoned her and shown her this girl's file. It was clear he wanted her to mentor this girl.

So...

"I still don't quite understand," Durandal said. "You asked me to train her, but you don't intend for her to become my subordinate."

This... Durandal was a little confused.

Although she's straightforward, she's not stupid!

She was aware of some of the unspoken rules.

For example, if someone asks you to mentor a certain person, the implication is that this person will be your future subordinate or successor. This is a very common practice at Schicksal.

But Lord Otto said he would let her train him, but wouldn't let her take him away.

This...

Why is that?

"No, that's not necessary," Otto explained. "I'll let you mentor him, but not in a way that involves full-scale training. You just need to give this child some guidance."

"I will arrange where she goes from now on."

"You just need to be her introductory mentor."

"Is that so?" Durandal seemed to understand and said, "I understand."

"Is there anything else?"

"There's one more thing," Otto said. "Go and find Doctor Mei."

"Doctor Mei?" Durandal thought for a moment but couldn't recall who she was. She asked in confusion, "What do I need her for?"

"Where is she? Is she also in St. Freya?"

"It's the person you brought in the box," Otto said irritably.

"The box?" Durandal thought for a moment and said, "That... isn't that Kallen?"

"Then!!" Otto wanted to explain, but seeing Durandal's somewhat confused look, he simply gave up and decided to pretend that Durandal had never seen MEI before.

Otto said, "MEI is right here. Go find her. She's easy to recognize."

"She looks exactly like Mei, you'll recognize her immediately."

"Oh..." Durandal said, "What do I need her for?"

"She's a very capable researcher," Otto said. "She's making armor for this child. Go find her... and while you're at it, ask her to make you a set of armor too."

Otto originally didn't intend for MEI to be made for Durandal as well.

But then I thought, well, whether I'm herding one sheep or a flock of sheep, it's all the same.

If that's the case...

Why not have Doctor Mei create a suit of armor for Durandal as well?

Although Otto didn't know what research MEI was doing, wouldn't it be wonderful if he could find a reasonable excuse to occupy all of MEI's time?

Since I can't stop your research anyway, I'll just make sure you don't have time to do it properly.