First, they watched two episodes of the latest Arahato, then it was time to queue up and rank together in the game.
The four of them were in the heat of it when the door opened.
Teacher Himeko wiped her wet hair with one hand and held the doorknob with the other as she poked her head in. "Watch the time. Don't stay up too late playing."
"Got it, got it!" Kiana waved her hand impatiently.
"I'm talking about you!"
"Tch."
After receiving responses from the other three, Himeko felt that the dorm room was relatively safe. She gave them one final reminder before leaving.
Once the teacher left, the students threw themselves back into their work.
After their gaming session came to a pause, Bronya looked at Bai Yan. "Sister Xiao Yan."
"What is it?"
"Does Sister Xiao Yan have any brothers around your age at home?"
"Why are you suddenly asking that? What, do you want me to introduce one to you?"
"No." Bronya broke free from Bai Yan's hand pinching her cheek and said.
"A brother..." Bai Yan looked away as though reminiscing.
In reality, he had become alert.
A wanted poster, a blacklist, or an internal missing-person notice?
Mother Cocolia was probably still thinking about him. Such overflowing maternal love was enough to make him tremble.
"There is one, but I haven't heard from him recently. I don't know where he is now either."
"Then, what kind of person is he?"
After repeated comparisons and identification, Bronya had basically confirmed that this Bai Yan was probably that person's relative.
Fate truly was marvelous.
But Mother Cocolia's instructions made it necessary for her to investigate properly.
"His name is Bai Yan. He belongs to headquarters and does logistics work."
Bronya's heart tightened. With the key clue in hand, she temporarily ended the topic.
Meanwhile, Bai Yan had quietly picked up his disguised communicator and opened the chat marked Female Boss.
He was considering whether he should report the duckling, and what reason he should use to report her.
"..."
He couldn't take it anymore. What kind of people were in the Fifth Squad?
Two Schicksal spies, one Anti-Entropy spy, and two Herrschers.
Bai Yan frowned and pondered for a long time, but ultimately decided not to send the message.
Forget it. The duckling would turn from darkness to light sooner or later, and he was still very confident in his disguise.
However, just as Bai Yan was about to put away the communicator, a notification conveniently popped up.
A message from Sister Tazi.
After composing himself, he glanced at the others without giving anything away. Only after confirming that no one had noticed did he open it.
Rita: Lady Durandal is looking for Bai Yan. She seems suspicious about you, but she hasn't had the time yet.
Bai Yan narrowed his eyes.
Was this the primitive yet accurate, beast-like intuition unique to the Kaslana family? Even this hadn't put her at ease.
Or were there still not enough details in his acting?
But from what Sister Tazi meant, Dumb Goose was coming to St. Freya?
When it was time to go to bed, they each returned to their rooms.
"If I'd known, I would've stayed farther away from her. Sigh, I shouldn't have been so greedy."
Bai Yan slowly took off his coat, recalling his days in France.
Back then, his only thought had been to do a little speculative business: take a few photo sets of Dumb Goose as a child, then quietly sell them after she became Schicksal's superstar idol.
He had even thought of the customers, famous rich women like Susannah.
A shrewd, capable businesswoman like Rita had not been on the list of potential buyers. If she hadn't taken a fancy to him and forcibly recruited—no, promoted—him, Bai Yan would have found an opportunity to resign and run away by now.
He just hadn't expected Dumb Goose to remember him and even want to drag him into the pit with her.
"Even if Dumb Goose finds out my identity, with her relatively upright and sensible personality, I don't need to worry about her using it against me. It's just a little socially fatal..."
Besides, Sister Tazi was helping him cover for himself, so there probably wouldn't be much of a problem.
Having thought it through, Bai Yan relaxed and began preparing for tonight's meeting with Master Jingliu.
During this time, he had barely memorized the basic movements of the "Goddess Luo" sword technique. He just wasn't very proficient at using them yet and needed more practice.
Although St. Freya was not that strict when it came to practical combat, it had all the necessary facilities and courses. Bai Yan did not lack conditions for practicing anything related to Collapse Energy.
The road to becoming stronger was long and arduous. Bai Yan was in no rush; he could take these things slowly.
Light it up.
—Knock, knock knock.
Someone knocked on the door. The sound was very light, and the person knocking seemed unwilling for anyone besides him to know.
Bai Yan walked over and placed his hand on the doorknob.
—Could it be Raiden Mei? Was she finally going to make a move on me again?
For some reason, Bai Yan felt a little excited at the thought.
A midnight raid?
With the buttons of his pajamas only halfway done up, Bai Yan stopped and picked up the perfume on the dressing table.
He could use it as pepper spray. Spraying it into someone's eyes would make them suffer anyway.
He crept behind the door and opened it.
"Xiao Yan, it's me." The other person immediately spoke in a low voice.
His half-raised hand instantly withdrew.
The visitor was Kiana.
"Why are you here?"
Kiana secretly glanced outside the door, then darted inside like the wind and locked the door behind her.
Bai Yan backed away again and again, covering his chest with both hands as he stared at Kiana with an expression that said, "Don't come any closer!"
"What kind of expression is that?!" Kiana snapped.
"I'm straight."
"What are you thinking about?!" Kiana understood and blushed as she protested.
"Then why are you coming here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
"Uh..."
Miss Bai Yan blinked. "Did you secretly watch a horror movie by yourself?"
"No..."
Kiana hesitated for a long time, then finally seemed to make some major decision.
She took a step forward, grabbed Bai Yan's hands, and gazed deeply at him with her watery blue eyes beneath the moonlight.
"Xiao Yan, please help me!"
Bai Yan glanced at the hands she was gripping tightly.
"What is it? Go ahead."
"Auntie—well, the principal—and I have an agreement. As long as I become an A-rank Valkyrie, she'll tell me where my stinky dad is..."
A moment later, after listening to Kiana's somewhat halting explanation, Bai Yan understood what she meant.
Kiana wanted him to tutor her.
The sun had finally decided to rise from a different direction...
"I remember showing you the method. Teacher Himeko isn't the kind of person who refuses to ask for help out of pride, so why not go to her?"
"Xiao Yan, you... you don't want to?"
"Of course I do. Our Kiana is so cute, how could I possibly not want to?"
Kiana smiled again. "Hehehe, I knew you were the best, Xiao Yan."
"So, you don't like Teacher Himeko?"
"No... Actually, I tried going to her before, but it was strange. Whether in class or when we were alone, as soon as I started reading, I couldn't help wanting to sleep."
"...But you don't feel that way when I explain things?"
Kiana nodded rapidly like a pecking chick. "The first time we met, when I listened to you explain things, I didn't feel that at all. Instead... um, how do I put it? I felt really energized."
"..."
This was probably his constitution acting up again. It wasn't the first time, after all.
Dumb Goose was still looking for trouble with him because of it.
"Fine, but not tonight. We'll pick a good time later, depending on the situation."
"Yay!"
Having received a positive answer, Kiana suddenly hugged Bai Yan around the waist, swung him around, and spun several circles.
"Hey, hey, hey! Put me down! Don't kick anything over!"
"Oh."
Only then did Bai Yan manage to steady himself, cold sweat of embarrassment forming on his forehead.
Kiana changed tactics and wrapped herself around Bai Yan's arm, pressing it against her chest.
A soft sensation, only just beginning to take shape, came through. This time, Bai Yan did not resist.
"Xiao Yan, remember to keep it secret for me."
"Why?"
"You don't know this, but Auntie acts like she's certain I can't do it. This time, I'm going to secretly prepare a surprise for her!"
Hearing that, Bai Yan patted Kiana's head.
She had gotten smarter.
"...As long as you're happy."
Bai Yan had long seen the written-test content for A-rank Valkyries, and he knew it very well. It was the material Dumb Goose had once crammed through overtime.
And for the "Schicksal civil service exam," he had long since thoroughly researched guides for this material.
Theresa probably never imagined that the condition she had casually set would actually be fulfilled by her foolish niece.
Kaslana's Second Law: the purer the bloodline, the easier it was to deceive them.
With the surname "Apocalypse," Theresa could be considered a mixed-blood Kaslana.
But not all mixed bloods were equal. The Saniate mind was far inferior to the Apocalypse mind.
Therefore, Theresa should have been far smarter than her two nieces.
That had originally been true, but then Bai Yan stepped in.
He really wanted to see the principal panicking after being unable to fulfill her promise.
Before you continue