Although she had no idea why it was the only one in the entire armory, Xina could tell from the first moment she saw it that it was anything but ordinary.
She put the standard-issue pistol back in its place, then pulled the specially made metal whip from its hook and gave it a few swings.
It was neither too light nor too heavy, and it felt good in her hand. Xina gripped the handle of the whip, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Teacher Himeko, I've made my choice. This one!"
"This one?" Himeko stepped forward and checked the placard hanging nearby to learn about the weapon's origins. Though she was somewhat amazed by Xina's eye for weapons, she still had to give her student a warning out of responsibility.
"Xina, this is the only prototype from the Gods' Throne Series that was eliminated. Are you sure you want to use it?"
"Huh?! What's the Gods' Throne Series?" Xina tilted her head and looked at Himeko blankly, because she truly had no idea what this so-called Gods' Throne Series was.
"Series weapons, series weapons. As the name suggests, they're weapon codenames! Among the series weapons Schicksal developed with Soul Steel, one batch was collectively known as the 'Gods' Throne.'"
Once the conversation entered her field of expertise, Himeko became exceptionally talkative. In just a few minutes, she stuffed a whole pile of knowledge—knowledge that might not even be useful to learn—into the bewildered student before her.
"Oh!" Xina, who only half understood, looked at the whip in her hand and nodded as though it sounded incredibly impressive.
Though she had not understood much of it, she could still tell from Himeko's tone that the whip she had chosen seemed to be the best thing in the room, bar none.
Looks like my taste isn't bad after all! I picked out a special model from among all those ordinary standard-issue weapons in one go.
At that thought, Xina's smile brightened.
Seeing the radiant smile on her student's face after gaining knowledge, Himeko seemed encouraged by something. She turned into a caring big sister, stepped forward, rubbed Xina's head, and said, "Whips aren't easy weapons to control. One mistake, and you'll hurt yourself."
"This model was never mass-produced and only one sample was kept. That was largely one of the reasons."
"Have you learned to use anything similar before?" Himeko asked.
"Teacher Himeko, there's no need to worry. I've never studied it, but the instant I held it, I already knew how to use it."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xina gave the whip in her hand a light flick, tracing a beautiful serpentine whip flower through the air.
Crack! Crack!
Amid several sharp snaps, the bladed tip of the whip struck the black humanoid target standing some distance away, leaving two conspicuous marks across it.
"!" Himeko stared in astonishment as Xina wielded the whip as effortlessly as an extension of her arm. Every crack landed with perfect precision, leaving a deep mark on the black target.
Yet even stranger, the white target beside it and the targets of other colors remained completely untouched.
Unable to make sense of it no matter how much she thought, Himeko rubbed her chin. Finally, she raised a hand and tapped her forehead with the back of it.
"Forget it. If you can handle it, take it and use it! It's getting late. I should take you to the Testing Ground!"
Following Himeko in a little run to the entrance of the Headmaster's Office, Xina braced herself against the wall, wiped her sweat, and panted as she pleaded, "Teacher Himeko, we're almost there. Can we stop running already?"
"You took three breaks over such a short distance. I'm now as worried about your physical training grades as I am about Kiana's culture class grades!"
Seeing her student, who had the potential to become an S-Rank Valkyrie, so exhausted from such a short run that she could barely straighten her back, Himeko seemed to understand something.
So... the D in the physical fitness section of the test report was not because Xina's physical fitness was only at D level. It was because D was the lowest possible result. If the lower limit had been F, Xina would undoubtedly have received an unprecedented F.
At the thought of a future S-Rank Valkyrie being held back by first-semester physical training, Himeko shook her head wildly as though she had thought of something terrifying, trying to fling that dreadful image from her mind.
"Starting tomorrow, you'll join Fu Hua for morning training!"
"Huh?!"
And just like that, poor Xina had her future thoroughly arranged for her.
After settling Xina's schedule, Himeko pushed open the door to the Headmaster's Office and walked right in. "Theresa, Theresa! Hey, where is she? Where did she run off to slack off this time?!"
Looking at the completely empty Headmaster's Office, Himeko could not help feeling puzzled.
"Ah, Himeko, why did you come in without knocking?"
Very soon, a small white head suddenly popped up from behind the previously empty desk.
"Ah!" Startled by the sudden appearance of the white-haired head, Xina recognized its owner and silently withdrew the Blue Energy Orb she had nearly flung out.
Only then did Himeko, who had heard Theresa's voice, finally spot her. "So you were there. You didn't say a word when I came in just now. I thought you weren't here."
"Ahem, of course I'm here. How could someone as devoted to work as me possibly be absent during work hours?"
Hearing that, Xina frowned, sensing that something was not right.
She quietly shifted a few steps, moving soundlessly to the side of Theresa's desk, a blind spot in her field of vision.
Blocked by several towering stacks of documents, Xina could see what was on Theresa's desk, while Theresa could not see Xina.
Sure enough, among the spread-out papers, a blue-covered comic book stood out sharply from the rest.
Houmu King's Adventure Volume 4... isn't that supposed to be released the month after next? Why does Theresa already have a published copy this month?
Feeling that she had been played, Xina's anger rose from her heart and evil sprang from her courage. The Energy Orb she had only just put away returned to her hand.
Though she had no idea where that bastard author who kept delaying updates was, that did not stop Xina from adding another mark to the little notebook she kept for that bastard.
Meanwhile, as she answered Himeko, Theresa was also secretly watching Himeko's expression.
When she realized that Himeko had not noticed her reading comics during work hours, Theresa let out a sigh of relief.
However, when Theresa sat back down in her chair, she finally noticed someone beside her from the corner of her eye.
She followed Xina's gaze.
Only then did Theresa realize that there was almost no obstruction between Xina's current position and her desk.
In other words, Xina had already discovered that she had been slacking off just now.
What should she do? Even tearing up the comic to destroy the evidence would be too late now!
Could it be that the dignity of the Principal... was simply gone like this? No!!!
As Theresa sank into deep mental turmoil, Xina silently looked away and began to space out.
She did not really care that Theresa was slacking off during work hours. After all, she herself was currently a Herrscher who was passively shirking her duties...
Before you continue