Five Students, Four Exempt from Exams-Kiana Isn't One of Them

"We're here!"

As St. Freya Car God Bronya floored the accelerator and charged into the temporary base, everyone finally let out a small breath of relief.

Because they had been delayed on the road for some time, by the time Xina's and Mei's teams entered the base, most of the other teams had already returned.

The Valkyries gathered in small groups, discussing the enormous Honkai Beast that had appeared earlier. The atmosphere was strangely harmonious.

"I'm telling you, when we came back earlier, that Emperor-class Honkai Beast rushed right past the street in front of us. The houses were only this big, but it was probably this big." One Valkyrie exaggeratedly gestured with her hands, prompting waves of astonished cries from the Valkyries who had not seen the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.

More than ten minutes later, the remaining teams returned one after another. Under the guidance of their direct superiors, the Valkyries from each branch headed back to their respective rest areas and quietly waited for dinner.

"Mm... Mei, why aren't Great-Aunt and Aunt Himeko back yet? I'm hungry..." Kiana wriggled in Mei's arms like a kitten, making Bronya's fists clench at the sight.

Fine, be hungry, but why were she squirming around in Mei's arms?!

"Alright, the Principal and the others are in a meeting. Once they're done, we can eat!" Mei soothed the little cat-bug in her arms while looking toward the Hyperion's command room.

For some reason, she had a feeling that today's meeting would not end so quickly.

Sure enough, barely ten minutes later, Fu Hua's calm voice came over the Hyperion's speakers:

'Valkyries of the Far East Branch may proceed to the cafeteria for dinner. Minister Theresa will relay the contents of this meeting after it concludes.'

"Oh!"

Xina, who had been lying on the bed, opened her eyes upon hearing the announcement. She sat up and followed her teammates out into the hallway.

At a glance, the corridor was filled with Valkyries heading off to eat.

Having slept on the rooftop all day, Xina and the others were not particularly hungry. They only ate a little before returning to their room to wait for the senior Valkyries' meeting to end.

After the meeting, Theresa gathered the Valkyries participating in this mission in the conference room and informed them of the plan ahead:

"Based on the conclusions reached by the three branches and reported to Destiny Headquarters, Bishop Otto has considered that the Emperor-class Honkai Beast of unknown abilities has escaped into the sea. He will deploy our Far East Branch as a rapid-response force to deal with possible future attacks."

"What rapid-response force?" Kiana was completely lost and could not help poking Bronya beside her.

Bronya rolled her eyes at Kiana and said irritably, "Idiot Kiana, the Principal means we don't need to stay in Singapore anymore. We can pack up and go back to St. Freya!"

"We're going back! Yay, I can eat Mei's and Xina's cooking again!"

"Glutton..." Bronya understood at once. The girl beside her had not caught the important part at all; her mind was entirely focused on food...

After the meeting, the Valkyries of the Far East Branch regrouped their personnel and supplies by squad, finally returning to St. Freya in the early hours of the morning.

"Phew, we're finally back. I missed my bed and game console so much!"

After getting off the Hyperion, Kiana was the first to dash down the gangway, the first to rush into Himeko's huge villa, and the first to turn on the game console.

Seeing Kiana still sitting energetically before the game console in the middle of the night, Himeko and Mei, who entered after her, darkened their expressions and silently clenched their fists.

Thump! Thump!

After Himeko and Mei gave Kiana loving iron fists from either side, Kiana, with two smoking lumps on her head, could only watch tearfully as she was dragged into her room.

Xina, the last to enter, stared in confusion at Kiana being forcibly hauled upstairs by Mei and fell into deep thought. What was going on? Did I just miss something?

The Emperor-class Honkai Beast codenamed Jormungandr seemed to have vanished into thin air. For a long time, there was no news of it.

After the level-one alert was lifted, life at St. Freya gradually returned to normal.

One afternoon a month later, before a culture class ended, Himeko stopped her students. "Girls, final exams are in two weeks. I hope you can devote more time to studying and strive to remain first in the school this semester."

"Especially a certain... certain student. I hope you don't fail any subjects!"

As she spoke, Himeko's gaze landed on the class's only weak point—Kiana, whose books had already disappeared from her desk before the dismissal bell had even rung.

Ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring!

"Class dismissed!"

With that, Himeko tucked her textbooks under her arm and quickly left the classroom.

"Bronya, come on. I just came up with a silky smooth combo. Today, I'll definitely beat you."

The moment Himeko left, Kiana rushed to Bronya's desk as if nothing had happened, eagerly inviting her to battle at the game console for three hundred rounds.

"Student Kiana, I'm afraid you can't leave."

Fu Hua, her expression grim, adjusted her glasses and stepped in front of Kiana as she spoke in a low voice.

"Why?!"

"This semester is ending. I don't need to say anything about your grades last semester. The Principal specifically instructed me that starting today, until the exams, you must stay behind every day for tutoring."

"What? I have to attend tutoring?!" This news was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Kiana, because it meant that for the remaining half month or so, she would not be able to happily play after school in the afternoons.

"Waaah, no~ Class Monitor, please let me go, okay? I really don't want tutoring anymore."

With tears and snot streaming down her face, Kiana clung to Fu Hua's arm, hoping Fu Hua would spare her.

"I was entrusted with this task. I cannot refuse." Fu Hua gently moved Kiana's hand away, expressionlessly returned to her seat, and raised an eyebrow to signal Kiana to come over.

"But..." Kiana stood there, struggling for a long while. Then, she suddenly spotted Xina, who had just gotten water from the dispenser and was about to leave.

Thinking quickly, Kiana hurriedly leaned over Fu Hua's desk and winked wildly at Xina as she passed by. "Class Monitor, look, Xina is a new student this semester. She hasn't learned any of this before. If anyone needs tutoring, it should be her first, right?"

"The Principal told me that Xina is exempt from exams this semester!" Fu Hua pulled out a textbook from her desk and silently flipped to the page they would soon need.

"Huh? Exempt from exams!"

Hearing those words, Kiana felt as though her entire world had fallen apart. She took a deep breath and asked, "Is Xina the only one in our class exempt from exams?"