It was already evening, and the setting sun was gradually losing its light and heat. The remaining afterglow shone on the clock on the central high-rise building, and the hour hand was pointing to six o'clock.
A sea breeze swept by, and the ancient trees along the street swayed their verdant branches. From the window of her high-rise building, Theresa could see the light gradually sinking into the depths of the sea, and the world slowly descending into silent darkness.
At this time every day, Theresa loved watching St. Freya Academy slowly descend into darkness.
It's like a cycle, the end of a day, and the beginning of a new life sprouting new buds.
This place holds so much of Theresa's emotion and time. She can remember the name, appearance, and even personality of every student. For Theresa personally, she doesn't even want these people to come into contact with the Honkai world; she hopes they can have a happy and bright future.
But as the current head of the Apocalypse family and the next bishop of Schicksal, she cannot act so willfully and recklessly.
Although she knew her grandfather, Otto Apocalypse, wouldn't care about these things, to that man, the existence of the Far East Branch was more like giving his granddaughter a large, expensive toy.
He wouldn't care how Theresa treated St. Freya Academy.
That's natural.
How could a loving grandfather scold his granddaughter for playing with toys differently?
Theresa understood all this, but she had her own principles, and she also knew that St. Freya Academy could never be a perfect utopia.
Despite the different educational philosophies, this is a place for training Valkyrie.
The Valkyrie are born to fight against the Honkai.
To protect this beautiful world, sacrifices are always inevitable, and St. Freya Academy is no exception.
She turned and left, no longer looking at the light that had not yet been completely extinguished on the sea.
Today, Theresa is no longer wearing her usual nun's habit. The previous habit was derived from the Valkyrie costume of the Middle Ages in Schicksal, with black as the main color, mixed with pure white lace and gold thread outlines, which was solemn without compromising beauty.
At this moment, Theresa was wearing a more traditional nun's habit, without any embellishments.
Apart from a small silver cross around her neck, she wore no other adornments.
All that remains is the solemnity born from the simplest combination of black and white.
She came to a door.
This is Major Himeko's house. Although I've been here many times before, this is the first time I've been inside with it so lively.
With this thought in mind, she opened the door, and then warm light entered her field of vision, breaking the silence brought by the outside world with a noisy commotion.
What greeted me was Kiana's energetic, exasperated voice.
"Bronya, that's mine!"
Bronya thinks Kiana has eaten enough. Even a fool like Kiana should understand the principle of respecting the elderly and caring for the young.
"??? This logic doesn't apply to a little kid like you!" Kiana, having run out of arguments, decided to stop trying to reason with them.
"Heh." Bronya ran up behind Mei and tugged at her clothes. For some reason, the girl, who was usually expressionless, now showed a hateful, disdainful sneer in Kiana's eyes.
"Okay, okay, Kiana. You ate a lot on my birthday a few days ago, didn't you?"
Amused, Raiden Mei patted their heads. At that moment, she exuded an amazing maternal aura, instantly calming down the two who were about to start a war.
Neither Heavy Cannon Rabbit's small missiles nor Kiana's superhuman strength could withstand such torment from Major Himeko's house.
"Ugh." A defeated howl escaped Kiana's throat, her teeth clenched in agony. She had been defeated by uncontrollable forces.
"Don't look so gloomy. What do you like to eat? I'll make more tomorrow."
Mei's words of comfort were clearly very effective; Kiana's unhappiness due to the defeat vanished almost instantly.
"Hmph, since Mei has said so, I'll reluctantly forgive you." Almost instantly after her defeat, the white fluffy ball of fur began to act arrogantly.
It has to be said that the once intelligent and aloof Kiana seems to have gradually given up thinking after meeting Mei.
Although her understanding nature wasn't completely masked by her seemingly carefree attitude, Kiana was probably seen as a complete idiot by her classmates on the surface.
Su Qing'an found this to be a very strange phenomenon.
As expected of a woman known as a "cure-making machine," this ability is terrifying in a way.
Fu Hua noticed Theresa's footsteps first, and she turned to ask:
"Headmaster Theresa, what brings you here?"
"I've thought about it, and I think it's better to say it in person," Theresa said with a smile, looking at the lively scene before her. "I'm relieved to see everyone so energetic."
Theresa is usually a very kind and approachable person; you can joke and tease her without any restraint.
But when she gets serious, even with a gentle smile, you can't help but feel a solemn and serious attitude.
"I think you all understand after spending some time at the St. Freya Academy that every Valkyrie, except for those of Rank A, will be sent on a mission periodically. Fighting the Honkai is not child's play; real combat is the best way to hone Valkyrie and train elite warriors."
"This has always been Schicksal's rule, and it's the same in other branches of the academy as it is in the St. Freya Academy. In a sense, it's also Equivalent Exchange."
Theresa didn't reveal the subtext of the Schicksal's rules, which was that Schicksal had no interest in wasting resources to raise a Valkyrie who had no value, and that missions were undoubtedly the best place to demonstrate one's self-worth.
Passing means you have some value, while failing means you didn't pass.
Most of the Valkyrie who failed were buried in St. Freya's Cemetery.
Death, that's perfectly normal.
"There's one mission per semester. St. Freya Academy rarely has holidays before graduation. There are twelve months in a year, and six months in a semester. The missions will be distributed to each student gradually over the six months."
She paused, glanced around at everyone present, and said:
"You should have been prepared that I'd be here today. Since the five of you enrolled around the same time, your first task since enrolling has been assigned to you all simultaneously."
"Finally, we're going on a mission? I'm so tired of training Tiāntiān. Tell me, Headmaster, are we going to fight some weird Honkai Beast? The weapons the academy provided have been distributed, but I haven't had a chance to use them yet."
Kiana, who has spent years wandering and Honkai Beast, clearly showed no fear; on the contrary, she seemed quite interested.
For some reason, she felt that she had made great progress recently, but the lack of real combat experience to confirm this was also a source of frustration for her.
"The missions are assigned based on the Valkyrie level. Given Kiana and your combat strength, this mission should be beyond your capabilities, and theoretically there shouldn't be much danger."
Theresa said this as if to offer them some comfort, but then she turned and added a word of caution:
"But theory is just theory. In reality, accidents can happen at any time, and even intelligence errors are normal. If you've been wandering alone for many years, you should understand this. So, when going on a mission, caution is paramount. Better safe than sorry."
"Your lives are very important to me." Theresa's azure eyes looked at the people present, her hands clutching the silver cross in front of her chest, as if in prayer.
The nun who once fought with the Judas's Oath now holds the cross as if praying to God—what a contradictory and strange scene.
Theresa's prayer was definitely not addressed to any deity. Under Otto Apocalypse's rule, Schicksal was such an arrogant organization. If a god truly existed, that man would only calmly smile and try to see if he could kill the so-called god.
Theresa wasn't praying; she was blessing them.
In the manner of a nun.
The best blessing a nun can offer is prayer.
Su Qing'an understood, Satou Yunona was also able to understand.
The other three, naturally, were the same.
"I will come back alive," Su Qing'an said earnestly.
"The headmaster should understand my situation; I'll be fine," Satou Yunona calmly assured him that she was safe.
How drastically wrong would the information regarding the mission assigned to B-rank Valkyrie have to be for her Pseudo-Herrscher, to fail? Satou Yunona, who couldn't imagine such an accident for the time being, was very confident and felt that everything was going smoothly.
"Don't worry, Headmaster, I've been out here all these years and nothing's happened to me. I'll be careful with missions and stuff. Don't worry," Kiana said, scratching her head, a little awkward but frank.
"Heavy Cannon Rabbit will protect Bronya, Headmistress, don't worry." Bronya patted the part of the mecha that appeared behind her, nodded her little head, and the twin pigtails with their bows swayed with her movements, which was quite cute with her expressionless face.
"In any case, we will come back alive, Headmaster Theresa."
Raiden Mei also stated that St. Freya Academy is now like a spiritual home to her, and Raiden Mei is naturally very grateful to Herrscher Theresa.
But if you want to give something in return, returning safely and successfully on your mission is the first step.
"Honestly, doesn't this make it sound like you're comforting me?" Theresa gave a helpless smile, feeling a bit awkward being comforted by her students, but she quickly continued:
"You've been assigned two tasks this time. That means the five of you will be divided into two groups, and each of you will complete one task. Consider it a team task."
"Bronya, Raiden Mei, Kiana, you three will form a group, with Mei as the team leader."
"Su Qing'an and Satou Yunona one group, with Su Qing'an serving as the team leader."
"Specific mission information will be sent to your school badges later. You can then link it to your communicator to see the mission details."
Theresa's choice was undoubtedly a reasonable arrangement. Raiden Mei, as the Third Herrscher, and Satou Yunona, as Pseudo-Herrscher, obviously could not be grouped together. Otherwise, if an accident caused them to lose control at the same time, the consequences would be difficult to handle.
Kiana, who once awakened Raiden Mei twice, and Bronya, who had previously teamed up with the two, were naturally the best choices.
If Kiana is a constraint on Raiden Mei, then the reason for pairing Su Qing'an and Satou Yunona together is self-evident.
For Satou Yunona, who was unwilling to harm Su Qing'an even after being controlled by the Honkai Consciousness in her Pseudo-Herrscher, Su Qing'an was the best lock.
None of the people present had much to say about Theresa's arrangements; in fact, the fact that it wasn't a solo mission made them feel much more relaxed and happy.
"Come see me tomorrow morning to discuss some related matters. If you have any other questions, you can ask Major Himeko and Fu Hua."
"That's all for today. I hope you have sweet dreams, my lovely students."
Theresa smiled and said goodnight, then turned and left without lingering.
The girl's figure disappeared into the already dark night.
In the darkness of night, tiny, trivial things stirred up a grand clamor, only to vanish into nothingness in the sea breeze blowing through St. Freya.
A day at the St. Freya Academy has come to an end.