April 16, 2014, afternoon.
Su Qing'an looked out the window at the clear blue sky, where white contrails stretched the clouds into messy lines and patterns.
Sitting next to him was Satou Yunona.
The two picked up their boarding passes from Theresa in the morning and boarded a flight to Kanagawa, Japan.
Schicksal mission was carried out with great fanfare. Su Qing'an checked online and found that, theoretically, he could buy tickets for this flight through a ticketing app. However, in reality, there were no other passengers on the plane besides Satou Yunona and himself.
The airplane cabin looked unusually empty at first glance.
Su Qing'an had reason to suspect that the flight attendants and the captain were both personnel under the Schicksal regime.
In fact, in Europe, where Schicksal is completely in control, it would be normal for the pomp and circumstance to be even more extravagant.
For Schicksal, money is just a number.
He took out his phone, which was already linked to the academy's badge, and the mission information was stored there.
The school crest has many functions. According to Theresa, it also contains a positioning system for Schicksal, which periodically sends signals to the Far East Branch's database.
The Far East Branch will be aware of the situation the moment the badge is damaged, and if communication with the Valkyrie fails, the Far East Branch will conduct a follow-up investigation.
Moreover, the badge is made of a special material that is not only extremely strong but also highly sensitive to Honkai Energy. When it encounters a certain concentration of Honkai Energy, it will weakly convert a fixed amount of Honkai Energy into light and heat.
This function can be turned off during stealth or covert missions. Not all Valkyrie are highly sensitive to Honkai Energy, so this function of the badge can serve as a significant warning.
Of course, this feature isn't very useful for Satou Yunona and Su Qing'an.
"Sato, you've seen the mission information, haven't you?" Su Qing'an asked, glancing at the bloody images on her phone.
"Yes, according to the information provided by the client, a series of murders related to the Honkai have occurred in their village. A similar incident happened before Changkong City was destroyed, and Kiana resolved it all by herself."
Satou Yunona spoke in a completely unwavering tone; even when she uttered the words "Changkong City," her speaking speed and emotions remained unchanged.
Her eyes reflected the scene left by the murderer: internal organs, blood, and torn parts of his body, scattered haphazardly like a painting.
This is a cruel scene that would make even seasoned criminal investigators and retired soldiers feel horrified, yet the girl's reaction was merely a slight frown to express her disgust.
Satou Yunona did not feel any fear or discomfort. Apart from her will becoming more resilient, it was obvious that becoming Pseudo-Herrscher had ultimately had some impact on her personality.
Unlike Raiden Mei, whose personality remained unchanged due to her Herrscher consciousness, Satou Yunona truly controlled this power through her own personality, making a change in her personality inevitable.
Su Qing'an had noticed this a long time ago, but fortunately, apart from the concerns about interpersonal relationships, there was nothing else to worry about regarding her changed personality.
Su Qing'an carefully reviewed the mission information again, and finally spoke to Satou Yunona in detail:
"Yes, based on the current information alone, there's a high probability that someone has been infected by Honkai Energy and turned into Zombie to commit crimes."
"According to Headmaster Theresa, the Science Department analyzed the killer's remains and found that the Honkai Energy concentration was only slightly higher than that of a normal Zombie. Therefore, the appearance of Chariot-class Honkai Beast in this mission is an absurd situation."
"To put it bluntly, the difficulty of this mission lies only in finding the mission objective; combat is not something we need to worry about too much."
For Satou Yunona, who is Pseudo-Herrscher, and Su Qing'an, who has repeatedly crossed the line of death in Changkong City and killed countless Zombie, this mission is not only commonplace but also very simple. If one were to be optimistic, one could even treat it as a vacation.
This mission is practically off the mark for B-rank Valkyrie, because C-rank and D-rank Valkyrie are not qualified to fight against the Honkai. The missions they receive are not much different from those of mercenaries.
Therefore, this task is extremely gentle as a trial run for newcomers.
"Just maintain a proper level of vigilance during the mission. Sato, you've been working a little too hard at the academy lately."
Finally, Su Qing'an turned off her phone and said to Satou Yunona.
Even though the girl's powers included healing abilities, Su Qing'an didn't want her to treat him this way, but at the same time, he felt he had no right to stop Satou Yunona from doing such a thing.
What the boy said was actually a subtle way of telling her to relax.
Having understood this, Satou Yunona nodded obediently. Then, glancing at the boy's handsome profile, she suddenly said softly:
"Su Qing'an, we're friends, I guess."
"Of course." Su Qing'an answered without hesitation, but for some reason, he felt the atmosphere was abrupt and a little strange.
"From a friend's perspective, I'm a little uncomfortable being addressed by my surname all the time."
As the girl spoke, she involuntarily leaned slightly towards Su Qing'an. Her purple hair slid down to the boy's thighs with her movement, and her bare shoulders touched his. A cool, light fragrance filled her nostrils.
For a moment, Su Qing'an was reminded of the lotus flowers that bloomed and withered silently in the ancient spring, a faint fragrance that carried a sense of loneliness and detachment.
I've never noticed Sato wearing perfume before, and her hair seems much longer than yesterday?
Faced with a scene that, theoretically, would make one's mind wander, the boy's first reaction was this.
"Sorry, I've gotten a bit used to calling you that. From now on, I'll just call you by your Yuno."
After some thought, it's a bit inappropriate that I'm already calling Raiden Mei by her first name, but I'm still using the same name as Satou Yunona, with whom I'm closer. It's understandable that Satou Yunona might be a little upset about it.
"Unwavering at all? Typical of you." The girl couldn't help but sigh.
The physical touch, the alluring fragrance, and the enchanting atmosphere all vanished in those deep, calm eyes.
Although Satou Yunona understood that Su Qing'an wouldn't be swayed by such a level of probing, she still couldn't help but feel frustrated.
Even though she achieved her goal of getting the other person to change how they addressed her, Satou Yunona felt no pleasure whatsoever.
Are you and Fu Hua already indestructible before you've even started? You bastard.
The girl started conjuring up all sorts of strange reasons and ideas, and finally, just as her brain was about to shut down, she couldn't help but bluntly ask Su Qing'an:
"To you, Su Qing'an, what does the Class President mean?"
"Hua?" The boy was stunned upon hearing this. He murmured the name, feeling somewhat lost in thought.
This is different from his clear positioning of characters like Satou Yunona and Kiana.
Su Qing'an's feelings towards Hua have always been complicated.
That was the only being in this world who truly shared life and death with him, and depended on him for survival.
Even if the timeline restarts, Fu Hua will have no memories of him.
Fifty thousand years later, the Hua who once relied on him as a pillar of support and the Fu Hua of today are almost two completely different people.
But for Su Qing'an, she remains irreplaceable.
It's like when you play FGO and get your first five-star Servant with free Saint Quartz in a single pull, no matter how weak her combat power is or how ordinary her Noble Phantasm is.
Even if you encounter many more adorable, charming, noble, aloof, and incredibly powerful five-star Servants in the future, you will still feel that she is irreplaceable.
Because such an encounter felt almost like fate, right? And while humans are nostalgic, they can't refuse fate either.
But sometimes he can't help but think about it.
Has that fragile, sensitive, cat-like adorable girl simply ceased to exist?
Is the Fu Hua he knows now the same person as the Hua he knew?
But when he saw the girl's ethereal smile in the twilight, he knew that it was Hua.
She will still be the same honest person who likes to overthink things, or the person who is fragile yet possesses a strong inner strength.
It's still that Hua, whom he finds irreplaceable.
"She is very important to me," the boy said, his eyes seemingly reflecting the desolate night sky, but when he spoke of flowers, the desolate night sky was illuminated by countless lights, shining brightly.
After giving a vague answer, he looked directly at Satou Yunona with those eyes and continued:
"I should care about her a lot."
"Oh dear."
Upon hearing this, the girl couldn't help but utter a sound that was difficult to express.
Upon hearing Su Qing'an's answer, Satou Yunona's mind trembled. Unlike the aloof atmosphere she projected to the students at the St. Freya Academy, her mind was now filled with pink bubbles.
What's the difference between this and a confession?! Idiot!!!
Damn it, why did I, an idiot, ask such a question?
This is no longer a question of whether to lose or not.
It's like you go cycling to see the sea and find dolphins thronging the surface, white doves circling in the air, people waving flowers and applauding, and the words of blessing and the refreshing sea breeze all so fitting and harmonious.
And standing at the center of all this is a perfectly matched newlywed couple. At this moment, what can you do besides stop your bicycle, smile, clap, and cheer?
Satou Yunona's super straight shot resulted in a crushing defeat.
"Yuno? What's wrong with you?" Completely unaware that Satou Yunona had conjured up a bunch of strange images in a few moments, Su Qing'an only felt that Satou Yunona's reaction was a bit abnormal.
He waved his hand in front of the girl's eyes, but she remained unresponsive, as if her brain had shut down.
Ah, have I touched some strange switch?
Yuno has always had a penchant for thinking about strange and unusual things, and this time is probably no different.
Unsure whether he had guessed correctly or incorrectly, Su Qing'an continued to look out the window.
Kanagawa, almost there.