Honkai, I became Duck Daughter at the Start?

"Yes."

Amber nodded.

Since the Far East Stigmata incident in June, Bishop Otto had been in a low mood for quite some time. It wasn't until recently, when he began investigating the Second Divine Key in England, that he seemed to perk up.

"Don't worry, Amber, I'm not that fragile. I've been through too much of this..."

Otto smiled.

"Only through loss can we truly understand that beauty is never permanent, can't we?"

Seeing the bishop's obviously fake smile, Amber could only sigh.

There was nothing she could do. Otto was the bishop, after all. If he wanted to deceive himself, no one could stop him.

Compared to the Schicksal headquarters, which was relatively lively apart from Otto, The entire St. Freya Academy had become noticeably quieter during this period.

The dormitory living room was no longer filled with Kiana and Bronya noisily playing games together.

The only busy figure in the kitchen was Mei, with Seele occasionally helping out.

In terms of numbers, they had only lost one person and gained one.

Not too many, not too few, just right.

But some things couldn't be replaced just because they were gone.

Raiden Mei, who was cooking, glanced at Seele, who was sitting silently on the sofa, and comforted her:

"Don't worry about it, Seele. This has nothing to do with you. In a little while, when everyone calms down, it'll be alright..."

Kiana was furious with Bronya this time. Because of the entire incident involving Rosia, Kiana's evaluation of Bronya had dropped significantly.

Perhaps because of her own childhood, Kiana valued family affection immensely. Although she often complained about her father, it was clear that she was still proud of him.

Even though Raiden Mei wanted to defend Bronya, it was to no avail.

Whether it was the outcome or the process, if the score was out of a hundred, Bronya would forever only get fifty-nine points.

No matter how smart Bronya was, when it came to the question of "how to be a good mother," she only received a failing grade.

"I know, Mei-neechan... Everyone really liked her, and I did too... It's just that it's all because of me..."

Seele pursed her lips, blaming herself.

Although she appeared weak and timid, she wasn't foolish. Seele had learned a lot from Bronya.

She guessed that Cocolia continued to carry out the X-10 experiment because she wanted to bring her out of the Sea of Quanta through Rosia. For this, both Cocolia and Bronya had entered this gamble.

This gamble could be considered a success, or it could be considered a complete failure.

The success lay in the fact that they had indeed rescued Seele. However, all of them had their lives disrupted.

Rosia had disappeared. Unlike Seele, who could still be tracked before, no one knew where Rosia had gone or what had happened to her...

They had no way to find Rosia at all.

Undoubtedly, anyone with the ability to think clearly understood that rescuing Seele from the Sea of Quanta was a difficult task, but now, bringing back Rosia had become a hellish challenge.

This exchange was a complete and utter loss.

Now, Kiana spent all day in the training room, numbing herself through training, while Bronya either stared blankly at Rosia's diary or sat in Rosia's toy box, hugging the limited edition Houmu plushie and spacing out.

Bronya had already suffered severe damage to her brain from this incident, and now, with such heavy stimulation, she was acting like a madwoman all day.

What was once a well-functioning Valkyrie team was now only slightly better off with Mei.

Raiden Mei had always treated Bronya as a comrade. Seeing her in this state, it was difficult for her to feel any positive emotions.

But what could she do now?

Even thinking about this pain made Raiden Mei feel heartbroken.

She had never blamed Bronya for her choice.

Because they all saw Bronya from a God's-eye view. Raiden Mei had also wondered, if she were in Bronya's position, how would she choose?

Raiden Mei didn't know.

But she knew that when the day came when she faced such a choice, perhaps Mei wouldn't be much better off than Bronya was now.

No one could abandon the person they cherished most.

When you are forced to exchange what you cherish most for something else, your heart begins to collapse without you even realizing it.

"Alright, Seele, take this to Bronya."

Handing the prepared lunch to Seele, Raiden Mei smiled as she looked at Seele's appearance, which was the same as Rosia's.

Despite their similar appearances and personalities, Raiden Mei felt no possessiveness when she saw Seele. Instead, she only felt the warmth of a friend.

Raiden Mei could only attribute it to the fact that she liked Rosia as a person, not her appearance or her body.

Thinking of this, Raiden Mei sighed softly.

Raiden Mei could only hope that if Rosia was gone, the pain would be washed away by the passage of time and gradually fade.

If only Rosia were still here...

Raiden Mei hoped she was living a better life now.

Changkong City

"Hachoo..."

The girl with dark purple hair sneezed involuntarily. Her cool, aloof face combined with her bewildered expression created a charming contrast.

After arriving at Kong's stronghold, Yomi's aloof and unapproachable aura was evident, yet many children still secretly watched her, even tiptoeing closer.

The girl with dark purple hair sat by the campfire and noticed this, but she paid it no mind.

"Yomi big sister, are you cold?"

Seeing that the girl with dark purple hair was wearing thin clothes that looked like summer attire and noticing her sneeze, Kong asked with concern.

"I'm not cold. Someone must be thinking about me."

Yomi shook her head gently.

Her physique was strong; even spending a night outdoors, the cool breeze couldn't make her feel the slightest chill.

Yomi felt conflicted. Looking at the children around her, she couldn't see any value in them, yet inexplicably, she felt a fondness for them.

Nothing had meaning, but perhaps the meaninglessness itself was meaningful.

A lively voice in Yomi's mind seemed to remind her to love this world.

"Did your teacher build this place?"

Yomi frowned as she looked at the houses, which seemed to be made from various discarded materials.

"Yes, because there are Honkai Beasts and many dangers around, so Teacher helped me build this shelter for us to hide here. She comes to see us every so often..."

Kong replied.

"It's just that Teacher hasn't come for a while... The last time she came, Teacher was seriously injured and could barely speak clearly. She left us some things and then left."

Kong was very worried about their teacher.

"Is that so..."

Yomi nodded gently.

"What about you, Yomi big sister? Why are you here?"

Kong asked, a little confused.

"I don't know... I only know I'm looking for a child, but I can't remember her..."

Yomi shook her head.

"Thank you for waking me, Kong. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Although Yomi was puzzled about why her memory was faulty, she found it difficult to be interested in most things, so she wasn't in a hurry to search everywhere.

"Really... really?"

Kong was pleasantly surprised.

Judging by her aura and displayed strength, Yomi might even be more powerful than their teacher. Kong hadn't wanted to trouble Yomi, but her teacher hadn't visited for a long time, and the supplies here were actually very scarce.

Furthermore, for some unknown reason, the number of Honkai Beasts in Changkong City had increased significantly recently.

This had forced Kong to venture out today to search for supplies.

If she hadn't encountered Yomi, she might have met with disaster on her way back.

"It's fine. It just so happens that I need to stay here for a while, and I want to meet your teacher."

Yomi's intuition told her that Kong's teacher might provide her with clues.

"Thank you, Yomi big sister..."

Kong sat next to Yomi, leaning against her gently.

At this moment, although the campfire wasn't burning brightly, Kong felt warmth from the bottom of her heart.

"Kong, who is she?"

Under the cover of night, a figure emerged from the darkness.

The hooded figure extended claws towards the dark purple-haired girl's neck, but before she could react, a scabbard glowing with blue-purple light appeared in front of her throat.

The situation reversed in an instant.

Raven froze.

Wait, I'm trying to sneak attack here, and you're reacting this fast? That's really disrespectful!

And you're not even drawing your sword?

However, as her claws touched the scabbard in the dark purple-haired girl's hand, Raven couldn't help but speak.

"Why does this feel so familiar..."

The moment the purple-black haired girl gripped the hilt of her blade, a sense of familiarity washed over Raven.

In response to Raven's questioning gaze, Yomi simply uttered four words.

"This is mine."

ps: Everyone probably guessed how she regained her memories, right?

Chapter 52: Lost Yomi

"This is mine."

Raven's lips twitched at Yomi's aloof expression.

"I wasn't going to take it from you..."

"Teacher, Sister Yomi, please don't fight..."

Seeing the confrontational expressions on their faces, Kong quickly intervened.

"Heh..."

Raven really wanted to say that this wasn't a fight at all, but rather she was being completely dominated by this Yomi.

Just blocking her scabbard required all her strength, yet Yomi showed no signs of strain, as if she had merely swung the scabbard across casually.