At Schicksal, I Became a Saintess

There was naturally nothing wrong with the footage.

But Bishop Otto would not believe it so easily.

As for K422, who harbored hostility toward him, and Theresa, who wanted to rescue Kiana—Bishop Otto would swear on the entire cabinet of women's clothes in his room that if those two had gotten together without plotting something, he would burn every last outfit.

For now, though, he would pretend not to have noticed.

Bishop Otto naturally did not care about Theresa's or even Siegfried's rescue plan. Instead, he wanted to use the opportunity to set a trap and capture Siegfried.

Meanwhile, Theresa left Schicksal Headquarters and traveled all the way to Russia.

After all, she still had her duties as a Valkyrie. A Valkyrie's daily work in Schicksal was fighting Honkai Beasts.

Though Honkai outbreaks on the level of a Herrscher were rare, small-scale outbreaks occurred from time to time across the world. The Honkai Beasts and Deadmen that appeared alongside them were not numerous, but conventional weapons did little damage to them. Only Valkyries could effectively stop them.

Theresa did not even change into another battlesuit. Carrying her cross, Judas' Oath, she smashed several Rush-class Honkai Beasts to pieces.

After dealing with those mosquito-like Honkai Beasts, Theresa headed toward a tavern in a nearby village.

Naturally, given her height and appearance, she was stopped.

Even when she told the staff blocking her way that she was already over thirty, no one who saw her appearance believed her.

Fortunately, Theresa did not need to enter the tavern. The person she was waiting for did not make her wait long and had already been standing guard at the back door.

Or rather, the two had originally arranged to meet at the tavern's back door.

Theresa being stopped from entering the tavern had merely been to throw off some of the watchers. After she left in a huff, the watchers departed as well. Once she confirmed they were gone, Theresa returned to the inn before heading back to the tavern's rear entrance.

"Theresa... How was it? Did you see Kiana?"

"Of course I saw her, Siegfried."

Looking at the man squatting by the back door and drinking, Theresa answered coldly.

Siegfried Kaslana

The man squatting by the back door and chugging alcohol had the Kaslana Family's trademark white hair and blue eyes.

He wore a blue coat with a black velvet collar over a khaki shirt. His lower half was casually matched with black trousers and worn knee-high boots. His stubbled face was full of despondency, and his unwashed hair from the past two days had been tied up carelessly.

When he heard Theresa say, "Of course I saw her...," the despondency and confusion vanished from his face, replaced by a sharp gleam in his eyes.

"You really saw her?"

Siegfried's voice trembled.

During the Second Eruption, his wife Cecilia had perished together with the Second Herrscher under Bishop Otto's orders. He had become utterly disillusioned with Schicksal, and not long after, he had tried to flee Schicksal with Kiana.

However, Bishop Otto discovered his plan before he could carry it out. Had the Kaslana Family not intervened, Bishop Otto might have executed him on the spot for treason.

His family had not helped him without conditions.

Though he survived, he was expelled from the Kaslana Family.

His daughter was also detained by Bishop Otto.

Had Theresa not found him afterward, Siegfried would have wanted to storm Schicksal Headquarters and unleash Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment.

But Theresa's reason for persuading him back then had been that "Kiana is safe in Schicksal." Yet despite Siegfried repeatedly asking Theresa to pass messages along to Kiana for him, she had never managed to do so.

At one point, he had believed Kiana had already been killed.

Thinking of his wife, who had perished with the Second Herrscher, and his daughter, whom he had failed to protect, Siegfried chose to give up on himself.

Even though Theresa emphasized time and again that Kiana was still alive, that Kiana would not suffer persecution in Schicksal and would at most be made to cooperate with some experiments.

After all, no matter how far the Kaslana Family and the Schariac Family had declined, they could not possibly ignore the lives of their next family heads.

"Kiana is really still alive?"

Siegfried's voice held a trace of trembling.

He had been disappointed too many times. He had even believed this was an excuse Theresa had fabricated to stop him from joining his family in death.

"...When have I ever lied to you? I've told you many times that whatever experiments Grandpa wants to conduct on Kiana, she won't be in danger. But getting her out of Schicksal is impossible."

Theresa gave a bitter smile. Even if she did not know what experiments her grandfather was conducting on Kiana, she knew he would not let Kiana go easily.

If he wanted to release Kiana, he would have done so long ago.

"Whew..."

Theresa's words finally put Siegfried at ease.

A plan to rescue Kiana naturally surfaced in his mind.

The plan had three steps.

First, he would charge into Schicksal.

Second, he would unleash Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment.

Third, he would escape Schicksal with Kiana.

Mm, perfect.

"Please use your brain more."

Theresa did not need to guess to know what Siegfried was thinking.

It was definitely a brainless plan.

Of course, Theresa was not in much of a position to criticize Siegfried. Her own earlier plan had been to charge into Schicksal with him and fight their way from Schicksal's gates all the way into its depths.

Both their plans were very much in the Kaslana Family's style.

Theresa's plan had naturally been torn apart without mercy, so she returned the favor by tearing Siegfried's plan apart without mercy.

It nearly made Siegfried question his entire life.

He almost shut down completely.

"Fine, forget the plan. Tell me about Kiana, Theresa... Is Kiana doing well? She should be eight now. I wonder whether she's used to Schicksal's food."

With the plan to rescue Kiana shot down, Siegfried naturally shifted his attention to Kiana until he could think of a reliable plan.

"She is doing fine for now, but Grandpa seems to be making Kiana take part in many dangerous experiments."

Theresa did not mention the rumor spreading through Schicksal.

The rumor claimed that an accident during an experiment had caused the next heads of the Kaslana and Schariac Families to lose their memories.

After all, the doctors and researchers Bishop Otto recruited to work for Schicksal were the finest in their fields. How could they admit that an accident had occurred during their experiments?

This was not merely a matter of whether Bishop Otto's salary and research funding were generous enough. Of course, the salary and research funding Bishop Otto provided were so generous that they could not refuse.

"...Otto!!"

At that moment, Siegfried wanted nothing more than to cut down the Grand Bishop of Schicksal with a single slash.

A few years ago, when he had planned to flee Schicksal with Kiana, he had once had the chance to unleash Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment right in Bishop Otto's face. But in the end, he had not done it.

He had also been deeply conflicted over how to face Bishop Otto.

Regardless of whether political factors had been mixed into that marriage, although his union with his wife looked like a political marriage, their relationship had actually been very good.

It could be said that without Bishop Otto's interference, even if he and his wife truly loved each other, they would not have been brought together.

From that perspective, Bishop Otto had been the benefactor of their family.

It was precisely because of that conflicted position that Siegfried had not unleashed Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment's true power back then.

"Don't worry, Siegfried. I will definitely stop Grandpa's experiments."

As she said this, Theresa hesitated over whether to reveal the matter of the clones to him.

Put kindly... Siegfried had suddenly gained two daughters. Put less kindly, Bishop Otto had used his daughter's DNA to create clone soldiers.

Today, they were ordinary clones. Next time, they might be Honkai-resistant clones, or even military clones.

One had to know that the work Schicksal's Valkyries took on was not limited to exterminating monsters. Sometimes, they even provided bodyguard and assassination services for the wealthy.

"Let's go with your judgment. I don't understand this sort of thing."

Siegfried also honestly admitted his situation. After several years of giving up on himself, he was worried that he might no longer be able to lift a sword.

After talking Siegfried down, Theresa began making plans again.

This time, Siegfried listened very seriously. He did not want what had happened years ago to happen again.

Likewise, he did not want to disappoint Kiana.

Back then, in order to flee Schicksal, he had made arrangements for an escape route in advance.

Yet shortly after he left, his intention to defect from Schicksal was exposed. While setting up the escape route, he was immediately ambushed by Bishop Otto.

In the end, Bishop Otto imprisoned him, leaving the Kaslana Family no choice but to trade conditions for his release.

Thinking that his last meeting with Kiana had been when he failed to keep his promise, Siegfried's guilt toward his daughter deepened further.

"This time, no matter what, we have to rescue Kiana."

"Mm, of course."

Just as Siegfried and Theresa put their heads together to plan a new rescue operation, in a laboratory deep within Schicksal Headquarters, a little girl who had been crying nonstop saw several researchers approaching. Seeing the syringes in their hands, she grew nervous. A golden gleam flashed through her blue eyes in an instant, and then... those researchers were thrown into the Imaginary Space.

Had Bishop Otto not been watching the experiment, he would never have expected such an outrageous result.

"...It really is the Second Herrscher's spatial ability."

Bathing and Sleeping Together

Otto leaned back against a leather chair, propping his cheek on one hand resting on the armrest as he stared at the data gathered from the laboratory.

The lives of several researchers were far less important than firsthand data on the Second Herrscher's spatial ability.

Unfortunately, when the Second Herrscher was born, all the researchers in the Babylon Laboratory had been wiped out. As a result, no data on the true Second Herrscher had been obtained.

Experiment subject K423's temporary Herrscher Transformation had merely been an accident.

This experiment had only been meant to test K423's Honkai resistance. Even Otto had not expected to gather data on a Herrscher Transformation.

"As long as the principles behind Herrscher Transformation are understood, Herrschers obedient to Schicksal can be created."

Although Schicksal was an organization that fought the Honkai, Otto himself was not particularly passionate about combating it.

If it was to preserve Schicksal's superior international standing, Otto did not mind researching a little black technology. Beyond fighting the Honkai, Schicksal had expanded into other lines of business. As powerful warriors, Valkyries were naturally more than capable of handling security and assassination work.

Even C-rank Valkyries who could not be deployed to Honkai battlefields possessed combat strength far beyond that of special forces soldiers.

They might not be able to defeat a thousand alone, but taking on ten was no problem.

Not to mention Schicksal's qualified products—Valkyries above B-rank even possessed the power to confront armored vehicles and armies.

And in Otto's eyes, artificially creating Herrschers would be a major step toward mastering the Honkai.

Once he could mass-produce Artificial Herrschers stronger than A-rank Valkyries, no one would be able to shake Schicksal's position again.

By then, cheap floozies like Anti-Entropy and World Serpent would not even be able to cause him trouble.

There had been no shortage of organizations hostile to Schicksal over the years, but most were insignificant small fry, not even worthy of being extras. Only organizations like Anti-Entropy and World Serpent could be considered Schicksal's opponents, but without exception, such organizations were exceptionally good at hiding.

Otto had caught their trail several times, but they had still escaped in the end.

Thinking that he was about to uncover the true essence of Herrschers, Otto grew extremely excited.

Over the next several days, Otto threw himself wholly into the data.

Each time, only after Amber reminded him did he stop researching long enough to eat a bite or two before immediately diving back into the data.

Even though he had reproduced Herrscher power in experiment subject K423, Artificial Herrschers were still not so easy to create.

There was, after all, an enormous gap between theory and reality.

But it had also laid the foundation for Otto's Artificial Herrscher Project.

Meanwhile, after spending several carefree days, K422 also began her "rehabilitation" lessons.