I Am the Saintess of Heavenly Mandate Chapter 10

The screen naturally showed nothing wrong.

But Bishop Otto wouldn't be so easily convinced.

With K422 hostile toward him and Theresa wanting to rescue Kiana, Bishop Otto would swear on the cabinet full of dresses in his room—if those two were plotting together without some scheme, he'd burn every last one of them.

Still, for now, he'd pretend not to have noticed.

Bishop Otto naturally didn't care about Theresa's or even Siegfried's rescue plan; instead, he intended to use it as a trap to capture Siegfried.

Meanwhile, having left Schicksal Headquarters, Theresa traveled far to Russia.

After all, she still had her work as a Valkyrie—the daily routine for Valkyries in the Schicksal organization was fighting Honkai Beasts.

Although calamities on the level of a Herrscher didn't occur often, small-scale Honkai eruptions broke out here and there from time to time. The Honkai Beasts and Deadmen that accompanied these small eruptions weren't numerous, but conventional weapons dealt minimal damage to them—only Valkyries could effectively stop Honkai Beasts and Deadmen.

Theresa hadn't even bothered to change into a different combat suit; she simply swung her cross, Judas' Oath, and directly smashed several Rush-class Honkai Beasts to pieces.

After dealing with those mosquito-shaped beasts, Theresa headed for a tavern near the nearby village.

Of course, given her height and appearance, she was stopped at the door.

Even when she told the staff member blocking her that she was over thirty years old, no one believed her just by looking at her.

Fortunately, Theresa didn't make it into the tavern, but the person she was waiting for didn't keep her waiting long—he was already waiting by the back door.

Or rather, the two had originally agreed to meet at the tavern's back entrance.

Theresa getting stopped at the tavern's front was just to throw off some of the watchers. After she left in a huff, the watchers departed too. Once she sensed they were gone, Theresa returned to the tavern's back door.

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

"Of course I saw her, Siegfried."

Looking at the man crouched by the back door drinking, Theresa said coldly.

11. Siegfried Kaslana (Revised)

The man crouched by the back door, chugging down drink after drink, had the Kaslana family's trademark white hair and blue eyes.

He wore a blue coat with a black velvet collar over a tan undershirt, casually paired with black pants and worn-out boots. His face, dotted with stubble, was full of dejection, and his unwashed hair was carelessly tied together.

When he heard Theresa say "Of course I saw her...", his expression shifted from its usual gloom and hesitation, his eyes sharpening.

"You really saw her?"

Siegfried's voice trembled.

During the Second Eruption, his wife Cecilia had died alongside the Second Herrscher on Bishop Otto's orders. Disillusioned with the Schicksal organization, he'd soon tried to flee with Kiana.

But his plan was discovered by Bishop Otto before it could even begin. If not for the Kaslana family stepping in, he might have been executed on the spot for treason.

The clan's help didn't come without conditions.

Though he survived, he was exiled from the Kaslana family.

And his daughter was kept hostage by Bishop Otto.

If Theresa hadn't found him afterward, Siegfried would have stormed Schicksal Headquarters and unleashed Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment.

But Theresa had convinced him at the time with the argument, "Kiana is safe in the Schicksal organization." Yet Siegfried repeatedly begged Theresa to pass messages to Kiana for him, and none of them ever got through.

He'd once believed Kiana had already been killed.

Thinking of his wife, who had died alongside the Second Herrscher, and his daughter, whom he'd failed to protect, Siegfried gave up on himself.

Even though Theresa insisted again and again that Kiana was alive, that she wouldn't be harmed in the Schicksal organization—at most, she'd have to cooperate with some experiments.

After all, no matter how far the Kaslana and Schariac families had fallen, they wouldn't just abandon the next head of the family to die.

"Kiana is really still alive?"

Siegfried's voice carried a tremor.

He'd been disappointed too many times. He even thought this was just an excuse Theresa had made up to stop him from following his family into death.

"...Have I ever lied to you? I've told you many times—whatever experiments Grandpa wants to run on Kiana, she won't be in danger. But taking her away from there is impossible for us."

Theresa gave a bitter smile. Even if she didn't know what experiments her grandfather was conducting on Kiana, she knew he wouldn't let her go easily.

If he'd wanted to release Kiana, he would have done it long ago.

"Haah..."

Theresa's words finally let Siegfried set his mind at ease.

At that moment, a plan to rescue Kiana naturally surfaced in his mind.

The plan had three steps.

Step one: he'd charge into the Schicksal organization.

Step two: he'd unleash Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment.

Step three: he'd take Kiana and flee the Schicksal organization.

Mm, perfect.

"Please use your brain more."

Theresa didn't need to guess to know what Siegfried was thinking.

It was definitely a plan of reckless proportions.

Of course, Theresa wasn't in a position to criticize Siegfried, since the plan she'd thought up earlier was for her to charge into Schicksal Headquarters with Siegfried, then fight their way from the front gate all the way to the deepest depths of the organization.

Both of their plans could be said to be very much in the style of the Kaslana Family.

Theresa's plan was naturally shot down as worthless, and she returned the favor by tearing Siegfried's plan apart just as thoroughly.

It directly made Siegfried question his own existence.

He nearly fell into a state of self-isolation.

"Alright, forget the plan. Let's talk about Kiana, Theresa... Is Kiana doing well? She should be eight years old now. I wonder if she's gotten used to the food at Schicksal Headquarters."

With the plan to rescue Kiana shot down, and before he could think of a reliable one, Siegfried's attention naturally shifted to Kiana.

"She's fine for now, but Grandpa seems to be making Kiana participate in a lot of dangerous experiments."

Theresa didn't mention the rumors spreading through Schicksal Headquarters.

The rumors 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 recruited by Bishop Otto to work for Schicksal were top figures in their respective fields. How could they admit that their own experiments had suffered an accident?

This wasn't about whether Bishop Otto's salary and research funding were generous—though, of course, the salary and funding he provided were too much for them to refuse.

"...Otto!!"

At this moment, Siegfried wished he could cut down the Grand Bishop of Schicksal with a single sword strike.

Years ago, when he'd planned to escape Schicksal with Kiana, he'd once had a chance to unleash Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment right in Bishop Otto's face, but in the end, he hadn't done it.

He was deeply conflicted about how to face Bishop Otto.

Regardless of whether politics had played a role in that marriage, even if his union with his wife had seemed like a political one, the two of them had actually had a very good relationship.

It could be said that without Bishop Otto's intervention, even if he and his wife had truly loved each other, they wouldn't have been brought together.

From that perspective, Bishop Otto was also their family's benefactor.

It was precisely because of this conflicting stance that Siegfried hadn't unleashed the true power of Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment back then.

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

Having said that, Theresa hesitated over whether to tell him about the clones.

After all, putting it in a positive light... Siegfried had suddenly gained two daughters. Putting it in a negative light, his daughter's DNA was being used by Bishop Otto to manufacture clone soldiers.

Today it was standard-model clones; next time, it might be clones designed to fight the Honkai, or even military-grade clones.

One had to know that the Valkyries contracted by Schicksal didn't just handle monster extermination—sometimes they even provided bodyguard services and assassination jobs for the wealthy.

"I'll leave it to you. I don't know much about this area."

Siegfried admitted his own situation frankly. After years of wallowing in self-abandonment, he was worried he might not even be able to lift a blade anymore.

After persuading Siegfried to stand down, Theresa began planning anew.

This time, Siegfried listened very attentively. He didn't want to experience what had happened years ago all over again.

Nor did he want to disappoint Kiana.

Back then, in order to escape Schicksal, he'd set up an escape route in advance.

But no sooner had he left than his intention to defect from Schicksal was exposed. On the path where he'd laid out his escape route, he immediately ran into Bishop Otto's ambush.

In the end, he was imprisoned by Bishop Otto, and the Kaslana Family had to negotiate terms for his release.

Thinking about his last meeting with Kiana—how he'd failed to keep his promise—Siegfried's guilt toward his daughter deepened.

"No matter what, I'm rescuing Kiana this time."

"Mm, of course."

While 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 tensed up, and in an instant, her blue eyes flashed with golden light. Then... those researchers were thrown into Imaginary Space.

If Bishop Otto hadn't been monitoring this experiment, he never would have expected such an exaggerated result.

"...As expected, it's the Second Herrscher's spatial ability."

12. Bathing and Sleeping Together (Revised)

Otto leaned back against the genuine leather backrest of his chair, his elbow resting on the armrest as he propped his cheek on his hand, gazing at the data collected from the laboratory.

The lives of a few researchers were far less important than the first-hand data on the Second Herrscher's spatial ability.

Unfortunately, when the Second Herrscher was born, she had wiped out all the researchers at Babylon Laboratory, so the data on the true Second Herrscher had never been obtained.

The temporary Herrscher Transformation of Experiment Subject K423 was merely an accident.

This experiment had only been designed to test K423's Honkai resistance. Even Otto hadn't expected to collect data on a Herrscher Transformation.

"As long as I unlock the principles behind Herrscher Transformation, I can create Herrschers that obey Schicksal."

Although Schicksal is an organization that fights against the Honkai, Otto himself is not particularly passionate about opposing it.

If it meant maintaining Schicksal's transcendent status on the international stage, Otto didn't mind dabbling in a little black technology. Beyond fighting the Honkai, Schicksal had expanded into other ventures—Valkyries, as powerful warriors, could naturally handle security and assassination with ease.

Even a C-rank Valkyrie, who couldn't be deployed to the Honkai battlefield, possessed combat power that far exceeded that of special forces soldiers.

It might not be "one against a thousand," but taking on ten at once was no problem.

Let alone Schicksal's certified products—B-rank Valkyries and above had the strength to contend with tanks and armies.

And artificially creating Herrschers, in Otto's view, was a major step toward mastering the Honkai.

Once he could mass-produce artificial Herrschers surpassing A-rank Valkyries, no one would ever be able to shake Schicksal's position.

By then, flashy upstarts like Anti-Entropy and the World Serpent wouldn't even be able to cause him trouble.

Over the years, there had been organizations hostile to Schicksal, but most were small fry—not even worth being called extras. Only groups like Anti-Entropy and the World Serpent could be considered Schicksal's rivals, but such organizations were, without exception, exceptionally good at lying low.

Otto had caught their trail several times, but in the end, they always slipped away.

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

In the following days, Otto threw himself entirely into the data.

Every time, it took Amber's reminder for him to stop his research and take a bite or two of food, only to immediately dive back into the data.

Even though he had recreated Herrscher power in the experiment subject K423, artificial Herrschers were still far from easy to achieve.

After all, there was a vast gap between theory and reality.

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

Meanwhile, K422, who had spent a few leisurely days, began her "rehabilitation" course.