I Am the Saintess of Heavenly Mandate Chapter 17

Just then, the white-haired woman who had delivered the appointment letter to their Assault Team was leading a little white-haired girl toward them from straight ahead.

"Lord Amber."

The team member beside her lowered her head in salute and subtly tugged at the newcomer's sleeve.

Noticing her lapse in propriety, the newcomer quickly lowered her head as well.

But then... she felt a curious gaze sizing her up.

19. Knowledge Still Changes Fate (Revised)

At this moment, she was studying the two Valkyries before her with a curious look.

Having heard no news for several days in a row, and with Bishop Otto not seeking her out, she had assumed he had already forgotten about this matter.

After all, she couldn't fathom Bishop Otto's thoughts—who knew whether his earlier words of encouragement were just a whim, or if he had casually assigned a C-rank Valkyrie.

She truly hadn't expected that the instructor Bishop Otto arranged for her would be the Assault Team.

After delivering this news, Amber had specifically introduced the Assault Team to her.

Aside from the Assault Team's captain being an A-rank Valkyrie, two or three of its members also possessed A-rank Valkyrie-level strength, though they hadn't undergone the rank assessment. The other members were all among the top tier of B-rank Valkyries.

It was precisely because of this strength that the Assault Team was tasked with suppressing the Far East, a region plagued by frequent Honkai eruptions. If severe Honkai incidents occurred elsewhere, the Assault Team would even be dispatched there.

After a period of study, she now understood what the four Valkyrie ranks—A, B, C, D—represented, so she naturally wouldn't make the blunder of equating Valkyrie rank with cup size.

Valkyries were generally divided into four ranks: A, B, C, D.

Ranks could be upgraded through assessments.

Only Valkyries at B-rank or above were qualified to go on missions. A-rank Valkyries not only had the authority to operate independently and receive direct assignments from headquarters but could also apply for their own battleships and form their own combat squads. For ordinary Valkyries, A-rank was the lifelong goal.

In truth, there was also the special S-rank for Valkyries. Of course, the situation with S-rank was unique; currently, Schicksal only had one S-rank Valkyrie.

Then, she once again marveled at how outstanding Schicksal's appearances were.

Even for Valkyries, warriors who frequently entered the battlefield couldn't avoid having strange odors on their bodies. Going days without bathing was common, and lack of sufficient rest left their skin rough, making them look over a decade older after just a few months.

She had always assumed that dispatched Valkyrie squads were all a bunch of Muscle Barbies.

Of course, Muscle Barbies had their own kind of looks.

In her imagination, the Assault Team, which fought year-round in a place like the Far East, was probably a group of Gagarans.

Right, the kind with particularly developed muscles.

"...The Assault Team?"

But reality slapped her in the face.

What was she seeing?

By chance, she encountered two members of the Assault Team in the hallway—one was a gentle older sister with wavy apricot hair, the other a beautiful older sister with a red ponytail.

There wasn't a single flaw to find in either their appearance or figure.

Especially the red-haired older sister, whose face carried a hint of melancholy, made her blurt out a strange feeling: 'Oh no, this is a heart-thumping sensation.'

"We really are members of the Assault Team. I never imagined Lady Kiana would know of us."

The apricot-haired woman with the equally gentle voice lifted her head, fixing her affectionate gaze on her.

She shuddered violently.

She was all too familiar with that look now.

Staring at the woman who exuded maternal warmth from head to toe, she timidly took a small step back.

Clearly, this was another person who wanted to be her mom.

Schicksal was full of such people now. Even her little maids would secretly mutter things like 'Kiki, sleep well, Mom loves you' while she was asleep.

She had to admit, she had a tragic backstory that easily drew tears from women, and a pretty face that readily evoked maternal instincts.

"I've heard that Lady Kiana wishes to become a Valkyrie like Lady Cecilia. I believe the Assault Team can certainly contribute to Lady Kiana's dream."

The apricot-haired woman said softly.

Her center of gravity shifted slightly forward—if Amber hadn't been there, this woman would have already pulled her into an embrace.

"...Is that so? I'm looking forward to it."

No matter what the other woman called her in her heart, the Assault Team's strength was ultimately certified by Schicksal.

Having the Assault Team serve as her instructor—not just one Valkyrie from the team, but the entire Assault Team—showed just how big a move Bishop Otto was making.

She knew that after the Second Eruption, Schicksal had also fallen into a manpower shortage. While the number of Valkyries wasn't small, those capable of standing on their own were truly few.

Even after promoting several Valkyries to A-rank by exception, they still couldn't deploy across the entire world.

Many regions could only send wave after wave of Valkyries to die in the line of duty.

Yet now, Bishop Otto was pulling such a main force off the front lines to be her instructor—clearly, the scheme Bishop Otto was plotting was even bigger...

"It seems I've underestimated the value of Black Abyss White Flower..."

The only reason she could think of was naturally Black Abyss White Flower.

Unfortunately, she had no idea what a Divine Key was, so she couldn't accurately estimate the value of the Black Abyss White Flower. Otherwise, she could have used this opportunity to negotiate terms with Bishop Otto.

Even if it only meant securing a little free time for herself, or expanding her daily range of movement a bit, it would help with her future plans to save the True Kiana.

But she simply couldn't estimate the value of the Black Abyss White Flower. Going to Bishop Otto with random demands under these circumstances would be pure suicide...

Since Bishop Otto had already cloned a K422, he could naturally clone countless K422s.

She didn't think she was truly that important.

"Forget it, I'd better not poke at that dog Otto's bottom line..."

At the end of the day, it was her lack of knowledge about Divine Keys that left her unable to negotiate with Bishop Otto.

And Bishop Otto would never include Divine Key knowledge in her study curriculum.

"Knowledge really does change fate, huh..."

After saying goodbye to the two Assault Team members, she followed Amber to the Assault Team's lounge.

"Lord Amber, hello. Could this be Lady Kiana? Hello, Lady Kiana, I'm Ragna Rodbrok. Please take care of me from now on."

When Captain Ragnar finished introducing herself, her thoughts came to a complete halt.

"Sister Ragnar, you scared the young lady."

"Huh? My tone was perfectly normal just now..."

Ragnar was quite frustrated—she was in her normal state right now.

Just then, she snapped back to reality and blurted out, "Why a maid dress?!"

"Pfft!!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Snort!"

The other team members in the lounge immediately lost control of their expressions.

"...Out of—out of interest." Ragnar's cheeks flushed.

"That's a fine interest."

Even though Captain Ragnar felt embarrassed, she still wanted to praise it.

After all, a pretty person looks good in anything, and that maid dress was also very beautiful—naturally, they complemented each other.

"Ah, thank you for the compliment."

Being praised for her interest by an eight-year-old child, Ragnar suddenly felt the urge to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

"...I should have changed clothes."

Feeling like she'd created a new dark history, Ragnar's mood sank, and she couldn't help muttering under her breath.

She happened to catch the muttering and smiled. "Captain Ragnar, I'm serious. You look very beautiful in that outfit. I was just stunned a moment ago."

Of course, she wouldn't admit that when she first saw Ragnar in the maid dress, she thought the woman was a weirdo.

"Lady Kiana~~ Thank you for the compliment."

With that, Ragnar finally lost control and pulled her into a hug, pressing her head against her chest.

"Wah... It's heartbreaking how mature you are."

"I heard that due to an experiment accident, you've even forgotten what Lady Cecilia looks like. So pitiful."

"Those crazy scientists rarely come out clean. Hmph, when I find the chance, I'll get back at them for Lady Kiana."

The other team members in the lounge also started shedding tears.

A little girl who had lost her parents and was still so worldly-wise—clearly, she had suffered a lot in the Schicksal organization.

Several team members from Schicksal headquarters also wanted to rush over and hug the lonely little girl.

"..."

Honestly.

She wanted to punch Bishop Otto more and more now.

Why did he have to give her this persona?

She was practically becoming the emotional comfort chicken soup for all the Valkyries and trainees in the Schicksal organization.

People who didn't know would think she'd been crippled by an experiment accident but still wanted to become the strongest Valkyrie like her mother, protecting the people. Then, after being healed by Bishop Otto, she trained under the Assault Team, taking the first step toward becoming the strongest Valkyrie.

(ノ=Д=)ノ┻━┻

She was angry enough to flip a table.

Of course, her training course started tomorrow. For now, she was just visiting the Assault Team's captain and her members.

But at this moment, not all the Assault Team members were present.

Some were taking newcomers around the Valhalla area, while others had gone in groups to soak in the public bath.

If Amber hadn't checked the time and reminded Captain Ragnar, she might never have escaped from the embrace of a group of Valkyries with nowhere to channel their maternal instincts.

Although she had nothing but contempt for Bishop Otto's brainwashing lessons, at this moment she was genuinely grateful he had arranged them for her.

As for the content of those brainwashing lessons, they were only meant to fool ignorant little girls who didn't know any better.

After the first lesson ended, Amber began arranging a new schedule with the blonde-haired older sister.

After all, starting tomorrow, her mornings would be entirely reserved for the Assault Team.

The blonde-haired older sister teaching her now wore a look of regret; it was obviously impossible for her to have no hard feelings about it.

But the one competing with her for class time was the Assault Team.

The blonde-haired older sister, herself a fan of the Assault Team, even wanted to join the training herself, and she couldn't help but be incredibly envious that the girl had an entire Assault Team as her instructors.

Come evening, it was naturally time for the three-way meeting.

But tonight's three-way meeting had a bit of an incident. Although unexpected things always happened during these meetings, this time it nearly made her and True Kiana lose their composure.

The moment they entered that space of pure darkness, she and True Kiana saw each other, and right after that, K423, who was crying nonstop.

Because K423 still only knew how to cry, she and True Kiana naturally didn't pay her any attention, which was why they didn't notice what was happening to K423 at first.

When the two of them realized tonight's crying sounded very unusual and turned to scold K423, they saw that K423's right arm was wrapped in layer after layer of bandages.

She and True Kiana grabbed K423 and tore off the bandages on her arm, and both of their pupils sharply contracted.

Beneath the bandages were at least thirty needle marks.

20. Mm, the three of us sisters (fix)

Seeing the needle marks on K423's arm, she and True Kiana immediately understood what that crybaby had been through.

"Wait!!"