I Am the Saintess of Destiny Chapter 20

"Of course you can, but the club's purpose is to watch over Lady Kiana's growth."

"Understood. Then I'll continue training too."

"Go for it, Himeko."

The woman with wavy apricot hair cheered her on.

"Of course. I can't afford not to work hard."

Saying this, Murata Himeko felt quite helpless.

That young girl could have relied on her background, or even her cute appearance, but she chose to rely on hard work and sheer determination instead.

The teacher sister responsible for Kiana's lessons was quite frustrated.

During the afternoon class, Kiana was late again, but she couldn't bring herself to get angry.

She'd heard that in the morning training session, Kiana had pushed herself to the point of collapse again. As a member of a certain secret club, she felt deeply pained.

By now, many secret clubs had formed among Schicksal's Valkyries and trainees.

After all, Kiana's performance proved that Bishop Otto's public claims were all true.

"Lady Kiana... she works so hard."

"Ah, teacher, I'm here."

A clear little girl's voice came from outside the door.

"Lady Kiana, today's lesson will be changed to self-study. Let me tell you about Lady Cecilia's debut battle as a B-rank Valkyrie."

"Really? That's great!"

The little girl was clearly far more interested in stories about her mother than in the textbooks Bishop Otto had prepared.

As a member of a certain secret club, the teacher sister naturally did her utmost to fulfill her wish. After all, Bishop Otto's textbooks only served to promote Schicksal's righteousness.

In her view, Kiana, who wanted to become the strongest Valkyrie fighting for Schicksal like her mother, had no need for such lessons.

The fatigue of the day vanished the moment her body sank into the bath.

"Ahhh~ What a sight."

To be honest, she really enjoyed soaking in such a large bath.

Especially when she opened her eyes and saw the fair, soft bodies of the cute little maids.

"Lady Kiana, we've told you, please don't make sounds like some old man."

The little maid named Leah protested strongly.

The other little maids nodded in agreement.

If there was one thing about their young mistress, it was that whenever she bathed with them, she'd inevitably let out lecherous old-man noises.

"Sorry, sorry~"

She quickly apologized to her little maids.

To be honest, habit was a terrifying thing.

At first, she had refused to bathe with the little maids—because just because someone said they'd bathe together didn't mean she'd agree. Even if they were all women now, that didn't mean no one would take advantage.

Yes, she was the one being taken advantage of.

She refused.

And she certainly wouldn't cave just because one maid's chest was big and soft.

But after bathing with the little maids a few times, she was eventually won over by their earnest attitude and agreed to bathe together.

"Kiana, are you in there?"

A familiar voice came from outside the bath.

"I'm coming in."

With that, a little white-haired loli wrapped in a white towel appeared in the bathroom.

Of course, she too was stunned by the scene inside.

This room—whoever the original owner was, they'd built an especially large bathroom. The enormous bath could easily fit three or five people without feeling cramped.

"Theresa sister?"

"You can call me Aunt Theresa. Your mother and I were close friends."

Because of her appearance, Theresa didn't like Kiana calling her sister.

If she called her sister now, would she be calling her little sister in a few years?

Theresa simply told her to call her aunt directly.

"Oh, whatever makes you happy. Why are you here?"

"I heard you've been training really hard lately, so I specially applied for leave to come see you."

Aunt Theresa pulled off her scarf and turned on the showerhead to rinse herself.

"...Applied? When did Aunt Theresa apply for leave?"

"Oh, this morning."

Letting the water from the showerhead wash over her hair, Theresa answered casually.

"..."

Naturally, Theresa's reply left her silent.

During this time, she had built a decent relationship with the Assault Team, even though the way they looked at her was getting more and more unsettling...

But she still learned about the situation with applying for leave.

The Assault Team had to submit their leave requests a full half-month in advance to headquarters. If it weren't for Bishop Otto assigning them instructor duties, they might not have gotten their leave approved at all.

Of course, they were guaranteed leave every year, but in the past, the application would be delayed by at least three months.

Thinking back to how hard the Assault Team had to work for their leave, compared to Theresa applying in the morning and then returning to headquarters from the Far East that very night, she could only sigh to herself that the Schicksal organization really did bear the name Apocalypse.

"Kiana, I heard everything from Laguna. Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

"To become the strongest Valkyrie, just like Mom."

For her now, no matter who asked, that was always the answer.

Hearing this, Theresa clearly fell into recollection.

After washing her hair and rinsing off, Theresa also soaked in the bath.

"Your mother never wanted you to become the strongest Valkyrie... You just need to be yourself." Theresa said with concern.

Even from the Far East, she had heard plenty of rumors.

"How about coming to the Far East with me to relax? It's a place where Honkai incidents happen frequently, but the cities there are also very prosperous—most famous for things like games and animation culture."

"Aunt Theresa... maybe next time. If I become a B-rank Valkyrie, I'll definitely apply to Bishop Otto for a transfer to the Far East Branch for an internship."

"Sigh..."

Faced with her persistence, Theresa had no choice but to give up persuading her.

"I'll scrub your back for you in a bit."

"Then I'll leave it to you."

23. A Character Design Too Successful Is Also a Headache (Revised)

Glancing at the little white-haired girl lying beside her, she didn't refuse this Aunt Theresa's request to sleep together.

They had already scrubbed each other's backs as a sign of friendship, so why would she mind sleeping with Theresa?

If anything, Theresa's embrace wasn't as warm and soft as the Little Maid's.

"...Well then, Aunt Theresa, good night."

"Good night, Kiana."

After exchanging good nights with Theresa, she tightly closed her eyes, and her consciousness gradually sank into darkness.

Then, in the darkness, she saw two small figures appear.

"Good evening, True Kiana, K423."

"K422, good evening."

"Waaah..."

K423 didn't start crying the moment she came in today; she already knew to raise both hands in a cheering gesture to greet her.

In this space, even though K423 couldn't yet understand the words she spoke, she could grasp the meaning she wanted to convey.

But her progress was limited to that.

After greeting her, she puffed out her chest, took a deep breath...

"Sigh..."

True Kiana instinctively covered her ears, and then a huge wailing sound erupted from beside her.

"She hasn't improved at all."

"You can't say that. She already knows how to greet people. Even if her reactions are like a baby's now, that doesn't mean her brain is at a baby's level."

After all, both her and K423's bodies had been adjusted by Bishop Otto to be the same age as True Kiana.

"...I feel like you're going to spoil her rotten."

"K423 is so cute, a little spoiling doesn't hurt."

She walked over to the little girl who was crying with her neck craned back and began to comfort her softly.

Before long, K423 obediently nestled in her arms, sucking her thumb—a bad habit she'd picked up from who knows where.

She had to scold her softly.

If she scolded loudly, this crybaby would just keep crying.

After she had calmed down little K423, True Kiana blinked her big, curious eyes and sat down beside her. "K422, is there anything fun today too?"

"Of course. Starting from this morning, just like always, that pretty big sister named Murata Himeko and that big sister with the apricot-colored wavy hair kept making eyes at each other..."

"Hehe."

True Kiana perked up her ears happily.

She clearly loved this nonsense storytelling session.

Even K423, who couldn't understand the words, put on a serious expression.

Since True Kiana and K423 were willing to listen, she was naturally willing to talk.

"...Speaking of which, is training tough?"

"How could it be tough? Just jogging a lap around the training ground, then doing a few push-ups. After all, I'm still a kid, so they won't let me overwork myself. Besides, training isn't something you can get results from with just one burst of effort—what matters is persistence."

She curled her lips dismissively.

"I thought it would be really hard."

"Where was I just now? Oh, right, Aunt Theresa—the little white-haired loli who has a thing with our Mom..."

Beep, beep... beep.

Otto, holed up in one of his laboratories, glanced at the screen.

Three monitors in three rooms captured three peaceful sleeping faces.

Of course, one monitor also caught a little white-haired loli squeezing into the frame.

Otto looked at the familiar little loli who had squeezed into the picture, and the corner of his mouth curved into a helpless arc.