"...Aunt Theresa, there's no need to brush my hair. Everyone has bad sleeping habits sometimes."
Of course, she felt that Theresa's sleeping habits were no longer a matter of whether they were good or bad.
She had even entertained the thought of making Theresa sleep with Bishop Otto. With Theresa's sleeping habits, she might just take care of Schicksal's Grand Bishop that way.
"I do need to! I'm very good at brushing hair."
Theresa was clearly trying to salvage a little of her dignity.
She truly had not expected that, after excitedly hugging Cecilia in her dream, she would nearly hug Cecilia's daughter to death in reality.
Well, "hug to death" was an exaggeration.
But squeezing the other person unconscious was entirely possible.
"...Then I'll leave it to you."
Faced with Theresa's insistence, she did not refuse. She merely labeled Theresa with three words in her heart: unreliable.
Whenever she thought that saving True Kiana might still depend on Theresa, she felt her future was bleak.
As a result, after she finished washing up, Theresa gave her a rather pretty braided hairstyle.
"Kiana's hair is starting to grow out. It'll look even prettier once it gets a little longer."
"Thank you, Aunt Theresa." She played with the braid behind her head for a while. Although it looked quite nice, it was not easy for her to tie by herself.
"Aunt Theresa, could you teach me how to do this hairstyle later?"
Theresa happily replied, "Hm? Of course. Let's go to the cafeteria first. Auntie has a big surprise for you afterward."
She nodded and agreed to go to the cafeteria.
But she was not interested in this so-called surprise.
If the surprise was being made to stay another night, then it would only be surprising, not pleasant.
After breakfast, she and Theresa took a walk around headquarters to aid digestion.
Having usually stayed only around her room, she could now tour the entire Valkyrie district under Theresa's guidance.
Unfortunately, the Valkyrie district's main facilities consisted only of laboratories and training grounds.
If there was anywhere interesting in the Valkyrie district, it was only the Procurement Department.
The Procurement Department was responsible for purchasing manga, games, and other goods from outside for the Valkyries.
Since Theresa was accompanying her today, she did not arrive at Training Ground 11 half an hour early as usual. Instead, she took the chance to memorize the Valkyries' main routes.
To disguise her purpose of memorizing the routes, she specifically brought up the Procurement Department.
After all, the Procurement Department was indeed very popular among Valkyries and trainees.
Especially trainees who had undergone certain changes and urgently needed a certain kind of product from the Procurement Department.
Of course, she was still a child and did not need to face that issue for now.
To avoid arousing Bishop Otto's suspicions, she took a brief stroll with Theresa before heading to Training Ground 11.
Although she arrived at Training Ground 11 at the time Captain Ragnar had specified today, everyone was curious about what had gotten into her.
Of course, when Captain Ragnar saw Theresa beside her, she immediately understood why.
"Kiana, don't overwork yourself like yesterday again."
Captain Ragnar also wore an expression of helpless frustration.
To get by with cuteness, she stuck out her tongue and acted adorably.
She had to know how to make good use of her cute appearance now.
"You..."
Seeing her act cute, Captain Ragnar developed an even worse headache, looking as though she had spent the whole night drinking and had not recovered from her hangover.
She naturally knew why.
Captain Ragnar had repeatedly stressed that training could not be excessive, especially for a child's body. Once it was pushed beyond its limits, it could easily suffer irreversible damage.
After hearing that, she had indeed not done any excessive training. However, she had trained herself to death right at the limit of her daily capacity.
"Laguna, does Kiana work this hard every day?"
"Sigh..."
Laguna did not know how to answer Theresa's question.
Glancing at the little girl who had walked to the edge of the training ground and consciously begun warming up, Laguna rubbed her throbbing temples.
She had really drunk too much last night.
She should not have downed an entire bottle of Water of Life just to try something new.
"...I only hope she restrains herself a little today."
Although Laguna admired that a little girl could reach this point, and even the Assault Team members had been won over by the girl's diligence, from an adult's perspective, she did not want the little girl working so hard.
If this world truly needed an eight-year-old girl to work this hard to have a future, then adults like them were simply too useless.
As a member of a certain secret moms' club, Laguna naturally felt especially sorry for Kiana.
"Fortunately, after hearing the rumors, I specially called in some favors to find a few friends. With them watching over her, there's no need to worry about anything happening to Kiana."
Even if she was an Apocalypse, she could not simply abandon the Far East Branch, which was still under construction.
Even if her grandfather was willing to approve leave for her, the leave he granted would definitely not be unlimited.
As Schicksal's only S-rank Valkyrie, Schicksal naturally did not forget to use her title for publicity. A large part of the Far East Branch's construction was built upon that reputation.
Of course, Theresa had long been considering retirement.
She was thinking about when to resign from her position as an S-rank Valkyrie.
She did not know what Schicksal's Propaganda Department had been thinking, making her wear pretty dresses and sing and dance onstage, claiming that this had the best promotional effect.
She had originally wanted to establish an academy in the Far East to train Valkyries... but because of the promotional video made by the Propaganda Department, anyone unaware of the truth would think St. Freya Academy taught dancing.
"Friends you found by calling in favors?"
Laguna was naturally very interested in the friends Theresa mentioned.
Meanwhile, Murata Himeko had just finished warming up when the training ground's doors opened once more and a group of researchers entered.
Schicksal never lacked researchers, so the arrival of this group did not draw her attention.
Murata Himeko let out a huge yawn.
She did not care what image Schicksal's researchers had of her.
After all, she had spent the entire night cleaning up after a bunch of drunkards and had not slept well at all. So what if she yawned? Had they never seen a beautiful woman yawn before?
Did they not know that beautiful women pooped too?
Murata Himeko did not care about the surprised expressions on the researchers' faces.
"Looks like you didn't sleep well last night..."
At that moment, a familiar gentle voice came from beside her.
Murata Himeko was scratching her armpit. Upon hearing the voice, she turned her head and met a pair of light blue eyes.
Seeing the dark-blue-haired man, Murata Himeko suddenly froze. Her alluring lips slowly fell open, and a trembling voice emerged from her mouth.
"...T-Teacher Joyce!!!"
Murata Himeko's cry naturally attracted many gazes.
Seeing the newcomer from the Assault Team lose her composure so thoroughly, several senior members revealed mischievous smiles. Clearly, there was something between their newcomer and that handsome man.
How could they not gossip about it?
Captain Ragnar had already decided what tonight's drinking snacks would be.
They definitely had wine, and the newcomer definitely had a story.
Even the little girl still warming up showed a very surprised expression the moment she saw the dark-blue-haired man.
Something Seems Fishy About This
Murata Himeko had not expected to reunite with Teacher Joyce, whom she had feelings for, at Schicksal Headquarters.
What was more, Teacher Joyce had seen her in such an unseemly state.
Her cheeks instantly turned bright red.
That adorable reaction made the Assault Team seniors whistle.
Clearly, the newcomer's story was well worth gossiping about.
The dark-blue-haired man maintained his smile, as though he had not seen Murata Himeko scratching her armpit just now.
"Teacher Joyce, why are you here?"
Murata Himeko hurriedly put on the demeanor of a proper lady.
Oho.
The newcomer's reaction naturally made Laguna and the other Assault Team members grin wickedly.
Clearly, they had underestimated just how much there was to gossip about between the newcomer and this professor from the California Institute of Technology.
The man naturally explained to Murata Himeko why he had come to Schicksal Headquarters.
At the moment, he had joined this research group invited by Theresa as the assistant of one of the researchers.
Faced with the gentle man before her, Murata Himeko became very restrained.
Joyce chuckled. "After what happened to Doctor Murata, I was always worried about you. I looked for you back then, but I couldn't find you. It seems you've been doing fairly well now."
"A lot happened after that too. I really am doing well now. Teacher Joyce, after training... could we have dinner together?" Murata Himeko asked shyly.
"Since it's Himeko's invitation, of course I won't refuse. I also have many things I want to tell you."
"Mm... Teacher Joyce..."
Murata Himeko grew even shyer.
In truth, Joyce had not expected to encounter his student at Schicksal Headquarters either.
He had a deep impression of Murata Himeko.
After all, among his students, Murata Himeko had been exceptionally outstanding.
Just when Joyce thought she would become a scientist after graduation, news arrived of her father's death. Soon afterward, Murata Himeko vanished as well. If he had not met her here, he would still have been worried about her safety.
Of course, he had never imagined that Murata Himeko would become a Valkyrie.
Joyce found that regrettable, and he hoped he could persuade Murata Himeko to return to the path of science later.
Of course, he had not forgotten his objective in infiltrating Schicksal Headquarters.
Especially since that target was looking at him with surprise.
Joyce smiled at the little girl.
The arrival of the dark-blue-haired man had indeed taken her by surprise.
Although she was certain that she did not know this man, the moment she saw him, she had the immediate impression that he was a big shot.
Yes, it was the same feeling she had when she first opened her eyes and saw Bishop Otto.
It was just that she had been behind a green glass cover at the time, so her view of Bishop Otto had inevitably been colored by that. More importantly, whenever she saw Bishop Otto, she felt the urge to beat him to death even if she could not smash his head in as long as he dared show his health bar.
That had left her with no time to sense Bishop Otto's big-shot aura.
How could a big shot like this not draw her attention when he arrived with a group of researchers?
Now that she saw him happily chatting with Murata Himeko, she gave up investigating his purpose.
Even if he had come to destroy Schicksal Headquarters, it had nothing to do with her.
She might even offer spiritual support.
If he could pin Bishop Otto to the ground and beat him up, she would even dare to stand nearby and shout, "Awesome!"
Before you continue