"...Why?"
Sirin did not resent Himeko's hand resting on her head. Instead, she let Himeko keep it there. She actually liked the feeling.
"What do you mean, why?"
"Why are you so good to me? I already... already..."
"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. As for why I'm good to you? Didn't I say it already...? Be my daughter. Of course I have to be good... very good to my own daughter!"
"So... Sirin, are you willing to be my daughter? I'll spoil you properly."
As she spoke, she cupped Sirin's cheeks in both hands. Eyes identical to Sirin's looked at her with utter seriousness, meeting her gaze.
"...Why..."
"There's no why. If you don't refuse, I'll take that as a yes!"
"Oh, right, I haven't told you my name yet... I'm Muryōtō Himeko. Remember it! From now on, live with me, Sirin."
Himeko directly cut Sirin off, speaking to her in a firm tone. Clearly... it had worked. At least... Sirin showed no intention of refusing.
"Also... I know you hate Schicksal, but what I want to tell you is that the people you should truly hate aren't those Valkyries. It's not that I'm trying to speak well of them, but... those Valkyries merely followed the orders of Schicksal's upper ranks."
"They're like a knife. If someone used a knife to kill someone... you can't blame the knife, can you? Shouldn't you hate the person wielding it instead? So... the person you should deal with isn't the Valkyries, but Schicksal's upper ranks! Especially... Schicksal's bishop."
"And I... can help you. Help you teach that guy with a grassland on his head a lesson! What do you say?"
Since Sirin was now her daughter, Himeko felt it was necessary to teach her. She could not let