Ring ring~~
Just as Himeko was giving Kiana her first, poorly understood lesson, a melodious and cheerful bell suddenly rang throughout the academy.
"Oh, class is over."
Himeko looked out the window.
"Class is over?"
Kiana tilted her head.
Because Siegfried taught her common sense from time to time, Kiana wasn't as clueless as a caveman about what it meant to go to class or leave class, but hearing it with her own ears still gave her a strange feeling.
"You've never heard of it?"
Himeko looked at Kiana sitting on the floor.
When I was her age... well, age comes first.
This child is completely different from me.
"I've heard of it, but... it feels quite strange, it even sounds better than what Dad said?"
"Yes, yes, yes, the school bell is definitely the most beautiful sound in the world."
Himeko couldn't help but agree.
"Hey, Himeko, you're a teacher now."
Tian Shi reminded her.
"How about we learn to ignore the bell and work overtime, then assign double the homework and emphasize that we assigned too little, and then tell a student who forgot their homework, 'If you didn't bring it, you didn't do it,' or 'You're the worst class I've ever taught,' or something like that?"
"What kind of demon are you?"
There are too many flaws in what you said.
"Are you a little dark inside?"
"No, this is tradition."
This guy has 'wants revenge on society' written all over his face!
And he even came up with a high-sounding reason!
"Umm... who are you talking to?"
Kiana looked at the woman named Himeko with a strange expression.
This chick... could she have some problem in the head?
Yes, after being thrown to the ground, Kiana remembered Himeko's name.
This temper is really like a wildcat.
"No, it's nothing."
Himeko looked away with a slight shift in interest.
To be honest, Himeko felt quite pleased after defeating Kiana and seeing her shocked expression.
Cough, cough, no, no, I'm going to be a teacher in the future, how can I let Tian Shi lead me astray?
Himeko immediately corrected her thinking.
And speaking of which, Tian Shi is actually quite good at teaching people, isn't he?
When Himeko was pursuing her doctorate in college, Tian Shi taught her a lot, so Himeko had a clear understanding of Tian Shi's teaching abilities.
Top-notch, the guy is top-notch: a recognized tutor who works with you 24/7 and doubles as your babysitter.
"Since Kiana is interested in school, how about I take you for a walk?"
"Take a walk..."
Kiana's face lit up with excitement: for her now, the outside world was full of surprises.
And maybe we can find an opportunity to escape... although it seems I wasn't really kidnapped?
"Okay, okay!"
"Himeko, remember to watch this child."
Tian Shi reminded Kiana, whose eyes were gleaming.
"This child might be the type to disappear the moment you are distracted."
After all, in the original timeline, Kiana spent two years traveling alone from Europe to Asia after Siegfried left.
What kind of incredible drive is that for a child?
"I can tell."
Himeko nodded.
This girl is the spitting image of Rita back then.
"What did you see?"
Kiana asked, with a baffled expression, as Himeko suddenly talked to herself again.
She's clearly a bit of an idiot, Himeko laughed.
"Alright, remember not to stray from me, as I said, if you get lost, I won't be able to find you."
"Okay."
Kiana nodded, patted her butt, stood up, and obediently followed Himeko.
However, as soon as they went out, Himeko and Kiana ran into Ragna, who was accompanied by a girl and carrying luggage.
"Is the child awake?"
Ragna gave Kiana a gentle smile; clearly, Ragna was much more approachable than Himeko.
Kiana took a cautious step back but nodded in response.
"She's awake, a little wildcat, completely different from Rita."
Himeko ruffled Kiana's white hair.
"Speaking of which, Captain, the person next to you is..."
"Wendy."
Ragna patted the shoulder of the girl beside her, and the girl then showed a timid expression.
"She was the class supervisor in Director Theresa's class, but now she's the class supervisor in mine."
"Uh... what do you mean?"
Himeko was a little confused.
"It means we've been divided into classes, Director Theresa will be in charge of one class, I'll be in charge of another, and Himeko, you'll be in charge of the third, by the way, Kiana has been assigned to your class."
"Eh... I thought we would stick to the original teaching method and that I would be the professor..."
Becoming a homeroom teacher is a big step?
"It's because St. Freya Academy didn't recruit many teachers."
Ragna also said with a hint of helplessness.
"To be honest, I don't have any confidence in teaching academic subjects."
"Ah... I see."
"So, Himeko, you are now the academic subject teacher."
"Ha!?"
Himeko was taken aback.
"Wait, wait, wait, the academic subjects... are you going to force me to take them all?"
The concept of "academic subjects" is very broad...
"No, Himeko, you'll be in charge of Physics and Chemistry, I'll be in charge of Japanese and English, and Math will be taught by a regular professor."
"It would be much better if I, an Oriental, taught Japanese..."
Himeko complained when she heard about this arrangement.
"There's nothing we can do; you're our only high-achieving student."
Ragna patted Himeko on the shoulder.
"Although there are many ordinary professors in the academy, well... it would be better to use a Valkyrie if possible, right?"
"Besides, Himeko's academic qualifications are truly very high... such a degree is truly one in a million among Valkyries."
"You could simply throw her into a research institute as a researcher, there would be no problem!"
"But then again..."
Ragna leaned close to Himeko's ear.
"Anti-Entropy has sponsored many common professors at Theresa's Academy, but Theresa's Academy has to pay the salaries of these professors."
"Ah?"
Wait a minute.
What does this mean? Are we not being paid?
Himeko immediately became annoyed.
"Well, our salaries are handled by Anti-Entropy."
Ragna added.
"The treatment will be the same as the Schicksal side... But speaking of which, we have had some problems with our fake identities."
This time, Ragna pulled Himeko aside.
"We have too much archived information in Schicksal, so it's impossible to deal with fake identities."
Himeko alone has completed over a hundred missions in two years, and that's not a lot of time, not to mention having Ragna, a "battlefield veteran," by her side...
Although the database defenses around the Schicksal perimeter are not very strict, it is not a small child that can be easily manipulated.
Once a photo is released, it can be detected in minutes.
Using a fake photo is possible... but if Schicksal Headquarters comes to inspect, everything will fall apart.
And if one were to become a completely unqualified professor... it would be obvious with just a little subtle probing from the students.
"Waaah..."
Himeko looked at Tian Shi.
Don't you have a lot of knowledge about network hacking? Can you think of any way?
"The solution... First, Otto is not stupid, and second, I can't find the intrusion ports involving the core database, unless I'm at Schicksal Headquarters."
Tian Shi was also quite helpless.
He couldn't do anything about physical isolation.
Even online ghosts must comply with basic laws, you know?
Besides, this online ghost still has several limitations.
The nature of external and internal databases is completely different.
External databases can be hacked by any device in the company, like that tablet before.
But internal databases... are physically isolated, you know?
They don't interact with the outside world; they're autonomous.
Of course, although it sounds impressive, Tian Shi could actually hack Schicksal Headquarters as long as he found a networked electronic device.
But the problem is, we can't get one right now...
"Is it really necessary?"
Himeko understood a little.
"It is necessary."
Don't they even consider how much classified information Otto has inside?
For example, knowledge obtained from some Herrscher of the Void, experimental projects related to Kallen's resurrection, research experiments on the Herrscher Core... a lot of classified information, okay?
If the database containing this information is manipulated like a spoiled child, then things will get very serious.
"And even if we take a small step back, your mission data is not that easy to manipulate; after all, you just died, okay?"
"Hmm... Wait a moment!"
Suddenly, Tian Shi thought of something.
"Is the tablet still there?"
"Yes!"
Ragna immediately took out her tablet and handed it to Tian Shi.
"Do you have a solution?"
"Yes, didn't I forge a leave permit for Himeko back then?"
"Yes, that's true."
However, after the Sirin matter was resolved, Tian Shi canceled the leave request.
"But what does that have to do with this matter?"
"Because I need to forge it again."
Tian Shi said in a grave voice.
"This is one of the few places where we can interfere with the Valkyrie status in the external database."
"..."
Seeing Ragna's perplexed look, Tian Shi patiently explained.
"As long as there is a permit, Himeko will naturally be considered 'not dead in battle', and it's been less than a day since the incident, so there's still room to maneuver..."
A day is neither long nor short.
It takes time for Schicksal to realize that the Valkyrie Assault Team has lost contact, organize a rescue, search for traces, determine the battle situation and intensity, and even more time to report the situation and confirm the fate of the team members.
In short, although almost twenty hours have passed since the incident, it is still uncertain whether Schicksal has found the battlefield left by Anti-Entropy in Eastern Siberia.
After all, the battle between this timeline and Sirin was quite "smooth," and Siegfried didn't cause a huge commotion like pulling out his Skyfire.
As expected, the peripheral data of the Stormtroopers Valkyries was neither transferred nor archived.
Then the rest is simple: forge Himeko's leave voucher again.
Reason for absence: Going home to sweep the graves.
After confirming several times that there were no issues, Tian Shi quietly erased the traces and exited the Schicksal External Database.
"Someone from Headquarters should come to our doorstep in a couple of days, we can go home and wait for them."
After arranging these matters, Tian Shi added.
"Anyway, everything is just a facade, we can change Ragna's information when we get to Headquarters, however, only Himeko can use this method to apply for leave, Ragna, as captain, couldn't ask for leave, and there was no need for anyone else to resort to this tactic."
"Don't worry, I get it."
Himeko nodded.
"I'm not that little girl anymore, I can handle this little thing."
"Is this really a trivial matter?"
However, Ragna felt relieved knowing that with Tian Shi by her side, there didn't seem to be any major problems.
"Alright, in that case, I'm going to tidy up my dorm."
"Dormitory?"
"These luggage items were organized with the help of Director Theresa."
Ragna lifted the luggage in her hand and pointed to Wendy, who was also carrying a luggage bag.
"That kid voluntarily offered to take your share."
"Captain, you are very popular."
Himeko exclaimed from the bottom of her heart.
"Don't worry, Himeko, you'll be popular too, you have class this afternoon, good luck."
Ragna patted Himeko on the shoulder.
"..."
Why do I suddenly feel so much pressure?
Can someone teach classes for me? For example, the ghost next to me?
Although Himeko acted like a teacher in front of Kiana, the idea of teaching dozens of Valkyrie trainees...
How did the team leader manage to familiarize herself so easily with the students?
Fine, our captain is the "Instructor of 800,000 Imperial Guards."
"Then I'll take that child for a walk... By the way, why isn't the Director teaching her herself?"
Himeko was actually quite puzzled by this.
After all, even if the person has changed, based on Kiana's seniority, she is still her niece, right?
Could it be that the other party really cares a lot about this?
That petite school director doesn't seem like a narrow-minded person...
"It's best if we don't gossip about other people's family matters."
Ragna shook her head.
"By the way, I see that you and that child get along quite well, don't you?"
"That's right... maybe, I have a hunch that my future teaching career will be full of difficulties."
"Kiana looks like the kind of child who's always causing trouble."
Ragna gave Himeko another pat on the shoulder, smiled, and motioned for Wendy to walk away.
Then Kiana walked over to Himeko's side.
"?"
Why is this child suddenly so proactive?
"Mmm…"
Kiana hesitated for a moment, a hint of haughtiness in her expression.
"Um... Do you mean Dad left me here because I would be a burden?"
"Ah, that's right."
After all, this excuse is very suitable for stimulating competitiveness.
"Just now... Wendy told me that the most outstanding Valkyries are trained at this school?"
"That's right."
Himeko nodded, a smile on her face.
It seemed that Wendy and Kiana had talked quite a bit.
"What? You no longer feel that I kidnapped you?"
"Gulp..."
Kiana's small face showed an embarrassed expression.
"Alright, why don't you call me 'Sensei'?"
"Eh... Himeko-Sensei..."