"Welcome to St. Freya Academy."
At Theresa's invitation, Irene stepped out of the dark cargo hold of the drone and gazed upon the sprawling campus before her.
This was the campus she had once only been able to glimpse through a screen on her phone—a point of origin that had moved her for six long years in her past life.
It was now the starting point of her arrival here. For some reason, Irene suddenly felt her eyes growing moist.
"Eh? Eh? Why are you crying?"
The tears sliding down Irene's face did not escape Theresa, who had been observing her closely. Theresa hurriedly stepped forward, raising her hand to pat Irene's shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"It's okay, it's okay. This will be your home from now on."
Theresa looked at Irene with eyes full of pity. After all, Theresa was an S-rank Valkyrie; her observational skills were sharp, and she could tell the tears on Irene's face were by no means feigned.
Those were tears shed from being deeply touched by something, though Theresa didn't know exactly what. She could only pat Irene's back soothingly.
"It doesn't matter." Irene quickly wiped away the tears slowly rolling down her face. She took a deep breath, adjusting her emotions. "It's just... it's been a long time..."
Hearing Irene blurt out 'it's been a long time,' and connecting it to her identity as a survivor of the Sea of Quanta, Theresa assumed Irene had been drifting there for so long that she hadn't seen a normal city in ages.
Even Nagazora City, though relatively well-preserved, could only be called a dead ruin. It certainly couldn't be called normal.
Irene didn't know what kind of impression her unfinished sentence had left in Theresa's heart. But even if she did know, Irene would probably just think that her disguise had gained another layer of credibility.
"Yo, my cute Academy Principal is back."
Just then, Himeko's voice suddenly rang out. The two turned to see Himeko walking toward them.
"Himeko! In front of others, I am the Academy Principal!" Theresa looked at Himeko through gritted teeth. This was probably the price of being too familiar with one's friends.
Himeko truly didn't have a shred of respect for her. She had suspected Theresa would screw up earlier, and even if Theresa really had screwed up, Himeko shouldn't have doubted her from the start!
She, Theresa, still needed to save face.
Faced with a Theresa who was stomping her feet but couldn't openly explode in front of Irene, Himeko simply shrugged. She understood what Theresa wanted to say, but face?
That sort of thing vanished the moment she first caught Theresa slacking off during work to secretly read Homu manga!
Moreover, according to her guess, this fellow Theresa most likely did screw up once. She probably only managed to take down that Pseudo-Herrscher with Miss Irene's help.
That was why Himeko was so indifferent. After all, if she guessed correctly, Theresa had lost face in front of Irene long ago.
Himeko turned to Irene, smiled amicably, and extended her hand.
"And hello to you, Miss Irene. This should count as our first proper meeting."
"Hello, Miss Himeko." Irene reached out and shook Himeko's hand in a friendly manner. "It seems Miss Himeko has confirmed that there are no issues with my identity, correct?"
"Mm, that's right." Himeko nodded, validating Irene's guess. On the way back with Theresa, she hadn't been idle.
She had quickly searched Schicksal's central data network for information regarding this 'Irene.' There were certainly people with the same name and similar appearances.
However, after verification, Himeko judged that none of them were the Irene she was looking for. Thus, she could basically confirm that Irene had no record of living in this world prior to this.
In other words, the identity of a drifter who came to this world from the Sea of Quanta by accident was likely credible.
"I apologize. For security reasons, we had to do this," Himeko said apologetically to Irene. "To make up for it, I'll treat you to a drink later."
"There's no need for a drink." Irene shook her head. "Rather than a drink, I'd prefer to take a tour of this campus. Is that alright?"
"Of course." Himeko nodded and made a gesture of invitation. "Since you don't want a drink, I'll switch methods and show you around the campus myself."
"This will be your workplace from now on, too. Afterward, I'll take you to your living quarters."
"Eh? I'm going too! I'm going too!" Theresa hoisted Judah onto her shoulder, intending to follow, but was blocked by Himeko.
"What are you doing? Himeko, I'm the Academy Principal!"
"Exactly because you are the Academy Principal," Himeko looked at Theresa with half-lidded eyes, "you should go handle all kinds of work. Your adjutant has already complained to me, hey."
Hearing this, Theresa immediately turned her head away, clearly a bit embarrassed. "Fine, fine, I get it! Himeko, you make sure to show Irene around the academy properly, okay?"
"I know, I know. I won't bully the newcomer." Himeko sighed. Did she really need such a warning? Was she that kind of person? This Theresa was turning her elbow outward (siding with outsiders).
As the three of them had just walked down from the tarmac, Himeko's gaze suddenly sharpened. She looked toward a corner where a bit of white hair was exposed.
"Hm? Kiana?"
Hearing Himeko's voice, the person hiding in the corner shrank back further. Himeko shouted somewhat helplessly, "Come out, Kiana. I saw you."
After a brief silence, Kiana finally stepped out from the corner. Following behind her were an embarrassed-looking Mei and an expressionless Bronya.
Theresa tilted her head, looking at the 'Three Little Ones' who had emerged. "What's going on with you three?"
"I assume they were curious about why I came out so early. Am I right, Kiana?" Himeko crossed her arms, seeing through it at a glance. They had just finished mid-term exams and were on a short break.
Logically speaking, Himeko should have been sleeping in at the dorms right now, just like previous weekends. So these three were likely curious why she had gotten up so early today.
Of course, Himeko also understood that even if Bronya and Mei were curious, they would have waited until she returned to ask. The fact that they appeared here now was, nine times out of ten, due to Kiana's terrible ideas.
Sure enough, Kiana's face looked awkward. "I... I was just curious what Auntie Himeko was doing out so early. Turns out you were picking up Great Aunt."
"Not just picking up your Great Aunt." Himeko patted Irene on the shoulder. "Also picking up your new teacher."
"Teacher Himeko, please be gentle." Irene couldn't help but rub her shoulder. "In this state, my physical constitution isn't much better than an ordinary person's."
"Oh, sorry, sorry." Himeko removed her hand, watching Irene wince in pain, but asked with some confusion, "But what's with your physical fitness?"
According to Himeko's understanding, even if Irene couldn't carry mountains, she should at least be able to smash bricks and stones. After all, she was someone capable of assisting Theresa in resolving a Pseudo-Herrscher.
Yet that light tap just now actually hurt her?
"Irene needs special conditions to exert her power." Before Irene could explain, Theresa spoke up to cover for her. "Right now, Irene is just an ordinary person."
"Okay, okay."
Irene rubbed her shoulder, sighing internally. This physical weakness was truly her eternal pain. She could feel that Himeko hadn't used any force at all.
It was simply that the strength of a Valkyrie was not something a normal person could handle.
[So you need to train diligently,] Kallen's voice flashed through Irene's mind. [Your current physical quality is indeed too weak.]
[What can I do? I'm just a normal person,] Irene sighed. [So, does Kallen really not have any methods to properly train physical fitness?]
Irene didn't plan to ask the Cat if she had any training methods. For the Cat, it was less about training and more about talent. Living in a place like Twilight Street really produced extraordinary people.
And later, she stumbled her way through, coincidentally bypassing all the security protocols she should have faced, lay down on the operating table herself, and finally came off it intact as a MANTIS (Fusion Warrior).
During the surgery, absolutely no one noticed—including the actual subject who was supposed to undergo the surgery—that another person was lying on the bed.
This was probably 'Super Luck.' It defied all logic.
"New teacher?" Kiana scratched her head. "Wait, our new teacher?"
"Uh-huh." Himeko nodded. "Although I haven't decided which subject she'll teach yet, faculty resources are tight, so naturally she'll teach your class. Any problems, Kiana?"
"No, no." Kiana hurriedly waved her hands, then looked at her future new teacher. "Hello, my name is Kiana Kaslana."
"Hello." Irene extended her hand toward Kiana. "My name is Irene. I think we will have a very pleasant time together."
[I feel like this girl looks a lot like Kallen-nee,] Pardo tilted her head. [Is she from Kallen-nee's family?]
[Cat, do you only look at appearances and not listen to names?] Irene gently flicked Pardo's ear in her consciousness. [Didn't she say she is a Kaslana?]
[Ugh-uu~]
On the other side, Kallen looked at the descendant of her family with a scrutinizing gaze. [She looks okay. She seems to be eating well. I just wonder how her combat ability is?]
[You might see it later. And...] Irene looked at Kiana with a smile, then glanced at the other two. [Their achievements will far exceed your imagination.]
"Hello teacher, I am Raiden Mei." Mei also greeted Irene politely. Beside her, Bronya gave a somewhat wooden nod.
"Hello, Teacher Irene."
"Mm, hello." Irene nodded to both of them with a smile. "I am very happy to meet you for the first time."
"Alright, you three go do what you need to do." Himeko waved her hand. "I still have to show Miss Irene around the campus. Especially you, Kiana."
"Although I haven't graded your exam paper yet, based on your usual performance, I judge that you are 100% going to fail. Why aren't you hurrying to review?"
Hearing Himeko's words, Kiana's face instantly stiffened. She looked at Himeko ingratiatingly. "Teacher Himeko, didn't the break just start? Let me play for a bit. Besides, I might not necessarily fail..."
"Not necessarily fail?" Himeko raised an eyebrow. "You slept for 110 minutes during a 120-minute exam! If you can pass like that, I'll write my name backwards."
"What?! That happened?" Hearing Himeko's words, Theresa immediately spun around to look at Kiana. "Kiana!"
Sensing her Great Aunt's rage, Kiana swiftly bent at the waist, threw her hands above her head, and directly activated high-speed incantations: "I'm very sorry, Great Aunt! I won't dare do it next time!"
"Alright, alright. If she just finished exams, let the child relax for a while." Seeing the topic drifting away, Irene hurriedly raised her hand to smooth things over. "Didn't you say you were going to show me around the school?"
"Right, right." Hearing Irene seemingly helping her escape disaster, Kiana immediately seized the opportunity, looking at Himeko and Theresa. "Teacher Himeko, Great Aunt, Teacher Irene is in poor health. Staying under the big sun might give her heatstroke. Can my punishment be moved to next time?"
"Or I can take over and guarantee that Teacher Irene learns about our academy, as my punishment?"
"Forget it. Consider yourself let off the hook this time." Himeko sighed. As for Kiana saying she would correct her ways, one should just listen and let it pass. If she could actually correct herself, Kiana wouldn't be getting scolded here right now.
At this moment, following behind them and hugging a Homu doll, Bronya looked at Kiana and shook her head. "Idiot Kiana. You were fine in the room, but you insisted on coming out to get scolded."
Inside the consciousness space, Pardofelis carefully observed Bronya's face and suddenly spoke up: [Why do I feel like she looks a lot like Prometheus?]
[Prometheus?] Kallen tilted her head. [Is that a person from your world, Pardo?]
[Can't really be considered a person. It's an intelligent AI.] As she said this, Pardo put her hands on her hips, looking quite proud. [It's a super amazing robot made by Sister Mei and the others.]
[And in the end, I was the one who sent it to 'that place'.]
['That place'.] Kallen tilted her head, continuing to ask curiously, [What kind of place is it?]
[The location of the Will of the Honkai. It was their plan, but it's a bit complicated. To explain it would probably take...] Irene listened to the little theater in her mind and was just about to explain, but was cut off by Kallen.
[Alright, no need to explain. I won't understand it anyway. As long as you guys know.] Kallen looked at Irene in her consciousness with a serious face, fully displaying the characteristic of a Kaslana who had found an external brain.
Outside, accompanied by Himeko and the three little ones, Irene toured the entire St. Freya Academy, getting to know this campus which was both familiar and strange to her as a former Captain.
As for Theresa, she had been chased off by Himeko to deal with the official duties accumulated over the past few days.
When touring the final dormitory area, Irene stopped in her tracks, looking at the surrounding buildings. "By the way, where do I sleep tonight?"
________________________________________
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