Chapter 166: Seele's Dual Mentor
In the far east, Hokkaido, a forest ravaged by Honkai.
"NEKO—CHARM!"
"Project Bunny, FIRE!"
Kiana and Bronya skillfully cleaned up the Honkai beasts.
This group of Honkai beasts were the products of animals in the forest being infected by Honkai energy and mutated. Accordingly, they did not have very strong strength.
"Hey—whoosh!"
Seele also tried her best to swipe with the sickle, knocking down the monster in front of her.
Rita on the side maintained an elegant posture, leaning on a branch, overlooking the battlefield.
Her eyes were mainly focused on the white-haired girl.
——Monitoring the awakening status of the experimental subject K423 was her main task this time at St. Freya Academy.
Due to the failure of the last Singapore incident, the Bishop was not able to obtain the experimental data he wanted related to the Herrscher of the Void.
Not to mention the loss of the Serenity Gem, the main purpose of her accepting the mission and coming to the Far East Branch this time was to observe Kiana's condition.
The Bishop did not give this task to Fu Hua, probably because he had doubts about her performance last time in Singapore.
…Let's not discuss this for now.
Although it is impossible to collect enough data at one time, the same information can be obtained through observation over a certain period of time.
'Hmm... It seems that K423 has mastered the basic Valkyrie fighting skills, which is obviously the result of regular training.'
'This doesn't seem to match the lazy character described by the Bishop...'
Rita shifted her gaze to the other two girls.
Bronya Zaychik, a famous killer who once topped the [Charon List] and was Cocolia's spy... However, the news of Cocolia's death had already reached her a long time ago.
She is not very powerful and is not someone who needs much attention.
Seele Vollerei is nominally Bronya's sister... There is not much information about her. We only know that, like Bronya, she came from an orphanage in Cocolia and was born in Estonia.
She is the weakest among the three in terms of strength, but her potential is remarkable. She has not been in St. Freya Academy for a long time, but she has improved rapidly.
Of course, observing Kiana and the people around her was just one of the tasks given to her by the Bishop.
There is another task...
A smile appeared on Rita's lips.
Seeing that the battle between the girls and the Honkai beasts below had come to an end, she gently jumped down from the tree branch and landed beside the girls, saying admiringly:
"Everyone has done a great job. If we let these Honkai beasts break through the woods and enter the town, the consequences will be disastrous."
The girls put away their weapons.
Rita clapped her hands and said with a smile:
"That's all for today. It's time to have a nice rest."
…
In addition to St. Freya Academy, the headquarters of the Far East branch, Schicksal also has many resident offices in the Far East. Although the environment is not as good as the Vienna Palace-level conditions in the academy, it can definitely be called luxurious.
The girls will temporarily live here for the next few days. After fighting for a whole day, they begin to go into the bathroom to take a shower and change clothes.
Rita put on an apron and a kitchen hat and prepared dinner alone in the kitchen while the girls were bathing.
Possessing Mei's superb cooking skills, she prepared a sumptuous Western meal for this group of young Valkyries.
The light-blonde woman was processing the ingredients skillfully while thinking about another thing:
—Another task Otto gave her was to observe Kiana's emotional state.
When necessary, attempts can be made to intervene.
Specifically, what needs to be observed mainly refers to the situation between her and Kirataka.
This was related to the Bishop's future plans. Although he did not reveal to her all the details about the experimental subject K423, Rita could guess some of the reasons.
The experimental subject K423 was not immediately killed but was allowed to wander around the world and then enter St. Freya's Academy. The purpose was to allow her to grow and cultivate her relationship with the people around her while gradually awakening the power of the Herrscher.
Only when this "Kiana Kaslana" develops an extremely deep relationship with the people around her will the Bishop's plan officially begin.
The relationship between Kiana and the other girls is probably more like family and friendship.
Such emotions may be enough to satisfy the Bishop's plan, but it is always better to be prepared and add more possibilities.
For example... love between men and women.
But why does the Bishop expect K423 to develop emotions with the people around her?
Could it be that the Bishop is expecting human emotions to overcome the consciousness of the Herrscher?
But if that is the case, why didn't Raiden Mei, the Herrscher of Thunder who was already a successful example, attract the interest of the Bishop?
Or... what the Bishop needs is not just a Herrscher, but the Herrscher of the Void? Does her special power have any special significance for the Bishop's plan?
While thinking about these questions, she finished a sumptuous dinner.
A big plate of vegetable salad, pasta, grilled steak, grilled lamb chops, etc.
In addition, there are many snacks, including perfect molten chocolate cake, salty and fragrant cheese cookies, pudding, jelly, mousse, etc.
After the dishes were served on the table, the attentive maid placed flowers on the side of the table, creating a beautiful atmosphere.
After doing all this, the girls who had finished bathing came out one after another.
"Smells so good~"
Kiana sniffed and quickly ran to the dining table.
Rita pursed her lips slightly, smiled, and greeted:
"Kiana-san, Seele-san, and Bronya-san, please enjoy your food."
…
"By the way... girls, I heard that you and Kirataka are living together?"
Halfway through the pleasant meal, Rita brought up the topic.
This is a very natural question. After all, a girl living with a boy is quite eye-catching. Moreover, Kirataka is the only male student in St. Freya Academy.
"Um."
Kiana nodded naturally.
This is a well-known fact, so there is no need to hide anything.
"Excuse me, I'm a little curious... What do you think of the boy you live with?"
Bronya: "A trustworthy person."
Kiana: "Um... someone you can rely on and trust?"
Seele: "He is like a brother to me."
The answers obtained are similar.
It seems that Kirataka left a very good impression on them.
With such a good psychological foundation and a pattern of spending time together day and night, it is not impossible to further develop the relationship.
However, right now, Rita still has a more serious problem to face:
According to what she learned recently from the academy, Kirataka and the Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei, are probably already dating.
Therefore, if you want to bring K423 and Kirataka together, you must first "get rid of" Raiden Mei.
...To be honest, this is not an easy thing even for Rita.
She had received professional assassin training from the Schicksal Headquarters, was proficient in more than a dozen languages, and was a good teacher. Her Honkai energy skills had even reached the level of the only three S-class Valkyries currently, but...
Things like breaking up couples and bringing people together are really not within her business scope.
Of course, this emotional task is not something that must be completed, but as a maid who pursues perfection... she requires herself to complete all tasks ordered by the Bishop excellently.
In short, it is better to find out what they think first.
Thinking of this, Rita picked up the red tea cup and took a sip. She showed a curious expression and asked the three girls in front of her:
"When I was in class at school, I heard other students mention that Kirataka and Mei seemed to be dating. Is that true?"
When she asked this question, she paid attention to each girl's reaction.
"Huh? Is that true?"
Kiana had a bewildered expression.
She didn't care about this at all.
Before, she only knew how to eat, now she only knows how to eat and exercise...
Bronya thought of the voice she heard that night and was silent for a few seconds. She chose to cover up what she knew and said:
"...Bronya is not sure."
Only Seele didn't say anything but showed a rather strange expression.
Rita took in all their reactions and had a rough idea of what was going on.
…
Night.
'I'm so tired, so alone.'
Rita came to Seele's room and knocked on the door gently.
"Sister Rita? It's so late, what's the matter?"
The blue-black-haired girl opened the door and looked at the Valkyrie senior in front of her and asked.
Rita touched her hair and said with a faint smile:
"I want to talk to Seele-san alone about something."
So she entered Seele's room.
There was a book spread out on the desk in the girl's room, probably a diary or something like that.
Seele put away the diary, pulled the chair to Rita, and then sat obediently on the edge of the bed.
"Actually, it's like this. Lady Theresa asked me to help you with using the sickle in combat."
Rita said with a smile.
This is indeed true. As a maid serving many people, she always agrees to various requests.
How to balance these needs from different people and respond to everyone's expectations elegantly and perfectly is the joy of her life.
"Ah... that's indeed the case."
Seele was slightly stunned and then said with some joy.
Obviously, no one would refuse an S-class Valkyrie who was willing to teach them fighting skills.
She also wants to become stronger quickly so that she can help everyone.
"Although Honkai energy can enhance the physical fitness of the Valkyrie, the scythe is not easy to operate. I observed you fighting today, and I found that you still have many shortcomings in using the scythe."
Rita tells the story.
"Well... then, in your opinion, Sister Rita, what does Seele lack the most?"
Seele asked humbly.
"From my perspective, what is lacking the most is elegance in battle."
Rita said with a smile.
"Eh? Elegant?"
Seele tilted her head slightly.
She obviously couldn't understand the connection between the word and fighting.
She thought the answer would be something like "lack of skills" or "lack of strength," but she didn't expect it to be a word like "elegant."
Rita didn't explain much, just smiled and said:
"Well... I will slowly teach you the techniques in this area while I inspect the gaps in the Honkai energy detection equipment these days."
"Okay, thank you, Sister Rita."
Seele thanked her politely.
After the discussion, Rita leaned back slightly in the chair and asked intentionally or unintentionally:
"Seele, do you like Kirataka?"
"eh? that..."
The girl, whose little thoughts were seen through, said in a panic.
'Is it that obvious?'
"Don't be surprised. This is actually quite obvious. Everyone should already know it except Kiana-san."
"That... um."
Seele admitted.
"Since you like him, you should pursue him boldly."
"I think Brother Kirataka only thinks of Seele as his sister. Besides, isn't Brother Kirataka already with Sister Mei..."
Seele said weakly.
'If I were to get involved in this situation, wouldn't it be...'
"That's just a secular point of view. For us Valkyries,... secular concepts may not necessarily apply."
Rita said patiently.
It may be monogamy in the eyes of ordinary people, but not all countries on this planet practice monogamy.
She stood up from the chair, walked to the bed, and looked out the window.
"As a Valkyrie, you may lose your life at any time. Maybe one day in the future, we will die in the battle against Honkai. So, if you have any ideas, you should speak them out as soon as possible, so as not to leave any regrets in your life."
Although this was just a mixture of truth and falsehood, the innocent Seele might have really listened to her guidance:
"But Seele doesn't know what to do..."
"Well... Seele-san, besides the combat training, I will also teach you some tips on relationships."
Rita smiled slightly.
In short, since she has no idea how to promote the relationship between Kiana and Kirataka, it is better to disrupt the relationship between Kirataka and them first to make the situation lively. By that time, maybe we can create opportunities for Kiana.
Among the three girls she has come into contact with now, what she can see most clearly is that Seele also has some feelings for Kirataka. Moreover, Seele's personality is relatively simple and it is easy to guide her.
'Well... let's try Seele as a breakthrough point first.'