The next day, soft sunlight entered the room. The white-haired maiden lying on the bed slowly got up, rubbing her eyes with a hint of confusion.
Having just woken up, she had no memory of her situation and was still in a hazy state.
'Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?'
The maiden, plagued by life's three great mysteries, began to survey the room. Soon, she recalled the scene of being ambushed by that Pseudo-Herrscher yesterday.
"Are you awake? It seems you don't have a habit of oversleeping."
The room door opened, and Inaba Tsukiyo entered. Noticing the awakened maiden, she came to the bed, reached out, and touched her head. It was no longer as hot as last night.
"You've almost fully recovered. Your body is very special. An injury that would immediately kill an ordinary person, yet you managed to pull through."
She picked up the water glass placed beside the bed and handed it to her. After sweating so much last night, the other person must be thirsty.
"Thank you..."
Whispering her thanks, the maiden drank the water in the cup. Feeling much better, she looked around, then gazed at Inaba Tsukiyo with a puzzled expression.
"Where am I?"
"Far from the academy. You jumped out of a window on the top floor of the academy. For your safety, I brought you to this relatively safe place."
Changing her position, Inaba Tsukiyo suddenly closed the distance between herself and the maiden. Opening her eyes slightly, she looked into the maiden's azure pupils and asked curiously,
"Can you tell me why you came here alone in this city attacked by Honkai? And carrying such a large cross, who exactly are you?"
Although she had already guessed the maiden's identity, this superficial effort still needed to be made. If she acted as if she already knew the other person, it would raise suspicion.
Of course, Inaba Tsukiyo genuinely didn't know who the maiden was; she only knew that she was a clone born from Kallen's genes, and nothing more.
"Well... there are just too many things involved here, I don't know how to explain it to you."
Explaining matters concerning Schicksal to an ordinary person wasn't impossible, but it certainly wasn't the time for such things.
"Did you save me?"
The spot where she was pierced by the Herrscher's vines yesterday had become smooth skin.
If not for the tear in her clothes, she would have thought yesterday's battle was just a dream, and the poison she was afflicted with was fake, merely a special effect.
"I don't have the ability to cure the poison in your body. You just need to know that the person who saved you gave her life."
Bestowing one's power to the other party, dissolving the toxins in her body—that truly is something only a fool would do.
It's just... why did what that fool did make her shed tears? Really... "Gave her life... could it be..."
The maiden, realizing something, thought it was the maiden who was with Inaba Tsukiyo who transferred the toxins from her own body to the other person, causing her to die in the end so she could live.
Noticing Inaba Tsukiyo's noticeably reddened eyes, she knew that this sacrificed person must have been very important to her. Guilt and remorse welled up within her.
"Don't apologize... this was her choice. Your apology would only make her sacrifice meaningless. This was her own decision, and this is what she wanted to do."
"If you want to repay her, then live well for her sake. Understand? Live every day to the fullest; that is how you repay her."
"...I understand."
Theresa nodded vigorously, wiped the tears from her eyes, and, suppressing the urge to cry, looked at Inaba Tsukiyo with determined eyes.
"I won't let that person down! I will live every day to the fullest! This is my declaration, Theresa Apocalypse!"
"Theresa Apocalypse? A very good name. My name is Inaba Tsukiyo. It's a pleasure to meet you, strange girl."
To let Theresa, who has Kallen's genes, use Apocalypse as her surname, is that your idea, Otto?
"What do you mean, strange girl! Your words are so rude! I am the cutest Theresa in the world! The cutest in the world, do you hear me?"
As she spoke, she tried her best to strike a cute pose to prove her cuteness.
However, no matter what pose Theresa struck, Inaba Tsukiyo couldn't see it.
"I apologize, I cannot see your appearance, so I don't know if you can be rated as the cutest in the world. However, in my eyes, there is already a candidate for the cutest person in the world."
The cutest person in Inaba Tsukiyo's heart had long been replaced by someone named Golden Fairy. Even though Theresa's voice sounded truly cute, it couldn't replace the other's position in Inaba Tsukiyo's heart.
"Your eyes can't see? No way?"
Theresa looked at Inaba Tsukiyo in disbelief, finding it hard to believe that the girl who had been conversing with her since earlier was blind.
From entering the room to finding a seat, Inaba Tsukiyo's actions didn't seem like those of a blind person.
"Hehe~ Even if I can't see things, I can hear many things. And if I didn't have something special, how would I survive the Honkai?"
Inaba Tsukiyo opened her eyes, showing Theresa her lifeless pupils.
Seeing this, Theresa truly believed that Inaba Tsukiyo couldn't see anything.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that. But, you've survived in Changkong City for so long, you must be amazing, right? Do you want me to take you away? The place I came from is called St. Freya Academy, and there are many girls there who have antibodies against the Honkai."
"Many girls with antibodies against the Honkai, huh?"
This feeling was just like the orphanage Cocolia ran; the witch's purpose was merely for her own experiments.
Inaba Tsukiyo really didn't want to go to such a place, or rather, she had an inexplicable aversion to academies.
"You want someone who can't see to go to an Academy?"
"Uh... but you look like you're of schooling age. I can specially prepare books for the blind for you, and I can even let you become a Valkyrie like me."
"A Valkyrie? Sounds impressive. But, become a Valkyrie like you? Didn't I save you?"
"Uh... I, I just made a mistake! I was just too arrogant, attacking without knowing her detailed moves, and then that guy ambushed me."
At this, Theresa was filled with indignation. She was an S-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, yet she almost died while fighting a Pseudo-Herrscher. If other Schicksal members found out, she would surely be laughed to death.
"Hehehe~ Yes, yes, yes~ You were just ambushed by accident, you're very impressive. You're still impressive."
"Mo~ What's with that tone, like you're humoring a child? I'm the Headmaster of St. Freya Academy! An Headmaster above everyone else!"
"Headmaster? You look about my age, and you're already an Headmaster? You're not one of those Headmasters who hands all their work to subordinates and slacks off in the office, are you?"
Theresa's height wasn't much greater than Inaba Tsukiyo's, and from her youthful voice combined with her somewhat childish behavior, she didn't at all resemble what an Headmaster should be like.
"Slack... slacking off? Can what an Headmaster does be called slacking off? Is an Headmaster who doesn't slack off still a good Headmaster?"
Although she hesitated for a moment, Theresa's expression quickly recovered. With an 'I'm very amazing' pose, she puffed out her flat chest and shouted.
For a moment... the room fell into a strange silence. Just as Theresa was starting to feel uncomfortable with the silence and wanted to explain something, Inaba Tsukiyo had already gotten up, preparing to leave the room.
"Don't go~ Believe me, I really am the Headmaster! Although I usually like to be lazy, I really am the Headmaster. If you don't believe me, I can send someone to pick me up. You'll know then."
"...An Headmaster with no dignity at all."
Shaking off the left leg she was holding onto, Inaba Tsukiyo became more and more convinced of her guess.
This girl, despite having Kallen's genes, why does she seem so silly and adorable, completely lacking the heroic spirit Kallen should have?
Theresa's actions reminded Inaba Tsukiyo of a certain Vampire, but it was just a thought; she couldn't recall the Vampire's identity at all.
"Oh, right, where's my Judah!"
Theresa, who was about to say something else, suddenly remembered something and began searching for her oath of judah.
According to the last scene before she fainted, Judah should have fallen within the Academy.
Speaking of the Academy, Theresa thought of the Pseudo-Herrscher who ambushed her. It was that guy who caused her such great humiliation; she had to properly deal with that guy.
"Are you leaving? Then good luck, Headmaster Theresa."
"Eh? What do you mean? You're coming with me too!"
Theresa, who was about to leave, looked at Inaba Tsukiyo waving goodbye to her and couldn't help but exclaim.
"Me... leave with you? Why? I don't think I ever agreed to go to that Academy with you, did I?"
"What does it matter? It's not like staying in Changkong City forever is a solution. As thanks for taking care of me, the cutest Theresa in the world will let you come back with me. I'll take good care of you."
"Always skipping out on 'cute' or whatever, that's just something old women do. Can you tell me your real age, Miss Theresa?"
"Huh? Asking a lady's age! Don't you know that a girl's age is generally not to be asked? How rude!"
"Isn't that a request for Boys? We're all girls, what can't be said? Or... are you actually a legal loli? A thousand-year-old..."
As for Theresa's words, Inaba Tsukiyo certainly didn't believe a single word.
A girl's age is a secret? Hah! She must have something to hide if she won't reveal her true age.
Although her own age was also problematic, the person being asked now was Theresa, and Inaba Tsukiyo wasn't intimidated at all.
"Don't say it anymore! It's a secret!"
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