Chapter 110: Rin: I Am Complete
Irene shifted her attention back to reality. At this moment, they were discussing Seele, which class she would attend later, and what kind of Valkyrie she would become.
"Seele is also joining St. Freya." Himeko looked at her. "Are you planning to be in the same class as Bronya?"
"Mm, Elder Sister Bronya has already talked to Seele about this." Seele nodded, then lowered her head, rubbing her hands together somewhat shyly.
"Um, Seele doesn't want to fight, so she wants to choose logistics..."
"[If you don't want to fight, leave it to me! I want to see rivers of blood!]" The other Seele knocked on the floor in Seele's mind, speaking with frustration at her lack of ambition.
"[Besides, how could you not know how to fight? Apologize to the Quantum Shadows whose skulls you pried open!]"
In the Sea of Quanta, not all dangers were left for the other Seele to solve. To train Seele, she would also let her handle some of the monsters herself.
Although Seele claimed she didn't know how to fight and had no real technique, her strength had grown immense with the help of the Stigmata. Because of this, Seele had used her scythe to pry open who knows how many quantum crab shells in the Sea of Quanta.
"[No, no, this is fine.]" Seele shook her head vigorously. She didn't want to fight at all; things were perfectly fine the way they were.
"Ah, logistics?" Himeko scratched her head. Although it was truly a bit of a waste for a Stigmata Awakened who didn't want to fight to choose logistics.
But she could also see that this child was clearly the timid type. She probably rarely interacted with others normally. During these past few years in the Sea of Quanta, it was likely the same.
Their Valkyries still needed to emphasize cooperating with others. It was ultimately a minority who could hold their own as a one-woman army among the Valkyries. Moreover, looking at Seele's frail appearance, she really didn't seem like the type who could fight, or even learn how to fight.
Sending this child to the battlefield would probably mean she couldn't even exert a tenth of her full strength.
Since that was the case, logistics it was. They could see if they could find other ways to adjust her mindset later on. After all, it would ultimately be a good thing if a Stigmata owner could shift her mentality and step onto the battlefield.
They really didn't have that much talent to waste.
"Then let's settle on this for now." Irene rested her chin in her hand, looking at Seele. "If you change your mind, we can talk about it again. As for classes, you two can just take them together for now. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"No problem." Himeko nodded. "Most of the classes are taken together anyway. As for the logistics side, you'll just need to go to the logistics center when the others have combat class."
Honestly, it was truly rare for a Valkyrie to aim straight for logistics. After all, given the recruitment criteria for Valkyries, everyone harbored at least some hatred toward the Honkai.
Unless they truly, absolutely could not pick up a weapon, or were genuinely unsuited for combat, no Valkyrie would aspire to be in logistics.
The vast majority of logistics Valkyries were actually those who had been filtered out during the official exams—Valkyries who were either powerless to fight or lacked combat talent.
But looking at Seele's demeanor, forcing her to fight truly wasn't appropriate.
"Then let's settle on this for now." Irene nodded, then turned to Seele. "It's already very late today, and Seele probably hasn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. Everyone should rest for today. We'll handle the paperwork tomorrow."
"Mm-hm." Seele nodded. Following Irene's guidance, she walked to the door of the room Irene had tidied up for her today. She pushed the door open, looking at the neatly arranged room before her.
However, staring at the room, Seele stopped in the doorway, seemingly hesitant to move forward.
"Rest well. You no longer have to worry about wandering from place to place." Irene patted Seele's shoulder. "This is your home from now on."
"Mm!" Seele nodded vigorously. She walked into the room and gently stroked the soft mattress. A single tear quietly slid from the corner of her eye, and the lingering trace of fear in her heart finally vanished at this moment.
She was back. She had a stable home, and she had returned to Elder Sister Bronya's side.
She no longer had to live in fear.
"Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~" Theresa hummed a little tune, lying on her bed in a thin nightgown as she flipped through a Homu comic. However, this wasn't the latest volume, but one she had already read several times.
She wasn't particularly fond of re-reading things, but it couldn't be helped. God knows why the author of the Homu comics suddenly announced they were going on hiatus for a while.
There was no definite timeframe for how long the hiatus would last. Sigh, she just hoped it wouldn't turn into a permanent cancellation.
Since there wouldn't be any new ones in the foreseeable future, she could only read the old ones. Fortunately, most of the comics were already finished, and the remaining few were newly started series.
So even re-reading them now wasn't a bad idea.
But just as Theresa was re-reading with great relish, her door was pushed open. Theresa turned her head and watched Irene sneak in from outside like a thief.
"What are you doing?" Theresa put down the comic, placing it on the nightstand beside her as she looked at Irene. "What is it this time? You just took a month's leave. Even I can't grant you back-to-back vacations."
"Wow, is your only impression of me that I take time off?" Irene feigned a heartbroken look as she stared at Theresa. "I'm here to solve a problem, you know."
"Solve a problem? What problem? Is something going wrong again?" Hearing that Irene had come to solve a problem, Theresa immediately sat up in bed.
Any problem Irene mentioned would likely develop into a major crisis for them in the future. It absolutely could not be ignored.
"Sigh, should I say you're a busy person who forgets things easily, or what?" Irene closed the door, looking at Theresa with some exasperation before sitting on the bed. "You haven't forgotten the huge trouble on your back, have you?"
Hearing this, Theresa immediately realized that Irene was referring to the Herrscher of Corruption Core belonging to the Yae Sakura Stigmata on her back.
"Has Rin recovered? Didn't you say it would take a long time?"
"By a stroke of luck, I also found a way to help her recover over this past week." Irene flashed a peace sign at Theresa. "My personality is to get everything done all at once."
"Give me a break." Theresa rolled her eyes at Irene. "I bet you calculated exactly what you were going to do a long time ago. Speaking of which, what exactly were you doing in London?"
"Looking for someone~" Irene blinked, shifting closer to the edge of Theresa's bed before suddenly sliding right next to her. "You could say it was to solve a problem."
"Are you going to go out again after this?"
"Probably not." Irene shook her head. There really wasn't anything left that she could just go out and do directly right now. She was truly stretched too thin.
She did have thoughts of doing something more, but she currently had no idea how to go about it. She could only take things one step at a time.
"Alright, lie down first." Irene patted Theresa's shoulder to reassure her. "You don't want that thing staying inside the Stigmata on your back forever either, right?"
"Of course I don't!" Theresa immediately shook her head and then lay flat on her stomach on the bed. "I'm not a Herrscher. Besides, who knows what kind of problems this thing might cause?"
"Oh, wait, shouldn't we go to the Memorial Arena first?"
"Don't worry, I already possess the skill to enter the consciousness space now." Irene reached out her hand, and the Bodhi imprint flashed upon it.
These past few days, she had learned a bit from Little Corruption about how to use the Bodhi imprint. Although it hadn't been long, she was now capable of using it to enter other people's consciousness spaces.
It should be applicable to the Stigmata Space as well. If worst came to worst, she could just ask Little Corruption to help establish a connection later. There was strength in numbers now; someone would definitely have a solution.
Through the thin nightgown, Irene reached out and pressed her hand against Theresa's back. With a flash of green light from her palm, Irene immediately sensed the presence of another consciousness space upon Theresa.
After a gentle probing touch, the space immediately responded. Yae Sakura instantly approved Irene's entry request, and Irene followed the pulling force inside.
As her consciousness left her body, Irene's physical form went limp, collapsing onto the bed. Her soft breath puffed against Theresa's face. Theresa turned her head, looking at Irene, who lay beside her with her eyes closed, and sat up.
Looking at Irene, Theresa let out a deep sigh. She gathered Irene's body into her arms and gently stroked her. She could feel that Irene had been carrying a great many burdens all along.
Yet, she could do nothing to help. Irene refused to confide in her. Even though Irene said she would ask for help if she needed it, apart from asking for time off, Irene always went out to find people and handle things on her own.
Whether it was Rin's matter or Seele's matter, Irene did it all. Theresa hadn't been able to help in the slightest. Even now, she still needed Irene's help.
Irene had done so much, yet she had done nothing for Irene in return. She didn't even know what she could possibly do to share Irene's burdens.
"Irene." Theresa stroked Irene's cheek. "Just what exactly happens in the future for you? Are we truly worth you crossing the Sea of Quanta to come here and putting in so much effort?"
Stigmata Space · Yae Village
"Mm, it's a lot quieter here compared to the last time I visited." Pardo looked around. "And it feels a lot more comfortable, too."
"Well, it's naturally much better without the Corruption virus stirring up trouble in the shadows." Irene turned to look toward the village entrance. Yae Sakura had arrived there at some unknown point and was already waiting for them.
"Miss Irene, and Kallen." Yae Sakura looked at the large group of people before her. "Mm, Miss Irene has even more people by her side now."
"Mm, you could say this is the foundation of my standing, after all." Irene smiled at Yae Sakura, then opened her photo album and tapped on Sakura's photo. "Rin, we're back."
"Come out and take your Core back. Once you do, you can be considered a true Herrscher."
"Coming, coming." A gleam of light flashed across the photo, and Rin quickly passed through the channel, arriving smoothly on this side. She then turned to look at Yae Sakura.
"Hi, long time no see, Elder Sister Yae Sakura."
"Mm, hello." Yae Sakura nodded as she looked at Rin. "Do you need me to take you to the Core?"
"Ah, no need, no need." Rin waved her hand. "I can just go find it myself. Besides, there is something else I need Elder Sister Yae Sakura to do right now."
"Mm? Is there something you need me to do?" Yae Sakura stared at Rin in a daze. She had originally wanted to get a little closer to Kallen.
"There is." Rin nodded and turned to look in a certain direction. "Actually, the reason the other me tempted Elder Sister Yae Sakura to open the seal was because she felt that Elder Sister Yae Sakura was very similar to us."
"I could guess that much." Irene nodded. Although she didn't know why Higokumaru cared so much about Yae Sakura—even to the point of being willing to enter a symbiosis, since the story didn't explain it clearly—considering Yae Sakura's appearance and Yae Rin's likeness, it wasn't impossible to understand.
"And the other me actually did one thing." Rin looked off into the distance. "She used the Corruption virus to preserve a small portion of Yae Rin's soul, keeping it safe within the Stigmata Space."
"Although I'm not clear on exactly how she did it at the time, she definitely brought that soul in with her."
"R-Really?" Yae Sakura immediately leaped right in front of Rin. "But I didn't feel anything at all! Isn't this my Stigmata Space? Why wouldn't I know?"
"Because the true nature of the Herrscher of Corruption is a virus. The things she wants to hide aren't that easy to discover." Rin scratched her head. "Anyway, just go. She's right there by the gravestone."
Actually, after the other her disappeared, the preservation seal over there had gradually begun to dissipate. It was just that Yae Sakura had been sitting there numbly all this time, completely oblivious to it.
Furthermore, there even seemed to be a tiny trace of Sister Kallen's aura within this space. However, it was extremely faint—probably only at the level of a memory phantom, completely insufficient to form a soul.
It was likely just a shadow accidentally recorded when the Sister Kallen of this world stole the Black Box back then.
Upon receiving this news, Yae Sakura looked at Rin. "Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry, everyone, but I must go on ahead. Please feel free to do as you like. I'm truly sorry."
After Yae Sakura finished speaking somewhat incoherently, she didn't even spare Kallen a glance as she hurriedly rushed toward the gravestone.
"Sakura..." Kallen looked at the departing Yae Sakura, her face full of smiles. She knew Yae Rin's story and understood just how important Yae Rin was to Sakura, so she didn't mind in the slightest.
"Mhm~" Rin waved her hand as she watched Yae Sakura leave, then turned to look at Irene. "Sister Irene, I'll go find my Core now too."
"Go on, go on." Irene waved her hand. "Do you need a little sense of ritual? Like doing a dance, singing a song, or reciting a transformation incantation or something?"
"Mm, yeah, I definitely need a little ritual." Rin played along, a hint of a smile appearing on her face. "Like treating me to a big meal, for example."
"If you complete it, I'll treat you." Irene nodded. "Go on, go on. Otherwise, if you stay out for too long, Sakura will start worrying over there."
"My sister just has a habit of worrying blindly." Rin put her hands on her hips. But after all, her sister had lost her for tens of thousands of years. Now that she had suddenly returned...
Her sister would definitely treat her like a precious treasure—afraid she'd melt in her mouth or break in her hands—terrified of losing her a second time. If something like that really happened again, her sister would probably go insane.
Thinking this, Rin vanished before everyone's eyes. She still had to go find where her Core had run off to this time.
As for whether there would be any problems, there was no need to worry about that. It wasn't easy for a Core to give birth to another consciousness. And as the most powerful virus aggregate in existence right now, she possessed absolute suppression over the Core.
So there would absolutely be no accidents.
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