Chapter 116: Raising a Spring Fairy
"..." Sirin fell silent. Obtain new warmth, but could she really? What if Irene was just lying to her? But...
Sirin looked into Irene's eyes. Beneath the contrast of those azure eyes and white hair, a figure quietly overlaid itself upon Irene in Sirin's vision.
"I'll trust you for now." Sirin pursed her lips. "Human, but if you break your promise, I will definitely grind your bones to dust."
"As long as you don't stand against humanity, I will never break my promise." Irene gently wrapped her arm around Sirin's shoulder. "This is my promise."
"Will you trust me? I won't lie about this."
Sirin looked at Irene. After a moment of silence, she suddenly reached out her hand, tucking in four fingers and leaving only her pinky extended, forming a hook shape.
"Then since you promised, let's pinky swear."
Sirin looked earnestly at Irene. To her, this was the only method of making a promise she knew, but everyone who had pinky sworn with her before had failed to keep their word.
Whether it was her mother or her friends, none of them had been able to honor their promises with Sirin. But this time, she wanted to trust the human before her one more time—one last time.
Irene looked at Sirin's outstretched hand. With a light chuckle, she reached out and hooked her pinky. "Then it's a deal. We can be together forever and ever."
Palace of Consciousness
"Sigh, it's finally resolved." Irene crawled out of the tree hollow. "That was much worse than I expected."
Her original plan had actually been to violently beat Sirin back into slumber; otherwise, she wouldn't have brought so many people. In the end, the fight did happen.
But she really hadn't expected it to turn out like this. Was this what they called the unpredictability of life?
"What's wrong, my dearest?" [Irene] followed her out of the tree hollow. "Do you not like this development? Isn't this pretty good?"
"Yeah, it is." Irene nodded. "It's just that my butterfly effect has finally whipped up a super massive, invincible hurricane."
"A conservative estimate is that it'll completely shatter the subsequent plot into pieces."
A light smile playing on her lips, [Irene] looked at the feigning-annoyance Irene. "Then do you regret it, my dearest?"
"Regret my ass." Irene waved her hand dismissively. "If it can truly avert the tragedy that would have happened, I couldn't be happier. As for what comes after, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"If we can't even avert the tragedy right in front of us, how can we even talk about the future?"
Thoughts were like a slippery slope; when one deliberately avoided taking action to ensure smooth operations later on, they would only end up avoiding more and more.
The Queen's descent was crucial, but Irene was well aware of how much tragedy it would cause. If it could be avoided, why shouldn't it be?
She didn't want the Bug to experience that bone-deep remorse. Growth required a price, but at least for now, as an adult, she wasn't prepared to let the Bug shoulder that responsibility.
If it changed, it changed. She would figure something out when the time came. Naturally, the headaches of the future would be left for her future self to deal with. At least for now, she didn't regret it, and she wouldn't in the future either.
"Oh, right." Irene turned around, looking at everyone as they emerged from the tree hollow one after another. "Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Get some rest early today."
"There probably won't be much to do for the next couple of days."
"We rest in your head every day, you know." Nuwa and Fuxi walked over this time; the two of them hadn't participated in the Herrscher siege battle.
After all, just like Klein, they were merely researchers and truly didn't know how to fight. Whether they were converted into MANTISes or not had nothing to do with it; if they couldn't fight, they couldn't fight.
"Looking at you, it seems like everything is settled. I'll return control of your body to you then."
Right at this moment, Kallen opened her eyes and looked over.
"Sigh, it's a pity I couldn't join the battlefield with you guys. It must have been really lively, right? Since you spent so much time, that Herrscher of the Void must have been really strong."
Indeed, Kallen hadn't joined the group in ganging up on the Herrscher. Instead, she had taken control of Irene's body, transformed into Kallen, and stood by with Judah, ready for anything.
If things went south, Kallen would have directly brandished Judah to forcibly lock down all the Honkai energy flowing within Kiana's body. She acted as the final fail-safe, but it seemed it wasn't needed.
"The fight didn't take much time." Irene spread her hands. "Mostly we just talked for a while. Hmm, you could say we've reached an understanding for now, probably."
"Hmm???" Several question marks flashed above Kallen's head. "Hold on, what do you mean 'reached an understanding'? What exactly happened while I wasn't there?"
"Nothing much, just what it literally means." Irene waved her hand. "Anyway, the problem is solved, everything is fine, no other issues."
"We just managed to flip another Herrscher to our side this time."
"This wasn't what we agreed on." Kallen scratched her head. "Do Herrschers really have so little integrity? And hmm, isn't the situation developing a bit weirdly?"
"It is a bit weird. I didn't plan to take it this far at first." Irene nodded. "The situation slightly exceeded my expectations, but it's pretty good. Why?"
"One less enemy, one more friend—isn't that great?"
Kallen scratched her head. This was completely different from her family's education... Oh, wait. To be precise, Little Corruption and Klein beside Irene, including Irene herself, didn't quite fit the mold of her family's teachings.
But whatever. If Irene said so, she surely had her reasons. And just as Irene said, having more friends was always better than having more enemies. If it could be resolved peacefully, that was naturally for the best.
"As long as you've made up your mind." Kallen looked at Irene and shrugged. As an experienced member of the Kaslana Family, Kallen knew perfectly well that in times like this, it was best to leave everything to the brains of the operation.
And Irene was her chosen tactician. At least so far, Irene hadn't done a single foolish thing.
"Mm, so I've made a decision now." Irene nodded very solemnly. Just as everyone looked at her, Irene raised her hand, flipped her palm, and a clock appeared in her hand.
"It's time to sleep and rest. It really has been quite a busy day."
"..." xN
Lixue looked at the clock in Irene's hand. "This scene really is a bit... familiar."
Schicksal HQ · Overseer's Office
"A mysterious unmanned battleship?" Otto looked at the report that had just been sent over from St. Freya Academy. "Such a strong Anti-Entropy style, but this technology doesn't look like something Anti-Entropy could produce right now."
After all, they were enemies who had fought several battles. How did the saying go again? The one who understands you best isn't yourself, but your enemy.
Therefore, Otto could tell at a glance that the battleship bore a strong Anti-Entropy style, whether it was the color scheme or the system configuration. Of course, the Titans equipped inside as a defense mechanism were the most direct proof.
However, judging from the report, those Titans were extremely outdated models—the kind that Anti-Entropy currently used for doing chores.
Why would they use them as guards in such a highly advanced battleship?
Of course, he could also see that this report was missing a lot of things. Aside from the most basic battleship dimensions and data, nothing else had been submitted.
Naturally, Otto didn't plan to ask, nor would he demand Theresa to hand it over. Theresa was starting to have her own little schemes; this was good, very good indeed.
However, he was still a bit puzzled. Why would Anti-Entropy deliver a battleship they had painstakingly built—one with seemingly high technological content—into St. Freya's hands?
A show of force? What a joke. Who would use this method to show off? Aside from exposing their current technological level, it served no purpose, and it was a massive loss for them.
"It seems my granddaughter truly has developed some other little schemes." Otto smiled and nodded, then turned the page on the matter.
This might be nurturing a tiger to invite calamity, but Otto didn't care. For his upcoming plans, he hoped this tiger would grow as fat as possible—best if she could bite him to death in one go when he needed it.
Then, stepping over his corpse, she would become another Tiger King. Only then could he rest easy.
"Amber, call Rita over." Otto looked up at Amber. "It's time for us to push the plan forward a bit. I think our Princess of the Moon has been left out in the cold for too long."
"Have Rita go see if our Princess of the Moon is ready to return to the stage."
"Understood." After Amber nodded, she turned and left the office, leaving behind only Otto, who picked up his red wine glass and swirled it gently.
"Hmm, things are steadily moving forward. It's getting more and more interesting. This is excellent." Otto gently swirled his wine glass, looking at the report on the tablet through the red liquid.
"You really aren't afraid of cutting your hand on the glass." Beside Otto, Void Archives quietly materialized. "Aren't you afraid that things will completely exceed your expectations?"
"If fear were useful, I'd definitely be terrified right now." Otto took a light sip of the red wine. A plan couldn't possibly be executed without taking a bit of risk. But since he was going to do it, why should he be afraid?
"Besides, don't you think things are developing in the most interesting direction?"
"You truly are a madman."
St. Freya Academy
"Mmm..." Kiana sat on her stool, propping her head up with her hand, swaying unsteadily. From the looks of it, she could practically collapse onto her desk at any moment.
At this moment, Himeko, who was giving a lecture at the podium, also noticed the drowsy Kiana. This child had started dozing off in class again.
Just a few days ago, Kiana was able to maintain a limited amount of energy during class. But over the past couple of days, Kiana seemed to have regressed a hundred thousand miles in a flash, returning to her previous habit of falling asleep at the drop of a hat.
Even now, Kiana had grown immune to her ultimate chalk-throwing awakening technique. One must know that with Himeko's strength as an A-Rank Valkyrie, the chalk pieces she threw could pierce through ordinary wooden boards or thin steel plates before shattering.
But now, Kiana's skin had grown so thick that she was completely immune. She could even continue sleeping soundly amidst the bombardment, completely unfazed.
Fortunately, she had another method. Himeko looked at Mei beside Kiana: "...Mei."
"Kiana, Kiana, wake up..." Receiving the order, Mei skillfully reached out and poked Kiana's waist. Facts proved that compared to pain, ticklishness was much harder to endure.
Under Mei's poking fingers, Kiana immediately shot up like a spring, dodging Mei's fingers. She didn't even yell about how ticklish it was, but directly looked at Himeko with a serious expression.
"I don't even know what to say to you anymore." Himeko looked at Kiana; she had become so accustomed to it that her conditioned reflexes had completely vanished. "With this kind of willpower, couldn't you allocate just a tiny bit to your studies?"
"Fighting is my main profession; studying is my side job." Kiana looked at Himeko with a serious face. "So, Teacher Himeko, where were we?"
"You haven't even opened your book. Isn't that a bit too much?" Himeko glanced at the closed book on Kiana's desk. "I was just talking about the combat methods of Titan Mechas under various circumstances."
"For the vast majority of you, Titan Mechas remain a severe threat."
The "vast majority of you" that Himeko mentioned naturally didn't include Kiana and her two friends. They were probably only one assessment away from the A-Rank evaluation. But for the others, Titan Mechas were still a major difficulty.
However, it was almost time for their exams. After this exam, as long as there were no issues, Mei and the others should be officially rated as A-Rank Valkyries.
Himeko reined in her wandering thoughts. "Furthermore, based on the battleship we captured last time, we have reason to suspect that Anti-Entropy has made new advancements in their Titan technology. For you all, that means they will be even harder to defeat."
"So stay focused during class. Don't end up getting injured on the battlefield just because you missed a lesson; that would be very embarrassing."
"Understood~" Kiana patted her own cheeks, finally putting on a spirited expression to show she was taking it seriously.
"Let's continue. You must listen carefully. Even if you don't pay attention, you must be able to adapt to the situation on the battlefield." Himeko looked at the others. "Tomorrow, you will all be facing the virtual battlefield."
After class, Kiana sprawled over her desk. Over the past couple of days, she didn't know what was wrong with her. She just felt a bit tired, as if someone had been fighting her all night.
"I couldn't possibly have a habit of sleepwalking, right?"
"Rest assured, you definitely don't have a habit of sleepwalking." Right at that moment, Irene suddenly appeared and patted Kiana's head. "I can be certain of that."
"Sister Irene, how did you get here so fast?"
"I was just teaching the class next door." Irene shrugged. "Anyway, your class is next, so I just came straight over. The material I'm going to cover is the same anyway."
Irene looked at Kiana. She actually had a clue as to why Kiana was so tired recently—or rather, she was the one who caused it. Well, to be more precise...
It was Sirin pestering her that caused it. After all, she had just promised to always stay with her, so she couldn't just break her promise right away, right? And then...
Sirin had been pestering her to watch the movies and read the comics that Kiana had seen. And all of these took up Kiana's "CPU". If her mind wasn't quiet at night, how could she possibly have any energy during the day?
It's just...
Irene patted Kiana's head: 'Why do I feel like I'm raising her into a Spring Fairy?'
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