Yet, when the evidence was laid bare before her eyes, Himeko had no choice but to believe.
Half a month later, Durandal and Himeko, stationed in Sapphire City, received a truckload of aid from Nagazora City.
Durandal had expected the supplies, but Himeko found it a bit much to swallow when she saw the variety of gear being unloaded—not to mention the instruction manual for a cargo robot that spoke with Vill-V's exact voice.
By now, Himeko had already changed into equipment provided by Schicksal.
A fiery red Moon Ring, matching her hair color perfectly, was fastened to her arm, and she wielded a greatsword that felt like a natural extension of her reach.
With this full set, Himeko estimated her combat effectiveness had jumped by at least two levels.
It was precisely because of this massive leap in power that everything felt so surreal.
Most importantly, the level of technology wasn't necessarily leaps and bounds ahead of Fire Moth; rather, these items were specifically specialized to counter the Honkai. That was the only real secret.
This was exactly why Durandal felt comfortable handing these things over to Vill-V for research.
She didn't have to worry about artificially inflating the overall advancement of human civilization, which would have caused the Honkai to grow stronger in response.
"How did your Schicksal organization pull this off?"
Himeko couldn't hide the shock on her face as she asked.
The answer lay in the accumulated wisdom of human civilization's struggle against the Honkai from the present stretching five thousand years into the future. Naturally, Durandal wasn't going to tell Himeko that.
She simply offered a small smile. "That's a Schicksal internal secret. If Captain Himeko were willing to join us, you would eventually find out everything for yourself."
Durandal had actually learned how to use such misleading rhetoric.
She hadn't made a direct promise that Himeko would be told everything upon joining; she simply said she would know everything. There was a world of difference between the two.
Himeko didn't catch the subtle trick in the phrasing, but she shook her head regardless. "As long as the gear works, that's enough. I don't have any need to dig into the underlying principles."
Durandal had expected that answer. She knew very well that for Himeko, the real "weak point" wasn't advanced weaponry. Everything had to be done one step at a time.
"Now that the aid from Schicksal is in place and everyone's strength has been bolstered, it's time for me to return to Nagazora City."
This trip to Sapphire City had only been a temporary assignment for Durandal.
Now that the first batch of supplies had arrived, Himeko and her team wouldn't just be able to handle zombies—they could face ordinary Honkai Beasts with composure.
In a little while, once Mobius's research made more progress, Himeko's team alone would be enough to secure Sapphire City, provided it wasn't the epicenter of the Third Honkai Eruption.
As the leader of Schicksal and the primary force against the Herrschers, Durandal couldn't stay in Sapphire City for long. She had to return to Nagazora City immediately to deal with the Third Herrscher, who could appear at any moment.
Durandal looked at Himeko and said solemnly, "Captain Himeko, I leave the safety of Sapphire City in your hands."
Himeko shed her usual lazy demeanor, standing tall and serious. "Don't you worry. With this kind of help, there's no way we'll lose!"
Durandal trusted Himeko's word. Once the supplies were unloaded and Himeko took charge of them, Durandal hopped into the truck and headed back to Nagazora City.
Elysia, who had long since received word that Durandal was finally returning, was already waiting at the entrance of the Schicksal temporary office.
The moment that blonde figure came into view, Elysia sprinted forward and threw herself onto Durandal, clinging to her like a literal ornament.
Durandal caught her steadily, spinning once to bleed off the momentum before setting her down and gently cupping Elysia's face.
Although they hadn't stopped their video calls over the past two weeks, how could a cold electronic screen ever compare to standing face-to-face?
Elysia leaned into the touch, nuzzling her cheek against Durandal's palm. Then, feeling like that wasn't quite enough, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed her directly.
The longing of two weeks without being able to touch each other exploded in that single moment.
Durandal didn't care one bit that they were in public.
After all, everyone coming and going was a member of Schicksal—there were no outsiders here, right? So, she responded to Elysia's affection with equal passion.
As they were lost in their kiss, Mei happened to arrive, carrying a thermal lunch box.
Inside was a meal she had prepared for Kevyn. This had been her routine for a while now; every weekend, she would come by to bring him food.
After learning that Kevyn spent every day running around protecting Nagazora City, she wanted to support him in her own way.
When it came to culinary talent, Mei truly had none.
However, Mei had one great strength: her ability to learn. This didn't mean she could cook delicious food through intuition; rather, she followed recipes with absolute, soul-crushing precision.
For example, if a recipe called for a certain amount of seasoning or meat, she would use a laboratory-grade electronic scale to measure it to the milligram.
Temperature and cooking time were monitored with high-precision instruments.
The resulting food was definitely edible—one might even call it good. But it cost Mei a significant amount of time and energy.
Preparing one meal was just as exhausting as Kevyn fighting a zombie barehanded.
Logically, she shouldn't have been wasting time on such things, yet she did, and she persisted. She had actually tried to cook without the instruments once, relying on her "gut feeling."
The result... could only be described as catastrophic. After a single bite of her own cooking, she nearly ended up in the hospital.
Having confirmed she possessed zero talent in the field, Mei had accepted her fate. She treated it as a way to hone her experimental skills; after all, cooking like that was no different from performing a lab trial.
Since today was Saturday, Mei arrived as usual, only to witness the heated scene at the entrance.
As luck would have it, Kevyn had also come to the door to wait for Mei. Naturally, she saw it too.
Standing there—one inside the doorway, one outside—the two of them locked eyes, and both turned bright red.
Mei was the first to snap out of it. She stepped forward and used her free hand to give Kevyn a little nudge. "Stop staring. Let's go to the break area."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.