If Kevyn ever asked, Durandal already had her story straight.
A proper assessment had to follow some semblance of order, didn't it?
The truth was that Elysia had submitted the paperwork first.
However, as long as Elysia kept quiet, Durandal stayed mum, and Sakura remained silent, could someone as dense as Kevyn ever figure it out?
As for Mei's side of things, there was no need to worry. If anything, Mei probably hoped more than any of them that this would spark Kevyn's fighting spirit and competitive streak.
Precisely because this was more than a simple errand, Elysia—who had practically become Durandal's self-appointed secretary—had demanded an extra "reward" for her efforts.
Five minutes later, Elysia led Sakura into the office.
An hour after that, Sakura had already cleared the trial Durandal set for her.
The assessment was straightforward; in fact, most of the squad members had already managed it the day before.
The task was to handle a localized Zombie outbreak alone, without a captain's command or guidance. It wasn't just about neutralizing the targets, either; it included all the cleanup and aftermath protocols.
Once everything was settled, Durandal rushed Sakura back to the temporary office and summoned all current combat squad members to announce the news.
As for the fact that Sakura had become a Flame-Chaser and now held the authority to lead her own independent combat squad, Ato and Emile were both surprised and, paradoxically, not surprised at all.
The surprise was that Sakura had somehow beaten Kevyn to the punch.
The lack of surprise stemmed from the fact that Sakura truly possessed the strength to back it up.
However, the looks the two men shot toward Kevyn were a bit... delicate.
It wasn't that they harbored any ill will; rather, their eyes seemed to broadcast a single, frantic message: You didn't happen to offend the boss, did you?
Kevyn herself was in a bit of a daze.
Early this morning, when she received the application submitted by Elysia from Durandal, Kevyn had genuinely thought she was the first to receive such an honor.
She never expected that while she was still warming up for her trial, Sakura would have already passed hers.
Kevyn didn't suspect Durandal of any deliberate targeting. Nor did she feel a spark of jealousy toward Sakura. After all, she knew perfectly well that she wasn't inferior to Sakura in the slightest.
But that was exactly why she felt so awkward.
Yes, she was just as good as Sakura—so why had Sakura already passed the trial and officially become a Flame-Chaser while she was still stuck here waiting for Durandal to give her the green light?
Where exactly was she falling short?
In any case, Kevyn's competitive drive was thoroughly ignited.
Kevyn was never one to hide her emotions, and in the meeting room, everyone caught the look on her face.
Whether it was the clueless Emile and Ato, or Sakura—who didn't quite understand the "why" but had played along with Durandal's little drama on Elysia's instructions—everyone could sense that this shift in Kevyn was a good thing.
Seeing that the timing was perfect, Durandal offered a few words of encouragement to Emile and Ato before announcing that Kevyn's assessment would begin immediately.
If all went according to plan, the Schicksal organization would soon boast four combat squads.
As for the severe shortage of personnel...
Now that Durandal had returned from her business trip, she could replicate the recruitment drive she had previously conducted in Sapphire City.
Originally, Durandal had intended to delegate this task to Elysia. However, Elysia had declined.
She insisted that, during the early stages of Schicksal's formation, every single member should be personally recruited by Durandal herself.
After some thought, Durandal agreed.
With the support from Fire Moth and the steady rollout of combat armor and weapons crafted by Vill-V, the pressure on Nagazora City would ease significantly in the short term.
There was no desperate rush for fresh blood, so she accepted Elysia's suggestion to handle the recruitment personally upon her return.
Now, once Kevyn passed her trial, Durandal could contact the Nagazora City Education Bureau and arrange for the relevant officials to lead Schicksal's recruitment drive.
In reality, Nagazora City was just as enthusiastic as Sapphire City had been. They didn't care if Schicksal absorbed all the talent in their city; in fact, they welcomed it.
While the city officials weren't entirely privy to the full truth of the Honkai, the sheer volume of information they handled allowed them to guess a fair portion of it.
If offering up a few geniuses meant tying an organization like Schicksal to their city, it was a bargain they were more than willing to strike.
This "binding" didn't mean these recruits were plants or spies.
It was simpler: if these people hailed from this city, then when disaster eventually struck, would they—now empowered with strength—really sit idly by and watch their hometown burn to the ground?
Of course, these high-level officials were also gambling.
They were betting that Schicksal wouldn't be as insatiable as Fire Moth. To get help from Fire Moth, one had to promise countless kickbacks or even surrender total control of the city.
Why were Fire Moth's operations against the Honkai so notoriously difficult? Why did they often wait until an outbreak was in full swing before moving in to evacuate citizens and clear Honkai beasts?
It was because, during the early warning signs, certain factions within Fire Moth used their monopoly on disaster management to extort city governments.
They would drive prices sky-high, effectively delaying the "Golden Hour" for rescue and causing far greater casualties.
Those people understood that every second a negotiation stalled was another point of leverage for them. It meant the city they were bargaining with was losing its ability to solve the problem alone.
By the time the city leaders realized that even the highest price couldn't fix the mess, they had no choice but to bow their heads to Fire Moth.
There was a reason Fire Moth's reputation online was so abysmal.
It wasn't just the victims speaking out; it was also cities like Nagazora and Sapphire, terrified of becoming the next victim, fanning the flames of public dissent.
It was much like why Mobius had such a terrible reputation within Fire Moth itself.
It was the collective noise of those who had been treated like lab rats on her operating table and survived, mixed with the screams of those terrified they might be next.
This wasn't to say the city officials or Mobius were blameless.
The officials were power-hungry, and Mobius openly despised and challenged the very foundations of human ethics. These were facts.
How to navigate these facts and make the right moves—that was exactly what Durandal had to figure out.
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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!
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If you guys wanna check it out.