The Fourth Honkai Eruption had ended. Aside from a small New Zealand town with a population of fewer than ten thousand being erased from existence, when the final casualty reports landed on the desks of department heads at Schicksal Headquarters and its various branches, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Compared to the usual death tolls of hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions, the loss of these few thousand lives was almost acceptable. People's hearts had long grown numb; the casualty figures had become mere numbers.
The pessimists continued to proclaim that hope was dead, that all human efforts were futile, and that this was merely a fleeting act of divine mercy. They insisted that humanity was no longer fighting for the survival of civilization or its future, but merely for the right to continue fighting. Sooner or later, they warned, even this right to resist would be lost.
The optimists, on the other hand, celebrated triumphantly, believing that the dawn of victory had arrived. They declared this moment a turning point in history, with the hope of resisting and even defeating the Honkai now within reach. The newly born Herrscher showed surprisingly little hostility toward humanity—a sign that the Gods were finally acknowledging human struggles and sacrifices.
However, Theresa Apocalypse, the Head of the Far East Branch, clearly stood apart from both camps.
Headmaster Theresa was currently grappling with two pressing issues. The first was Bronya's coma. During the previous battle, Ninti's directed electromagnetic pulse had destroyed Bronya's bio-control chip, freeing her from control, but it had also severely damaged her nervous system. Bronya remained unconscious in St. Freya's intensive care unit.
As for the other matter...
"Woo-hoo!"
A cheerful voice drifted in from outside the window, carried on the howling wind that rattled Theresa's office window.
"Wendy and Muninn..." Theresa rubbed her temples, trying to ease the headache brought on by working late into the night.
"I need to get Wendy a bigger house... No, wait, does she even need that?"
Theresa walked to the window and watched Wendy, cradling a kitten, soar into the distance. Ninti, puffing out her cheeks in a pout, chased after her, trying to snatch her cat back. The two raced across the sky in a playful chase.
"Forget it. The new budget from Headquarters has already been approved anyway... Kiana has been surprisingly responsible lately, saving me a lot on maintenance costs... Anyway, I might as well just ask Wendy directly."
Theresa pulled out a communicator and dialed a channel labeled "Happy Wind Girl."
"Hello, Wendy? What kind of house do you want? You know, the kind you live in..."
[I want to live with Ninti! That's final!]
The wind howled fiercely on the other end of the communicator, but Theresa could still clearly hear the girl's infectious joy in her voice.
"...Ah, youth is truly wonderful. Pfft, pfft, pfft! What am I even saying?"
"As for Muninn, she seems to be getting along quite well with Kiana since waking up. Let's put them on the same floor... This one's pretty easy to resolve."
The Headmaster shook her head, refocusing on the first problem—
"Sigh... Bronya, none of these students ever give me a moment's peace... Kiana's been behaving much better lately, but now you're causing trouble. Who's next? Raiden Mei, perhaps..."
"She wouldn't get into a fight with Kiana and run away from home... Hmm... That's impossible to imagine."
Theresa considered Mei, the most obedient of the trio, and decisively shook her head.
"Never mind. I'll check with the doctors in the Medical Department about Bronya's condition first..."
Having made up her mind, the Headmaster left her office and hopped onto her Oath of Judah-branded hoverboard, soaring toward the Medical Department.
-
Ninti felt like everything had been going wrong lately.
Every morning, during her peaceful cat-petting time, Wendy would suddenly burst in, a gleeful look on her face, snatching the cats from her hands and shoving an ice cream cone into their place. She'd then whoop and holler as she whisked the cats out the window, forcing Ninti to chase after them to save the poor creatures from the clutches of that green-haired monster.
And that green-haired fiend always seemed to deliberately keep herself just out of reach, dragging Ninti along at a frustratingly slow pace.
By afternoon, Wendy's main personality would come panting over to Ninti, looking sheepish as she cradled the trembling cats she'd stolen that morning. She'd apologize profusely, and it turned out Ninti wasn't the only one experiencing this...
Every Valkyrie at St. Freya Academy seemed to be suffering similar pranks at Wendy's hands. These included, but weren't limited to, tools being pilfered, pets "borrowed," and even students blaming Wendy for missing homework assignments, claiming she'd stolen them.
The phrases "Wendy took it!" and "It was Wendy's fault!" became convenient excuses at St. Freya Academy. The girl who streaked across the sky was now unfairly burdened with blame for countless mishaps. Of course, she'd probably done most of them anyway, and wouldn't care much.
Ninti recalled a few days earlier when she had been so engrossed in playing with her cat that she forgot to do her homework. When Himeko came to her door, Ninti blurted out, "Homework...? Wendy stole it!" Himeko, believing her, dropped the matter entirely. The blonde girl suddenly found herself looking more favorably upon the Herrscher she was currently chasing.
"It's all Wendy's fault anyway."
Ninti, now corrupted, nodded and activated the Valkyrie Battlesuit's propulsion system, unleashing a sonic boom that shattered countless glass windows in nearby academic and office buildings.
In the classrooms, the Valkyries and Schicksal personnel in the office building glanced indifferently at the shattered glass before resuming their work.
"Um, seniors... aren't you going to do anything about this?" a newly arrived staff member in the office building asked, his head spinning with confusion at the others' impassive reactions.
"Huh? Do something about what?" A Valkyrie in clerical duty responded, equally confused.
"Seniors... the Academy's been attacked! All the glass is broken, you know?!"
"Ah, that? Just ignore it. You know the Fourth Herrscher, right? The one who's been handing out ice cream at Schicksal branches around the world..."
"Uh... I've heard of her. What about her?"
"Good, then it's settled. As a newcomer, you only need to remember one thing."
"If something completely incomprehensible or utterly illogical suddenly happens at the Academy, it's Wendy's doing. Just ignore it, sweep up the broken glass, and report the maintenance costs to the Finance Department."
The veteran Valkyrie, a seasoned administrator, wore a "seen it all" expression, successfully calming the newcomer's confusion and panic.
"Uh... okay."