"Is there really any difference between the Captain being gone and her being as good as gone? Only the oldest veterans in the team truly remember Captain Snow. The rest of us grew up on increasingly exaggerated stories about the Captain and Vice Captain."
One of the Valkyries rolled her eyes, chattering loudly, but her words caught Kyuusyou's attention.
"Oh? Legends of Snow... Tell me about them."
The purple-haired Valkyrie's eyes sparkled with interest.
"W-wow, Vice Captain!"
The Valkyrie who had been called out spun around clumsily, snapped to attention, saluted Kyuusyou, then adopted a cautious expression as she asked her superior:
"Vice Captain, are you sure you want to hear this...?"
"Mmhmm~"
"Just so you know, Vice Captain, you can't go tattling to the Captain about this later..."
"What's there to tattle about in rumors?"
Kyuusyou waved her hand dismissively, signaling, "Speak your mind. I, Lady Kyuusyou, have seen it all."
"After we received our transfer orders, rumors began circulating among our former colleagues about a hidden S-rank Valkyrie in the Far East Branch—"
"They say she eats eight Chariot-class Honkai Beasts a day, uses Super Dreadnought-class Honkai Beasts as bowling balls, and spars with Warlord-class Honkai Beasts for half an hour, breaking their arms in the process. She can even grab Floating-type Honkai Beasts by their tentacles and swing them around like meteor hammers—"
"And that's not all! She can obliterate Anti-Entropy's Titan Mecha with a single punch, single-handedly tear apart an entire Aerial Fleet, and kick Emperor-class Honkai Beasts around like soccer balls... uh... there's more..."
The Valkyrie stole a glance at her superior. Kyuusyou remained impassive, listening to the report with unwavering composure, seemingly determined to see just how much creative exaggeration the various Schicksal Branches could concoct, and how utterly absurd these rumors truly were.
"What else is there?"
"There's one more rumor... about you, Vice Captain."
"Oh? Do tell..."
Kyuusyou's eyes lit up with interest.
"Umm... let's get this straight first, okay? I heard it from the Valkyrie survivors of the New Zealand Branch, Vice Captain. You need to discern right from wrong and not punish me by making me sweep the deck of the Nibelungen, okay?"
"Alright, alright, I won't punish you. Just tell me already..."
Kyuusyou gave a perfunctory nod to the Valkyrie before her, waiting for her to continue. The young woman seemed oblivious to the gravity of the situation.
"The Valkyrie survivors from the New Zealand Branch at St. Freya Academy said the Valkyrie who rescued them was wearing black armor, had long purple hair and purple eyes, and wielded a massive, jet-black Great Sword engraved with glowing emerald-green patterns."
"Everyone knows that already. You're the only one at the Academy who fits that description, Vice Captain. But the rest of their story is just absurd... They claimed you impaled an Emperor Beast with a single strike, stopped a Dragon Charge with your bare hands, and then descended from the sky with a single punch that obliterated an Emperor-class Honkai Beast and an entire street of Zombies!"
"But our records clerk just laughed it off as a tall tale at the time. Sure, we found a street ravaged by some large-scale destruction, but the Honkai Beast involved was Paventi. According to the records, it prefers to roll around to move and attack, so that kind of damage is pretty normal for it."
"I can't believe some people actually fell for the New Zealand Branch Valkyries' tall tales. Some of the Academy's new recruits have been secretly calling you 'Gorilla Unit 2' behind your back."
"....."
Upon hearing this nickname, which rivaled her former moniker of "Kiana," Kyuusyou immediately scowled, her expression twisting into a grumpy frown.
"Vice Captain? Vice Captain Kyuusyou? You promised you wouldn't fix me!"
Seeing Kyuusyou's darkening expression and the faint crimson glint in her eyes, the young Valkyrie's face crumpled into a miserable pout.
"Oh... never mind, it's nothing. Just get back to work~"
Realizing Kyuusyou's sour mood, the young Valkyrie quickly composed herself, patted the frightened girl reassuringly, and waved her off to resume her duties.
"Uh... Vice Captain, did you really demolish an entire street with a single punch?"
The young Valkyrie, emboldened by her earlier reprieve, recklessly leaned closer, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she tried to pry for details.
"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Kyuusyou turned her expressionless gaze toward the young Valkyrie who had once again dared to approach her.
"Uh... good news?"
"I did indeed obliterate a street full of Zombies and that Emperor-class Honkai Beast with a single punch. You guessed right—"
"Th-th-then... what's the bad news?"
Sensing something was amiss, the Valkyrie trembled and nearly bolted.
"The bad news? Let's just say you're about to get punched—just one punch. I swear on my title as Vice Captain, just one punch."
Kyuusyou began stretching her limbs.
"N-no, no! Vice Captain, your generosity knows no bounds—!"
With a whoosh, the young Valkyrie vanished before Kyuusyou's eyes.
"She's quick on her feet. Wilde, she's from your squad, right? Tell her she's on deck cleaning duty next week."
Kyuusyou approached the Division Captains, who seemed to have finished their discussion.
"So, have you come up with any good plans?"
"We have two options currently. First, we could proclaim Headmaster Theresa as our leader and sever ties with Old Schicksal—"
Wilde outlined the first plan.
"However, this plan has a fatal flaw—legitimacy. Although Headmaster Theresa holds the esteemed position of family head of the Apocalypse family... the upper echelons of Schicksal are well aware that she only acquired this surname through her connection to Overseer Otto."
"While the Headquarters certainly has its share of Overseer Otto's opponents, they won't openly support us without sufficient legitimacy. After all, considering his achievements rationally, the Overseer's merits truly outweigh his faults."
"In this scenario, we'd likely only establish a resistance group, not even a government-in-exile." Skuld added.
"The other option revolves around the Captain. But since she's not here, the plan's difficulty increases exponentially."
"As the true heir of the Apocalypse Family, we could secure the support of a faction within Schicksal."
"Just like the ancient Roman Empire, we'd have dual emperors ruling together."
"The Western and Eastern Roman Empires, ah-ha! Since we're the Far East Branch, we'd be the Eastern Empire..."
"I doubt the Lady Captain would appreciate being fired out of the Urban Cannon at superluminal speed to the outer reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy..."
"However, the Captain's own modesty and Overseer Otto's long-standing silence regarding his heir and descendants make proving this our greatest challenge..."
"The most ironclad approach would be to get the Overseer to admit it himself... but that's nearly impossible."
"The Captain isn't here, and given how this could split Schicksal, the Overseer would never utter such words lightly."
The three Division Captains of the Second Division turned to Kyuusyou, awaiting her decision.
"I'll find a way to make him confess... I just wonder if our dear Captain's blood pressure will skyrocket when she learns she's been crowned Empress of the Second Empire..."
Kyuusyou flashed a radiant smile.