Honkai: Strijder
Chapter 434: I'm Going to Be a Grandfather / Great-Aunt!?
"In conclusion, that young lady is very dangerous. Perhaps she will be the key to whether this era can continue."
A gigantic oval dome covered the Cosmic Juggernaut, as well as the deep crater blasted out by the rampaging energy. Several slender yet sturdy mechanical supports held the massive airship suspended in midair, while countless dust-like black dots moved in and out through the gaps in the hull.
The five-member research team—Sigurd, Otto, Einstein, Tesla, and Mobius—were examining the vessel, while Su explained the situation to the others.
As he finished speaking, Su squinted slightly and secretly glanced at Sigurd's back.
Durandal is Kiana.
Kiana is Durandal.
Considering Sigurd and Kiana's positions, Su decided not to casually reveal this fact to others.
Seeing that Sigurd showed no reaction at all, Su knew he had probably made the right choice.
Still, being the kindhearted person he was, Su instinctively glanced at Durandal's reaction.
The blonde girl wore a neat and valiant black military uniform. It accentuated the full roundness of her chest and displayed the graceful curve of her slender waist. With one hand supporting her chin, she frowned slightly in dissatisfaction, occasionally glancing toward Otto in the distance.
Blunt and straightforward as Durandal was, she actually wanted to say something about Otto's unreliability and take the opportunity to advise him to act more rigorously in the future instead of fooling around.
But Otto had only just handed over the leadership of Schicksal. The lingering authority of the former Overseer still remained. Durandal had to consider his public prestige.
So she was quite conflicted.
"Overseer—"
"—Ahem! Lady Durandal, regarding some of the regulations and arrangements for Valhalla, Rita has just thought of a few questions. May we discuss them?"
"Huh? What questions? Just tell me directly, Rita!"
"Yes. Please look here. Rita believes that when arranging resurrection spirit bases for hundreds of millions of soldiers in Valhalla, we should cooperate more closely with Commander Bronya. Simply setting up a special task group may not be as convenient as receiving direct orders from the military command."
"And here, regarding the conditions for civilians applying for the resurrection of relatives, Rita believes we should adjust them dynamically based on specific circumstances, such as criminal records, the amount of remaining data, and the time period of the application. Additionally—"
Under Rita's meticulous explanation, Durandal gradually became completely absorbed in thinking about the regulatory documents and planning files, forgetting entirely about persuading Otto.
Seeing Durandal staring fixedly at the text on the projection screen, Rita placed one hand over her softly swelling chest and quietly let out a sigh of relief.
'Lady Durandal, we've only just changed leadership. Please don't leave Lord Sigurd with the impression that you disregard hierarchy and authority on the very first day… although I suspect Lord Sigurd already understands your straightforward personality very well.'
Rita rubbed her temples, feeling as though her efforts might be futile, yet unable to simply ignore the situation.
In short, today's head maid Rita was once again worrying herself sick over Durandal's workplace environment.
After inspecting the current condition of the Cosmic Juggernaut, Sigurd left the other researchers to continue their study and walked toward the other group—the non-researchers… or rather, the "scientifically illiterate" group.
Su immediately asked, "Sigurd, how is it? Nothing too serious, right?"
"It can be repaired. Actually, the original Cosmic Juggernaut had a closed spatial structure. Studying its internal structure without damaging it was rather troublesome. Now we don't have to worry about that anymore. Since it's already cracked open, we can just research it while repairing it."
"Uh… sorry. I was too reckless."
"You were a bit reckless, yes, but I also didn't think it through carefully. After all, it might be connected to the Herrscher of the End. The level of danger should have been raised to the highest level. And someone like you definitely couldn't stay calm in that situation."
Sigurd patted Su on the shoulder in reassurance.
If the possibility existed that the "young lady" might equal the Herrscher of the End, then for a warrior of the Previous Civilization like Su—who had already experienced that disaster once—remaining calm would be nearly impossible.
"Haaah~"
At that moment, Kiana—who had been standing around for a while—yawned.
Her dark circles, the tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes, along with her weak posture and expression, all made it clear she hadn't gotten enough rest.
So members of the "silly parents group"—Siegfried and Theresa—as well as the "sisters group"—Raiden Mei and Seele—gathered around her, asking about her condition, offering water, and bringing her food.
Sigurd glanced in Kiana's direction and muttered to himself about how Bronya, who had simply gone back to the room to catch up on sleep, was the smarter one.
Then he patted Su on the shoulder again and, in a rare gentle tone, said:
"Thanks."
"Huh?"
Su looked slightly surprised, clearly not understanding why.
Sigurd didn't explain.
Because of what had happened to Su and the Cosmic Juggernaut, Sigurd temporarily gave up the idea of having Kiana use the powers of the Herrscher of the Void to track down the "young lady." In a sense, Su had taken the hit for Kiana.
Sigurd silently took note of this. On one hand, he raised the priority level of the "young lady" to the highest possible level. On the other hand, he mentally gave Su a few extra points—and decided to help heal Su's still-cracked hand as soon as possible.
Then Sigurd flipped through his schedule:
Reforms to the administrative and military systems; establishing new standards for citizenship after opening Worker Bee permissions; distributing low-dose anti-Honkai gene agents; global climate regulation; desert greening projects; promotion of artificial starch technology; mecha innovation; deeper purging of unstable remaining forces; establishing a coordinated system between the planetary ring and the lunar base…
Sigurd silently calculated the available manpower and the time required, then spoke.
"Durandal."
"Yes!"
The blonde girl immediately turned around, standing straight with full spirit, and gave a crisp salute.
"Come to my room tonight at 8:15."
"Yes, sir!!"
Durandal replied in a clear and powerful voice.
After that, Sigurd decisively turned and left—no further explanation, and no time left for questions.
However, the combination of nighttime, Sigurd's room, and a young, charming, pure girl caused quite a few people to frown.
"Lady Durandal, I must remind you that Lord Sigurd… has had designs on you for quite some time."
Rita gathered her courage and, risking metaphorical "seven gunshots to the back followed by a suicide notice," tugged Durandal's sleeve to warn her.
Durandal tilted her head blankly. After a moment, she slapped her palm with a sudden realization.
"Oh! You mean how Lord Sigurd once tried to poach me from Schicksal to Anti-Entropy? That's fine. Now we're all under Lord Sigurd anyway, so that's not an issue anymore!"
"No, that's not what Rita meant…"
"Let's not talk about that for now. I actually thought your suggestions just now were really good, but the workload increased quite a bit. Considering efficiency, I think we should make some adjustments. Help me think through the details!"
"Lady Durandal, Rita still believes—"
"Alright, alright! I know you're worried that Lord Sigurd might still hold a grudge about my earlier refusal, but you're definitely overthinking it. A genius like Lord Sigurd wouldn't care about something that trivial. He must have some confidential mission to assign to me. Let's stop talking about it and finish our work first, that's what matters!"
"I…"
Rita had heard Sigurd praise Durandal many times. She had also heard countless times about his attempts to recruit her.
And even more times, she had mentally constructed scandalous R-rated scenarios where a domineering emperor oppressed an innocent Valkyrie.
In short, she was already sweating with anxiety.
But Durandal's questions were so urgent and impossible to refuse. And imagining Sigurd's intentions in her head was one thing, but if she actually voiced those indecent suspicions in public, someone would definitely die!
Rita looked at the blonde girl who seemed completely immune to the darker side of human nature. Tears welled in her eyes.
"Lady Durandal, tonight please be sure to bring Rita's communicator. If… if… anyway, Rita will stake her life to protect you!"
Rita suddenly hugged the girl she had personally raised and cared for, speaking in a trembling yet resolute voice.
Durandal: "???"
…
While the mistress and maid continued their completely mismatched conversation on entirely different wavelengths, on the other side Siegfried and Theresa had pulled the sleepy-looking Kiana aside and were giving her some protective parental advice.
"Kiana, you need to be careful!"
"That's right! That brat Sigurd—who would've thought he'd turn out to be such a fickle playboy! Don't let yourself get wronged! Here—this is the imitation Judgment of Shamash your dad recently got. Tonight you keep a close eye on him. If he dares try anything funny, use the Kaslana gun-kata I taught you and teach him a lesson!"
"Hmm, not enough! Sigurd is too strong. We should also lend you your auntie's Judah. You have Kaslana blood, so you should be able to use it! When the time comes, open Judah first, then use the imitation Judgment of Shamash—that way he definitely won't be able to try anything funny!"
"Right, right! Theresa's idea is correct. Kiana, don't worry. We'll all back you up. We absolutely won't let you be wronged!"
The silly father and the silly aunt spoke one after another. At first Kiana looked confused, and in the end her mouth twitched.
"You two… that's enough already! Sig isn't that kind of person!" Kiana said weakly.
Siegfried crossed his arms and clicked his tongue unhappily like a father who didn't approve.
"Tch! If it weren't for Bronya and Sin Mal, I might actually believe that!"
"Stupid old man, keep the guns for yourself. I don't need that kind of thing between me and Sig! As for Bronya and Sin Mal… anyway, that's our business. I can't explain it clearly to you! Sig loves me very, very much, and he's very devoted too. Stop misunderstanding him already!"
Kiana shoved the pair of pistols Siegfried had stuffed into her hands back at him, then pushed away the cross Theresa had brought out. With a tired voice she continued:
"And you too, Aunt Theresa. Dad's a fool, so that's one thing, but haven't you already become smarter? Why are you still overthinking things like this? As for Durandal… there's also something important on her side. Sig already told me about it. We'll handle it ourselves."
Kiana scratched her cheek, feeling a little guilty.
What Sigurd wanted to talk to Durandal about—Kiana already knew perfectly well. It was nothing more than the matter of their identities and origins. Sigurd probably wanted to calm Durandal down first, since she was the key person, and only then reveal the truth, minimizing the impact on Kiana as much as possible.
Kiana was very touched by this. She didn't want to reject Sigurd's extra concern, nor did she want to interrupt his plans. But because of that, she also felt guilty toward Siegfried and Theresa. The two of them had spent half their lives chasing the truth about this matter. Learning the truth sooner would undoubtedly be a great relief for them.
"Sigh…"
Kiana sighed, patted her face to cheer herself up, and then reached out to hug her two foolish guardians.
"Don't worry about me. There won't be any problems between Sig and me. Also… there's an important matter we still need to confirm first, and then we'll slowly tell you. Sorry we still have to keep it secret for a little while longer, but it's good news, the kind that'll make you jump for joy. So look forward to it! Alright, my stomach's empty. I'm going to eat something first!"
Kiana let go of them, gave them a sweet smile, and walked away.
The two left behind looked at each other and both stroked their chins thoughtfully.
Siegfried: "Good news? The kind that'll make us jump?"
Theresa: "And they still need to confirm it first? And keep it secret for now?"
Siegfried & Theresa: "What are you thinking?"
Siegfried & Theresa: "You say it first!"
Siegfried & Theresa: "Then let's say it together!"
The two stared at each other, both gulped nervously, and then with trembling voices whispered at the same time:
"Am I going to become a grandfather / great-aunt!?!" ×2
The enormous shock silently churned their hearts upside down, even making them feel dizzy.
And thus, on this day, the Silly Parents Squad… sank.
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