In the afternoon, Mo Wang sat alone in the garden of the Oceania Branch, a medical-grade ice pack pressed firmly against the growing lump on his head.
Looking at the vast grasslands stretching to the horizon and feeling the gentle breeze on his face, Mo Wang had to admit, this place was quite comfortable.
Although the Oceania Branch was basically in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand, the unique scenery had its own charm.
Especially when he saw the athletic, sun-kissed Valkyries walking by in their training gear. Mo Wang immediately revised his opinion. This place was great.
"I have to stay here for three more days? It seems it's not so bad after all..." Mo Wang muttered to himself, a slight smirk on his face. This place was great... if you didn't mind the constant risk of getting your skull caved in by random flying objects.
His good mood soured as soon as he remembered the morning's incident. After the milk can incident, Ana had nervously explained the branch's official findings.
Apparently, some "new" emergent phenomenon involving an "unnatural Honkai influence on local nature" was causing unpredictable, high-speed air currents to form out of nowhere.
The researchers claimed these currents were strong enough to pick up loose items... or even people. The official advice was for all non-essential personnel to stay indoors, and they were even considering a temporary evacuation.
Mo Wang thought their explanation was a load of crap.
Unnatural Honkai influence? High-speed air currents? Sure, that part was probably true. He knew exactly what—or who—was causing it.
With the Gem of Desire and Wendy both here, the timeline was dangerously close to the Herrscher of Wind's awakening in the original canon. Her powers were probably leaking out due to the stress of Schicksal's experiments.
But what really bothered him was the trajectory.
After the milk can, a stray garden gnome had shot past his ear like a ceramic bullet while he was walking with Ana. Later, a wrench from a maintenance team working three stories up somehow flew horizontally and embedded itself in a pillar right where his head had been seconds before.
This wasn't random. This was personal. It was targeting him!
'If I were still my old self, that can of milk would have been a one-shot kill,' Mo Wang thought grimly, rubbing the sore spot. 'What the hell did I do to piss off the wind?'
The only good news was that, according to Ana, the Oceania branch was planning to deploy a series of "atmospheric harmonic disruptors" around the base tomorrow to stabilize the air currents. Hopefully, that meant he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his "vacation" cowering indoors.
Mo Wang sighed and pulled a can of cola from his jacket pocket. Just as he was about to crack it open, a sudden movement caught his eye.
He looked up and noticed a girl in a wheelchair at a window of the medical bay not far away. She had long, pale green hair and was staring blankly out at the sky, her expression a mixture of loneliness and sorrow.
"Yoho, an unexpected discovery. Look what I've found, brothers?"
Seeing the girl in the wheelchair, Mo Wang's eyes lit up.
He hadn't expected to see his mission target just by taking a stroll after lunch.
"Sigh~"
The girl in the wheelchair let out a deep sigh. Her frail body didn't look like that of a Valkyrie at all.
Even compared to students of the same age, this girl seemed too thin and weak.
It was as if she had some kind of nutrient deficiency.
And her eyes were full of sorrow.
Looking at the vast grasslands, it was as if she were reminiscing about the world before her.
Looking at her like this, you couldn't see any resemblance to her parallel world counterpart, a certain lazy bard.
But, that was only natural.
As a genius girl who was once hailed as the most likely to become an S-rank Valkyrie, she had fallen from being the star of the Oceania Branch to a disabled person.
And every day, she had to endure the cold stares and vicious words of the people around her, which had directly caused this once lively girl to become withdrawn.
"In three more days, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to see such a scenery again, right?"
Looking at the vast grasslands before her, for some reason, the girl named Wendy began to miss her days at St. Freya.
"The wind is truly clamorous today."
However, just as Wendy was about to go back, a suspicious person holding a can of cola suddenly appeared beside her.
And, before Wendy could even recognize who he was, she saw the person pull out a lollipop from his pocket and hand it to her.
"Care for one, young lady?"
Wendy's brain short-circuited for a moment.
She really couldn't understand how this young man, who looked to be only in his late teens, exuded the aura of a kidnapper luring little girls away to scoop goldfish.
And on top of that, why would this person say something like "care for one" with a lollipop?
"Um... who are you?"
Wendy couldn't guess Mo Wang's identity, but seeing the Schicksal uniform on him, she assumed he must be a high-ranking official of Schicksal.
"You're Wendy, right? Principal Theresa's star student. I'm Mo Wang. Nice to meet you?"
Seeing that Wendy didn't take the lollipop, Mo Wang put it back in his pocket.
But the next moment, Wendy saw Mo Wang pull out a box of fries from behind him.
Seeing this, Wendy looked at Mo Wang's back with confusion.
The lollipop was one thing, but where did he hide the fries?
"Mo Wang? That name sounds familiar..."
Hearing Mo Wang's name, Wendy felt that she had heard it somewhere before.
"Hehehe, young lady, it seems you've recognized me."
Seeing Wendy's thoughtful expression, Mo Wang immediately put his right hand on his forehead and let out a classic villain laugh.
"That's right! I am the youngest captain in Schicksal! The one who has saved countless Valkyries from dire situations, the most trusted person of Principal Theresa, the captain of the Hyperion—"
Hearing Mo Wang say these words, Wendy finally remembered who Mo Wang was, and a look of admiration appeared on her face.
"So, you are the Crap Crusader—Captain Mo Wang?"
Wendy's words nearly broke Mo Wang's back.
What the hell? How did the title "Crap Crusader" spread all the way to Oceania?
"Um, Miss Wendy, Crap Crusader... what's that all about? How do you know that title?"
Mo Wang looked at Wendy with some embarrassment. Logically, this title shouldn't have reached Oceania, right? And, why did Wendy have a look of admiration when she heard this title?
"Well, actually, St. Freya has always had a student exchange group. I learned about it from there."
Wendy said to Mo Wang with a blush.
Mo Wang: (`—_—')
What? St. Freya has a group like that? How did he not know?
Hearing this, Mo Wang immediately took out his phone and started searching.
Crap, there really is such a group!
And looking at the number of members, most of the St. Freya students were in it.
What kind of loving family is this? And he was the only one kicked out?
And after entering the group, Mo Wang felt his vision go dark.
In this group, not only was there the strange novel he had written, but there were also various strange yuri doujinshi, and even doujinshi of him and other Valkyries.
This is too outrageous! This kind of thing, he must immediately appreciate it, no, criticize it thoroughly!
But if it was just that, Mo Wang wouldn't have felt his vision go dark.
What gave him the biggest headache? It was a piece of news that someone in the group had forwarded:
St. Freya Encounters Anti-Entropy's Foul-Smelling Warrior, Hyperion Captain Bravely Steps Forward, Fights to the Utmost but Cannot Win.
And above it was a picture of Mo Wang repeatedly punching the crap-covered Joyce clone.
If Mo Wang wasn't mistaken, the angle of this picture was probably taken by the trio, right?
Emmmmm, the one with the skills and ability to do this... Bronya?!
No way, sis, why would you take a picture like this? If you're going to take a picture, at least take a handsome one of me looking cool! Why this one, of all things?
And what broke Mo Wang's heart even more was what came next.
Below the news, there were comments from Himeko and Theresa.
Something about how Mo Wang wasn't afraid of filth and bravely saved the three Valkyries who had been defeated by the foul-smelling warrior.
And how he fought a world-shaking battle with this guy, and in the end, won by a narrow margin and defeated him.
Although the process was probably correct, why were there at least sixty words of "crap" in a hundred-word article!
"Heh, hehehe! Theresa~~"
Mo Wang gritted his teeth, thinking of a certain little white-haired principal.
He now understood why her expression was so strange when they met earlier.
So this was what she was waiting for!
When I get back, if I don't torture her for three days and three nights! I'm not surnamed Mo!
"Achoo!!!"
Far away in the principal's office at St. Freya, Theresa suddenly sneezed, and snot splattered all over the manga in her hands.
"Strange. Is the weather getting colder? Why is it suddenly so cold?"