St. Freya Academy was an organization founded by Theresa after she left Schicksal due to some of Overseer Otto's cold-blooded actions following the Second Honkai Eruption. Its original purpose was to take in children displaced by the Honkai and train them into Valkyries or other staff who would fight against the Honkai. Of course, if those children, once grown, no longer wished to face the Honkai, that was fine too—they could choose to leave St. Freya and live and work as ordinary people, and the academy would never demand repayment for their upbringing.
Theresa wanted to build an organization full of human warmth, different from Schicksal under Otto's leadership. Since St. Freya grew out of the former Far East branch of Schicksal, and because of Otto's doting on Theresa, even after she went independent he never revoked her high-level database access and even frequently provided support, St. Freya encountered no major setbacks. Under the academy's protection, the Far East developed quite well, but there was one thing Theresa hadn't expected—there simply weren't that many children left homeless by the Honkai.
For small-scale eruptions, cities already had adequate early-warning and defense systems, so people's families were not usually destroyed by a minor Honkai event. As for large-scale eruptions… before this Third Honkai Eruption, the Far East had never experienced one, and children generally had slightly poorer Honkai adaptability than adults. In reality, St. Freya had long been in a state of student shortage. Theresa didn't mind; if one day the academy could never again accept new blood, there would only be two possibilities: either humanity had been wiped out by the Honkai, or the Honkai had been eradicated by humanity. If it was the former, Theresa would of course be among the dead; if it was the latter, all the better—she would happily announce that St. Freya was closing its doors for good.
At present, the entire academy had just over fifty students, all grouped into a single class, similar in age and level, with most being rather mediocre. Without using artificial Stigmata with severe side effects like Schicksal, none of them except the class monitor could become true A‑rank Valkyries capable of standing alone in a Honkai battlefield. Now, with the appearance of Evan, Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya, Theresa naturally had to make some arrangements.
According to the information St. Freya had gathered, Evan was an ordinary high school student from Tachikawa Academy who had briefly worked as an intern at ME Corp. He interacted little with classmates and had long appeared mentally listless, with no other special traits. When she finished reading this file, Theresa felt her intel staff could line up to apologize. A guy who could face giant Honkai Beasts alone during a large-scale eruption, physically overpower Anti‑Entropy Titans, and knew so much about the Honkai was being described as "an ordinary high school student"? If every student at Tachikawa Academy were this "ordinary," humanity would have a massive advantage in the war against the Honkai.
Because of the responsibility Evan showed and the shocking extent of his sacrifice, Theresa did not plan to press him with too many questions for the time being. She chose to trust him, just as Evan had chosen to trust her earlier. As for Kiana's identity, Theresa naturally knew it well and needed no investigation. Of the other two, Raiden Mei was the daughter of ME Corp's former president, Raiden Ryoma, and Bronya was the adopted daughter of current president Cocolia. Since ME Corp was backed by Anti‑Entropy, Schicksal's mortal enemy, they were likewise not allies to St. Freya, which had sprung from Schicksal.
Was this an Anti‑Entropy plot?
Because of Raiden Mei's performance as the Third Herrscher, Theresa decided, for now, to treat it as an Anti‑Entropy attempt to "pull a Herrscher over to humanity's side," and not be overly paranoid. However, she naturally couldn't casually house Raiden Mei together with ordinary St. Freya students. To avoid making Mei feel singled out, Theresa simply decided on the spot to let Raiden Mei, Kiana, and Bronya all live at Himeko Murata's home; there just happened to be a few vacant rooms there. With Himeko's strength, even if something happened to Raiden Mei, she wouldn't be helpless.
Led by Theresa into a residential building, the group took in the scene before them. Kiana was silent for a long moment, then spoke.
"This place that looks like a trash can is…?"
For someone as carefree as Kiana to say such a thing, the room was certainly extraordinary. Books and shoes were scattered messily across the floor. A few jackets were casually thrown over the sofa. In the corner was a pile of empty beer bottles, along with large stockpiles of shampoo, bread, and various daily necessities and food, apparently to reduce shopping trips.
Sweat appeared on Theresa's forehead.
"Still as messy as always, huh. Can't be helped—that's the world of a single woman of a certain age."
"Hey, can you not mock me like that?"
From deeper inside the room, Himeko Murata emerged, holding a duster and wearing a mask. From the looks of it, she had even done some housework before everyone arrived. So what state had this place been in before she cleaned a bit? Realizing this, Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya all fell speechless, while Evan felt it was a bit of a shame. He had thought he might see a "special" scene—like underwear tossed around everywhere.
Slightly self-conscious about her image after Theresa's jab, Himeko naturally noticed everyone's expressions. Kiana and the others' reactions were within expectations, but what was with Evan's look? Was this guy thinking something indecent?
Himeko wasn't the shy type and had planned to say something to probe him a bit, but considering the occasion, she had to let it go.
"So, Principal Theresa, you're not planning to have everyone live here, are you? I don't mind the others, but Evan is a boy, you know?"
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