Of course, Himeko had no idea the impact her unintentional words had on the Herrscher of Thunder.
It was nearly as earth-shattering as if Kiana had barged in, clutching the adorable Lunelle that the Herrscher held dear in her heart, and cheekily threatened, "Miss Herrscher of Thunder, you wouldn't want the Seele you cherish to die because you made too much of a ruckus, now would you?"
At that moment, realizing that her own reckless rampage had pushed Lunelle to the brink of death, the Herrscher of Thunder instantly didn't dare channel another ounce of Honkai Energy.
After all, if she kept throwing a tantrum, she might really end up killing the very girl she adored.
And the news that Lunelle was still alive instantly shattered the Herrscher's "Loss of My Beloved, All Lies in Ruin" buff.
Without that desperate boost, and with the Herrscher utterly stunned between shock and joy, the kind-hearted consciousness of Mei, which had been completely suppressed until then, suddenly found an opening to strike back.
All these external factors piled up, leading to the Herrscher of Thunder—who had been one step away from victory—being completely suppressed on the spot, all because of Kiana's offhand remark!
Having muddled through and won what should have been a hopeless battle, Himeko, who'd barely scraped by, really couldn't complain.
Oh, right! As for our dear "Duck Duck," who got blasted away, she somehow, following the original plot's trajectory, managed to sneak into the hangar of the Hyperion.
But because Duck Duck's presence was so faint, by the time the current Hyperion captain Himeko's Valkyrie aide noticed her, it seemed like she'd already been sitting in that hangar long enough to grow mushrooms.
Lunelle, clinging to life, was rushed to the intensive care unit for emergency treatment.
After Himeko packed up the three surviving beauties from Nagazora City and brought them back to St. Freya, this campaign against the Third Herrscher came to a rather abrupt and anticlimactic end.
"Major? You're telling me the Herrscher of Thunder stopped fighting just because she heard the girl named 'Seele' was still alive? And that she was afraid of hurting her? So you basically just mopped up after she gave up?!?"
After hearing Himeko's account, Theresa—who had, after all, participated in the campaign against the Second Herrscher—finally understood why Himeko had described the battle as "a bit abstract."
After all, defeating a terrifying Herrscher for such a bizarre reason, even knowing Himeko had no reason to lie, still sounded like pure nonsense!
"Kiana is my niece. This Third Herrscher is the young lady of the ME Corporation, part of the Anti-Entropy. So who is this 'Seele'...?"
Theresa was now deeply intrigued by this "Seele" girl who could seemingly restrain the Third Herrscher.
After confirming Kiana and Mei's identities, her curiosity piqued, she quickly pulled up the relevant files on "Seele."
Upon reading the information on Lunelle that Himeko had secretly gathered, the cute curiosity on Theresa's face swiftly turned to bewilderment.
After all, the resume on Lunelle's profile was suspiciously, almost excessively, clean!
The general information Theresa saw on Lunelle was as follows:
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[Name: Lunelle]
[Gender: Female]
[Age: 14]
[Height: 149cm]
[Weight: 42kg]
[Date of Birth: October 18, 2000]
[Place of Birth: Nagazora City, Honshu, Japan]
[Father: Unknown]
[Mother: Unknown]
[Orphan adopted by a local Nagazora City orphanage; relied on government subsidies for daily living after age 10; no recorded direct contact with the Third Herrscher, Raiden Mei, to date. (Credibility: 100%)]
--+--
"Major? Are you sure this intel you collected... is real?"
Looking at the report that revealed almost nothing of importance, Theresa felt something was off.
Even Kiana, whose information clearly showed signs of fabrication, at least had some fake educational history to slightly cover the improbability of her background.
But this available information on Lunelle gave a strong sense of being deeply problematic at first glance.
At the very least, Theresa found it hard to believe that a seemingly ordinary child, whose only notable trait was being cute, could have survived a Honkai disaster of Nagazora's scale.
"Headmistress, I've considered those concerns too. But after my thorough investigation and verification, this information we have really is the child's genuine data. Otherwise, I wouldn't have marked it with 100% credibility, would I?"
Hearing Theresa's question, Himeko, her whole body aching, explained with a somewhat helpless expression.
The reason Himeko so readily accepted Lunelle's odd-looking profile was that the simulator, while transforming Lunelle into a girl, had also retroactively rationalized her identity to a certain degree.
After all, Lunelle was a cross-dimensional transmigrator who'd landed with a hellish difficulty setting.
This bit of after-sales service to make her identity as a girl plausible... well, it couldn't be seamless.
It was the Hedgehog Cat System, after all.
If it didn't cut corners by 'just a bit,' it wouldn't be the Ganges River.
So, Lunelle's profile ended up looking suspicious to any discerning eye, yet upon closer investigation, no concrete issues could be found—a truly bizarre situation.
"Alright, Major, if you say so, I'll trust the child's background. But, Major? Since you've already placed this child, whom my niece calls 'Seele,' in the hospital, what's her Honkai Energy Adaptability like? Is she suitable for joining our St. Freya Academy?"
With Himeko's confirmation, Theresa stopped dwelling on the strangeness of Lunelle's background and instead inquired about her aptitude for Honkai Energy Adaptability.
A child surviving at a Herrscher-level disaster site was unlikely to lack exceptional traits in that area.
"Seele's Honkai Energy Adaptability? We tested it earlier by analyzing her blood sample. While it's not low compared to the average person, it still falls slightly short of the minimum threshold for a B-Rank Valkyrie! However..."
When Theresa brought this up, Himeko reported the results from Lunelle's blood work, but her expression held a touch of regret when mentioning Lunelle.
--+--
A/N: The setting here is that 50 points of Honkai Energy Adaptability on the attribute panel corresponds to the minimum qualification for a B-Rank Valkyrie.
Adaptability between 50-100 qualifies as B-Rank Valkyrie aptitude.
Normal A-Rank Valkyrie aptitude ranges from 100-150.
Normal S-Rank Valkyrie aptitude is 150 and above.
Additionally, aptitude is not directly equivalent to combat strength, and in reality, only the protagonist has quantifiable attribute values.
After all, everyone has their own specific Honkai Energy conversion rate, plus there are Valkyrie battlesuits, then there's Herrscherification and Herrscher Ascension.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.