Even back then, the somewhat scatterbrained Kiana, with her habit of letting a teacher's words go in one ear and out the other during a scolding, didn't seem to pay particular attention to that statement.
But to prevent that troublemaker Kiana from taking advantage of the opportunity to get close and do something inappropriate to her precious little sister Seele, Bronya actually put down her game for once.
She even said goodbye to her dear friend in-game, with whom she was tackling dungeon runs, deciding to be merciful and grudgingly help that big dummy Kiana review her weakest subject: history.
Just as Bronya, armed with her modified Homu VR headset, went looking for Kiana, she heard Kiana's somewhat frantic wailing before even seeing her.
"Aaaaargh!! I can't remember any of it! Why do we have to be tested on a boring subject like history?!"
At that moment, Kiana wore a woeful expression in her room, buried under a pile of review materials taller than she was, struggling through the [Honkai History] she just couldn't wrap her head around.
Strictly speaking, Kiana wasn't actually low in intelligence; she just didn't like using her brain, which often gave off the vibe of a dim-witted, hot-blooded blockhead.
But even if Kiana's IQ wasn't particularly low, it didn't mean her memory was good!
Especially since the historical content requiring rote memorization was just a "tiny" bit too much...
So for a subject like history, which relied entirely on brute-force memorization, Kiana found last-minute cramming especially painful.
Then, a blue Homu bunny hat was plopped right onto the distressed Kiana's head.
"What'd you put on me, Bronya?"
Feeling something suddenly on her head, Kiana gave her a puzzled side-eye. Noticing the hat wasn't green, she inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief—'At least it's not a green one.'
Bronya, who'd been wearing a perpetually unimpressed look, calmly introduced the device's name.
Then, using her own methods, she directly pulled Kiana's consciousness into a temporary hack of Schicksal's basic archives database.
After all, Bronya knew that with Kiana's thick skull, which couldn't absorb written records, only the holographic footage in Schicksal's immersive database would make it easier for her to memorize those admittedly numerous, dull, and dry historical facts.
Though merely helping a classmate with tutoring, hacking into Schicksal's database so brazenly certainly showcased Bronya's formidable skills as a hacker.
So, Bronya took Kiana on a journey, starting from the earliest era and gradually playing back various historically recorded events of the Honkai world from Schicksal's archives.
Then, spotting a Judah identical to Theresa's suddenly appearing in the footage, and driven by the protagonist's trademark curiosity, Kiana—true to form—felt an itch to touch it.
Upon making contact with the Judah in the record, she suddenly slipped into a special hidden archive accessible only to the Kaslana family.
There, she witnessed historical records related to her ancestor, Kallen Kaslana.
Still a hot-blooded blockhead at this stage, Kiana, knowing full well the records were simulations, wanted to try and save her ancestor within the virtual archive world.
In the end, of course, it was all for naught in every sense.
But at the critical moment, Otto suddenly logged in.
Quite grandly, he claimed to be moved by Kiana and Bronya's attempt to save Kallen and proceeded to freely gift Kiana a set of Trial-Type 4th Generation Valkyrie Godsbane Suit.
Which was later jokingly referred to by many as the "Better White Comet"—what you'd get by upgrading Kiana's "White Comet" armor to S-Rank in the game.
With the cheat Otto directly provided, Kiana figured it out instinctively.
With a "Light Wings Unfurl," she instantly wiped out all the Honkai Beasts generated in the data footage.
After inexplicably acquiring a set of Moonbeam armor, Kiana finally concluded this tutoring session, which had been enlightening for her in more ways than one.
Thanks to Bronya's tutoring help, Kiana barely passed the make-up exam a week later, officially becoming an active B-Rank Valkyrie at St. Freya Academy.
Though it seemed Kiana landed a B-Rank Valkyrie position right off the bat, this was because the combat Valkyrie classification wasn't overly detailed.
From top to bottom, there were only three tiers: S-Rank, A-Rank, and B-Rank.
It wasn't like the game's progression system, which could conjure up SS-Rank, SSS-Rank, or even later subdivisions like S1, S2, and various refined breakthrough levels.
Precisely because the Valkyrie ranks weren't complicated, the difficulty of promotion between each tier was exceptionally challenging in every sense.
For example, to rise from B-Rank to A-Rank Valkyrie, one not only had to accumulate merits and sufficient military rank through frequent mission execution but also needed to genuinely possess A-Rank combat prowess.
Only after an evaluation by headquarters could a Valkyrie rank promotion be achieved.
For most Valkyries, accumulating merits from B-Rank to A-Rank usually wasn't too difficult; the main obstacle was failing to meet the combat strength requirements, making promotion exceedingly hard.
Seeing herself just one step away from her goal of A-Rank Valkyrie, even though she'd only barely passed the make-up exam, Kiana strutted around proudly for quite a while.
After all, for Kiana, who was eager to advance to A-Rank, accumulating merits and combat strength weren't really big issues.
The Kaslana family's talent in combat was, frankly, unreasonably powerful.
Even Kiana's father, Siegfried, after seriously training for a while, casually reached a combat level comparable to an S-Rank Valkyrie.
But at this moment, Kiana was unaware that the Valkyrie promotion exam also included a written test component!
Although the score weight wasn't very high, it was still a mandatory requirement to meet.
Yet it was precisely this written test, which wasn't difficult for most people, that ended up stalling Kiana at B-Rank Valkyrie for a full three years!
Of course, that's all for later.
At least for now, eager to accumulate enough merits, Kiana received her exclusive B-Rank Valkyrie armor, "White Comet."
After spending a short time mastering the Valkyrie armor's capabilities, Kiana immediately sought out Himeko.
Her purpose, naturally, was to ask Himeko if there were any recent missions that could earn her a large chunk of merits all at once.
In Kiana's view, brimming with confidence in her own abilities, she wasn't afraid of difficult missions—only that the missions might not offer enough merits!
In Himeko's eyes, while Kiana might indeed be a bit "all brawn, no brains," her combat prowess was certainly qualified.
Meanwhile, Himeko, who had been thinking about finding time to head to the Chiyou Ruins for a major mission, was more than delighted when Kiana—this handy little workhorse—practically offered herself up asking for a task.
So at dinner, Kiana couldn't keep her big mouth shut and proudly announced to everyone at the table that she was about to take on a big mission.
"You idiot Kiana!"
But after hearing the news, Bronya, who had been wearing a little duck-like pout the whole time, suddenly got inexplicably upset and snapped at the gloating Kiana with a cold tone.
"Oho~ Bronya! Could it be you're jealous that I managed to snag an S-rank exploration mission from Himeko?"
In response to Bronya's sarcasm, Kiana naturally didn't hold back either, firing back with her own mocking tone.
Seeing Kiana like this, Bronya kept her little duck-pout and shot her a look as if staring at an utter fool—a mix of speechlessness and annoyance.
Clearly, what upset Bronya wasn't that Kiana got to take on a big mission, but rather...
"Kiana! You went ahead and agreed to a mission with Major Himeko on your own—did you not realize that if you accept a task as the team leader, it means our whole squad is committed?"
Seeing that Kiana still seemed to think she was the only one going on the mission, Mei couldn't help but awkwardly explain the situation.
"Huh!? What!?"
After all, since the three of them already knew each other, they had naturally registered as a three-person Valkyrie squad when they joined St. Freya together.
But when deciding who would be squad captain, they'd heard that the captain earned the highest merits during missions.
Since Kiana was the one who needed mission merits the most among the three, the role of squad captain naturally fell to her.
However, as the Valkyrie squad leader, Kiana had gone straight to Himeko—their direct superior—to request and accept a squad mission, and Himeko had already approved it.
So in a way, Kiana had single-handedly dragged the whole three-person squad into the mission.
And taking on such a large-scale exploration mission meant all three of them would have to leave their dear Lunelle behind at the same time.
For Bronya, who couldn't go a day without seeing Seele, that was truly unbearable!
No wonder Bronya was so upset about Kiana accepting a mission in the squad's name without consulting anyone.
Watching all this unfold at the dinner table, Himeko noticed that this newly formed Valkyrie squad was already showing signs of internal conflict.
Knowing exactly how to handle such a situation, Himeko subtly nudged the adorable Lunelle, who was quietly eating her meal with a well-behaved expression.
Prompted like this, Lunelle—who had been hesitant to step into her wives' argument—had no choice but to once again play her role as the team's lucky charm and smooth things over.
"Um… everyone, please don't argue… fighting… isn't good…"
Lunelle instantly slipped perfectly into the gentle, soft-spoken persona of Seele herself.
While trying to mediate, she even teared up a little, unable to bear the sight of her beloved partners giving each other the cold shoulder.
"Ah! Seele… don't… please don't be sad… It's all my fault for accepting the mission without understanding the squad leader's responsibilities first. Here, just hit me if it makes you feel better!"
"As if an idiot like you deserves to be hit by Seele? But Bronya is at fault too, for getting so worked up over a big dummy like you. Bronya apologizes, so please don't be sad anymore, okay?"
Seeing their adorable Seele become so upset over their squabble, both Kiana and Bronya—who had been in a huff moments earlier—were instantly overwhelmed with intense guilt, feeling absolutely wretched.
Rather than letting Seele be sad because of them, both of them would have preferred to grab their weapons and go pick a fight with a Herrscher right then and there!
Mei: …??? You two can feel guilty all you want, but did you have to drag us Herrschers into this?
"Then, Bronya-oneechan and Kiana have to promise not to keep sulking, okay?"
Seeing her two slightly childish wives soften up and apologize, Lunelle gradually let go of the tearful, pitiful expression that worked so well for resolving conflicts.
Watching the two girls meekly give in to Lunelle, Mei couldn't help but strangely feel as if she were the father, Lunelle the mother, and Kiana and Bronya their children—a bizarre illusion.
Unbeknownst to Mei, who had just mentally cast Kiana and Bronya as kids needing discipline, Himeko was having her own juicy fantasy: imagining herself as the father, Lunelle as the mother, and the three main girls as their children.
It seemed that, without even realizing it, the main cast had reached a strangely unified consensus—they were all fond of the adorable Lunelle and imagined her as their future "child-rearing mother" in one way or another.
In a sense, this laid an incredibly solid foundation for the future when Lunelle would openly build her harem.
On Himeko's side, considering that her "officially remaining lifespan" was running short, after spending a week or two helping Kiana's squad adjust and train, she led the trio of main girls on their important mission to the Chiyou Ruins in search of the Xuanyuan Sword and the ancient Stigmata.
Given that the journey to the Chiyou Ruins might be more dangerous than anticipated, Lunelle—the adorable little mascot who wasn't part of Kiana's Valkyrie squad—didn't have the strength or qualifications to participate.
So for the next half-month or so, Lunelle transformed into a little cutie left to guard the home nest.
Luckily, there wasn't a neighbor named Golden Sun living next door to Himeko's place.
Otherwise, a little one as irresistibly cute as Lunelle might have had her heart stolen by someone with ulterior motives during those weeks—heck, the strawberry jam inside this little cream puff might've been completely gobbled up!
As those half-month weeks passed, Lunelle soon received word from Theresa that Himeko's group had completed their mission to retrieve the Stigmata from the Chiyou Ruins, and Kiana's Valkyrie squad was now on their way back.
Meanwhile, having spent about ten months in the simulation and fully digested the vast knowledge casually gifted by Mobius, Lunelle had not only achieved new breakthroughs within the simulation, but she had also begun applying what she'd learned there to try creating some biological field "black technology" in the real world of Honkai—based on the theories and knowledge of the "Previous Era of Honkai Civilization."
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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.