Bianka Durandal Ataegina…
The Strongest S-rank Valkyrie currently active in Schicksal. Of course, in this era, her title of "Strongest" still had much exaggeration, so it could only be qualified with "active." Although she would eventually become the truly Strongest, she was still in her growth phase.
Bianka always considered herself a diligent Valkyrie, believing she could achieve anything through hard work.
Although she didn't know what kind of bloodline she carried or what talents she possessed, she steadfastly pursued her goal of becoming truly the Strongest, willing to devote everything to it.
She was extremely disciplined. Even though Otto showed her great care, she never missed a day of basic training. Perhaps it was precisely because of her self-discipline that Otto felt confident allowing her to act independently.
The best proof of this was that another sandbag in the training room had been broken…
With continuous growth, she was getting stronger at a visible rate almost every day. The basic training facilities could no longer keep up with Durandal's growth speed. Even during training, she had to hold back and control her strength.
Today's training ended after she broke another sandbag.
Although she felt very apologetic about breaking the sandbag, Durandal didn't need to clean it up herself, so she left the training room.
She retrieved the carefully prepared cat food from her room and began to wander down the corridor.
"Meow~ Meow~"
Under the bed, nope…
On top of the cabinet, nope…
Behind the door, nope…
Durandal harbored a little-known secret: despite her unwavering desire to become stronger and prove herself, and having forsaken personal feelings and future plans until Honkai was defeated, she had absolutely no resistance to cute things, and was, in fact, a fervent cat lover.
One day, after a training session that ended with her breaking a sandbag, she was walking back and encountered it.
That fated cat…
In the past decade or so, there had never been cats inside Schicksal, so the appearance of a cat there was very strange.
But Durandal, with her straightforward personality and completely captivated by the adorable cat, didn't think too much about it and immediately fell in love with it.
Surprisingly, this cat wasn't afraid of people, which allowed her to fulfill her dream of petting a cat, a dream she had secretly harbored for over a decade.
Afterward, the pure white cat left. She inquired everywhere for a long time but couldn't find out who was keeping a cat inside Schicksal. However, every day after training, she would encounter it. Although brief, these encounters brought her immense satisfaction.
Durandal had considered taking it back to her room to keep as a pet.
But each time, it would escape, and she couldn't bring herself to use force on the adorable cat, so she could only look forward to their daily encounters.
But today was strange; Durandal searched everywhere and couldn't find the white cat she had named Meowmeow.
Just then, she heard a man's voice coming from the corridor ahead.
"Stop messing around, stay put."
Along with the man's voice, there was a meow.
"!!!"
Durandal rushed over and saw a man in a Schicksal work uniform wearing a blue baseball cap, holding an adorable pure white cat in his arms.
Although this white cat looked a little different from the one she had seen a few days ago, its cuteness was identical, causing Durandal to overlook the subtle differences.
"Ah, Durandal-sama?"
The man seemed surprised by Durandal's arrival.
"You are…"
Although he was wearing a Schicksal work uniform, and male employees were rare within Schicksal, Durandal still couldn't recognize the man in front of her.
"Ah, I'm Nanashi, responsible for organizing the training room. Sorry, Durandal-sama, I was looking for this little guy just now and haven't had time to go to the training room yet. Do today's sandbags need to be replaced?"
Nanashi's words left Durandal speechless. Although she didn't have to organize the training room herself, she knew she had caused a lot of trouble for these logistics personnel.
"Ah… I'm sorry, I bothered you again today. The sandbags in the training room also need replacing…"
"No trouble at all, it's my honor to serve Lady Durandal. I'll go change the sandbags now."
Seeing Nanashi about to leave with the cat she had been longing for, Durandal subconsciously called out to him.
"Is there anything else, Lady Durandal?"
"Ah, um… that… this cat, is it yours?"
Nanashi looked down at the squirming white cat in his arms and said with a smile, "Yes, she's my little pet, named Kiki."
As if hearing Nanashi's words, the white cat in his arms even started to struggle.
Seeing the white cat's reaction, Durandal's eyes instantly sharpened.
"She seems very unhappy."
Nanashi seemed not to understand the meaning behind Durandal's words, and gave a wry smile: "Yes, the little one is not in a good mood. Usually, I let her wait for me outside the training room, but today she ran around everywhere, and I spent half the day looking for her."
Ah…
Just as Durandal was about to say something, she saw Takatsuki hand over the cat in his arms: "Lady Durandal, could you help me look after Kiki? I need to tidy up the training room, and it would be troublesome if the little one ran around again."
Durandal, who had been about to say something, swallowed her words back instantly.
Watching Nanashi leave, and then looking at the cat in her arms, Durandal instantly cast Takatsuki to the back of her mind.
Although Kiki felt slightly different from the cat she had met a few days ago, both were white cats, and judging by Nanashi's words, it was probably due to her bad mood.
Durandal didn't think much of it, after all, the fact that she wasn't afraid of people seemed unchanged.
Time spent with the cat always passed quickly, and Durandal only realized it when Nanashi returned.
After reluctantly returning Kiki to Nanashi, Durandal suddenly remembered to ask, "Why didn't Kiki eat anything today?"
"Oh, perhaps she's full. I fed her earlier today because I saw she wasn't in a good mood."
His response was a paw swipe and a displeased meow from the white cat.
Durandal could tell that Kiki's temper tantrum indeed seemed related to the young man in front of her, but it was merely a special way of interacting between familiar people, much like her relationship with Rita. Sometimes when Rita was unhappy, she would show a bit of mischievousness in certain ways.
"Is that so? Um… where do you usually live? Can I come visit Kiki?"
Durandal's cat addiction is too strong, isn't it?
Listening to the meows, Nanashi said, "At the staff dormitory, room 37 is my dorm."
"More importantly, Lady Durandal, what do you think of Schicksal?"
Durandal didn't expect Nanashi to suddenly ask such a question.
"What about it?"
Although Durandal was known for her straightforwardness and being easily tricked, this was due to her rigid personality, not because she was foolish.
Soon, she realized the purpose of Nanashi's question.
Because she had heard similar questions before.
"We are warriors, people who may die unexpectedly at any moment, and people who will forever bear the fate of all on our shoulders."
Durandal interpreted Nanashi's question as hesitation regarding the duty of fighting Honkai.
Although Valkyries are the main force in fighting Honkai, logistics personnel also face danger, and perhaps, a certain Valkyrie is the other person's beloved, and so on.
Durandal herself wanted to consider how to live after eliminating Honkai, but she would not restrict others. However, if someone asked her this question, she would answer it this way.
"Since, from the very beginning, we could not stand idly by in the face of destruction… then, in fact, from that moment on, we had already decided what kind of life we would live."
"If anyone is still hesitant about this, then I think they haven't carefully thought through what it truly means to become a Valkyrie and fight for all that is beautiful in the world."
After listening to Durandal's words, Nanashi suddenly spoke to Kiki in his arms, "How about it? Are you satisfied with this answer?"
"?"
Before Durandal could wonder, with a meow, Nanashi looked at Durandal again.
"Even if you, Durandal, don't know who you truly are, don't know who your parents are, and don't know where they are, whether alive or dead?"
Nanashi's sudden question made Durandal wary: "How did you know about this? Also, who were you just talking to?"
"Who was I talking to? Of course, I was talking to Kiki. She's very curious about you."
Nanashi held up the cat, and Kiki meowed at Durandal, but it still didn't make the rigid Durandal lower her guard.
"You still don't believe it? Look at my body, my ears, do I have any communication devices? Help me hold Kiki…"
Nanashi, looking completely unguarded, handed Kiki to Durandal, spun around twice to show his body, indicating he had no communication devices, and then took out his terminal.
After some operations, he opened his personal profile and displayed his Schicksal logistics personnel identification to Durandal.
It could be said, fully prepared…
If this were Otto, he would be suspicious, as it was too deliberately prepared, but for Durandal…
"Then you were… really talking to Kiki just now?"
"Uh-huh."
Takatsuki nodded: "I can understand her words, and she's very interested in you."
Stroking Kiki's soft fur in her arms, Durandal didn't know what to say. Could this cat be a spy infiltrating Schicksal?
How could that be? What bad intentions could a cat have?
"Sorry for doubting you just now…"
Correcting mistakes is one of Durandal's virtues.
"It's fine, I understand. After all, many people wouldn't believe that I can talk to animals."
Nanashi shrugged and said, "If Lady Durandal feels apologetic, how about helping me draw a card?"
"Draw a card?"
Nanashi opened an interface on the terminal: "It's a mobile game. Lady Durandal, you probably don't have time to play, but have you heard of it? In-game items are obtained through a lottery system, usually called 'gacha' or 'card drawing'."
Pointing to a spot marked "x10", Nanashi said, "You can draw by clicking this. Drawing cards really depends on luck. My luck is pretty average. If you feel apologetic, Lady Durandal, please draw a few times for me. I've already prepared the money. Just drawing one golden item will be enough."
"In that case, no problem."
Durandal didn't understand such things, but if it was just helping with a lottery, it was nothing.
After drawing nine times in a row, Durandal still hadn't seen the so-called golden item.
"Is this… considered bad luck?"
Durandal asked before pressing for the tenth time.
"Ahem, I suppose so, but don't worry, I'm usually like this. The tenth draw has a guaranteed reward, a guaranteed golden item."
Durandal nodded, half-understanding, and pressed the ten-pull button again.
Two golden lights instantly appeared on the screen.
"!!!"
While Nanashi was in a daze, Durandal had already looked over. After all, it was something she had drawn after a long time, and although she didn't understand it, she was still interested in what she had drawn.
"Snake Talisman, Throne of Heroes…"
Looking at the names on the two golden items, Durandal tilted her head, only seeing the names but not knowing their purpose.
"Is this enough?"
Durandal's voice brought Nanashi back to his senses: "Yes, it's enough. Thank you, Lady Durandal."
As if he had received some good news, Nanashi's mood seemed very joyful.
Putting away the terminal, interrupting Durandal's attempt to ask questions, Nanashi took Kiki back from Durandal.
"So, Lady Durandal, what do you think about the previous question?"
Saying this, Nanashi held up Kiki: "Kiki is very curious."
"It's really not you who wants to ask? It's Kiki who wants to ask?"
Durandal said with some suspicion.
"Of course not, because I know, but unfortunately Kiki doesn't believe it, so she has to ask you herself."
Durandal looked at the man in front of her, unable to recall him no matter how hard she tried: "You mean, you know my thoughts?"
"Something like that."
Durandal crossed her arms: "Then tell me? What am I thinking?"
"Lady Durandal, you are very lost…"
Durandal wanted to deny Nanashi's first sentence, but she continued to listen: "And also very determined."
"You don't know your background, you don't know your past, but in this situation, you haven't been tripped up by the unknown past, perhaps because you're a blockhead who doesn't think much. You've made eliminating Honkai and becoming stronger your goals, and you strive for them, giving your all, because you know that without a past, if you don't do something, you'll be nothing. Although you'll think about your past, it won't become an obstacle for you. You'll keep moving forward until the end. It's not that you don't care about those things, but that you'll consider them after achieving the goal of eliminating Honkai. This is good, better than many people. Having a clear goal prevents mental exhaustion and self-inflicted worries."
"…"
Durandal looked at the person in front of her: "You… knew me before?"
Otherwise, how could he know so much?
Durandal still remembered being criticized by her orphanage teacher as a blockhead who couldn't think straight.
And in terms of personality, it also matched her perfectly.
Durandal had never thought so much; she simply found a goal and then moved forward.
"How about it? Am I right?"
Without directly answering Durandal's question, Nanashi asked with a smile.
"You're right, but there's one thing you got wrong. Although I don't know who my parents are, as long as I am a Valkyrie, fighting for all that is beautiful in this world, then this action must be correct. This is my responsibility, and my promise. I want to protect those I love, those who love me, and those whom they love."
Hearing Durandal's words, Nanashi smiled slightly, held up Kiki and said, "So, you heard that, right? Any other questions?"
Amidst a meow, Nanashi held Kiki in his arms and said to Durandal, "Then, thank you for your help, Lady Durandal. I shall take my leave now."
With a slightly confused look from Durandal, Nanashi walked towards the corner of the corridor while speaking.
"But I have to say, even if you've forgotten your past, you still remember your former dream. You truly are that person's daughter. They would be proud of you."
As the last sentence fell, Nanashi's figure disappeared from Durandal's sight. Durandal, belatedly realizing, rushed over quickly, but when she reached the corner, all she saw was an empty corridor.
"Who… exactly is he?"