Murata Himeko gave the door to the Principal's Office a gentle knock before entering, signaling her presence to Theresa. Given their relationship, such formalities weren't strictly necessary, but Himeko had her reasons.
Theresa had a penchant for comic books. While the hobby itself was harmless, she was obsessed with maintaining her professional image as the Academy Principal. If Himeko were to walk in while she was reading and Theresa couldn't hide the book in time, the little Principal would instantly shred it to pieces to eliminate any trace of her transgression.
To protect those poor comic books and preserve a dignity thatgiven Theresa's overly cute appearancehad never truly existed anyway, Himeko had made a habit of knocking before entering.
Surprisingly, she didn't hear the usual frantic sounds of someone scrambling to tidy up. Was the Principal actually working for once instead of reading manga?
Curiosity piqued, Himeko pushed the door open. There lay Theresa, fast asleep across her wide, imposing desk. Awakened by the knock and the sound of footsteps, Theresa rubbed her eyes and looked up. Recognizing the visitor, she spoke in a groggy, excessively adorable voice.
"Is something the matter, Himeko?"
"..."
Seeing the girl in such a state, Himeko would normally have cracked a joke to tease her, but her current mood was too heavy for banter. She maintained a serious expression.
"I want to borrow your account to log into the Schicksal database and look up some information."
"Oh."
Because she had been out in the middle of the night with Hua Yi in Nagazora to deal with a newborn Pseudo-Herrscher, Theresa was still sleep-deprived and mentally sluggish. Combined with her deep trust in Himeko,
she didn't ask a single follow-up question. She simply opened her personal terminal, scanned her fingerprint and iris, and pushed the device toward Himeko once the login was successful.
"Remember to turn it off when you're done. I'm going back to sleep... so tired."
Things went smoother than expected. Himeko had already prepared a half-truth of an excuse to handle any questions, but Theresa had fallen right back asleep without a second thought.
Luck was on her side.
Himeko felt her tension ease slightly as she began to operate the terminal as quietly as possible. As the world's largest organization fighting the Honkai, Schicksal's database held an unfathomable wealth of information.
From trivial daily facts and academic knowledge to cutting-edge anti-Honkai technology, it had everything. It was essentially an omnipotent search engine where one could find the answer to almost anything.
However, Himeko didn't recklessly type in phrases like "What is the price for curing the drawbacks of Artificial Stigmata?" Such a query would reveal too much. While Theresa's account granted her immense access, there were still those with higher clearanceat least Bishop Otto, whose authority far surpassed hers.
If she entered something too suspicious, it would be a disaster if it caught Otto's attention.
Strangely enough, compared to the Bishop who had lived through centuries and had become synonymous with Schicksal itself, Himeko felt more inclined to trust Hua Yi.
This was only natural; if she had harbored blind faith in the Bishop, she wouldn't have followed Theresa in breaking away from Schicksal to establish St. Freya Academy. To her,
the Bishop didn't seem like a truly "good" person, not just because of Schicksal's cold-blooded methods in the war against the Honkai, but also because of a gut instinct that kept her on guard.
Himeko used broad keywords like "Artificial Stigmata" and "Zombification." Since these were topics almost every Valkyrie encountered, they wouldn't attract undue notice. As long as she gathered enough data, she hoped to find the details she neededthings that might seem irrelevant to others but were vital to her.
She wanted to know if Hua Yi was putting himself in danger to save her. If he was, she would refuse his help. But if not...
Just imagining a future free from the agony of her Artificial Stigmata brought a glimmer of hope to her eyes. She wasn't even thinking about her lifespan or whether the years stolen by the stigmata would return; she was simply happy at the prospect of spending her remaining years in peak condition.
Taking a silent, deep breath to steady herself, Himeko scanned the documents.
"The process of Zombification is extremely difficult to alter through external forces. Specialized equipment must be used to delay or halt the progression, and the requirements for the facility and timing are incredibly stringent. Given the sudden nature of Honkai outbreaks and the rapid evolution of the process, implementation is practically impossible."
This was information Himeko already knew. Next.
"Zombification is essentially the manifestation of the Honkai energy's erosion of the human body. Those with sufficient Honkai adaptability can avoid Zombification even in high-concentration environments.
Theoretically, increasing a person's adaptability or extracting the Honkai energy from their body could reverse the process. However, a DeadS cannot be restored to a human, for the person dies the moment they become a DeadS; what remains is merely a walking corpse."
There wasn't much more on Zombification. Disappointed, Himeko turned her focus to files regarding Artificial Stigmata.
Then, she discovered a research paper where the author's name had been strangely erased.
"Artificial Stigmata allow those lacking aptitude to become powerful Valkyries, yet they carry immense drawbacks. My extensive research has shown that these flaws are nearly impossible to eliminate entirely, and even with decades of technological advancement,
it may remain beyond our reach. Therefore, I propose halting research into Artificial Stigmata and seeking alternative solutions. Perhaps robots could replace Valkyries to reduce casualties."
Himeko realized with a sense of helplessness that even with Theresa's clearance, she still couldn't determine the consequences of Hua Yi's plan. Yet, that last paper caught her interest.
Replacing Valkyries with robots to reduce casualties
Anti-Entropy's Titans were exactly thatpure robots.
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