Otto was alone in the room. Three files were lying on his desk.
Bronya was no longer in the room. Amber had taken her away. Although Otto had brought her back to Schicksal, Bronya still had to go through a whole set of procedures before she could officially join Schicksal.
Yes, Bronya had joined Schicksal, and was about to become a Valkyrie.
But even with Otto's authority as Overseer, Bronya still had to go through the process—just much faster than other people would.
And part of the reason Amber had taken Bronya away was that she didn't want Bronya getting in the way of Lord Overseer's work, lest Lord Overseer sink into worldly desire and forget about his duties.
Today, Lord Overseer had to work. Otherwise, he wasn't getting out of this room!
Otto picked up the cup, and his brows drew together. This was coffee Amber had brewed. It smelled very rich.
But Otto wasn't used to bitter things. Still, thinking that his future self probably drank this kind of thing all the time, he forced a faint smile onto his face and drank the coffee.
Setting the cup back down on the desk, Otto let out a long breath. His mouth was full of the thick taste of coffee.
Swallowing twice, Otto picked up the three files on the desk. These were the matters Amber wanted him to handle.
"Looks like these three really are important. Otherwise that girl wouldn't have left them for you to deal with."
Void Archives' voice spoke up in his head. Looking at the three files, Otto felt a bit of pressure in his chest. He was worried about what he'd do if he handled them badly.
He picked up the first file. Otto opened it and looked through the information inside.
[K423]. The designation jumped out at him. This was a file recording the movements of [K423].
The recent movements had been marked in red: Schicksal Headquarters had observed Anti-Entropy personnel making contact with K423; K423's target of action had shifted; the inferred destination was the Far East region.
The person in charge of the Far East region was Theresa Apocalypse, and it was inferred that the two had a possibility of meeting.
There was no demand attached, just a file. It didn't say what kind of decision Otto was supposed to make.
After reading through the file several times, Otto went straight into Schicksal's database.
He wanted to know who this K423 was.
After clearing one verification after another, Otto finally got the materials he wanted. The first thing he saw was a photograph. It was a photograph of K423.
For an instant, Otto thought someone had filed Kiana's photo in the wrong place.
But as he read through K423's file, Otto understood.
Miss K423 was Schicksal's Herrscher vessel — Experimental Subject K423.
She was Kiana's clone, and inside her body was the core of the Second Herrscher.
His right hand gripped the front of his collar. Otto felt as if something had caught in his throat, making it hard to breathe.
He saw the sin his future self had left behind in the Second Eruption. Not only had he nearly caused the death of Kiana's mother, he had even cloned Kiana, and because of that, driven Siegfried away.
And yet Kiana's current relationship with Otto was somehow still not bad? Had future Otto kept her completely in the dark?
Otto felt as if he wanted to throw up. He liked his current position as Overseer very much, but—his future self's cold ruthlessness made it hard to breathe.
If he became Overseer, did that mean he too would have to become like that?
Otto shook his head. Slowly, he closed the report.
His every word and action would decide K423's fate.
That feeling made his chest go tight.
And this also involved the core of the Second Herrscher. The slightest mistake, and it might cause the Second Herrscher to awaken.
A Herrscher — that was a cataclysm out of legend.
He couldn't make a decision about something like this.
He set the report down and decided to start with the easier task. Picking up the second report, he gave the opening a rough read.
A familiar name appeared right at the start.
Cocolia.
Could it be that because he'd taken her children away, she wanted to come talk peace?
Otto thought that, a little naively.
But the more he read, the darker his face grew.
Cocolia had kidnapped Raiden Mei and implanted the Gem of Conquest into her body. It was estimated that she intended to induce Raiden Mei into becoming the Herrscher of Thunder. If she succeeded, Nagazora would become a major Honkai disaster zone, and the city would be left with massive loss of life.
The report included photographs of Cocolia and Raiden Mei. Just as Otto had guessed, Cocolia had the look of a beautiful mature woman, while Raiden Mei had the bearing of a classic Yamato Nadeshiko.
The report also listed the projected casualty numbers the world might suffer if Raiden Mei became the Herrscher of Thunder.
Looking at those enormous numbers, Otto shut his eyes.
His heart was pounding fast, as if it were about to leap out of his chest.
He closed the report.
This also involved a Herrscher.
He couldn't handle it.
This was the same as the K423 matter—handle it badly, and he would cause enormous losses.
Just thinking about that scene made Otto feel as if breathing had become difficult. He felt the pressure on his shoulders grow even heavier.
But he didn't stop.
He picked up the third report — the last report.
Don't tell me this one is about a Herrscher too.
The moment Otto saw the word "Herrscher" in the third report, everything went black before his eyes. The mental strain almost made him pass out.
But he still forced himself to stay focused and kept reading.
Otto had expected more Herrscher-related nonsense.
Instead, to his surprise, it was about using the Gem of Desire to develop armaments capable of matching a Herrscher.
The Gem of Desire held the power of the Wind Herrscher, but if they were only researching weaponry, then a single Herrscher core couldn't just create a Herrscher out of thin air, could it?
The weapons experiment had now reached the stage where Valkyrie-assisted testing was needed, and they hoped to have some outstanding Valkyries come help with the experiment.
If excellent Valkyries came to help, then the weaponry could be allocated to them first.
On the surface, this didn't look like much, but Otto didn't relax. He carefully read through the prepared materials, and everything seemed to be in order.
After finishing, Otto laid the three reports side by side in front of him.
His fingers trembled slightly, as if he were hesitating.
"Made up your mind?"
Void Archives' voice sounded in his head. "All three reports are related to Herrschers. Which one are you choosing to deal with first?"
Void Archives had asked which one to handle first, not which one to handle at all. Because all three reports required Otto to make the judgment and decision.
There was no avoiding it. Since he was sitting in the Overseer's seat, he had to shoulder that responsibility.
"I've decided."
He picked up the second report and set it on top of the first, then picked up the third report and placed it on top of that.
That was the order he would handle them in.
First, deal with the one that would take the shortest time. He only needed to approve the assisted weapons test, then pick a few suitable candidates.
Next, he had to deal with the one with the greatest potential harm. Even if all those lives in Nagazora appeared in the report only as cold numbers, Otto still couldn't sit by and ignore it. He had the power. He could keep them alive.
The last thing to handle would be the least urgent matter. There was no immediate danger recorded in the K423 report. Even if one worried about K423 meeting Theresa, that was only a family-ethics problem.
Otto made his decision. This was the best order he could come up with.