On a small island in the Far East, a complex of buildings known as Saint Freya Academy lay hidden, nestled among encircling mountains.
This was an organization affiliated with Schicksal. Every year, a large number of artificially created Valkyries would graduate from here, heading out to eliminate Honkai incidents.
There once was a person who wished for the girls fighting against the Honkai to experience the life and happiness a normal person deserved. However, that person passed away prematurely, before their ideals could be realized.
A certain short individual inherited that person's ideals, left Schicksal HQ, and established the Far East Branch and Saint Freya Academy, implementing a more humanized management system.
This person was none other than Theresa the Silly Apocalypse.
Currently, this white-haired dango, who had secured development funds for the Far East Branch through acting cute and spoiled, was curled up under her covers, fast asleep.
The "girl" slept soundly, wrapped in a white down quilt. She had kicked the covers into disarray, exposing her arms, calves, and half a shoulder, along with her beautiful, long silver-white hair.
If one were to disregard her terrible sleeping posture, the scene would undoubtedly be heart-stirring.
She slept so deeply, her breathing so even and pure. Her long, thick eyelashes cast faint shadows in the dim light filtering in from the window, and her fair skin possessed a jade-like texture, seeming cool to the touch.
Last night, Theresa had spent a fortune (by misappropriating the Captain's salary) to contact the author of the super-popular manga "Houmu's Great Adventure." She had bought the unreleased original manuscript and stayed up all night reading it.
Therefore, even though the sun was already high enough to "bake one's backside," she was still sleeping soundly.
If no one disturbed her, this individual, who only held a modicum of authority in the eyes of Yulan Dai'e (Silly Goose) and Wendy, would probably sleep until she woke up from hunger.
However, as the highest-ranking leader in the area, she naturally didn't have to worry about being caught playing truant. She could simply use excuses like "the organization assigned a mission" to gloss over her absence from work.
And then—
"Thump, thump, thump!!"
A series of very urgent knocks resounded from outside the door.
The force behind them was such that it sounded like the door was about to be smashed down.
Undoubtedly, this demolition-like noise instantly startled the white-haired dango, who was recuperating and building up energy for her next manga reading session.
She leaped out of bed in a "tiger pounce" style, rushing barefoot towards the clothes rack, and changed at lightning speed.
In just one or two breaths, the white-haired dango with a head full of unruly bed hair transformed into a neatly dressed, devout nun.
"Excuse me, who is it?"
The nun, Miss Theresa, who always tried her best to maintain her image in front of her students, pushed open the door with a smile.
Then, she saw a certain disheveled, red-haired older-sister type, still holding a can of beer in her hand.
The white-haired dango's expression changed slightly.
To be precise, her entire demeanor deflated.
The visitor was her good ji-friend Murata Himeko, who knew her inside and out, not a student who had yet to see through her true otaku nature.
In front of Miss Murata Himeko—who was also an otaku auntie, just a bit more dedicated to her work than Theresa herself—Theresa didn't need to put on an act.
"Oh, it's Himeko. Whatever it is, we can talk about it later. I'm going back to catch up on some sleep."
Before her words even finished, the Academy Principal leaped towards her room like a fierce tiger pouncing on a lamb, letting herself fall back onto the bed like half a side of pork.
"Hey, hey, hey, someone specifically came looking for you, and you're just going to ignore it?"
Miss Captain, who had been sitting in the Principal's office helping her handle official business while Theresa was slacking off, sounded quite helpless.
"..."
The white-haired dango, who had already jumped onto the bed, lay prone on the soft mattress for a few minutes, her face etched with an expression of grief as if she'd been shot through the chest with a rifle. Then, she crawled off the bed.
"Alright, spit it out. What is it?"
Theresa, forced to be serious when faced with official matters, walked over to the individual who was drinking beer first thing in the morning, seemingly unconcerned about her own body. She frowned and snatched the beer away.
"Drinking in the morning is bad for your health."
"As if not drinking would let me live any longer,"
Himeko, whose Honkai energy adaptability was already very poor and who constantly fought on the front lines, retorted, tugging at the beer in Theresa's hand.
"That's no reason for you to give up on yourself!"
Looking at Murata Himeko, whose attitude towards life and death could almost be described as numb, Theresa gripped the beer tightly, her willow-leaf eyebrows arching sharply.
Murata Himeko tried to snatch the beer bottle back, but against Theresa's terrifying strength, her efforts were naturally fruitless.
"Fine, I'll listen to you this once."
Murata Himeko, whose physical constitution was completely inferior to Theresa's, sighed.
Confirming that Murata Himeko wouldn't be drinking for the time being, Theresa breathed a sigh of relief, then looked towards the briefcase slung over Himeko's shoulder.
After a period of bickering, her hazy sleepiness had mostly dissipated, and Theresa had more or less fully entered work mode.
"Right, you came to find me because someone was looking for me, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was a kid looking for you. They used that communication line that's practically derelict."
"Honestly, can't we get a handsome adult man or a cool older uncle for once?"
Miss Murata, who had been stationed at the yuri academy Saint Freya for years but paradoxically had normal sexual preferences, grumbled.
She was still a single dog, and her physical condition was very poor. If she didn't find a partner soon, she'd probably be a single dog for life.
However, despite her complaints, Murata Himeko had diligently recorded the call. She pulled an A4 sheet of paper from her briefcase and handed it to Theresa.
Theresa quickly read the record on the A4 paper. At first, her brow furrowed deeply, as if encountering a difficult problem, but it soon relaxed.
By the end, an expression of joyful delight was practically overflowing from her face.
"That child Kiana is in Nagazora City?"
Theresa, who could be said to be an out-and-out good ji-friend of Kiana's mother, was invigorated.
"Hey, hey, hey, that Kiana child, wasn't she taken away by Siegfried?"
Murata Himeko, who was close to Theresa and had some understanding of certain private matters, frowned deeply.
"Aren't you worried this might be a trap?"
Theresa shook her head firmly, refuting this possibility.
"Why?"
Murata Himeko, vaguely guessing that the almost disused communication line might be one exclusively reserved for certain people, casually asked.
Believing that Murata Himeko would stand by her side, Theresa didn't hide anything and stated the reason very directly.
"That communication line was reserved for my comrades from the Second Honkai Eruption."
Comrades from the Second Honkai Eruption?
Murata Himeko mulled over these words, her expression changing.
"That's right. It was reserved for people from the Anti-Entropy Conservative Faction."
Theresa, greatly looking forward to meeting Kiana, spoke slowly.
"Among those people, the only one still in the Far East is Siegfried's good friend—Raiden Ryoma."
"I see."
Murata Himeko seemed to understand why Theresa would believe the other party.
"Shall I go prepare the helicopter now?" the Captain of the Hyperion asked.
"Yes, please."