[Honkai World]
Cecilia gently hugged the little white-haired fluffball, stroking Kiana-the-kitty's head with a tender hand.
Honestly… she hadn't noticed before, but the way her own daughter's head felt under her palm was this nice.
Purrrr…
Because Cecilia's petting was just too comfortable, Kiana actually let out a purr—looking even more like a cat.
Hey, hey, hey. You're a human. You're really treating yourself like "Kiana-the-kitty" now?
Koji pressed a hand to his forehead. Kiana like this somehow felt even more dense and airheaded than usual.
"Kiana, since Bianca is the strongest Valkyrie… then you are…?" Cecilia asked with clear interest.
Even if she wasn't on Bianca's level, she should at least be around A-rank, right?
"This…"
Hearing that question, Kiana couldn't help but show an awkward expression—like a kid with bad grades who really doesn't want to talk about it with family.
"B-rank Valkyrie. That's Kiana's current Valkyrie rank," Koji said, the corners of his mouth lifting.
As if to say: even after becoming the Herrscher of the End, the god of Earth… Kiana would still somehow remain a B-rank Valkyrie.
Cecilia went a little blank. B-rank?
With Kaslana talent, even if you were a bit worse than the best, you should still be A-rank at minimum, right?
…Did you slack off?
Cecilia's gaze basically said exactly that. If you chose to become a Valkyrie, how could you be lazy? If you don't work hard during training, then when you fight Honkai, the one who gets hurt is you.
"Uh…"
"I…"
Kiana scratched her head, not knowing how to explain it to Cecilia. Because if she said it out loud, it would be… really embarrassing.
At that moment, she desperately wished what she'd inherited was Old Ancestor Mei's intelligence—then her culture-class grades wouldn't be so awful.
"Ms. Cecilia, Kiana has no issues in practical combat assessments," Koji said with a grin, "but when it comes to written exams, she frequently fails—straight-up flunks."
Cecilia froze for a beat, then her expression turned into pure speechlessness… and she just laughed.
She'd thought it was slacking off. Turns out it was academic performance.
That left her not even sure what to say.
Before the year 2000, Valkyrie promotion assessments were mainly about fighting.
After more than a decade of changes, academics had become a major part of the score. If you couldn't pass, then no matter how terrifying your combat strength was, you still couldn't rank up.
Kiana's cheeks instantly burned red. Under Cecilia's warm, caring gaze, her expression almost cracked.
"Ahem…" Cecilia also realized her look was a little too lethal, and she gave a light cough. "Kiana, B-rank is fine too. Strength matters more."
As for academic performance… Cecilia really couldn't lecture much there. It basically depended on whether your brain worked well.
As for Siegfried… he really didn't like using his brain. Kaslanas were all like that.
"Mom Cecilia, I'll definitely become an S-rank Valkyrie!" Kiana's face felt scorching hot as she made a solemn promise.
"Heh. Kiana, you should pass your makeup exam first."
Himeko walked over, her smile full of teasing as she looked at Kiana.
"Aunt Himeko, can't the questions be a little easier?" Kiana complained.
"If you fail and don't look for the reason in yourself, but blame the questions for being too hard… then why didn't the majority of people fail?"
"And I've told you how many times—don't call me 'Aunt.' Call me 'Teacher Himeko.'"
With one hand on her hip, Himeko helplessly tapped Kiana on the head.
"Hello. I'm Kiana's teacher—Murata Himeko. You should be Senior Cecilia, right?" Himeko looked at Cecilia and asked seriously.
When Cecilia became the strongest Valkyrie of the previous generation, Himeko was still a young girl.
As a hero who fought against Honkai, Cecilia's photos weren't classified—there were plenty of places where you could see them.
"Hello. Thank you, Teacher Himeko, for looking after Kiana," Cecilia nodded. One look and you could tell this was an excellent teacher.
Kiana having a teacher like this… was her good fortune.
"As a teacher, looking after a student is perfectly normal, isn't it?" Himeko smiled casually.
She wasn't like certain irresponsible teachers—so profit-driven and shameless.
"Mom Cecilia… when I lost control back then, Teacher Himeko sacrificed herself," Kiana said softly. "If Koji hadn't saved Teacher Himeko, I wouldn't be able to see her anymore."
Cecilia's expression turned solemn. She looked at Himeko with sincere gratitude.
"Thank you, Teacher Himeko."
A teacher like this—how could she not deserve respect? Especially when she'd also saved Cecilia's daughter.
"This is what I should do," Himeko said calmly.
If that kind of thing happened again, she would still charge forward without hesitation.
Koji didn't believe every teacher would make that choice in such a situation. Someone like Himeko was the minority.
This wasn't some "duty you must fulfill."
It was a teacher's sense of responsibility.
You only get one life. Who would casually choose to throw their life away?
"Cecilia!"
Teresa pumped her little short legs like crazy, sprinted over, and dove straight into Cecilia's arms.
Even Kiana froze at the sight. Who exactly was Cecilia's daughter here? Auntie, you're acting even more dramatic than I am!
"Teresa, you're already grown up—still this reckless," Cecilia said with a helpless smile.
More than ten years had passed, yet Teresa was still exactly the same as back then. So enviable… truly an ageless face.
"I missed you, Cecilia. This is St. Freya Academy—the one we imagined back then. I made it real," Teresa said, her small face turning red. She hopped down and pointed at St. Freya.
Before the Second Honkai Eruption, she and Cecilia had talked about it—only back then, it hadn't been put into action yet.
"Building this academy… Teresa, how many gold coins did you make your grandpa bleed for?" Koji asked with interest.
If Otto hadn't helped pay, then relying only on Teresa's little stash, she wouldn't even be able to afford the land acquisition and relocation costs.
"No idea. Who even remembers that kind of thing?" Teresa shook her head. "Anyway, Grandpa has more money than he can spend, so it might as well be used on me."
As the largest power on Earth, Schicksal had deep pockets. Building a St. Freya wouldn't even strain them.
Cecilia couldn't help laughing. She'd thought it was "pulling investment," but it turned out to be straight-up draining her own grandpa's wallet.
But… St. Freya Academy was truly magnificent.
Even seeing only the tip of the iceberg, you could feel how solid the materials were. This was pure money smashed into reality—less like a school, more like a glittering palace.
A Valkyrie academy like this hadn't existed before. Back then, everything was harsh training under Schicksal, with no freedom at all. Cecilia knew that feeling deeply.
She didn't want to see Valkyries—whose lifespans were already short—living such miserable lives.
(End of Chapter)
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