Listening to Irene's words, Pardo fell silent. Just as Irene had said, Pardo indeed knew what the reason might be. It was just that, in the Previous Era, the word "Herrscher" held too much pain for them.
"And it's not just that," Irene said, crossing her arms. "Actually, you should still have an impression of that Mei inside our villa, right, Pardo?"
"Of course I have an impression. Her cooking is delicious," Pardo nodded immediately. Of course, she remembered Mei not just because the other party's cooking was delicious.
It was because of that face, which was almost identical to Dr. MEI from their Previous Era. However, although the face was the same, their scientific research capabilities were completely different.
"It's good that you have an impression." Irene nodded. Then, under Pardo's puzzled gaze, Irene spoke slowly, "Because that Raiden Mei is also a Herrscher—the Herrscher of Thunder."
She hadn't told the two of them about this before not because she forgot, but for this very moment. Compared to being told by others, the feelings experienced personally are more sincere.
They had already witnessed Mei's harmlessness with their own eyes. Therefore, even if Pardo now knew that Mei was a Herrscher, she was only surprised. She didn't cry out in shock or harbor intense hostility like she did when she just heard that Welt was the Herrscher of Reason.
[ That Miss Mei is also a Herrscher? ] Pardo wore a surprised expression on her face, but then she seemed to understand something and murmured, [ In other words, Elysia-nee, she... ]
Seeing that the Cat seemed to have understood something, Irene didn't say anything more. Instead, she turned her attention back to reality to fool Welt.
Welt had been chatting with her for so long and had been hinting, both openly and covertly, that he was not an ordinary person. He had probably discovered something. However, it wasn't yet time to lay her cards on the table with Anti-Entropy.
Although Welt saw that Irene admitted she was not an ordinary person, Irene hadn't explained what exactly was going on with her and had kept stalling him.
Although he wanted to continue asking, asking further would inevitably arouse suspicion. Welt decided to just end it here for now.
"Truly young and promising." Welt nodded, looking appreciative. "However, I didn't expect that after chatting for so long, Teacher Irene also needs to go to class, right?"
"Ah, that's true." Irene glanced at the clock and nodded with a smile. "It was very nice chatting with you, Teacher Welt."
"The feeling is mutual." Irene nodded in a friendly manner. "Then, Teacher Welt, let's chat again next time."
"Alright, Teacher Irene." Welt nodded. He watched Irene leave, and only after the door was completely closed did he turn his head back.
He hadn't managed to obtain any useful information. However, at such a close distance, it wasn't like he hadn't used Honkai energy to probe. But aside from discovering that Irene's Honkai Adaptability was quite good and her resistance wasn't bad either, he didn't sense anything else.
Her physical constitution was indeed good, but merely good. In no aspect did she seem to possess the combat power of an A-Rank Valkyrie.
On the other side, Irene had already started her class. The process of the class itself had no major highlights; she simply followed the steps and lectured according to the lesson plan.
However, the situation off the podium was quite interesting. At this moment, Kiana surprisingly wasn't sleeping. She wasn't even dozing off but was genuinely listening to the lesson.
From time to time, she even forced herself to lower her head and write down a few keywords in her notebook. Although the handwriting was still crooked and messy, that fierce concentration made Mei and Bronya beside her unable to resist looking sideways.
It seemed Kiana really wanted to go on that trip properly. Irene looked at Kiana and smiled, recalling the agreement she had mentioned before, then continued lecturing. As for the reward, they could talk about it after class.
Class time could be said to be both short and long. The dismissal bell rang at this moment. Irene didn't have a habit of dragging out the class, so she directly announced the dismissal.
The students, having been liberated, immediately surged out of the classroom like a tide. Irene packed up her lesson plans and had just walked out the door when she saw the trio waiting in the corridor.
"Teacher Irene!" Kiana was the first to bounce over, her face carrying a bit of smugness as if asking for credit. "I was very serious in class today, right? I didn't sleep at all!"
"Mn, worthy of praise." Irene smiled and rubbed Kiana's white hair. "It would be great if you could continue to maintain this, Classmate Kiana."
"Mhm, mhm." Feeling that since she had persisted for one class, she should be able to keep persisting, Kiana nodded with full confidence.
"Teacher Irene, thank you for your hard work." Mei smiled gently. "It's getting late. Does Teacher Irene have classes in the afternoon?"
"I don't have classes anymore." Irene shook her head. St. Freya Academy was, after all, a Valkyrie academy; the proportion of PE classes, or rather combat classes, was much higher.
Mn, truly a miracle. It was really interesting that there were PE classes in a school like this.
The four of them walked together toward Himeko's villa. The campus was filled with the noise of after-school activities and the figures of countless Valkyries running toward the cafeteria. Of course, the cafeteria and such had nothing to do with the four people preparing to go back to the villa to cook for themselves.
Returning to the warm villa, Mei habitually put down her schoolbag, rolled up her sleeves, and walked toward the kitchen: "Everyone, wait a moment, I'll go make dinner right away..."
"Wait, Mei." Irene suddenly spoke up and stopped Mei. Hearing Irene's voice, Mei stopped in her tracks and looked back with some confusion.
"Teacher Irene?"
Irene walked to her side, a gentle smile on her face, and lightly took the apron Mei had just picked up from her hands. "Let me do it today."
"Huh?" Mei was stunned. Kiana and Bronya also looked over in surprise. "Does Teacher Irene know how to cook?"
"You've worked hard cooking for everyone for so long." Irene tied on the apron while walking toward the cooking counter, her movements natural and fluid. "Today, let me, this new roommate, show off a bit for everyone to express my gratitude."
"But we haven't seen Teacher Irene cook before," Kiana scratched her head. She still really liked the food Mei cooked, but since she hadn't seen Irene cook, she didn't really have much trust yet.
"Don't worry, I won't poison you to death." Irene turned back and blinked, cracking a small joke. "Just wait with peace of mind. By the way, help me make a call to ask if Teacher Himeko or Principal Theresa will be coming back to eat?"
"Contacted." Bronya spoke up at this moment. After a while, she said, "Teacher Himeko indicated she is eating at the cafeteria now and won't be coming back. Principal Theresa indicated she will be back immediately."
"Alright, got it." Irene nodded, then walked to the refrigerator and began counting the ingredients inside. After deducing the dishes she could make in her mind, she nodded and took out the bitter melon and meat.
[ Eh, Sister Irene, so you know how to cook? ] Not only were the trio in the villa unaware, even Pardo and Kallen in the Palace of Consciousness didn't know that Irene could cook.
[ Mn-hm, I never said I couldn't. ] Irene wore a confident look on her face. [ You guys... oh wait, Pardo, do you know how to cook? ]
Irene didn't even want to ask Kallen, because the underlying setting of the Kaslana Family was that they couldn't cook. It was truly strange; clearly, the source, Kevin, could at least make noodles. MEI was the one who couldn't cook.
But why did it evolve into a situation where they completely couldn't cook later on? One could say that the later Kaslana Family almost completely inherited the genes from Kevin's side, while MEI's genes, as if to declare her sole remaining existence, forcibly left behind the talent of not being able to cook. As for intelligence, presumably, that was completely gone.
[ Mn, I know a little bit, I guess. ] After all, Pardo had mixed in Twilight Street before. It wasn't like she could pick up food like canned goods every time.
If she couldn't cook, Pardo would have starved to death long ago. So Pardo had passable culinary skills. It was just that after entering the Fire Moth later, she hadn't tried for a long time, so she didn't know if her skills had gotten rusty.
[ By the way, why didn't you ask me? ] Kallen weakly raised her hand at this moment to farm a wave of presence.
Irene's spiritual entity looked at Kallen with half-closed eyes: [ I feel like I don't need to ask. Or are you saying, Kallen, that you can break my specific impression of the Kaslana Family and that you actually do know how to cook? ]
[ I... I have cooked before. At least when Otto ate it, he never said it tasted bad... ] Kallen's voice became smaller and smaller; clearly, even she herself wasn't very confident.
[ Sigh, admit it. The Kaslana Family just can't cook. ] Irene shook her head. [ So just watch my performance quietly. ]
While Irene in reality was dealing with the small theater in her mind, her hands in reality didn't stop either, rapidly processing various ingredients.
Under the curious and slightly skeptical gazes of the three, the bitter melon was made into a Cold Dressed Bitter Melon under Irene's hands with simple processing. Obviously, this was just to satisfy the preferences of a certain loli who loved bitter melon.
Soon, several home-cooked dishes, complete in color, aroma, and taste, were placed on the dining table. A fragrance wafted from the table, rushing into the noses of the three.
Kiana had long forgotten her earlier skepticism. Her eyes stared straight at the dishes on the table, and she was almost drooling. "So... so fragrant! Teacher Irene, so you really know how to cook."
Mei also nodded in approval. "Teacher Irene's dishes are complete in color, aroma, and taste. I didn't expect Teacher Irene to be so good at cooking too."
Even Bronya nodded. "Teacher Irene is very strong. It seems that even if Mei goes on missions later, we won't have to worry."
Just then, the door of the villa was pushed open, and Theresa walked in from outside. "I'm back~ Has Mei finished cooking?"
"Mei isn't cooking today." Irene looked at Theresa who had just entered. "I cooked today. Hurry up and wash your hands; it's getting late."
"Eh, Irene, you made it?" Theresa looked at the dining table, somewhat surprised as she viewed the dishes on it.
"Why does everyone have to ask that? Is it really that strange that I know how to cook?" Irene took off her apron. "However, this does seem to be the first time I've cooked for others to eat. Before, it was just me alone."
"Cooked for yourself alone?" Theresa's eyes flickered. It was unknown if she had misunderstood something because of Irene's words.
"Mn-hm, after all, I was alone before, so naturally, there was no one to taste it." Irene hung the apron back in its original place, a smile on her face. "Anyway, try it?"
Since Irene said so, the others didn't wait any longer and sat down to eat one after another. Although it was slightly inferior to Mei's cooking, it could already be called delicious.
After finishing the meal, the trio had to prepare for their afternoon classes. After sending the trio off, Irene also decided to return to her room. After all, she had to practice the Taixuan Sword Qi she had just learned no matter what.
After using the excuse of going to rest, Irene walked back to her bedroom. Seeing Irene return to her bedroom, Theresa didn't want to disturb her further. After yawning, she also prepared to return to her room.
She had been called away by people from the research institute as soon as she woke up this morning. She cooperated to complete some tests whose purpose she didn't even know, and after the tests, she had to infuse Honkai energy into the Stigmata to see if it could be activated.
After all, it was a Stigmata she had obtained with great difficulty. Being unable to use it, or even receive buffs from it, was truly too regrettable. However, just like the results of the previous few infusions of Honkai energy...
No matter how much Honkai energy was infused, that Stigmata only glowed with a faint pink light. Aside from that, Theresa still didn't feel any power being transmitted from the Stigmata.
After yawning again, Theresa returned to her room in Himeko's villa. Lying on the soft large bed, she recalled what Irene had just said in her mind.
"Cooking only for herself... Was it culinary skills honed in the Sea of Quanta? Sigh, I really don't know what kind of life Irene lived in the past."
Theresa lay on the bed. Perhaps people are prone to letting their imaginations run wild when lying in bed. Theresa's thoughts returned to the time at Senba Academy.
The scene where Irene made a strong entrance to save her. That usage method of Judah and the usage of the Power of Binding, which were far more proficient than hers, were things she still didn't understand even now.
Of course, there was also the form displayed during the battle. That white hair and blue eyes—was she a member of the Kaslana Family? She always felt like she had seen her somewhere.
Theresa lay on the bed, pondering where exactly she had seen that appearance.
[ Kallen... ]
Theresa yawned again, intense drowsiness surging into her heart. Since she couldn't figure it out, she wouldn't think about it for now. Theresa lay on the bed, gradually putting away her somewhat chaotic thoughts, and slowly fell into a deep sleep following the drowsiness that rushed to her mind.
And behind Theresa, that Stigmata which had already gone silent was glowing faintly. But that wasn't the pink color resembling cherry blossoms; instead, it was a pinkish-red mixed with bright crimson.
It appeared incomparably eerie. But Theresa, who had already fallen into a deep sleep, presumably wouldn't be able to detect this matter.
After a while, Theresa, who had fallen into a peaceful sleep, suddenly turned over. Her brows furrowed tightly together, as if she were dreaming. And judging by her tightly furrowed brows...
Presumably, that was not a good dream.
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