"Looking at it this way, I don't need Irene's help at all. I can solve this myself~"
Theresa instantly felt capable again. She calculated in her mind that, according to Irene, as long as the Stigmata's problem was resolved, the Stigmata's runaway state would naturally be solved as well.
She would probably be safe then. Although Irene hadn't explained the cause of the Stigmata runaway, the only thing Theresa could find right now that looked like a problem was that ghost.
And that ghost had hinted that Yae Sakura was currently trapped in a curse of memory. So, wasn't this the anomaly of the Stigmata? She had read plenty of Homu comics, and there were quite a few plots like this in them.
Theresa rubbed her hands together. If she guessed correctly, it was likely that her 'sister' couldn't accept her younger sister's departure. Although historically she had likely moved on before meeting Kallen in Nagazora City, the thorn in her heart must still exist within the Stigmata Space.
Precisely because of this, it led to the Stigmata's runaway state, trapping her in memories or something similar.
This was what Yae Rin called the 'curse of memory.' So, next, she just had to talk to that Yae Sakura and find a way to help her untie the knot in her heart, and everything would be fine.
As for why Rin mentioned a 'Silver Knight,' she wasn't quite sure. Perhaps it was someone very, very important to Yae Sakura, but it definitely wasn't referring to Irene.
She didn't know where to find a silver-haired knight either, though she couldn't shake the feeling that the name 'Kallen' sounded familiar. But since the objective and mission requirements were clear, the rest could be handled simply.
Believing she had figured it all out, Theresa tiptoed into the shrine, planning to find Yae Sakura's location to have a direct heart-to-heart talk with her.
After all, she was a Principal; it wasn't her first or second time dealing with children who had psychological issues. She believed she could handle it well.
This wasn't just random, blind arrogance on Theresa's part; she actually had some relevant experience. Even though Theresa always hoped to treat her students as normal students, regarding the Honkai, the reality was different.
After all, they were Valkyries. Before becoming Valkyries, unless they were children from the three major families, the stories of those young girls could hardly be called good.
Schicksal did not recruit personnel openly from the entire world. Although they were the organization guarding the world, aside from high-level national officials, for the common people, the Honkai was at most a rumor circulating in the streets.
Under these circumstances, the vast Valkyrie troops of Schicksal, aside from figures emerging from the two major families, consisted solely of the 'lucky survivors' from large and small Honkai disasters.
There were plenty of children who had lost their relatives or were even the sole survivors. At those times, Theresa would act as a confidant and big sister to help guide them. So, Theresa did have a little bit of experience in this area.
Yae Sakura's situation shouldn't be much different.
Theresa's luck seemed pretty good. After searching a few rooms, she soon heard a considerable commotion coming from one of them.
Imitating the common behavior seen in TV dramas for situations like this, Theresa licked her finger and poked a hole in the paper window, peeping at the situation inside.
Inside the room, a group of people wearing somewhat eerie fox masks were sitting in a circle. In their center sat Yae Sakura, dressed in miko robes.
They were currently discussing an issue intensely. Theresa cocked her ear, carefully distinguishing what they were saying. As she listened, Theresa realized they seemed to be discussing her.
"Lady Miko, please, you must dispose of that girl brought from the wild. Before this, monsters had never appeared near our village. Why did one appear as soon as she arrived? It must be an ominous omen."
"Exactly. It is because of her that my husband died! Lady Miko must punish that demoness severely."
Hiding behind the door, Theresa listened to the movement in the room. Hearing the villagers' description, Theresa frowned. Wasn't that the bear-type Honkai Beast that attacked her at the start?
It seemed the villagers treated that kind of thing as a youkai or something similar. Oh, wait, calling a Honkai Beast a youkai wasn't exactly wrong, and they indeed brought disaster.
But what did that have to do with her?
"I apologize, but so far there is no evidence to prove that the little girl has any connection to the recent monsters." Yae Sakura sat on her knees in the middle of the crowd. "So, driving her out would be too inhumane."
"What inhumane? This is for the safety of the entire village." A villager looked at Yae Sakura with some indignation. "As the Miko, shouldn't you be protecting the peace of the village?"
Yae Sakura pursed her lips, facing the aggressive villagers: "Please give me a little time. I will definitely investigate clearly."
Observing this scene from outside the door, Theresa breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that compared to those ignorant villagers, Yae Sakura was still quite smart.
But just as Theresa relaxed, the leader, who appeared to be a priest of some sort, suddenly spoke up: "Lady Miko."
"The matter of that little girl can be ignored for now, but..." The eyes beneath the Head Priest's mask seemed to carry a trace of malice as he looked at Yae Sakura. "Lady Miko, do not forget that the time for the ritual is approaching again."
Hearing the priest's words, Yae Sakura's pupils instantly constricted. She raised her head to look at the Head Priest: "Fa... Head Priest, do you mean to say we must use her as a sacrifice?"
The corners of the mouth beneath the Head Priest's mask seemed to curl into a wicked smile: "Is it not suitable? You must know, the village hasn't seen rain for three months. If it doesn't rain soon, the crops will all dry up."
"You wouldn't want someone from the village to be the sacrifice again, would you? So, her appearance at this time must be due to God's tolerance, so that the people of our village need not be sacrificed."
"But she has nothing to do with our village!"
"Precisely because she has absolutely nothing to do with our village." The priest's tone didn't change at all due to Yae Sakura's urgency. "Or do you want Rin's sacrifice to be in vain?"
Listening to the Head Priest's words, Yae Sakura, who had wanted to say more, instantly fell silent. At the same time, the words her sister spoke in her ear during the sacrifice began to echo in her mind.
Protect the village. You must become the best Miko.
But that was her sister. That was her relative, her closest kin. Why did it have to become like this? Was such a thing really right?
Of course not. She shouldn't be treated this way. They are all wrong. You want revenge. I can lend you power.
Whether it was a current whisper or an echo that had lingered in her ears for a long time, Yae Sakura listened to the bewitching voice, a voice that was so similar to Rin's.
At this moment, Theresa finally couldn't listen anymore and abruptly pushed the door open.
"Hey, don't be so stupid anymore!" Theresa looked at the villagers before her. She had roughly pieced together what this matter was about.
It was nothing more than that routine ancient people did—sacrificing to gods. And it was human sacrifice at that. Looking at Yae Sakura's appearance, the last Miko, or rather person, to be sacrificed was probably Yae Rin.
And this must be Yae Sakura's most painful memory.
Now, Theresa was going to give these ignorant villagers a scolding, tell them exactly what to do, and after subduing the villagers, she could have a proper heart-to-heart with Yae Sakura.
"So-called gods don't exist at all! If you lack water, you can use other methods, like digging a well. There is absolutely no need to pray to gods, let alone conduct human sacrifices."
Although Theresa wasn't quite sure exactly how to dig a well, Yae Village was right next to a river; it should be relatively easy. And presumably, fooling the villagers shouldn't be a problem.
But what Theresa hadn't expected was that after listening to her words, the surrounding villagers became indignant instead: "This person is insulting the gods! She must be a demoness!"
"What she said just now must be sorcery too! We must sacrifice her to the gods to quell the gods' anger."
Looking at the angry villagers around her, Theresa momentarily didn't know what to do. How was this different from what she had imagined?
According to the usual tropes, shouldn't they ask her to demonstrate specifically or something? How come they wanted to label her a demoness right off the bat?
The Head Priest sitting in the central position simply nodded and pointed at Theresa: "Seize her for me. Lock her in the room, then erect the altar and offer her to the gods to appease their wrath."
Upon hearing this, several villagers immediately stepped forward, wanting to grab Theresa. Theresa, however, stared at the Head Priest: "Wait..."
Just now, Theresa had sensed a very, very familiar energy coming from that Head Priest. "You guy, you have Honkai energy on you?"
As Theresa's words fell, the villagers who were originally preparing to grab Theresa suddenly stopped. The entire environment instantly took on an eerie bright red hue.
"Sharp reaction." The Head Priest looked at Theresa and smiled. "But what use is it if you discovered it? Here, your power is no more than that of an ordinary little girl."
"How do you...?" Theresa was stunned at first. "Could it be the Will of the Honkai? Or something else? What do you want to do to Yae Sakura?!"
"Compared to caring about others, you should care about yourself." The Head Priest glanced at Yae Sakura, who had her head lowered as if indifferent to everything around her.
"Yae Sakura is already finished. Next, as long as I have her dispose of you to thoroughly erase Yae Sakura's consciousness of resistance, then even your body will belong to me."
"Damn it!" Theresa stood up angrily, wanting to punch the other party, but the surrounding villagers instantly resumed their movements and pinned Theresa down.
"To prevent the demoness from spreading lies and cursing all of us, lock her in the room."
"You won't get away with this!" Anger filled Theresa's eyes. She tried to struggle, but the strength of these villagers was immense. After struggling for a while, Theresa was forcibly dragged up. "Irene will definitely come to save me!"
"No one can save you." The Head Priest looked at Theresa being dragged away by the villagers. "Not even Kallen."
The Head Priest didn't notice that after this sentence fell, Yae Sakura, who originally had her head lowered and seemed indifferent to everything, slightly raised her head at this moment.
"Kallen?"
—————— Yae Village ——————
Kallen walked at the very front of the three, carrying Judah. The three had already descended from the mountain forest and walked into Yae Village. Yet, even at such a close distance, the village remained completely unresponsive. Everything was as usual.
"It looks like there's no problem." The Cat grasped her Chakram in her hand, looking vigilantly at the village ahead. "But why is there no sound at all?"
"Anyway, let's stay alert first." Kallen looked around. Intuition told her there was something wrong here.
Pardofelis guarded Irene with her dual blades. After all, Irene currently didn't have a single weapon, and she was also the weakest among them in terms of combat power.
But the problem was, both Pardo and Kallen had to rely on Irene's proximity. If something happened to Irene, they wouldn't be much better off.
"Don't you feel it's a bit too quiet?" Irene also looked around vigilantly. "Walking to this position, have you heard any voices or the like?"
"I've already noticed..." Kallen nodded. As a warrior, how could she not notice this atmosphere, quiet enough to be scary?
"It's quiet to the point of being frightening."
"Say..." Pardo, who was creeped out by the quiet atmosphere, looked around. "Why don't we just detour from the woods directly to the shrine? According to what you said, Sister Kallen, aren't the people we're looking for inside the shrine?"
"Because this way is fastest." Kallen held up the Oath of Judah. "We might get lost in the mountain forest, but here there is a clear path that I recognize."
"Besides, I also want to ask around to see if there is any news of Theresa." Kallen looked at the empty village. She wanted to rule out the possibility of Yae Sakura and Theresa being in the village.
Since this village was a place they would have to explore sooner or later, and they happened to be passing by, why not explore it? Even getting no results would be a result.
"But it looks like we won't be able to ask anything."
"Seems so." Irene nodded as well. At this distance, not hearing any sound, it was likely an uninhabited village, right?
"It appears that way." Kallen nodded. After confirming there was no one around, she said no more and prepared to pull Irene up the mountain immediately.
Just as Pardo said, if there was no one in the village right now, then the people they were looking for should all be on the mountain.
Just as the three were preparing to hurry up the mountain, the surrounding sky suddenly turned a crimson red, and Pardo felt a sinister wind coming from behind.
When she turned back to look, unbeknownst to them when it happened, several people wearing peasant clothes but sporting fox faces on their masks had appeared behind them.
Surrounding their bodies was a very ominous aura, and they held various farming tools in their hands. No matter how one looked at it, they came with ill intent.
"Alright, looks like the Herrscher of Corruption has already started to say hello." Irene took a Chakram from Pardo's hand. "Truly undisguised malice."
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