---o---
The spring wind carried the faint fragrance of flowers.
Amidst the chorus of a hundred birds, the young girl danced in the breeze.
The young girl lived an ordinary yet fulfilling life.
Whenever the wind picked up, she would sneak out of her house and go to the grasslands of New Zealand, performing a dance she had learned from an ethnic minority.
Then, the organization known as Schicksal arrived.
The summer wind brought the chirping of cicadas and sudden showers. Amidst the热情气流, the young girl soared in the wind.
The young girl was selected by Schicksal to be a Valkyrie. Due to her outstanding talent, she became an A-rank Valkyrie in a short time, and the crown of an S-rank Valkyrie seemed to be just within her reach.
She was surrounded by the envious gazes of those around her.
But the young girl simply took joy in the feeling of soaring freely through the sky after donning her battlesuit.
A transfer order arrived from Schicksal HQ.
Chaldeas, a top-tier institution under Schicksal's command, had invited her to participate in an experiment.
A human experiment.
To be honest, the very idea of "human experimentation" is terrifying, isn't it?
After all, most events associated with those words carry an aura of cold ruthlessness.
The most heartless of these experiments are directly linked with adjectives like bloody, dark, and insane.
And this particular experiment, which was explicitly stated to be centered around stealing the power of a Herrscher—an apostle of God—had a distinct flavor of madness, no matter how you looked at it.
Even if they tried to mask it with strange, almost joke-like side effects, the insane aura could not be concealed.
But—
If that experiment succeeded, the continuation of human civilization would become much simpler.
After a period of hesitation, Wendy chose to join Chaldeas and participate in the Artificial Herrscher Experiment.
She had expected to be met with painful procedures, cold instruments, and indifferent researchers.
With a heart full of trepidation, she was sent to Raven Island, the sole designated experimental site for Chaldeas, to await the experiment's commencement.
She wasn't alone on the speedboat.
Besides her, there was a very handsome young man whose smile made people feel at ease.
He was a very gentle person.
He seemed to notice her nervousness and stayed by her side the entire time, telling jokes that weren't actually very funny and sharing little stories.
Conversation is a good way to dissolve anxiety and tension.
Miss Wendy wasn't very good at talking to strangers, but listening to this stranger tell her stories, her uneasy heart began to calm down a little.
However, it wasn't good to always be just a listener.
Therefore, she eventually chimed in with a few words of her own.
The topic she most wanted to discuss was flying.
But that was a topic for Valkyries, not suitable for discussion with a male who wasn't from one of Schicksal's three great families.
So, she talked about the dances of ethnic minorities and their folk songs.
The young man stood right beside her, listening with great seriousness as she described dance terms and sang melodies.
He was completely focused and earnest.
Then, as he didn't seem to understand much about it, he began to ask her questions about the dance terms and songs.
In a tense environment, people always find it easy to build rapport with those around them.
It is the nature of a social animal.
The girl named Wendy naturally did not refuse. She enthusiastically introduced some specialized terms from the world of dance and even taught him to sing a few lines of an English folk song.
After learning those few lines, the young man from Shenzhou naturally began to speak of the "classical songs" of his homeland.
"Do you want to learn?"
He asked her very seriously if she wanted to learn a couple of lines.
Miss Wendy, who loved music and dance, naturally wouldn't refuse.
They taught each other, singing English folk songs and Shenzhou's short arias. The slightly oppressive atmosphere on the boat began to fade amidst the melodies, eventually vanishing completely.
"When we have time, could we get some tea together and go see a dance performance?"
Just as they were about to disembark, the young man invited her out.
Miss Wendy was truly happy.
Before the dangerous experiment began, she had spent a wonderfully gentle, peaceful, and happy time.
She had made a friend.
Although they had only known each other for a short time, she was certain that this young man was definitely her friend.
Perhaps even the best friend she would ever have in her life.
If possible, she really wanted to invite this young man who had chatted with her, who seemed like just an escort, to have tea with her, and then perhaps perform an impromptu dance for him.
But she didn't.
The experiment was about to begin.
She, who would very likely die because of it, had no right to make friends.
After disembarking, she parted ways with the young man.
Then, under the guidance of a new receptionist, she was led to the final experimental area.
—It was just a villa, one that looked like it could house quite a few people and had clearly been meticulously designed.
Subsequently, something quite unbelievable unfolded before her eyes.
She saw her friend there once again.
Only this time, he was no longer wearing a British-style school uniform, but a doctor's white coat.
The young man who had discussed dance and music with her was no escort at all.
He was the Director of Chaldea, and also her doctor.
To think you had made a friend on the way, only to suddenly learn that the person might have just been a researcher observing you...
The stark contrast made Wendy a little sad.
"After the experiment is over, shall we go get tea together and see that performance?"
The young man who she had once turned down—no, the Director of Chaldeas, she should say—invited her once again.
"Befriending the subject before they enter the laboratory... is that to improve cooperation between both parties during the experiment?"
Feeling as though her emotions had been deceived, the normally gentle Miss Wendy spoke words that were sharp like thorns, as if in a fit of pique.
"From the perspective of the Director of Chaldea, that is naturally the case."
The words that came from his mouth were cold and ruthless.
And then—
"But, from the perspective of a friend, I would much rather see you dancing happily in the wind."
As he said those words, he looked directly into her eyes.
His eyes shone with a sincere light.
Just like on the boat, when they were discussing folk songs and classical arias.
He was still willing to be her friend.
Before the experiment, they went to Chaldea's pastry shop together for tea, ate strawberry cake, and watched a dance performance.
If things had proceeded normally, she and the Director would probably have become very good friends.
But—
The core of the Artificial Herrscher project was the Divine Key, Jizo Mitama.
A Divine Key capable of amplifying emotions.
A friendship between a man and a woman, if amplified, could easily transform into another kind of sentiment.
To suddenly develop those kinds of feelings for a friend due to an external force should have been strange.
And yet, it wasn't unpleasant.
The girl with the cyan irises and black pupils habitually made her way to Chaldea's opera house, hoping to meet a certain someone there.
She...
...had some feelings she wanted to share with him.
---o---
Author's Note:
PS: Taking a break from the lewd stuff for a change to write an emotional scene.
Though I'm pretty bad at it (gazes at the sky).