"Knock knock! Knock knock!"
Arriving familiarly at the door to the Principal's office, Ming Yu knocked with a force that was neither too light nor too heavy.
"Come in."
Hearing the voice that carried a trace of childishness within its authority, Ming Yu smiled slightly and pushed the door open.
Watching the man dressed in casual clothes with a tachi and a sword at his waist walk in, Theresa took a deep breath and said in a tone that was friendly yet maintained a certain distance, "Yo, Ming Yu. Long time no see."
"Mm. Long time no see, Principal."
Ming Yu returned Theresa's greeting with a faint smile. His tone was not arrogant, but it also lacked complete reverence. Regardless of the Principal's strength and status, her appearance made it difficult to inspire true respect.
Theresa was clearly aware of this, so she didn't mind the lack of deference in Ming Yu's tone.
Motioning for Ming Yu to sit on the sofa, the Principal put on a serious face and said in a deep voice, "Let's get straight to the point. Based on your performance in the Seventh Squad, I believe you have reached A-rank standards in all aspects and are capable of being a warrior in your own right. Therefore, I have decided to promote your rating to A-rank.
What do you think?"
Frankly, this should have been a statement. But not only did Theresa solemnly ask for Ming Yu's opinion, she also chose her words carefully, omitting anything that might hurt his pride. The goodwill shown was obvious.
Although with Theresa's status, she could have simply decided everything with a written notice, and there would be nothing to criticize about it. Yet she chose this consultative approach, giving Ming Yu the utmost respect.
After all, the current Ming Yu was not the little brat from six months ago who could be easily molded. If the Ming Yu from six months ago was like modeling clay, then he was now at least hardened modeling clay...
What's more, for the matter that followed, Theresa was the one asking for a favor. If lowering her stance was beneficial to the situation's development, the Principal didn't mind this method of conversation.
Since Theresa had gone to such lengths, Ming Yu naturally wouldn't trample on the Principal's goodwill. Although Theresa used a consultative tone, he wasn't foolish enough to think this was a multiple-choice question.
If Ming Yu were to actually do that, either he was a fool, or he was preparing to flip the table.
But even knowing all this, Ming Yu couldn't help but feel a wave of pleasure.
So, a harmless smile appeared on his face as he said gently, "I have no objections."
Nodding, Theresa wasn't surprised by Ming Yu's answer in the slightest. Anyone with normal intelligence would know which was the right choice.
If Ming Yu dared to say he had an objection, she would immediately pull out the Judah from under her desk and have a good, reasoned discussion with him.
"There's one more thing that you should be very interested in." Pausing for a moment, the Principal lowered her voice and said in a mysterious tone, "That battlesuit has been completed."
"Oh? Is it *that* battlesuit?!"
Hearing Theresa's words, Ming Yu became a little unsettled. The hand holding the glass trembled, splashing some of the green liquid inside. His anticipation for this suit, which Theresa had proposed designing six months ago, had never waned.
The battlesuit he currently used was merely a general-purpose Domain Armor, and its help to him was far less than it had been half a year ago. Even though Cold Night had been moderately improved based on his and Jizo Mitama's characteristics, it was ultimately somewhat outdated.
Many times, Ming Yu relying solely on Jizo Mitama's Zeroth Power was no worse than Cold Night, and sometimes even better.
Therefore, Cold Night had become completely obsolete for him.
When his official rating also became A-rank, the Domain Armor was somewhat unworthy of his status.
At this point, he would either have to choose a suit from among those available to A-rank Valkyries or continue using Cold Night, just like Fu Hua's Accipiter.
But Theresa had given him a third option: a custom battlesuit!
A battlesuit developed exclusively for him, to be used in conjunction with Jizo Mitama's Zeroth Power!
Looking at Theresa's smug expression, which all but had "praise me" written on her face, Ming Yu sighed deeply in his heart.
Almost all of Schicksal's existing battlesuits came from Headquarters. Those developed independently by branches were few and far between. Even Himeko's Fusion Armor: Vermilion had Theresa's hand in its creation.
Otherwise, with the resources of the Far East Branch alone, the successful development of that suit would have been pushed back even further.
And for a single branch to develop a suit like this, suitable for Ming Yu, one could imagine the difficulty.
Because of Jizo Mitama's unique nature, Theresa must have officially designated it as a Holy Relic project, but in actual execution, it could never be developed to the standard of a Holy Relic; otherwise, it would be meaningless.
Without personnel support from Headquarters, the process must have been incredibly arduous. And if they had used personnel from Headquarters, that group of people with access to Divine Keys would inevitably discover the difference between the two.
Although the Far East Branch wasn't completely inexperienced in this regard, thanks to the previous development of Vermilion, how to coordinate with the power of a Divine Key was definitely a brand new problem for these people, probably causing more than a few hairlines to recede.
"Mm, that's the one. Although it's still a prototype, after half a year of hard work, it's finally at a usable level."
Theresa tried her best to speak in a calm tone, but the pride in her words could not be concealed. To achieve this much in six months was indeed quite remarkable for a branch.
Regardless of its power, just being able to produce a finished product was no small feat. Of course, if its power didn't meet the standard, the Principal wouldn't have the face to hand it over to Ming Yu for use.
"Truly, a remarkable miracle!"
Looking at the Principal's feigned calmness, Ming Yu didn't spare any of his praise.
Although this battlesuit would ultimately be handed over to him for his use, he did not express gratitude for it. This was a transaction between the two of them, not a selfless gift from Theresa to him.
No matter how moved he was in his heart, words of gratitude would only be a desecration of this transactional relationship. Since he had no intention of getting something for nothing, he could accept this power with a clear conscience.
Receiving praise from the other main party involved with the battlesuit, Theresa broke into an undisguised smile, looking like a child in her forties.
"Of course, this is not without conditions." But soon, Theresa reined in her smile, her expression turning serious again as she said solemnly, "I need you to accompany Himeko on a trip to Guangzhou to find Jiu You and Ji Xuanyuan's Stigmata!"