"We are St. Freya Academy. Fighting the Honkai and protecting others is our bounden duty. Your perspective seems a bit skewed, Student Evan. Do I need to give you a remedial class on ideological and moral education?"
"Then let me ask you this: Before the 3rd Eruption broke out, since St. Freya Academy was capable of installing those Honkai Inhibitor Devices in Nagazora City, why weren't they distributed to various cities across the Far East in advance? They certainly played their due role before and after the Honkai outbreak, didn't they?"
Hearing Evan's question, Theresa gave an answer without thinking much.
"Because those devices are extremely expensive to manufacture. Even St. Freya Academy doesn't have many..."
Halfway through her sentence, Theresa quickly realized something and fell into silence. Evan continued.
"So, is the only reason limiting the production of Honkai Inhibitor Devices financial? Although I don't know much about the situation across the Far East, for the cities surrounding Nagazora—having felt the terror of the Honkai at such close range—their leadership should be very willing to pay for these devices, right? Why didn't St. Freya Academy sell them before?"
Although Theresa wanted to refute certain details in Evan's statement, unfortunately, she couldn't find a reason to.
The Honkai Inhibitor Devices indeed required some special materials, but St. Freya Academy had quite a few in stock because they hadn't been used in large quantities before.
St. Freya Academy didn't lack technology; after all, it was born from Schicksal, and Theresa still had extremely high clearance in the Schicksal database. What St. Freya Academy lacked was money, and the series of problems stemming from that shortage.
Theresa was originally a Valkyrie with ample combat experience, but she lacked management skills. she passively accepted documents submitted by various cities and departments. In the time outside of facing the Honkai, she didn't really have a clear development plan.
Evan felt that St. Freya Academy needed to make changes. Now that Theresa had asked him to help process documents, Evan took the opportunity to voice some of his ideas.
"Schicksal is still researching various anti-Honkai technologies, while we are marking time in the same spot. That's not right. St. Freya Academy's sphere of influence is inferior to both Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, limited only to the small Far East region. But precisely because of this, compared to other organizations, our control over the region can be more thorough and easier. I think it's time to make a change."
The Honkai Inhibitor Devices had indeed played a significant role in the 3rd Eruption, delaying the full outbreak of the Honkai by several days. This gave Nagazora City a buffer, which was why the losses caused by the 3rd Eruption were relatively small.
Persuaded by Evan, Theresa looked at him with expectation.
"What exactly should we do?"
"Currently, there are four major cities and forty-three smaller cities in the Far East. Those four major cities have sufficient economic strength. I imagine that as long as the academy notifies them, they will proactively fund the purchase of Honkai Inhibitor Devices. As for the remaining smaller cities, most have already witnessed the power of the 3rd Eruption, so they shouldn't refuse either. Even if their funds are insufficient, they will likely receive support from local entrepreneurs. Our first step is to equip all cities with Honkai Inhibitor Devices."
Wait, such a big move is only the first step of Evan's plan?
Thinking it over carefully, she realized what he said was indeed feasible. Theresa seemed a bit excited.
"And then? What is your subsequent plan?"
"St. Freya Academy's original recruitment targets were orphans who lost their families to the Honkai. The target demographic is too narrow. We should expand the recruitment scope to search for children with the aptitude to become Valkyries in every city, or people with talent in scientific research. Bring them to St. Freya Academy for training. Although they have families, after witnessing the terror of the Honkai, parents will only be happy for their children to enter St. Freya Academy—transforming from weaklings powerless before the Honkai into strong individuals capable of fighting it."
"That would require huge expenses. St. Freya Academy doesn't have enough teachers either."
"I paid special attention earlier. The teachers at St. Freya Academy only need to teach theoretical knowledge that isn't too exaggerated, so it's easy to recruit people. As for the combat androids needed for combat training, only their manufacturing cost is expensive. The financial issues can be solved simply by collecting tuition fees. Of course, for those poor orphans, the academy can maintain its original free policy."
"Children with Valkyrie aptitude are one in ten thousand. Even looking across the entire Far East, there won't be many. Just finding them will take a considerable amount of time. Even if we make changes as you say, we'll mostly be cultivating research personnel."
"..."
Evan wanted to say that he could eliminate the side effects of artificial stigmata, allowing those without aptitude to become Valkyries without future worries. However, considering his current lack of gold coins, he decided not to say it for now.
"Research personnel aren't bad either. Like my Nitrogen Crystal Sword—didn't you say before that there were no means to modify and strengthen it here? I hope that can change in the future. Just enhancing Valkyrie weapons and equipment is a good thing."
"Originally, I just asked you to process documents. How did it develop into formulating a future strategy for St. Freya Academy?"
Theresa revealed a somewhat complex expression, while Evan smiled.
"Actually, I have various follow-up plans, but let's stop here for now. Let's expand the recruitment scale first. Currently, there are nearly ten teachers in the academy, yet they only teach a few dozen people in one class. It's a waste of teaching resources. They only have one class a day, and sometimes none at all. It's practically getting paid to lie down."
"If those teachers knew what you just said, they'd probably grit their teeth at you."
"Whatever. The Honkai is still wreaking havoc, so we should work a little harder. I know you want to build St. Freya Academy into a pure land, Theresa. But actually, our strength is still insufficient. Whether it's the Honkai, Schicksal, or Anti-Entropy—with St. Freya Academy's current power, we can't truly stand against any of them, can we?"
Evan naturally didn't count himself, Yae Sakura, and the others. Otherwise, purely comparing personnel combat power, St. Freya Academy wasn't actually that weak.
They had the super-powerful Valkyrie [Oath of Judah] (Theresa), Himeko Murata, and the 3rd Herrscher Raiden Mei. If Fu Hua could truly become one of St. Freya's people, and if Kiana could master the power of the 2nd Herrscher Sirin, then St. Freya Academy would truly become a hegemon.
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