"...It seems that before you arrived at St. Freya Academy, you had already gathered some intelligence about the personnel here. Since that's the case, why did you ask me to introduce them?"
Theresa's words faintly revealed her dissatisfaction. Sensing this dissatisfaction, Rita stopped walking and replied with her usual humble tone.
"I only learned some basic intelligence. I know that Evan was a student in Nagazora City, Raiden Mei is the daughter of the former President of ME Corp, and Bronya is the adopted daughter of the current President of ME Corp. I know they are all survivors of the large-scale Honkai eruption, but I don't know anything beyond that."
Rita deliberately didn't mention Kiana. For her, this wasn't lying. Theresa didn't notice this detail either; after all, in Theresa's eyes, aside from the fact that Kiana wasn't a normal human in the same way she wasn't, there was nothing else particularly special about her.
This was already plenty of knowledge, encompassing all the information that hadn't been deliberately hidden.
Although it felt repulsive, surprisingly, there was also a feeling of honesty.
However, Theresa wouldn't open up to Rita just because of this.
"That's all there is. The only thing I can talk about is their academic grades, but those shouldn't be important, right?"
"It seems I've accidentally made the Lady Principal angry? My apologies."
"I'm just a bit dissatisfied. St. Freya Academy broke away from Schicksal long ago. Although I am very grateful for Schicksal's previous economic and technological aid, I hope to repay it in other ways, rather than using the privacy of my own members as bargaining chips."
"I understand. Then, can you tell me about the 3rd Eruption? '[The large-scale Honkai eruption with the smallest losses in history].' I am very curious about how St. Freya Academy achieved such a brilliant result. Of course, this is just my personal curiosity. If the Lady Principal doesn't want to answer, it doesn't matter."
Although she stopped talking about people, the matter Rita was curious about still held many secrets that couldn't be exposed.
Fortunately, Theresa had long anticipated she would ask similar questions and had thought of a corresponding answer.
"We installed Honkai Inhibitor Devices in Nagazora City in advance, prolonging the outbreak time of the large-scale Honkai. Coupled with the Nagazora City Defense Squad blocking the giant Honkai Beasts outside the city, the citizens of Nagazora had time to escape."
"The Defense Squad blocked giant Honkai Beasts?"
"Mhm. Because no overly powerful Honkai Beasts appeared, when we installed the Honkai Inhibitor Devices, we also left some powerful weapons. That was how they were able to block the Honkai Beasts."
Rita didn't ask why Theresa would give such special treatment to Nagazora City, because she knew Kiana had been staying there before. Given the relationship between Theresa and Kiana, doing so was understandable.
If it weren't for her duty, and if not for the significant meaning of the project "mastering the power of a Herrscher in a human body," Rita didn't want to be the villain either.
But in this world, there weren't that many "ifs."
A few traces of apology appeared in Rita's eyes, but she quickly hid them, sighing as if nothing had happened.
"It seems the Honkai Inhibitor Devices are indeed very effective. But their manufacturing cost is too high, and there are too many cities under Schicksal's jurisdiction. Wanting to equip every city comprehensively to the point of suppressing large-scale Honkai eruptions is a bit whimsical."
"I will prove it."
"Hm?"
"I will prove that this isn't whimsical. What binds Schicksal has never been the Honkai Inhibitor Devices, but Grandfather's philosophy. Rita, you are an S-rank Valkyrie; don't you feel anything at all? Grandfather's attitude toward Valkyries, toward ordinary people... With Schicksal's strength, even if it can't cover everything, it should be able to complete the installation of Honkai Inhibitor Devices in every major city. It might even be possible to make the device more efficient through research. But he hasn't done so."
"Lady Principal, I think it's better to stop this topic here. Do you hope to make me feel ill will toward Schicksal? Or do you hope other Valkyries will betray Schicksal? I don't think that would make the world a better place."
The former St. Freya Academy had stabilized the situation only with Schicksal's help. Rita didn't believe that letting Theresa replace Otto would change everything. On the contrary, things would probably get worse.
"So, I will prove it."
With Evan's help.
Theresa silently added a sentence in her heart.
"..."
Rita fell into silence and didn't respond to Theresa's words.
Ultimately, someone has to make sacrifices. In the face of the Honkai, it's impossible for everyone to be saved. At least, it hasn't happened before.
Anti-Entropy disagreed with Schicksal's philosophy, but they didn't do any better.
In the Anti-Entropy organization, Titans replaced Valkyries, which indeed saved the Valkyries. But the high cost of Titans greatly restricted Anti-Entropy's combat forces. Consequently, when Honkai eruptions occurred within their sphere of influence, their handling capacity was weaker than Schicksal's, and the number of casualties was higher.
Anti-Entropy saved Valkyries at the cost of sacrificing some ordinary people.
Schicksal saved more ordinary people at the cost of sacrificing Valkyries and some other special individuals who weren't ordinary humans.
This was the difference between the two in Rita's eyes. She liked Schicksal not because the objects of salvation were different, but because the Valkyries in Schicksal—and she herself as a Valkyrie—could lighten the burden for other Valkyries.
There were more reasons, but it didn't matter. Rita wouldn't voice her rebuttal to Theresa's philosophy, but she wouldn't easily change her own beliefs either.
The [Honkai] would bring destruction to the world, and [Herrschers] were the apostles of the [Honkai]. If Overseer Otto's plan succeeded, and the will of [Humanity] defeated the [Honkai], allowing [Humanity] to master the power of [Herrschers], then it would only prove Schicksal was right. All the sacrifices paid in this process would have been valuable.
And if the plan failed, and the will of [Humanity] failed to defeat the [Honkai], with the [Herrscher] rampaging once again... when that time comes, would you kill one important person to save more people, or would you abandon the safety of others to save that important person? Lady Principal Theresa.
No matter which one, there will ultimately be sacrifices.
Since a long time ago, the line between sacrifice and salvation had been blurred.
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