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ArabicHonkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 51
Chapter 51: A Saint Freya Morning
“…”
Held securely in Lucian’s arms, Bronya froze, utterly unsure how to respond.
Had she ever felt tired?
It seemed unlikely. From her earliest days as a child soldier to her later years as the infamous ‘Silver Wolf of the Urals,’ exhaustion was a luxury she could never afford.
Everything had changed the day Seele fell into the Sea of Quanta. That was long ago.
The meaning of her life had been ripped away in an instant, yet the world hadn’t collapsed. It simply continued to operate according to the cold, indifferent laws of physics. Missions still needed to be carried out; enemies still needed to be eliminated. The only difference was that everything was now veiled in a silent, suffocating layer of gray.
“Tired…?”
Leaning against Lucian’s chest, Bronya repeated the word in a soft whisper. Her voice was laced with a deep confusion, as if she were questioning herself, yet also as if she were pleading with him for an answer.
“Bronya doesn’t know.”
She closed her eyes, giving in to the moment, and buried her face in the crook of Lucian’s shoulder.
It felt as though an eternity passed in that embrace, and yet it also felt like only a few minutes. A sharp knock on the door shattered the tranquil atmosphere between them.
Lucian looked up toward the sound. Bronya stirred slightly in his arms but made no move to leave his embrace.
Gently patting her back, Lucian spoke with a hint of helpless resignation. “Let’s get up for now.”
With a touch of reluctance, Bronya straightened up. She crawled to sit beside him on the sofa, then casually smoothed her silver hair and straightened the collar of her dress.
Lucian walked over and opened the door.
Standing outside was Theresa, her face a mask of stern authority. With her hands planted firmly on her hips, she blocked the entire doorway.
“Theresa?” Lucian was a little surprised. What was she doing here so late at night?
Theresa didn’t answer immediately. Her sharp gaze lingered on Lucian for a moment before shifting past his shoulder, zeroing in on Bronya sitting on the sofa.
“I’m here to send a student who wandered into the wrong room back to her dorm to rest, of course,” Theresa announced, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness. She then strode forward on her short legs, coming to a halt directly in front of Bronya.
Bronya looked up at the petite Headmaster, her own face still wearing its familiar impassive, expressionless mask.
“Student Bronya, what are you doing in someone else’s dorm room so late at night?” Theresa narrowed her eyes, her tone taking on an uncharacteristically gentle quality that was far more menacing than any shout.
“…Bronya wandered into the wrong room.”
A single bead of cold sweat trickled down Bronya’s forehead. She couldn’t help but avert her gaze. The truth was absolutely not an option.
“Oh, wandered into the wrong room, huh…”
Theresa’s smile widened just a fraction. Before another word could be said, she reached out, grabbed Bronya firmly by the collar, and summarily hauled her to her feet.
Watching as Bronya was unceremoniously dragged away by the surprisingly strong Headmaster, the corner of Lucian’s mouth twitched for what felt like the hundredth time that night.
——————
Early the next morning, Lucian left his room.
The weather at St. Freya was perfect. He hadn’t walked far from the dormitory area when he spotted a familiar figure leaning against a bench by the roadside.
It was Fu Hua. She was sitting on the bench, quietly eating a steamed bun.
Lucian’s steps faltered. He hadn’t expected to run into her here. Their history was… complicated. For a long time, he had been assigned by Schicksal to act as Fu Hua’s informant, working alongside her for the better part of a year.
“…Lucian? What are you doing here?”
Just as he hesitated, Fu Hua sensed his gaze. She looked up from her breakfast and addressed him directly.
“…I transferred here. I’m working as a security guard for St. Freya.”
“Hmm?” Hearing Lucian’s answer, Fu Hua tilted her head, a flicker of doubt in her eyes. She found it hard to believe that someone with his physique and martial prowess would be working as a simple security guard at a Valkyrie academy. Besides, since when did St. Freya even have security guards?
She quickly concluded that Lucian must be on some sort of mission he wasn’t at liberty to disclose.
“Is that so,” she replied flatly, falling silent for a moment as if analyzing the hidden meaning in his words. “Is the mission’s confidentiality level very high?” Her tone was declarative, not a question.
But Lucian simply shook his head. He walked over to the bench but remained standing, his gaze drifting toward the campus, which was slowly beginning to stir with life in the distance.
“I just don’t want to take orders from others anymore.”
Fu Hua gave a soft hum of acknowledgment, choosing not to press him for specifics. “Then I’ll take my leave. I have morning training soon.”
She stood up, neatly gathered the plastic bag from her bun, and tossed it into a nearby trash can with practiced efficiency. “While at St. Freya, you can just call me Student Fu Hua.” With that, she turned and gradually walked away.
“Mm,” Lucian acknowledged. He watched her go, then looked around and suddenly remembered something.
What was he getting up so early to do again?
…Right. He wanted to wander around St. Freya to familiarize himself with the surroundings. After all, if he was going to bear the title of security guard, he should at least patrol the area daily.
It was just that, with his slight build, he probably couldn’t stop any students trying to climb the walls to sneak out, not without using his abilities. Thinking this, even Lucian found the situation somewhat amusing.
He looked up at the academy wall in the distance, which he estimated to be over four meters tall. Anyone who could easily scale that was undoubtedly a person of considerable skill, and there would be no point in trying to stop them anyway. Someone like Kiana, for instance, could probably clear a wall several meters higher without breaking a sweat.
Following a relatively secluded path, Lucian wandered aimlessly.
St. Freya was vast. He walked from around five in the morning until well past nine, and even then, he had barely managed to complete a single circuit of the grounds.
The sunlight had grown somewhat glaring. The students who had been out for morning training and early classes had long since dispersed, and the campus had settled into the quiet rhythm of morning lectures. Although St. Freya was nominally a high school, it operated on a university-style class schedule, so there were still quite a few students milling about the campus.
Lucian finally stopped at a bench by an artificial lake. He looked at the shimmering surface of the water and let out a long sigh.
St. Freya was far larger and its facilities astonishingly more complete than he had ever imagined. It was less like an academy and more like a fully functional small city. One could only say it was truly worthy of its name.
“Hey, isn’t this our new security guard? Why are you just sitting here slacking off?”
He hadn’t been sitting for long when Theresa’s voice piped up from the side.
Lucian turned to look. The Headmaster was still wearing her signature black-and-white nun’s habit, though she wasn’t carrying her iconic cross, the Oath of Judah, on her back. She was holding a soft-serve ice cream cone, taking small, delicate licks as she walked over at a leisurely pace.
“Just finished walking a lap,” Lucian replied. “Taking a break.”
“Mhm~”
Theresa walked over to the bench and sat down beside him quite naturally, swinging her dangling little legs. She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.
It was this very obvious, childlike demeanor that made it a bit hard for Lucian to keep a straight face.
As if sensing his subtle gaze, Theresa turned her head and glared at him. “Hey, what’s with that look? Show some respect to your Headmaster!”
“Yes, yes, Headmaster.” Lucian tried his best to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his lips and nodded earnestly. Only then did Theresa huff, turning her head back to continue enjoying her ice cream.
“By the way,” she said after a moment, “Kiana and the others have a combat assessment this afternoon. Do you want to go watch?”
“Sure. Around what time?”