Several years later, in a certain city of Nagazora.
"Where the hell has that stupid dad gone? It's been so many years, and not even a single message."
Standing on top of a tall building, Kiana, who had just arrived in the city, complained.
Over the past decade or so, she had found absolutely no trace of her father.
She was starting to suspect that her stupid dad might have died somewhere out there.
Otherwise, how could such a big, living person leave no trace at all?
"Senba Academy admission letter... Hmph, who sent this? Was it my stupid dad?"
Pulling the admission letter out of her pocket, Kiana scratched her head in confusion.
She had no idea who had sent it to her, as the sender's name wasn't mentioned.
But she decided to check it out anyway.
If someone wanted her to go to school, there must be a reason.
"Finally, things are starting to progress normally. At this rate, we're getting close to the end."
Chang Yuan vaguely remembered that, in the original story, the time from the beginning to the end wasn't very long.
Once everything was on track, it meant that everything was nearing its conclusion.
"Do you think Kiana will blame me afterward?"
Slurping noodles, Siegfried looked at the projection of his daughter and asked.
Although he hadn't shown himself all these years, he had been keeping a close eye on Kiana's every move.
"Before you worry about that, how's Bianca doing?"
"No idea. She's still meeting with Su right now."
After finishing his bowl of noodles, Siegfried shook his head.
This almost made Cecilia, who was sitting next to him, punch him in the head.
How could he be so indifferent about his own daughter? What kind of father was he?
"If Bianca hears you say that, she might just stab you a few times with that Black Abyss White Flower of hers."
Glaring at Siegfried, who clearly didn't care enough about his daughter, Chang Yuan decided to ignore him.
Meanwhile...
Since Bianca hadn't been raised by Otto this time, her personality had changed quite a bit.
"Senior, how about you just give me a little shortcut and let me skip this test? Just hand over whatever it is I need."
"..."
Su, with his eyes closed, felt a headache coming on.
In the original script, Bianca wasn't like this at all. She wasn't the type to try and cut corners.
But thanks to a certain man, Bianca's personality had shifted slightly toward Kiana's in the original story.
However, unlike Kiana, Bianca was highly intelligent—an anomaly in the Kaslana family, or perhaps more influenced by Mei's genes.
"Senior, since the script says I'll pass anyway, I think I can skip the test."
"..."
Su remained silent, but his expression made it clear that he wasn't having it.
"Fine, Senior, I'll take the test."
Seeing that she couldn't get out of it, Bianca reluctantly agreed.
Only then did Su nod in satisfaction.
He plucked a leaf from the Bodhi tree and tossed it toward Bianca.
In an instant, Bianca was pulled into the test.
As expected, Bianca passed without any issues, gaining her super-duck form.
She also obtained the Holy Sword Durandal, a weapon on par with Divine Keys.
In the original story, this was the sword that had wrested the Seed of Sumeru from Kevin.
In a way, it was even stronger than a Divine Key.
"See, Senior? I told you, you could've just given it to me. I was going to pass anyway."
"...You can leave now."
This time, Su didn't wait for Bianca to leave on her own, as in the original story.
Instead, he used his authority in this world bubble to kick her out.
"Ugh, this senior is so petty. All I did was make a little comment."
Rubbing her sore backside, Bianca complained as she was ejected.
At that moment, the elegant head maid approached and helped Bianca up.
"Lady Durandal, it's time for training."
"Ugh, fine, I get it."
Although she wanted to refuse, Bianca was afraid she might not be able to defeat her opponent later.
So, she had to train hard, just as the script demanded.
If she couldn't win, the entire plot would fall apart.
She could already imagine how the two seniors would punish her.
Just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine.
Chang Yuan's punishment was manageable—just physical training. But the other senior, Elysia, was far less forgiving.
That was a double whammy of physical and mental torture.
She vaguely remembered when she was ten, that pink-haired senior had hugged her, kissed her, and pinched her cheeks until they felt swollen, all while saying things that made her blush.
That punishment was even more terrifying than physical pain.
Just recalling it made Bianca tremble.
However, Bianca still didn't fully grasp her own potential.
As she was now, she could already defeat most of Schicksal's current-era fighters, with the exception of a few ancient relics from the Previous Era.
Kallen, the ancestor, could fight her to a 7-3 split, and her mother was evenly matched with her.
But Bianca still lacked confidence in her strength. After all, she was going to face Herrschers in the future.
Herrschers were the messengers of God—they had to be incredibly strong, right?
Although Bianca's talent allowed her to grow stronger through effort, there was still a limit. Once she reached a certain point, her growth would become negligible.
It was like going from 1 to 100—training every day could add one point, which seemed like fast progress.
But when you reached 10,000, training every day still only added one point, making it feel like no progress at all.
Meanwhile, Kiana successfully enrolled in Senba Academy.
As expected, she ended up in the same class as Raiden Mei.
However, in this version of the story, Mei's father hadn't been framed by Cocolia and sent to prison yet.
Thus, Mei still carried the title of "Raiden Queen," and people kept their distance.
But the moment Kiana saw her, she felt an instant attraction.
Unbeknownst to her, this was due to the mutual attraction between Herrscher vessels.
"Mei-senpai, I'm new here. Could you show me around the academy?"
"...Sure."
Although Mei had an air of aloofness, Kiana wasn't fazed. Her Kaslana blood was kicking in.
And Mei didn't refuse Kiana's request.
For some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with Kiana.