Summer sunlight shone down on St. Freya, completely unobstructed. In the quiet campus, the few young women in uniform skirts who occasionally walked by were also in a hurry.
Due to the approaching Valkyrie Rank-Up Exam, the once peaceful and serene campus had gained a sense of urgency.
Needless to say, the preparatory Valkyries planning to take the exam all consciously increased their training volume while brushing up on their lacking theoretical knowledge. Even the newcomers who had just entered the school could clearly feel the solemnity on the faces of their upperclassmen, and they took their daily training much more seriously.
Of course, these hardworking people certainly did not include a certain lucky young man. At this moment, this man, who had coincidentally enrolled in a school primarily focused on training Valkyries, was leisurely basking in the sun. The insulated cup next to him still contained about half a cup of warm water, with a few goji berries resting peacefully at the bottom, and a few tiny bubbles occasionally rising from the base.
"I'm telling you, Ming Yu, you should be more serious too. If you don't pass the assessment, there are no make-up exams!" Kiana said with puffed cheeks, dissatisfied as she looked at the young man sunbathing on the balcony.
Upon hearing this, Ming Yu laboriously opened his eyes, glanced at Kiana who was doing her homework inside the room, and a faint smile crossed his lips as he retorted without any gratitude, "You don't need to worry about that, Miss Kiana. If you have the energy for that, you'd be better off thinking about how to handle your own final make-up exams."
"You... Oww~" Just as Kiana was about to retort, a sudden karate chop landed on her forehead, cutting off her next words.
This chop came from an extremely tricky angle, making it impossible for the battle-hardened Miss Kaslana to see it coming. She could only stand there stunned and take the hit head-on. At the same time, the force behind it was just right, perfectly accounting for the defensive bonus granted by the Kaslana bloodline. It wasn't enough to injure Miss Kaslana, but it wasn't so light that she wouldn't feel it.
Kiana's heart trembled. Following the slender yet powerful hand, her eyes met Mei's slightly angry gaze, as expected.
Withdrawing her right hand with a blank expression, Mei said calmly, "Miss Kiana, please focus on the homework in front of you."
Glancing around the room, aside from a certain slacker sunbathing, Mei was organizing study materials, Bronya was attacking some website with her ten fingers flying across a virtual screen without pause, and even Hiyokumaru, who had yet to officially enroll, was quietly reading a book in preparation for her upcoming classes. Looking at the mountain of homework piled in front of her, Kiana shed tears of regret in her heart.
In order to salvage their reputation as top-tier teachers, the instructors at St. Freya had shown exceptional care for the only failing student, Kiana. They continuously assigned new homework, even bringing out their most obscure problem sets, which directly led to Kiana's workload growing exponentially.
In Himeko's words, Kiana was absolutely not allowed to tarnish the reputation of St. Freya!
Although to this day, Kiana's limited brain cells couldn't figure out what her failing grades in theory classes had to do with the reputation of St. Freya High School, a school for training Valkyries, it did nothing to stop her homework from piling up.
Seeing that Kiana, even in the face of such a cruel situation, could still refuse to give up and devote her limited energy to the endless homework, Ming Yu nodded in approval. As expected, this was Kiana, the undying Saint who would never yield to hardship, no matter how many times she was defeated!
Thinking of this, Ming Yu silently gave himself a thumbs-up for his foresight in entrusting Hiyokumaru to Kiana, and at the same time, felt a slight sense of guilt for his current idleness.
Thus, he closed his eyes in shame and seriously considered whether he should turn over. After all, a salted fish can't just be sun-dried on one side.
After getting on the good side of both Theresa and Fu Hua, as long as Ming Yu didn't do anything stupid, he could stay at St. Freya safe and sound, without having to worry about his personal safety at all.
Having temporarily neutralized the threat from Otto's side, Ming Yu finally had the time to enjoy his days at St. Freya without constantly being on edge.
Even during his daily training, he could let go of the tension in his mind and relax a little, no longer feeling such an urgent need. After obtaining the Divine Key, there were no more high-risk events that he couldn't avoid, so naturally, he didn't need to be in a hurry to improve his strength.
Since the semester was almost over, Hiyokumaru's enrollment had to be postponed until the next semester, so he didn't have to worry about that for now.
What's more, although Hiyokumaru's situation was a bit unusual, with the approval of Theresa, the Principal, enrollment wouldn't be much of a hassle. So, he had even less reason to worry.
From now until the Valkyrie rank assessment, Ming Yu could peacefully enjoy this rare period of daily life at St. Freya, without having to worry about those distant and dangerous matters.
Stretching comfortably and letting out a soft groan, Ming Yu adjusted his position on the lounge chair to make himself more comfortable.
What a beautiful morning!
Ming Yu said silently to himself.
This is what St. Freya is supposed to be like!
Peaceful and serene, filled with humanitarian care. There were no grueling training sessions day after day, nor an endless stream of Honkai incidents to deal with. Aside from things related to combat training, it was not much different from any other normal high school.
In this Honkai-ravaged world, this was the only place that made him feel at ease, and the only thing he wanted to protect from the bottom of his heart.
Glancing briefly at the people busy with their own tasks inside the room, Ming Yu couldn't help but smile slightly before turning his attention back to the warm sunlight.
Hiyokumaru, who was reading, seemed to notice something and looked towards the young man in the sun.
Seeing the faint smile that had yet to fade from Ming Yu's lips, Hiyokumaru's heart also settled down a lot.
After witnessing the loneliness and anxiety Ming Yu had shown last night, her own heart couldn't help but worry as well.
Although she didn't know what enemy Ming Yu was worried about, and those were not matters she could interfere with at her current level, she could never find peace in her heart.
But after seeing Ming Yu's smile just now, she knew that his problem had been solved. Even though she hadn't been able to help, she still felt a little bit of joy.
Returning her gaze to the book in front of her, Hiyokumaru's mood instantly lightened.
To become an excellent logistics staff member, she had a lot to learn. Whether it was knowledge about the Honkai or the distribution of various forces in the world, these were all things she urgently needed to master.
Even if this path was not easy, Ming Yu had to accept Theresa's condition and go to the front lines to fight against the Honkai just so she could enroll at St. Freya peacefully.
Compared to that, what were her own struggles?
Thinking of this, Hiyokumaru's resolve strengthened, and even the dull knowledge in the book became more appealing.