"Like your little sister?"
Kiana blinked, stealing a careful glance at Wendy's features.
"Then your sister must be quite cute... She seems like the really gentle type?"
"Stare..."
Bronya, who had been about to go help Wendy, instantly whipped her head around with a (???) expression, murmuring ominously.
"Dummy Kiana, even if you guessed right, you already have Mei-senpai and Lynelle-senpai. You're not allowed to set your sights on Seele!"
"What's that supposed to mean? What kind of pervert do you take me for!"
Kiana puffed her cheeks indignantly.
"And are you not?"
Bronya retorted matter-of-factly: "Then let Bronya ask you, why is it that after that night Lynelle-senpai spent in your room, she never came back?"
"I-I told you, that was just a coincidence!"
A note of guilt instantly crept into Kiana's voice: "It was a normal work transfer, what could I do about it!"
Even though she knew Bronya was just teasing her, that night's strangely intimate dream was stuck fast in her mind.
But... did something actually happen that night, or was it just a dream, like Kiana's memory suggested? Kiana herself couldn't say for sure.
However, just as the two of them fell into their usual bickering, Wendy—whom they had just been secretly observing—suddenly twitched her ears slightly.
Her wheelchair automatically turned and she moved towards the trio.
"Hello, you three~"
Wendy waved with a smile. "You're... second-years at St. Freya, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
Mei nodded. "But, how did you...?"
"How did I know? Just by looking at the differences in your uniforms and your combat prowess, of course."
Wendy offered a mysterious smile. "After all, students with exclusive battlesuits have custom-tailored uniforms. And if you'd already been at St. Freya for three years, you'd have some even more distinct features."
"Huh?"
Kiana blinked dumbly. "There's such a thing?"
"Dummy Kiana, you roll your uniform into a ball to use as a pillow every day. Of course you wouldn't notice these details."
Bronya sighed helplessly. "But... this onee-san seems to know St. Freya very well. Could Bronya have been mistaken?"
"Mistaken? About me being part of the Oceania delegation?"
Wendy shook her head. "Not at all, I really did just arrive from Oceania today. It's just... while you might not be younger than me in age, in terms of seniority, I should be considered your senior."
"After all, I left St. Freya back in 2014... So, you should probably call me your senpai, right?"
Although the girl's words made perfect sense, looking at the petite, seemingly easy-to-bully cyan-haired girl sitting in the wheelchair, they all felt the term was filled with dissonance.
"Haha, just kidding. Since we all look around the same age, you can just call me by my name. I'm Wendy. And you are?"
Thanks to the influence of Ragna and Lynelle, Wendy's personality had long since recovered its original sunny cheerfulness.
She'd even picked up a slight mischievous streak from Lynelle. In any case, she smoothly struck up a conversation with Kiana and the others.
After everyone introduced themselves, the expression on Mei's face grew somewhat strange.
Mainly, after Wendy mentioned she'd also attended St. Freya, Mei kept having this odd sense of déjà vu, as if she'd seen the name 'Wendy' somewhere before.
After searching her memory fruitlessly, Mei decided to just ask directly.
"You think my name sounds familiar?"
Wendy was taken aback, then her expression instantly turned crestfallen. "And here I thought you'd recognized me already. Ah, have I finally become outdated..."
"Actually, I used to hold the record for the fastest to reach A-rank Valkyrie at St. Freya! I was widely considered a surefire future S-rank Valkyrie, given enough time."
"Unfortunately... I later participated in an experiment, and most of my strength was essentially lost because of it. Though I managed to recover it pretty quickly afterwards."
"Ah, I remember now!"
Mei suddenly clapped her hands together. She finally recalled why Wendy had seemed so familiar.
Back when she first entered the academy, Mei had been troubled for a long time by her identity as the Third Herrscher.
So, she had diligently searched for any information related to Herrschers in the school's history hall and library. It was then that she had come across Wendy's name.
And if she remembered correctly, this girl sitting in the wheelchair before them was actually...
"Oh, someone finally remembers me."
A happy look spread across Wendy's face. "And it's a kouhai who doesn't seem to discriminate against my identity at all... That's really wonderful."
"Discriminate?"
Bronya, who loved the friend for the friend's sake, immediately perked up. "Mei-senpai, what experiment did this Wendy onee-san participate in back then...?"
"The Gem of Desire experiment."
Mei slowly uttered the words. "An attempt to control a Herrscher's authority through the artificial implantation of a Herrscher core. In other words, Wendy-senpai could be considered the Fourth Herrscher."
"It's just that at the time..."
"It's just that the experiment failed back then."
Wendy patted her pale legs. "I paid a heavy price... but all I got in return was a core I couldn't use at all."
"Sorry..." x3.
"Hey now, why are you all looking so guilty?"
Seeing the trio looking like they wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, Wendy said with some exasperation, "Besides, aren't you all a bit too nonchalant about the title 'Herrscher'? That's a human-shaped natural disaster we're talking about!"
Bronya's gaze immediately shifted towards a suddenly fidgety Mei, while Kiana nervously pinched the hem of her clothes.
"It seems you really don't mind... That's good too. Those things are all in the past now. I've managed to master some of the Herrscher's authority, and I even gained a great increase in strength—a blessing in disguise. And besides..."
"And besides?"
"And besides, I found someone I love. A gentle woman who could become my wife!"
Wendy proudly put her hands on her hips.
"Whoooaaaa!"
Kiana immediately started clapping. "Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations..."
"So Wendy-senpai already has someone she likes? Then why are you here alone? Did the other onee-san not come to St. Freya with you?"
Bronya asked, somewhat puzzled.
"That's not it. Lynelle said she had some things to take care of, so she left first."
"Oh, I see..."
Kiana rubbed her head, then her hand abruptly stopped.
"Wait, wait, wait... who?"
"L-Lynelle?!"
Kiana's eyes flew wide open. Simultaneously, she began frantically shaking the already asleep Sirin within her mental world.
"Sirin! Sirin! Wake up!"
"Our home base has been stolen!"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.