At this moment, Otto looked at the three people on the screen and recalled the past.
Then, he suddenly found it both funny and frustrating.
In the past, for his own goals, he had chosen to have Siegfried and Cecilia become a couple, and his granddaughter Theresa had 'thought' she had contributed a lot to the matter.
In Theresa's eyes, it was because of her pleading that Otto had given Siegfried the chance to be with Cecilia.
But the reality was, Otto himself had intended to matchmake the two.
And looking at it now, whether it was back then or today, there were two people with Kaslana blood on the scene.
Ha, in a way, this could be considered fate.
Of course, these thoughts were just a sudden inspiration for Otto.
Although he was currently immersed in the joy of his plan's smooth progress, Otto was not so complacent as to become conceited.
The closer the plan was to its final stages, the more things he needed to pay attention to.
Right now, I still cannot be careless in the slightest.
"How about this, Durandal. After you bring them back to HQ, you will take them to different rooms according to my arrangements."
"I will be responsible for suppressing the Herrscher of Thunder and then have a good talk with her."
"A good talk?"
Upon hearing Otto's plan, Durandal asked with some confusion.
"What if she still intends to go berserk?"
"Don't underestimate me. As the Bishop of Schicksal, dealing with a Herrscher who has already been defeated and whose power has significantly declined is not a difficult matter."
"Before you return, I will first deal with the Pseudo-Herrscher that was transported back by others."
"As for that little girl with Theresa, and Theresa herself, send them to the medical bay immediately for a full-body check-up."
"As for Kiana Kaslana and Leo Ash..."
As his gaze shifted to her, Kiana felt an inexplicable chill.
*Strange, just now I thought he was a good person, but why now...*
*Just by being stared at by him, I can feel a sense of danger in his eyes.*
*Damn it, even though I chose to join Schicksal to stop Senior, it seems...*
*Damn old man, I think I was a bit too reckless.*
"What, what are you going to do to me!"
"Ha, what spirit."
Watching her, Otto couldn't help but applaud lightly.
"To have such spirit without any professional training."
"Kiana Kaslana, I must admit, you are worthy of being the daughter of two prodigies, Siegfried Kaslana and Cecilia Schariac."
"...Even if you praise me, I won't trust you easily!"
"Haha, that's fine."
Seeing her act like a cornered beast, staring at him with a face full of vigilance, Otto said very naturally.
"Siegfried taught you well—at the very least, I personally agree with the practice of being vigilant about everything."
*This tone... why does it feel like he really values me?*
*How strange. Is he just that good at faking it, or is there really some misunderstanding between him and Dad?*
Looking at the man before her with a gratified expression, Kiana found it really hard to connect him with the 'bad guy' Siegfried had described.
To be honest, aside from giving Kiana an uncomfortable feeling just now, at all other times, whether in his mannerisms or speech, he gave Kiana a very comfortable feeling.
Moreover, Kiana could genuinely feel that this gratified-looking bishop seemed to truly care about her.
On the other side, seeing that the vigilance in Kiana's eyes had dissipated considerably, Otto simply thought—*young girls are so easy to fool.*
Otto's words seemed like mere praise and pleasantries to a junior, but that was only on the surface.
From the beginning, he emphasized 'the daughter of Siegfried and Cecilia' and even repeatedly praised Kiana for being worthy of being their daughter.
All of this was just to deepen the concept in Kiana's mind that 'Siegfried and Cecilia' were her parents.
But Siegfried knew very well, and Otto knew very well, that the current Kiana Kaslana was not Siegfried and Cecilia's biological daughter at all.
When the truth is revealed in the future, the words Otto spoke today would be like a sharp knife, brutally carving out a piece of flesh from Kiana's heart.
Of course, if Otto's plan succeeded, Kiana's heart wouldn't just be carved out; being torn to shreds would be a good outcome.
But the awakening of Sirin essentially required striking at K423's personality, giving the other a chance to slip in.
Since all he was doing now was saying a few words, he might as well stab a few more times while he's at it.
"Um, Otto... Lord Bishop, is it okay if I call you that?"
"Of course."
Looking at the hesitant Kiana, Otto said very kindly.
"I have always had an unbreakable bond with the Kaslana family. As a descendant of the Kaslana family, there's no need for you to be so distant in my presence."
*Wow, Lord Bishop isn't himself today.*
Looking at such an amiable Otto, Durandal, who had seen Otto's work mode, instantly understood—her boss and semi-mentor was definitely up to something again.
But at this moment, Durandal didn't know what Otto was planning.
The atmosphere between the two was very harmonious. Durandal felt that if she were to interrupt their conversation...
*That wouldn't be very appropriate, would it?*
"Okay, then I'll be bold and direct."
At that moment, as if she had made up her mind, Kiana asked Otto.
"What exactly did you do to my dad back then? What caused him to hate you so much now?"
"Please don't lie. I can tell whether you're lying or not!"
"Oh, that."
Upon hearing this, Otto said with a helpless smile.
"I was wondering what you were going to ask... Ha, in the end, you Kaslanas are all like this."
"No matter which generation of Kaslana successor, you always hold a heart of justice."
"...Even if you flatter me like that, I won't be deceived by your sugar-coated bullets!"
"Of course, of course. If you want to know the truth, then I'll be direct."
On the other side of the light screen, Otto swiped a few times in the space before him, pulling up a pile of data.
"It all traces back to the event of the Second Eruption."
"You should have heard from your father that your mother died in that battle."
"And after that battle, we at Schicksal recovered the Second Herrscher's Herrscher Core and body remnants, and began to find ways to strengthen our forces."
"The Second Herrscher's power was too immense. Before her defeat, five of your parents' comrades, all A-rank Valkyries, and a large number of B-rank Valkyries died in that battle."
"At that time, Schicksal's Valkyrie evaluation system was stricter than it is now. You can think of it as—the current S-rank is equivalent to the evaluation standards of the top A-ranks back then."
"Mm, so?"
After listening to Otto's background introduction, Kiana didn't forget her question.
"What caused the falling out between you and my dad?"
"...Even your impatience is just like Siegfried's."
Shaking his head with a bitter smile, Otto continued to speak to Kiana.
"A large number of Valkyries died in that war, and to fight the Second Herrscher, we invested our long-accumulated conventional weapons. It can be said that after the Second Eruption, Schicksal's strength had greatly declined."
"And faced with such a powerful Second Herrscher, I began to consider one thing."
"If the Third Herrscher were to descend after that, what would we at Schicksal do?"
"At that time, both Siegfried and your godmother Theresa were seriously injured. It was unrealistic to expect them to act as frontline fighters to stop a Herrscher."
"And the Valkyries below Siegfried and Theresa... were mostly dead."
"So, in order to enhance Schicksal's combat power, I chose to walk a path that Siegfried did not approve of."
After tapping on [sirin project] on the light screen, Otto said to the two with a solemn expression.
"I began to study the Herrscher's body and core, preparing to analyze their power and apply it to Schicksal's technology."
"Siegfried did not agree with me dabbling in Herrscher power, and in the end, we had a falling out. He chose to leave Schicksal with his daughter."
"Of course, you know what happened after that."
"...Is that why?"
Looking at the dense text in the [sirin project] files, Kiana frowned slightly.
"Then I think Dad was right—Herrschers are so terrifying. It's indeed very dangerous for you to research their power."
"Of course, I understand that better than Siegfried. But, let me ask you—if I don't strengthen Schicksal's technology, to keep it in a state where it can suppress the Honkai, what do you think will happen when a new Herrscher appears and our strength is insufficient? Who will be the first to suffer?"
After this string of words, Otto said to Kiana in a cold tone.
"The ones who will be slaughtered first by the Herrscher won't be Schicksal's Valkyries and staff, but those defenseless humans who have no way to resist the Honkai."
"After studying the Herrscher's core and body, I developed the Time Fracture system and some new technologies. These new technologies can increase the survival rate of Valkyries, giving them the opportunity to save more people."
"Now that I've said all this, do you still think I was wrong?"
At this point, a look of disappointment appeared on Otto's face.
"Your Kaslana family champions justice, that's true, but sometimes you simply don't understand that saving the world requires more than just justice."
"If the technology developed from researching a Herrscher's core and body saves more people, is this 'evil act' really still evil?"
She couldn't refute it.
Although Kiana still felt that something was wrong, she had to admit that she couldn't find any loopholes in Otto's words right now.
On the other side, Otto, with a slight sigh, did not continue on this topic, giving Kiana some time to digest it.
"...I still feel that something is not right."
"But—I will use my own eyes to confirm what kind of organization Schicksal is, and what kind of person you are."
*Ha, it worked.*
At this moment, Otto's gaze towards Kiana held a bit more gratification.
Although this was just adding a bit of seasoning to the main course, he didn't expect her to actually believe it just like that.
*I have to say, K423, you really are too easy to fool.*
*But... heh, in the end, I haven't told a single lie from beginning to end.*
*Siegfried did indeed have a falling out with me over the matter of the Herrscher, and he did take his daughter away.*
*Schicksal did indeed study the Herrscher's core and remains, and did indeed develop various technologies including the Time Fracture system, which increased the survival rate of Valkyries and allowed more people to be saved by Schicksal.*
*As for these being byproducts of the sirin project... ha, she didn't probe further, so there's no need to say more.*
*My actions, besides reviving Sirin, are indeed upgrading technology to a state where it can suppress the Honkai at any time.*
*But as for the so-called [saving the world]—I never said, from beginning to end, that I was acting to save the world.*
*But in the end, although I didn't tell a single lie, a Kaslana, who should have strong intuition, shouldn't have been so easily deceived by me.*
*Could it be that the impression Durandal and Leo Ash gave her was too good, which is why she so easily believed my words?*
*Rita has truly brought me back a lucky general.*
*Leo Ash, not only did he help me solve many troubles and save Theresa, he even made K423 choose to join Schicksal and develop a favorable impression of it.*
*It can be said that Leo Ash's contribution to this plan's smooth progress is undeniable.*
*It's just a pity. If it were any other time, I would have let him peacefully realize his wish.*
*But now, I am certain—Leo Ash must stay by K423's side.*
*After all, he is now clearly the best candidate to execute that plan.*
*Leo Ash, thank you.*
*For the sake of my plan, next...*
*—you will dance together with K423 on the stage I have prepared for you.*