"Sorry kiddo, but that way is the line."
Right after getting off the ship, the black-haired young man was stopped by a man in a military uniform. The passengers needed to go to a medical screening, especially since they had encountered an honkai invasion along the way. The young man in question seemed like he wanted to skip the progress, and, as such he was stopped.
"Ah, no worries. Here..." As Glynne reached into his pocket, the soldier immediately grabbed his arm.
"If you're planning to bribe us, you should stop now." The soldier warned but the young man didn't seem to care as he brought out a card from his pocket and presented it to him.
"It's nothing like that. Just reaching for my ID." Glynne replied with a somewhat annoyed tone.
"This is... " The soldier proceeded to read the contents of the identification card. "Chevalier? Can't say I heard of it."
A fellow soldier then approached him and whispered something in the man's ear. After hearing it, he seemed to show some interest as he once again faced Glynne.
"Heh, so you're something similar to those Valkyries?" The soldier asked the young man.
"More or less" Glynne replied while shrugging his shoulders. "So is it okay for me to pass here?"
"Hm, seeing that the medical exam is unnecessary for you... You're free to pass." The soldier said after a few moments of consideration.
"Thanks" Glynne gave words of gratitude.
But as the young man was about to pass by the soldier, a commotion occurred from the medical zone. They all turned their heads towards it as they saw a person escaping from the place.
"Stop him!" A person who seemed to belong to the medical staff shouted and pointed at the escaping patient.
The nearby soldiers immediately got into action. However, they were a beat late as the young man passed them and already pinned the patient down on the ground.
"N-NO, I DON'T WANT TO DIE! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" The patient struggled but no matter how much he tried, he could never overpower someone with a stigmata.
"If you don't want to die, don't move." Glynne threatened while strengthening his grip a bit.
"Hiik!" The patient got frightened by the young man's intimidation and quickly quieted down.
Glynne couldn't help but sigh inside, relieved that the patient was still reasonable enough. As he waited for the others, his eyes inspected the pinned-down person.
On their neck running to their lower jaw was a vien-like symbol that lets out an ominous purplish glow.
Honkai energy was dangerous to any human being. When exposed to it for extended periods of time, this could lead to honkai poisoning. The mark on the person's neck was an early indications of it.
Unless one has innate immunity against the honkai like the Valkyries, there's little to no chance of someone surviving once this mark appears. He can say that the person has quite the lucky one though. Most people would just gun them down right after symptoms show itself. Though, he doesn't really know what will happen after this.
"... Sigh, you're quite lucky, huh." Glynne muttered while closing his eyes.
"Good work, Kid." A female voice approached and congratulated the young man on his efforts. The young man in question opened his eyes and turned his head towards her.
There stood a woman with red hair as her golden yellow eyes looked at him.
She was dressed in a black strapless top with a white corset under her red vest. This emphasized her large breasts quite a bit. Completing the look were a black mini shorts and knee-high boots.
"Men, take the patient away."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
The woman then ordered the nearby soldiers as they saluted. Based on their reactions, she seemed like a person of high rank.
The soldiers then proceeded to follow her instructions as Glynne also cooperated by gently handling the patient to them. As the patient was escorted to the quarantine area, the woman noticed the mark on the patient's neck visibly fading.
However, she didn't think much of it and faced the young man.
"Nice to meet you, I believe your name is Glynne Romero." The red-haired woman greeted the young man.
However, Glynne couldn't help but be suspicious of her. "How do you know about me?"
"Ah, apologies for the late introduction. My name is Himeko Murata, the Captain of Hyperion. I am also a teacher of St. Freya Academy." The red-haired woman introduced herself.
"St. Freya Academy?" Glynne said while tilting his head, as it seemed like he heard it before. Though, it wasn't long until he realized what the place was.
St. Freya Academy, it's a place where young Valkyries study and train in order to face the threat looming over humanity, the Honkai.
Actually, this was Glynne's destination here in Soukai City. He just forgot about it with all the recent events happening around him. In any case, the reason why he was headed there was because someone he knew invited him. "Say, do you perhaps know Theresa?"
Himeko raised an eyebrow after hearing his question. Of course, she knew who the young man was referring to. After all, she was the Commander of Schicksal's far east branch and the current principal of St. Freya.
With a person of high rank, Himeko couldn't help but get curious a bit when Glynne was addressing her with such familiarity.
"Yes, I know her. To be exact, she's my superior." Himeko replied. "I was actually sent here by her to pick you up."
"Really? Hmm.., I appreciate it but I want to explore to city first." After thinking for a bit, Glynne declined the offer. This made Himeko a bit shocked.
She then remembered the words of advice Theresa gave to her earlier before she left. The young man likes to wander around whenever he goes to somewhere he hasn't visited before. "If that's the case, want me to show you around the city before going to St. Freya?"
"Eh, really?" Glynne asked in a surprised tone. "... Uhm, but I imagine Ms. Himeko is quite busy. I don't want to bother you."
"No problem," Himeko replied as she smiled a bit with the young man's small consideration. "In the first place, you are the main reason for me coming here. Also, it's a good excuse to skip work for a bit."
Glynne widened his eyes, not expecting the last sentence to come out of someone like Himeko. However, he can't help but chuckle. Seeing his reaction, the red-haired woman smiled at her successful joke.
"... Then, I'll be in your care Ms. Himeko." Glynne said and reached out his hand.
"Yeah, leave it to me." Himeko replied confidently and shook the young man's hand.
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"Phew, that was fun..." Glynne muttered in a satisfied tone upon getting out of the car.
He and Himeko cruised around the city for like a good hour or so. They have gone to a lot of places on interest inside Soukai City. From the busy street of the shopping district to a calm and relaxing public park.
That said, Glynne's face grew a bit red when he remembered something embarrassing along the way. Because of the honkai invasion and such, he forgot to eat lunch. He remembered Himeko trying to hold back her laughter when his stomach roared quite loudly. At least, he was treated to a nice restaurant after.
"Well then, time to go meet the Principal." Himeko said as she also got out of the car and locked it.
"Not like we have a choice. Seems like Theresa grew a bit impatient." Glynne said while shrugging his shoulders.
When they were out, Himeko received a message from the Principal asking where they were. Because of it, they had to end their little detour and head to the academy.
Glynne then looked ahead as he could see a large building reminiscent of the old Western architecture. This building belongs to St. Freya Academy, the place where Glynne will begin a new page of his life.
He put a hand over his chest as he could hear his heart begin to pound loudly. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, however, he got interrupted when Himeko smacked his back.
"Let's go then." Himeko urged as the young man almost stumbled forward. Luckily, he was able to balance himself up.
Noticing that Glynne's glaring at her, Himeko chuckled and continued inside. Not wanting to be left behind, the young man immediately followed after her.
As they walked in the hallways towards the principal office, Glynne noticed some students loitering around the place. They all greeted Himeko whenever she passed by them, showing that the woman was quite respected.
That said, the major thing that he noticed was that all of the students here were girls. Though, it's expected as this was a school for Valkyries.
However, seeing it in his own two eyes made him quite conscious about himself a bit.
"Hm, is there something wrong, Glynne?" Perhaps sensing the young man's discomfort, Himeko turned her head and asked him.
"...... Nothing." Glynne replied after a short pause. "Just that, I feel like I'm getting a lot of attention for some reason."
"Is that so?" Himeko said while glancing around. And surely, the students were staring at the young man. "Hm, I guess this is to be expected after all. Chevaliers like you are quite rare."
"I knew about that but still... Hm?" Glynne grumbled but stopped midway as he noticed something by the corner of his eyes.
Outside the window was an outdoor training ground. Some students were using it at the moment and one of those students caught his attention.
Himeko got curious as to why the young man suddenly stopped and traced his gaze to a girl with long white hair tied in two huge braids.
"Oh, are you perhaps interested in her?" Himeko teased. "She's a student of mine, you know. Her name is Kiana Kaslana."
"She's a Kaslana, huh. I guess that explains it..." Glynne muttered and continued on his way. Himeko was quite confused by his nonchalant attitude. "Oh, just to be sure, I'm not really interested in her. I'm only curious about her fighting style."
"Heh... " However, Himeko didn't believe him. Glynne made the mistake of denying it after all. Usually, those kinds of people feel the opposite inside. But well, she didn't decide to pry any further. She just wished him good luck as she knew about that girl's quirkiness.
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After a couple of minutes of walking, they stopped in front of a wooden double door with intricate carvings on it. It basically screams that what's behind the door is a room for someone important. In fact, this door leads to the principal's office.
"Ms. Principal, this is Himeko. I have brought Glynne Romero." Himeko said after knocking on the door.
After waiting for a few seconds, a voice came from inside saying "Enter".
Himeko then turned around towards Glynne. "This is where we part ways. I'll see you around."
"Yeah, see you around." Glynne replied as he opened the door and entered.
Inside was quite a spacious room as it was decorated in vintage-looking furniture. That said, despite the furniture having that old feel to it, one cannot say about the one sitting on the grand chair behind the principal's desk.
She looked like a little girl of 12-13 years of age. She has a pair of blue eyes and snow-white hair tied in a low ponytail that hangs over her shoulder. She was dressed in a nun-like outfit with some golden linings.
"Yo Theresa, been a while!" Glynne greeted her.
That's right, despite her young appearance, the little girl, or well woman, was none other than Theresa Apocalypse. The current principal of St. Freya Academy.
"Finally, you have arrived. Did you enjoy touring around the city?" Theresa asked as Glynne gave her a thumbs-up.
"Yep, this city is great! There's a lot of interesting places here." Glynne replied as Theresa smiled softly.
With humanity constantly under the threat of honkai, only a few areas can be called paradise. That's why she couldn't help but be happy when she heard compliments of Soukai City that's under her jurisdiction.
"By the way, seems like you've grown tal-" Glynne got interrupted midway when a pen whizzed passed him and got lodged in the door behind him.
"Continue that and I'll make sure I won't miss next time." Theresa threatened with a piercing glare as the young man had a cold sweat on his back. "Understood?"
"Y-yes ma'am..." Glynne replied as he laughed awkwardly.
"Good" Theresa nodded in satisfaction. She then beckoned him to sit down as the young man obediently obeyed to not anger her any further. "Well then, about you transferring here. Usually, you need to pass some entrance exams first however, I decided to skip that."
"Hm? But won't that create problems later?" Of course, Glynne was quite happy about the news as he did find the entrance exam to be quite tiresome. However, he couldn't help but worry.
"There's no problem on that part." Theresa waved his hands as she reassured the young man. "I can vouch for your strength. In this place, none'll question my decision."
"I see. So in summary, you're abusing your power." Glynne commented.
"Oh, perhaps you want the take the exams then?" Theresa asked as her eyebrows twitched.
"No, thank you." Glynne immediately replied. "I'll take the special route please."
"Wise choice." Theresa nodded. She then stood up from her seat, walked over to a nearby cupboard, and brought out a box. "With that, we don't have much of a problem now with the transfer."
"Is that so? There're no other papers I need to fill or something?" Glynne questioned as he watched Theresa brew some tea.
"There're none. Everything has been already sorted out before you got here." Theresa said and placed the box on the table. She opened it to reveal an assortment of sweets. "In any case, you can begin your classes tomorrow. For now, though, shall we have a nice long chat? We have a lot of catching up to do after all."
"I hab no weson to obwek." Glynne replied as he had already begun eating some of the sweets. Some are chocolate flavor, after all, one of his favorites.
"You really have no shame, do you..." Theresa said while shaking her head. However, she just let him be as she handed over a freshly brewed tea before sitting down.
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"Heh, so you trained under her..." Theresa was intrigued by his stories as she drank her tea.
"Yeah, but it's super annoying though." Glynne said in an irritated tone as he crossed his arms. "Seriously, I can't count how many times I coughed up blood because of her."
"I think you're the only one who finds that kind of training annoying." Theresa commented with a wry smile.
It was that time when Glynne's bracelet beeped and interrupted their conversation. Glynne looked at it as he operated it. He furrowed his eyebrows after seeing a high number displayed on it.
"What's that?" Theresa asked, curious about Glynne's bracelet.
"This? Ah, this is an honkai energy indicator." Glynne said and showed the thing on his wrist. "It reads the amount of honkai energy inside me and warns me if it reaches dangerous numbers."
"Wait, then the fact that it beeps earlier means it's bad?!" Theresa panicked a bit. However, the young man seemed like he was nonchalant about it.
"No worries, it was programmed to warn me at a certain threshold so that I have a bit of time." Glynne reassured but Theresa was still looking at him in concern. "If you excuse me for a bit."
The young man then rummaged his bag and brought out a medicine container. He then pops one pill out and put it in his mouth.
Upon taking his medicine, he checked his indicator and saw the numbers slowly go down.
"A-are you okay now?" Theresa asked and leaned forward to check on him.
"Yeah. It is as I said, there's nothing to worry about." Glynne reassured as he stood up. "Anyways, I think it's about time I go now. Without this thing beeping earlier, I wouldn't have noticed the time."
Theresa tilted her head and checked the clock. She widened her eyes seeing the time was already past four. "Have we been talking that long? I didn't notice."
"It's really been a while since we last talked, I guess." Glynne shrugged his shoulders.
"Then I won't hold you back any longer. You still have some things to take care of, right?" Theresa asked as Glynne nodded.
"Yep, I still need to check my dorm and such." Glynne said while bringing his backpack over his shoulders. "Well, my main reason is that I want to explore the school more."
Theresa widened her eyes but soon chuckled. "I see. Then don't you want a guide? I can call for one if you like."
"No thanks, I want to explore at my own pace this time." Glynne rejected her offer.
"Make sure you won't get lost, okay? St. Freya is quite large. If ever you got lost and don't know where to go, you could always consult the map app of the phone I gave to you..." Theresa began to give multiple advices as Glynne had a troubled look on his face.
"What are you, my mother?" Glynne asked in a sarcastic tone. He then turned around and walked to the door. "Anyways, I'm going now."
"Ah wait, there's something I forgot to say!" But as Glynne was about to leave, Theresa stopped him.
"What?" Glynne questioned while turning around once again to face her.
"Welcome to St. Freya!" Theresa said with a wide smile. Glynne widened his eyes in surprise but then he also returned the smile.
=========================
Hmm, in any case, some of you are worried this will be different, of course, it will be. Well, only some minor things will be changed though and the overall plot will be more or less the same. What? Don't believe me? Well, up next will be that scene from the prologue.
Anyways, THANKS FOR READING!