As for where the floating battleship Elysia and Durandal mentioned had come from...
Naturally, it was a generous "gift" from Fire Moth during their last transaction.
Furthermore, after seeing a physical Fire Moth battleship for herself, Vill-V's own project within Schicksal had been kicked into high gear.
She predicted that their own results would be ready in about half a year. Once that happened, Durandal intended to equip every single combat squad with a floating battleship of their own.
On the other side of things, the Fire Moth delegation departing from Schicksal was not in a particularly good mood.
Chairman Eren, in particular, felt his intricate schemes crumbling to dust, all thanks to Miyuki's sudden appearance. He never expected Schicksal to harbor a survivor from those human experiments.
Just like that, the trap he'd set—using that councilman's life to paint Schicksal as an aggressive, bloodthirsty organization—had been rendered useless.
After all, the person who had lashed out was a victim. Moreover, Durandal had given explicit orders beforehand to keep the man alive for a formal trial.
This meant Schicksal wouldn't just execute the councilman without due process; they would hand him over to the judiciary, a move that would inevitably drag the Nagazora City government into the mess.
While Eren could still try to spin the narrative of Schicksal being "overbearing," doing so would now mean drowning the local government in the same murky water.
To tarnish Schicksal's reputation at the cost of alienating Nagazora was a losing trade.
Besides, Eren was well aware that Fire Moth's obsession with control hadn't exactly made them popular with regional governments.
If he dragged Nagazora under the bus now, he'd be offending powers far beyond this local corner of the world.
With his biggest trump card failing to land, it was no surprise that his other plots were yielding negligible results. Faced with this reality, even a seasoned old fox like Chairman Eren couldn't help but feel a mounting headache.
Of course, it was only a headache. He hadn't come away entirely empty-handed.
He didn't know the full story behind this Miyuki, but her identity as a Herrscher was undeniable.
Even if the video evidence and sensor data had been destroyed on the spot, as long as Miyuki remained within Schicksal, Fire Moth could find a way to exploit it.
For instance, the agreement already reached with Connie regarding Fire Moth members visiting Schicksal for "study" provided the perfect window for manipulation. He could send agents into the heart of the organization to gather evidence and use it as leverage.
Even if they never found proof, it didn't really matter. The mere fact that Fire Moth knew Schicksal was harboring a Herrscher was a bargaining chip in itself. Schicksal would be forced to walk on eggshells, wary of pushing Fire Moth too far lest the secret get out.
Eren never once entertained the possibility that Durandal had let him know about Miyuki on purpose.
Just as Eren feared Durandal's Schicksal would push Fire Moth into a corner, Durandal feared that Schicksal's sheer power would cause Fire Moth to overreact and snap.
Miyuki, the Herrscher, was a "weakness" Durandal had offered up on a silver platter to steady Fire Moth's nerves.
Only with a perceived advantage would Fire Moth feel secure enough to believe Schicksal wouldn't drive them to ruin. It kept them from uniting their strength just to stab Schicksal in the back.
That afternoon, after organizing supplies of Honkai medicine and other essentials, Durandal took Elysia and Eden and set off for the continent where the Sundown Alley was located.
She had to admit, having her own floating battleship was a luxury. It was more convenient than a plane, faster than a private jet, and could carry a massive amount of cargo.
Durandal knew the state of the sanatorium in Sundown Alley.
It housed countless children suffering from Honkai sickness, many of whom Aponia had taken in personally.
Given the local finances, the government would never allocate much funding to a sanatorium sitting in a lawless "no-man's-land." If not for private donations and the help of a certain "chivalrous thief," the place would have shut down long ago.
To that end, Durandal had prepared plenty of clothes, toys, school supplies, and food. She had memories of living in a similar place once, and she knew exactly what those children needed most.
During the flight from Nagazora to Sundown Alley, Durandal finally explained the origin of those songs to Eden.
She didn't reveal her status as someone from a parallel universe. She wasn't sure how well that would be received; she suspected only Elysia would accept it without a second thought.
Instead, she simply said the songs came from her "hometown."
In a sense, she wasn't lying, and Eden accepted the explanation.
There were many rumors within Schicksal regarding Durandal's origins, and Eden had discussed them with Connie and the others before. Their conclusion had been "inconclusive."
As Schicksal gathered more data, it became clear even without an official investigation that Durandal's various "miracles"—her armor and her superhuman strength—didn't belong to this world.
They knew she came from somewhere entirely unfamiliar. Whether that was a hidden utopia, another planet, or a different world entirely remained a mystery.
However, the prevailing theory within Schicksal came from Mobius and Vill-V, joined by Mei, who had yet to officially sign on.
These three were the ones who had studied Durandal the most—literally.
Mobius and Mei had already mapped out Durandal's genetic code in their labs, while Vill-V had completely deconstructed the mechanics of her armor in the Spiral Workshop.
To others, Durandal's unique traits seemed to appear out of thin air, but to these three, there was a clear trail to follow.
While many of the technologies were beyond current capabilities, they were clearly built upon prerequisite sciences that already existed in this world.
To them, the possibility of Durandal being from another planet or a parallel universe was slim.
Any deviation in reality usually led to a completely different technological tree, but the science reflected in Durandal was an undeniable descendant of their own.
Though they were loath to admit she might be from the future, once you eliminated the impossible, whatever remained—no matter how unbelievable—had to be the truth.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL