Moreover, St. Freya's current combat strength wasn't weak. Kiana could temporarily control Herrscher power and transform into Meteoric Sky. Fu Hua had reactivated her metamorph gene, regaining much of her strength.
On top of that, there was S-rank Valkyrie Theresa with Judah, the Herrscher of Thunder Raiden Mei, and Herrscher candidate Bronya.
If other factions wanted to make a move against St. Freya, they would have to think twice.
"Alright, everyone, focus. The more rewards we get from answering questions, the safer St. Freya will be…"
Just as Theresa was trying to rally everyone, the system's mechanical voice sounded again.
[This round of questions has ended. The next round will take place in seven days. The Dimensional Q&A System will undergo adjustments after each round. Please look forward to it.]
The floating screens disappeared.
"…Uh." Theresa's mouth twitched in embarrassment. The atmosphere went quiet.
"I'll go prepare dinner. Everyone's hungry, right?" Mei, kind as always, broke the silence and gave Theresa a way out.
"Class monitor, could you train with me?"
Kiana asked Fu Hua. She didn't want to experience what she saw in the video ever again—for herself and for everyone.
"No problem. I'll train you to the highest standards," Fu Hua replied.
"Uh…" Cold sweat formed on Kiana's forehead. She wondered if she'd just doomed herself.
"Hey, Bronya. I'm going to negotiate with Anti-Entropy. Come with me."
Theresa sighed, grabbed Bronya and Himeko, and headed for the principal's office.
"Bronya thinks… we could go after dinner…" Bronya glanced at Mei in the kitchen, then thought of Otto and stopped talking.
"What did I rush back for?!" Himeko clutched her head. She might as well have finished her vacation.
Now she'd be working all night.
A while later, Mei walked out of the kitchen with hot dishes.
"Everyone, dinner's ready… Where is everyone?"
Looking at the empty living room and the full table of food, Mei felt the loneliness of the cook.
Did… everyone abandon me?
Welt Yang felt that St. Freya had been strange lately.
People and events—everything felt off.
Kiana Kaslana, who had once scored zero on a history exam, suddenly asked him for help with lessons.
He investigated: aside from math, Kiana was working hard in all subjects and spending her free time training instead of playing.
It wasn't that Welt wanted to be creepy—Kiana might be his old friend Siegfried's daughter. By relationship, she should call him "uncle." What's wrong with an elder caring for a junior?
But then he noticed something else.
Not just Kiana—Mei and Bronya had also increased their training intensity and study efforts.
The most outrageous change was Theresa. She stopped slacking off and personally supervised cargo transport.
Yes, cargo.
Sealed containers were delivered during class hours so students wouldn't see them. Only teachers occasionally noticed.
If that were all, he wouldn't have cared.
But once, by accident, he saw the Anti-Entropy logo and the signatures of Einstein and Tesla on the equipment.
He froze.
What's going on? Schicksal and Anti-Entropy cooperating? Why didn't I get notified?
Let's reintroduce him:
Welt Yang—second leader of Anti-Entropy, second Herrscher of Reason, and an alternate-world counterpart of a comic artist.
He was undercover at St. Freya to recover from injuries and monitor Schicksal.
…Also because of something hidden underground at St. Freya. Let's skip that.
He hadn't even disguised his name or appearance, so it wasn't really "undercover."
Lately, he even felt Herrscher energy around the school. Probably just his imagination. St. Freya wasn't a Herrscher academy… aside from him, how could there be any?
Standing in a familiar, calming grove, Welt debated investigating further, worried it might be an Otto trap.
Then he saw two figures walking down the path.
Instinctively, he hid in the bushes and concealed his presence.
"Mei, what's for dinner? I'm starving. The class monitor's training is insane. I can barely move. Yesterday's overly sweet chicken wings gave me food fatigue. I didn't even eat lunch."
Kiana leaned weakly against Mei, rubbing against her.
"The principal is better at making bitter-melon dishes. You're just picky," Mei said helplessly.
"I don't care. I'm skipping math later. I need food or I won't survive tonight's training."
"Tonight's training?"
Mei paused, then remembered.
"Kiana, don't you remember what tonight is? The principal and Ms. Himeko arranged free time. If you miss it, your allowance next month won't look good."
"Why… oh right. The Q&A system opens tonight. I wonder what Anti-Entropy's Einstein discovered from the revival coin."
Kiana stuck out her tongue.
She'd been training intensely all week with Fu Hua and studying hard in class. She had no energy left for fun.
Welt covered his mouth in shock.
He didn't know what the Q&A system was—but Einstein and revival coin were enough.
Why did St. Freya students know Anti-Entropy secrets?
Through the bushes, he watched them leave and fell into deep thought.
Should he return to Anti-Entropy? His body was too damaged. Better to stay hidden here. St. Freya was the best place.
Later, after eating at the cafeteria, Kiana returned to the dorm.
Everyone was already there.
"Mei, sorry! I was starving so I ate first. But I won't miss your cooking—make me a midnight snack later!"
She ran toward Mei to hug her.
"Ahem, Kiana. You didn't forget the exam in two days, right?" Himeko said, holding a beer.
"…Haha… I didn't forget! The history test, right?"
"It's math," Bronya said flatly. "Bronya worries about your intelligence."
Kiana froze.
Math… the one thing she couldn't fake.
Meanwhile, Theresa sighed over research funding. The school's research department was studying Kiana's reward items, but results would take time.
"How do I apply for more funding…" she muttered.
Bronya reported: Schicksal HQ had no info about the Q&A system. Either Otto was hiding it—or no one knew.
"No intel is intel. At least we're on equal footing."
Theresa then said seriously:
"If a question doesn't involve us directly, we should only answer if we're sure. Otherwise, don't answer."
Rewards had prices. If rewards were this good, punishments would be terrifying.
Then the system spoke again.
[All selected participants, prepare yourselves. The Q&A will begin in fifteen minutes.]
[System Update v1.1]
Each question now has a 5-minute time limit
If time runs out, a random participant must answer
Videos may contain extra questions for random people
New storage space for rewards
Chat broadcast added
New participants added
Bronya analyzed the pros and cons.
If they knew the correct answer, they could trade info or strengthen alliances. But the risk of punishment was still unknown.
Meanwhile, Kiana was more relaxed.
"There's storage space?!" She tried to store an apple from the table.
It didn't work.