"Hiding for so long, you've finally deigned to come out."
Lierre gestured for Theresa to look at her, and then, under the latter's awkward gaze, she tossed the jar containing the Panacea over. "This is a gift for you. Catch!"
After teasing someone for so long, she had to give them a little sweetness to taste.
"Hey! Don't just throw something so precious around suddenly. It would be a tragedy if it broke!"
Theresa hurriedly reached out to catch it. Only after confirming that the Panacea in her hands was unharmed did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
This was life-saving treasure; losing even one would make her heart ache for a long time.
Bronya watched silently for a while before saying, "Bronya will stop disturbing you now."
Having gained so many benefits for free, Bronya temporarily abandoned the idea of correcting the way Lierre addressed her.
At least, not right now.
She could only bring the matter up again at a more suitable time in the future.
Theresa watched Bronya's departing back, her expression dazed as she saw the girl walking freely without the aid of her leg exoskeleton armor.
She had seen Bronya's physical examination reports, so she naturally understood how incredible this scene was—it was nothing short of a medical miracle.
Who would have thought that an unremarkable-looking pill could easily cure a condition that modern medicine had no way of rooting out.
"How much more of this medicine do you have on you?" Theresa couldn't help but ask.
"It depends. Maybe one day when I'm in a good mood, I'll suddenly get an impulse and hand-roll a few jars of them to eat as candy drops," Lierre said with a shrug.
Theresa's lip twitched. "I beg you, can you please be serious for once! Honestly, I won't ask you where this medicine came from, but I'll ask this first: what counts as being in a good mood?"
She didn't dare to probe too deeply. If she made Lierre unhappy and the other party decided to leave St. Freya without a word, what would she do?
Lierre was clearly so frail that she panted after taking two extra steps, and while Cecilia was strong, she could only manifest for half an hour a day. Theresa truly didn't know where Lierre got the confidence to provoke Schicksal.
"These things can't be forced. For example, my mood isn't particularly good right now. As time passes, I'm feeling less and most insecure."
Lierre sighed softly. "I look quite delicate, so any random person who pops up doesn't take me seriously. With only Cecilia around, the deterrent force is clearly insufficient."
Damn it, she was playing the weakling so convincingly, yet still no one had come to cause her trouble.
Putting Schicksal aside for a moment, the Conservative Faction of Anti-Entropy was far too conservative—could they even get the job done?
Was World Serpent still observing from the shadows?
If she didn't add a bit of anxiety to the mix, it would likely be a long time before anyone took action against her.
Lierre prepared to summon a few more people and take the opportunity to remove the daily summoning time limit. She wanted those who were still hesitating to understand that continuing to delay would only be increasingly disadvantageous for them.
"You aren't planning to try and summon people of the past here at St. Freya Academy, are you?"
Theresa's eyes widened. She turned to look at the busy trio of Kiana and the others, and as if guessing something, she blurted out, "You aren't going to perform a summoning in a place like this, are you?!"
Although she didn't understand the nature of Lierre's ability, such a method, which could be described as a feat of a God, would definitely attract many greedy eyes.
If she caused a massive commotion, how was Theresa supposed to protect her in the future?
"That's right. Watch closely—this is my summoning!"
Lierre forcefully yanked the cross pendant from her clothes and tossed it forward.
The small golden cross traced an elegant arc in the air and landed among the junk on the ground.
After waiting for three seconds and seeing no movement, Theresa's tensed nerves finally relaxed.
Thank goodness there was no major commotion.
"Auntie, we've laid everything out according to your instructions. We were pretty fast, weren't we?" Kiana ran over to claim credit.
Raiden Mei and Bronya followed behind her.
Theresa's expression shifted at those words, and a bad premonition rose in her heart.
She snapped her head around to look at Lierre, only to see the latter raising her snow-white arm and suddenly snapping her fingers.
Shua!
A Golden Pillar of Light instantly surged into the sky, dyeing the azure firmament a pale gold.
As the pillar vanished, a white staircase with no visible end suddenly appeared ten thousand meters high in the sky.
Dong!
A holy and solemn bell toll echoed from the other end of the sky.
This bell toll seemed capable of washing the soul, making people relax involuntarily.
Fu Hua looked up at the stairs in the sky, her brow furrowed slightly.
What exactly was that staircase?
And that bell toll just now—it was actually able to ignore the protection of Fenghuang Down and directly affect her current self.
In a corner of St. Freya Academy, Welt Yang pushed up his glasses, staring at the sky with suspicion and alarm.
In that pillar of light just now, he had felt energy fluctuations on the level of a Herrscher.
"If I remember correctly, that direction is the 'warehouse' requisitioned by Theresa's old flame. This is quite a commotion; I don't have the confidence to suppress the news."
Murata Himeko stared in the direction where Lierre was, rubbing her temples as she felt a massive headache coming on. She immediately began arranging personnel to block the information as much as possible.
"Look, something is falling from the sky!" someone cried out in surprise.
Himeko looked up, and her expression changed.
High in the sky, ten thousand meters up, two streaks of colored light trailed rainbow-colored exhaust flames, rapidly descending along the pure white stairs.
Their speed was so great that they reached the ground in just a few breaths.
...
The next day.
A new security guard was appointed at the main gate of St. Freya Academy; his name was Welt Joyce.
Welt Yang stopped in his tracks at the security office. He turned to look at the man sitting in the booth, and when he saw that familiar face clearly, his hands couldn't stop trembling.
Two identical Herrscher Cores were attracting each other, emitting fluctuations that only the two of them could understand.
In just an instant, Welt Yang was certain that the person before him was absolutely not a fake.
Joyce looked at Welt Yang with a gratified gaze.
This successor of his had already developed the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason to a point that surpassed his own.
"Principal Theresa sent me some nice tea leaves yesterday. Should I brew a cup for you as well?"
"...I'll trouble you."
Welt Yang took a deep breath. Just as he stepped into the exquisitely decorated security office, an invisible barrier enveloped the entire room, isolating it from the outside world.
He cast a purposeful glance at Joyce's silhouette, then found a seat and sat down, his hands tightly clasped together.
Welt Yang's heart was far from being as calm as his exterior.
Dead people appearing one after another—was this a good thing, or the beginning of another disaster?
A moment later, Joyce placed a cup of steaming black tea on the table and sat down across from him.