Far East Branch, St. Freya Academy.
In the principal's office, Theresa was secretly reading the latest issue of the Homu manga.
When she felt a bit thirsty, she lifted her head and scanned the empty office. Seeing that no one was around, she reached out and pulled the Over-Dimensional Wand from her desk drawer.
Looking at this Over-Dimensional Wand—the very thing that had caused her social death and made her unable to hold her head up for months—a trace of nostalgia and sentimentality flashed in her eyes.
"I wonder if Lierre is getting used to living at headquarters. It's actually quite strange; it's been over a year since she went there, and not only has she avoided any major negative incidents, but she's also been working diligently and wholeheartedly on scientific research. It's not like her at all."
Perhaps Lierre really had changed her ways and was no longer the type who always wanted to stir up big news.
Theresa had originally thought Lierre would cause a huge mess at headquarters, but now it seemed her previous worries were clearly superfluous.
From this, it was evident that Lierre was quite responsible and hadn't let down the reputation Theresa had sacrificed to protect her.
"I'll head to headquarters again in a few days to see if I can bring Lierre back. She can't just be busy with work all the time and never even come home. Kiana and the others have been clamoring to bring Lierre back for a long time."
Theresa was in a pleasant mood. She lightly tapped the water glass on her desk with the Over-Dimensional Wand. A flash of pink light passed, and the transparent mineral water in the glass turned into green bitter melon juice in the blink of an eye.
"Grandpa mentioned that Lierre is building a machine capable of changing the world. It's been over a year now; I wonder how the progress is going."
Theresa took a sip of the authentic-tasting bitter melon juice and murmured to herself.
By now, everyone in Schicksal was paying attention to this matter.
This was because, in less than two short years, Lierre had already brought too many miracles to Schicksal.
The birth of the T-Virus ensured that Valkyries implanted with artificial stigmata would no longer have short lifespans.
The release of the G-Virus allowed patients infected by the Honkai—who previously could only wait for death—to regain their health.
Although the names were very strange, the efficacy was the real deal.
Not to mention there were devices like the Over-Dimensional Wand that could turn water into bitter melon juice.
With these precedents, Theresa was incredibly excited to see what the machine Lierre had spent so much time building actually did.
Buzz! Buzz!
The phone placed to her right vibrated, and the ringtone sounded.
The screen showed a call from Otto.
"Strange, why is Grandpa calling me at this time?"
Puzzled, Theresa picked up the phone and answered.
Once the call connected, Otto's helpless voice came from the other end:
"Little Theresa, Grandpa has to tell you some unfortunate news. Lierre... she suddenly submitted her resignation as Acting Overseer to me and announced her complete withdrawal from the organization.
"Furthermore, without alerting anyone, she has vanished into thin air, taking Ana, Mobius, and Pardofelis from the Fire-Moth Valkyrie squad with her."
Theresa's eyes widened instantly. She froze in place, saying in disbelief, "How could this happen?!"
Lierre had finally gained a firm foothold in Schicksal; Theresa couldn't understand why she would suddenly resign, or even take her own Valkyrie squad to leave Schicksal.
"Schicksal is currently working hard to search for their whereabouts. If Little Theresa has the chance to see Lierre and the others in the future, please pass on a message for me. Tell them the gates of Schicksal are always open to them."
After saying this, Otto proactively hung up the phone.
The next second, Theresa's exasperated voice rang out in the principal's office: "Lierre, you jerk, just what on earth were you thinking!!!"
A few passing students happened to hear this clearly.
After exchanging glances with each other, they quickened their pace and left.
"Did you hear that? The principal's voice sounded really resentful just now."
"I heard it. I'm guessing Lady Lierre might not want to come back from headquarters to see the principal, which is why she's so resentful."
"I get it, I get it. Our principal is still a girl, after all. It's unavoidable to feel lonely being by herself. It's only natural to want Lierre to come back and keep her company."
"Sigh, it's always been hard to have both a career and love. I hope they can understand each other's difficulties."
"Should we tell Kiana and the others about this? It's not right for us outsiders to interfere."
"Good idea..."
As they spoke, the group suddenly changed course and headed toward Kiana's classroom.
A long while later, Theresa finally stabilized her emotions in the office. She opened the internal communication system of the Far East Branch, preparing to send out people to search for Lierre.
Bang!
Before she could take action, the office door was once again slammed open, and Kiana's unique loud voice rang out simultaneously.
"Auntie, we've come to see you!"
Kiana walked into the room, her eyes constantly scanning Theresa, whose head was only halfway visible above the desk.
Theresa's small fists were clenched, and the veins on her forehead throbbed. She couldn't help but shout:
"Kiana! How many times have I told you? Knock before entering! Are you trying to scare me to death!"
It was a good thing she didn't have a heart condition, otherwise, a few more scares like this from Kiana and she'd be in the emergency room.
"I was just worried about you..." Seeing Theresa's terrifying expression, Kiana shrunk her neck and muttered guiltily.
"I'm very sorry, Principal. Kiana ran too fast, and we couldn't hold her back in time." Outside the door, Raiden Mei arrived at a light run, followed by Bronya.
"Kiana heard that you had a fight with Lierre, so she rushed over in a panic to offer some comfort."
Bronya wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, explaining why they had come.
"Ah... that..."
Seeing that Kiana's recklessness stemmed from concern for her, Theresa's attitude immediately softened. She said to Kiana, "Ahem, I was just in a bad mood, so my tone was a bit harsh. Auntie apologizes to you, but don't do this again!"
"I knew Auntie wouldn't be mad at me."
Kiana puffed out her chest again and got straight to the point. "Let's talk business. Why did you two have a fight? Can you tell me the details? If Auntie Lierre is the one in the wrong, I'll stand on your side and give her a piece of my mind!"
As she spoke, she put on a righteous expression, possessing an air of someone willing to sacrifice kinship for justice.
"Who told you I had a fight with Lierre?"
Theresa rolled her eyes speechlessly and complained, "That other auntie of yours secretly ran away from Schicksal headquarters this morning. Now even I can't contact her. Even if I wanted to have a fight with her, I couldn't."
The three were stunned by this news.
"Eh? Why would Auntie Lierre choose to run away for no reason? Is someone at headquarters bullying her?!" Kiana began to speculate with a worried face.
"How is that possible? I specifically went to headquarters in the first half of the month. Lierre's treatment at Schicksal was better than you can imagine; she practically had a royal escort just to go out! Even I don't get that kind of treatment!" Theresa said crossly.
This was exactly one of the reasons she couldn't understand why Lierre had suddenly run away.