Refusing to listen to Void Archives' nonsense any longer, Otto shut her away again.
As for her words, Otto only listened to half of them, because the first impression she'd left on him was terrible.
But after coming to the modern era, aside from Void Archives, the only person he'd met so far who had given him a slightly worse impression was the girl named Kiana.
After all, that was the girl who'd stabbed him the moment she showed up.
In the computer, though, he'd looked through the files on some of Schicksal's personnel, and Otto learned that the white-haired girl's name was Kiana Apocalypse.
She had the same surname as him, because that Miss Kiana was his adopted daughter. No wonder Rita called her "young lady." The adopted daughter of the Overseer of Schicksal suited that title.
But future him's relationship with his adopted daughter really was strange.
Thinking of that, Otto let out a sigh.
He'd also learned that Rita was not actually a real maid. Her true identity was an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. Being a maid was only a hobby of hers.
Good thing he hadn't done anything too excessive to her. Otherwise, the one who'd have been finished off was him.
Even now, thinking back on it made him a little uneasy.
Otto shook his head. Tomorrow he was going out with the others to carry out a mission and gain some experience. Even though Void Archives had shown him some very powerful abilities, he couldn't rely on her alone. If Void Archives decided to play dead when the time came, what was he supposed to do?
So it would be best if he could find someone to protect him when necessary.
But if that person noticed something was off about him, he'd only be making things worse for himself.
Otherwise, Otto would definitely have had Rita protect him.
After thinking for a while and still failing to come up with anyone, Otto picked up the communications terminal on the desk. He wasn't familiar with it yet, but he'd already figured out part of how it worked.
He placed a call to the number marked "Amber." Almost the instant he dialed, the call connected.
"Lord Overseer, what are your instructions?"
It was his secretary Amber's steady voice. Otto said, "Come here for a moment."
"Yes, Lord Overseer." After waiting a few seconds and finding no further instructions, Amber hung up.
Hearing the call end, Otto patted his cheeks and made his face expressionless again. This sort of poker face was perfectly suited for hiding his thoughts and feelings.
A few minutes later, his secretary knocked and came in. She stood respectfully in front of Otto.
"Lord Overseer, what are your instructions?"
Seeing his secretary standing a few steps away, Otto said, "Tomorrow I'll be going with the others to bring back the children Cocolia adopted."
"Yes, Lord Overseer." Amber had no objections. Lord Overseer going out for a bit was better than holing up at Headquarters all day.
And Otto taking this step only confirmed what she'd been thinking.
There really was someone among those children Cocolia had taken in who interested the Lord Overseer. Otherwise, he wouldn't personally go out.
But it seemed like that batch of children were all little girls. Was the Lord Overseer interested in little girls?
People like Lady Theresa and Durandal were both quite favored by the Lord Overseer.
"Right." Otto relaxed a little, pretending he'd only just casually remembered something, and asked, "Which powerful Valkyries do we still have in Schicksal who haven't had much contact with me?"
Otto had looked through the files. The S-rank Valkyries of Schicksal all seemed to be quite familiar with his future self, so he couldn't pick a protector from among them.
But he didn't know anyone else, and could only blame the computer's files for not being detailed enough.
So he could only ask Amber and have her advise him a little.
"Powerful Valkyries?" Hearing Otto's question, a whole list of names immediately surfaced in Amber's mind. But she was a little puzzled. Why did the Lord Overseer want to know which powerful Valkyries hadn't had much contact with him?
After thinking over the people who fit the conditions, Amber understood a little.
These people all had one thing in common: they were not currently attached to Schicksal Headquarters, but had been assigned out to other branches.
Because at Schicksal Headquarters, how could a truly powerful Valkyrie possibly not know Otto?
And if she were truly powerful, Overseer Otto would definitely have invited her over for some "friendly" ideological education.
Was the Lord Overseer trying to strengthen Headquarters' forces?
Amber guessed at it, then quickly gave Otto her answer. She remembered everyone in Schicksal.
"Wendy, current A-rank Valkyrie. Lady Theresa's most outstanding student. She has the aptitude of an S-rank Valkyrie."
"Anna Schariac, current B-rank Valkyrie. She only lacks the seniority for A-rank, and she likewise has S-rank aptitude."
"Maria Schariac, current A-rank Valkyrie. Lady Cecilia's cousin. Likewise S-rank aptitude."
"Angelia Schariac, current A-rank Valkyrie. Lady Cecilia's cousin. Likewise S-rank aptitude."
...
...
"Himeko Murata, A-rank Valkyrie. Current teacher at St. Freya Academy. Highly experienced."
Amber kept talking, and only stopped after reaching Himeko. Otto could only nod, because he didn't know any of these people.
But once Amber finished, Otto tapped his fingers lightly on the desk. "Out of these, who could arrive at Headquarters before tomorrow morning?"
He was carrying out the mission tomorrow. He could postpone it, but Otto felt that as a leader, he couldn't issue an order in the morning and change it that same night.
"Tomorrow morning?" Amber caught the timing, and then it clicked. "You're bringing one of them along on tomorrow's mission?"
"Mm." Otto nodded.
Amber started trying to read his intentions again, but this time the conclusion came easily.
The Lord Overseer wanted to personally cultivate another S-rank Valkyrie.
So his being personally present at the mission site tomorrow was for the sake of giving guidance.
The Lord Overseer, who had cultivated countless outstanding Valkyries, was personally stepping in to train one again after a long absence. Then who would this lucky one be?
Amber had several suitable candidates in mind, but she couldn't let her personal thoughts affect the Lord Overseer's judgment.
She spoke and listed several names—the ones she'd filtered from the list just now.
Otto thought about it. Why were there so many people from the Schariac family in here?
His impression of the Schariac family wasn't bad. His mother had come from the Schariac family, and she'd been a very gentle woman. He really hoped she could live a long, healthy life.
But he was a little puzzled. Why did Amber, when introducing people from the Schariac family, keep adding "so-and-so of Cecilia's"?
Kiana's mother, Cecilia—was she that famous? Only famous people got treated like that.
"Cecilia…" Otto couldn't help murmuring the name, and Amber caught that quiet mutter.
"Lady Cecilia? Lord Overseer, do you want to wake Lady Cecilia?"
"But right now, Lady Cecilia's body and Stigmata are not stable. If she's awakened rashly, something could go wrong."
"And even if Lady Cecilia could wake safely, it would still be hard for her to return to peak condition in a short time."
"Mm." Otto listened and nodded without thinking, but then it sank in, and his eyes narrowed.
Cecilia Schariac was still alive?