Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

Just as Keng Huo was coughing and trying to pull the chicken leg out, he discovered that the chicken leg was too big and was stuck...

Kiana observed Keng Huo for a while and, after discovering that he couldn't pull it out at all, seemed quite satisfied with her masterpiece and clapped her hands, then casually smeared the oil on her hands onto Keng Huo's clothes.

"By the way, can you smell anything?" Mei suddenly looked towards the kitchen with some concern. "It smells like something's burning..."

"Impossible, the food has already been served, hasn't it?" Himeko waved her hand. "It's probably just that the food in the dorm downstairs burned and the smell is coming up here."

"Hmm...that makes sense..." Mei thought about it carefully, and then looked at the food on the table. It seemed that everything had been served, but Mei's unease did not lessen.

By the time Keng Huo finally managed to bite the chicken leg off with great difficulty and spit it out of his mouth, there was no longer any need for his reminder.

"No! The dumplings I put in the steamer to heat up!" Theresa jumped up, screaming as if waking from a dream, and ran to the kitchen, followed by her screams of agony, "Ah, it's so hot! It's so hot! It's dry! It's dry! It's dry!"

Upon hearing this, everyone rushed over, surrounding the kitchen in layers. Theresa was seen anxiously stamping her feet next to the steamer that smelled burnt, waving her hands and yelling, "It's burnt! It's burnt! What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?!"

Keng Huo sighed, turned off the stove, grabbed the rag he used to wipe the stove, soaked it in water, wrapped it around the handle of the steamer, and put the steamer into the sink.

Mei then stepped forward, grabbed Theresa's hands, and asked her with concern if she had been burned.

Although the Valkyrie's physique is extraordinary and her recovery ability is far beyond that of a normal person, being thoroughly scalded by a scalding hot steamer is not something that can be cured in just a few seconds.

"Let's rinse them with cool water first to cool them down," Mei said, looking at Theresa's hands. Although they were all red, they didn't seem to be seriously injured, and there were no blisters. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you feel it's serious? Should we put some burn ointment on them?"

Before Theresa could reply, Keng Huo solemnly brought over a bottle, turned it upside down, and seemed to want to pour some of the contents into Theresa's hand.

"You should apply this to anything that's been roasted by fire," Keng Huo said confidently.

"Mmm, thank you!" Because the light was blocked, Theresa couldn't see what the bottle contained.

But Mei, who often cooks, sensed something was wrong. She lifted Theresa's hand, brought it to her nose and sniffed it gently, and her expression changed drastically.

“This…this is…” Mei looked at Keng Huo with the same gaze one would give an unknown alien creature, then seemed to realize something, her eyes involuntarily filled with pity and schadenfreude.

“Why does this medicine…smell weird…it smells like…” Theresa followed suit and brought her hand to her nose to smell it, her expression turning somewhat strange, “Cumin powder?”

“Yes, roasted pig's trotters definitely need some cumin powder to make them fragrant, that’s common sense,” Keng Huo said seriously.

"Keng Huo! Today I'm going to make you taste my Super Homu Flying Kick! Don't run! You dare run if you dare!"

Chapter Twenty-Nine: This isn't what we agreed on, Director!

After a chaotic scene of chickens and dogs running amok, everyone began to painstakingly clean up the mess.

Of course, except for Himeko and Keng Huo.

Himeko, drunk, was hugging a clothes hanger and asking for the other person's phone number, while Keng Huo was hanging upside down on the wall by Theresa to reflect on his actions.

"You can't do this to me! I shed blood for destiny! I took a bullet for the bishop! You can't do this to me! Put me down! I want to see the commander!" Keng Huo swung restlessly against the wall, but no one paid him any attention.

Unable to bear the silence, Keng Huo turned to Theresa: "Headmistress! I know I was wrong, please put me down!"

"Dream on!" Theresa said through gritted teeth. "You can hang me up until tomorrow morning!"

"But...but..." Keng Huo's face shifted dramatically, "I ate too much just now..."

"Stop...wait! What are you doing?!"

"I...I can't hold it in anymore..." Keng Huo made a face as if he was about to vomit.

"Stop! No, shut up!" Theresa quickly took Keng Huo down from the wall and angrily threw him aside. "You can't help with anything, all you do is cause trouble!"

“But…” Keng Huo opened his mouth as if he wanted to argue something.

"Don't talk back!" Theresa knew that if Keng Huo opened his mouth to refute, given his wild imagination, he might actually find a reasonable excuse not to do any work, and might even criticize her. So before Keng Huo could say anything meaningful, she quickly stopped him and threw him into the closet.

"Then I really should thank you for not forgetting me in the closet." Keng Huo walked back to the teachers' dormitory with Theresa, his face full of black lines. "I was thinking that I might be spending the night in the girls' dormitory for the first time in my life, and I was a little excited."

"Then you will be sent to the security department and subjected to physical XX."

Keng Huo looked around and spoke of other things.

"Honestly, they're all like tigers when they eat, but they're such idiots when they finish," Theresa said angrily as she wiped the table. "But thankfully, the exams are over now, and we've obtained our first batch of Valkyries who can be put into operation at the academy. Now St. Freya Academy can be considered to be officially on the right track."

"Well, so what are you planning to do next, Headmaster?" Keng Huo asked listlessly, following Theresa. "These Valkyries can't be considered official Valkyries yet, since they've only just passed the assessment. The core of the academy is still the same group of subordinates you brought over at the beginning."

"These new recruits haven't even decided on their own fighting styles yet, and the team assignments are very random. There's no rational basis for them at all. It's basically just whoever gets along with whom automatically forms a team," Keng Huo complained along the way. "It feels as random as assigning seats in elementary school."

"Moreover, this new batch of Valkyries lacks practical combat experience and solid research and development technology. The development of the academy requires a large amount of research materials, a research institution with a certain degree of independent research and development capabilities, a core force with strong combat capabilities, a mature intelligence organization, and substantial financial support," Keng Huo sighed. "So, Headmaster, just lay your cards on the table. I've never understood why you're so confident, nor do I know what hidden strength St. Freya Academy possesses besides what I've seen. I can only see that St. Freya Academy's high-end combat power is not bad, but that's all. Although there is an S-rank Valkyrie in charge, the number of A-rank Valkyries is simply too small."

"Now that the first batch of students has graduated, which means the first step of the academy's plan has been completed, as our BOSS, you have to tell us what to do next, right?" Keng Huo turned his head and asked Theresa with a frown.

Theresa's face visibly stiffened.

Keng Huo sensed the atmosphere was a bit awkward. Before he could ask, Theresa's eyes darted around: "Of...of course there's a next step in the plan...Well...since you asked, then I'll...maybe tomorrow, oh no, the day after tomorrow, I'll tell you then..."

Keng Huo felt his right eyebrow twitch violently, and a bad premonition suddenly flashed through his mind, growing clearer and clearer: "Huh?"

"What are you yelling about!" Theresa glared fiercely at Keng Huo. "You dare to question your boss?"

Keng Huo saw through Theresa's facade of strength at a glance. He silently swallowed and asked in a trembling voice, "I said... you wouldn't... you wouldn't..."

Theresa immediately turned her face away, pretending to look around at the scenery.

"You don't actually have any next steps in your plan, do you?!" Keng Huo said in a tone that sounded like he was about to collapse.

Wait a minute, director! This isn't in the script!!!

"Hahaha... How could that be... I always plan things out before I do them..." However, Theresa didn't dare to turn her face to look at Keng Huo.

"Then tell me what's next?!" Keng Huo was getting impatient. "These newly recruited Valkyries will soon recover from the joy of passing the exam, and then they'll find they have nothing to do! Continue attending classes? They've already graduated; go on missions? Even if there are missions, can we send these newbies out to do them? We have too few experienced Valkyries; it's impossible to assign them to every squad!"

"Do you intend to send these complete rookies who have never experienced anything to the battlefield? To Changkong City? What are they going to do there? Send them to their deaths?!" Keng Huo practically roared these words. "Or are you going to do what academies in human society do, sending the Valkyries they train to other branches or headquarters to take up positions?!"

"Those are my students!" Keng Huo's eyes were fixed on Theresa, as if he wanted to pin the little girl to the ground with his gaze. "You want to send them to a place where Valkyries are used as battlefield expendables and experimental subjects?!"

“They are my students too!” Theresa retorted without backing down, her gaze unwavering. “Of course I won’t send them to their deaths! Besides, St. Freya Academy is a training institution designed to cultivate Valkyries who cherish their own lives. The conflict between its educational philosophy and that of the main campus dictates that Valkyries trained in these two places cannot work together!”

But then her momentum faltered: "But...but..."

She looked down at her toes, like a deflated balloon, her voice gradually tinged with unease and helplessness: "But I've thought about it for a long time... and there's just no solution..."

"I'm not good at management, and neither am I, Himeko. Rather than managers, we're more like super soldiers and commanders. Managing an academy... we've never done anything like that before."

Theresa's voice lowered, as if she were recalling something: "The orders we receive have always been very simple: go where, kill what, kill how many. There is no questioning, only obedience."

"I don't want my students to become like that. That kind of life is not what Valkyries should have..."

“That’s why I brought you to St. Freya Academy.” Theresa raised her head, staring intently at Keng Huo with her blue eyes, her voice trembling slightly. “Please help me.”

“I’ve never been a particularly bright person. Even the construction of St. Freya Academy was a bumpy road. In the beginning, I had nothing but my loyal subordinates and the Hyperion. For so many years, I’ve been planning how to build this academy, how to enroll students, and how to obtain land use rights without using the power of destiny…”

"In your eyes, we're all fools, lacking long-term planning, acting rashly, and doing whatever comes to mind," Theresa's voice slowly trembled with tears and a hint of grievance, as if she were trying to hold back something, "But I really love this academy..."

"I want her to radiate a brilliance that only she can radiate."

"I hope she can give birth to a kind, upright, life-loving, and just Valkyrie."

“I hope she can bring real light to the lifeless interior of Destiny.”

"I hope... she can protect humanity, in the right way..."

“Keng Huo, you know that the Valkyries of Destiny… in my grandfather’s eyes, they are nothing but expendable resources. If these students leave my protection, they will soon become guinea pigs on the experimental table, bullet casings on the battlefield…” Theresa’s voice was a little choked up. “But that’s why I hope you can come and teach at St. Freya Academy.”

"Neither Himeko nor I are smart people, I admit... but you are."

“So…please…” Theresa looked at Keng Huo with expectant eyes, “I was going to talk to you about these things in the next couple of days, but since you’ve brought it up now, I’ll tell you.”

"St. Freya Academy is in a state of confusion right now, and it needs your help."

"OK?"

Keng Huo remained silent, looking at Theresa's face, which could almost be described as cautious, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

After a long silence, Keng Huo finally spoke slowly: "I need you to answer one question for me first."

"No, there are many questions."

"why me?"

"I mean, why did you rescue me from the dark prison in the first place? Why did you insist that I teach at St. Freya Academy?"

"And why do you trust me?"

"And how do you know Elisa? You promised to help me find Elisa. Was that really true?"

“Answer me, Theresa, if your answer satisfies me…”

“No reason.” Theresa stared into his bewildered eyes and gave him an answer he hadn’t expected. “I just feel that you can trust me.”

"Your registration information with Schicksal indicates you are a fugitive, accused of attacking multiple Valkyries and Schicksal's research institutions, and destroying a great many valuable instruments."

"But I noticed that the Valkyries you attacked only lost consciousness and did not suffer any real harm, and there were no casualties among the researchers affected."

Theresa opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't utter a word. After a long while, she seemed to have made up her mind and continued, "As for the research facility you destroyed... I know a little about it. Some biological experiments were being conducted there... I don't know the specific experiments, but I believe... I just believe that you, who have never used lethal force, and who only temporarily incapacitated the Valkyries during their pursuit, are not a bad person..."

“You have strong combat capabilities. You can infiltrate heavily guarded research institutions without making a sound. I hope that someone like you can become an ace in St. Freya Academy in times of emergency.”

“I also know that you possess mysterious technologies that are unknown to outsiders, technologies that even Schicksal desperately wants to obtain… I also hope that you, with such irreplaceable abilities, will become a mentor in research at St. Freya Academy.”

“I know you come from the Divine Continent. No Honkai events have occurred on that continent in recent years. Even the organizations that were once active in fighting Honkai have disappeared. I don’t know the secrets behind this, nor do I want to find out. After all, it may be a secret you don’t want to tell.”

“You are intelligent, as can be seen from your ability to escape from Destiny’s pursuit on multiple occasions. You have even almost succeeded in disappearing right under Destiny’s nose several times, but you failed due to bad luck each time… I hope your wisdom can help me.”

"As for Elisa... I'm sorry I can't tell you the answer right now. Seeking this answer is far too dangerous. Even I would need some time and luck to get the answer you want. But I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to help you find her. This is the promise of an S-rank Valkyrie."

“I’m sorry… I know I have high expectations of you, perhaps even exceeding your capabilities, and I also know that what you can get from me may not be worth what I hope to get from you…”

"But... I'm desperate..."

"Sorry……"

Theresa looked at Keng Huo somewhat nervously, as if waiting for his answer, or perhaps organizing her thoughts for the next sentence.

But Keng Huo didn't need her to say anything more; he already knew enough.

He learned of the hardships this school principal, who had left her hometown, endured to establish a branch in this uncharted territory without the support of the main campus.

He learned that she was so short-handed that she had to take a gamble and choose a suitable helper from Fate's list of fugitives.

He even learned about her efforts to bring the fugitive out of the heavily guarded black jail and the compromises she made with headquarters.

He learned of the pain she had endured, spending countless nights at her desk pondering the school's future development but achieving nothing.

He also realized that she actually knew very little about herself.