Honkai, why do you only play high-end games?

As she spoke, she looked up and down at Anna beside her, sighing with relief and emotion, and then greeted the two of them warmly.

"Don't delay, come in, come in!"

"Grandma Dean, my name is Anna."

Anna introduced herself to the old man respectfully and concisely.

"What a nice name, it sounds so nice... Go in quickly, don't bother me, haha... I'm old! I walk slowly, so it's better not to waste the time of young people."

As soon as they walked into the gate, the old man urged them to keep going and turned around to close the door.

Anna looked at Captain Jier with some embarrassment.

Jie Er smiled helplessly and left with Anna.

"The dean is just like that. After all these years, she hasn't changed at all... If we continue to stay here, she will be unhappy."

As he spoke, he shook his head and sighed helplessly, smiling bitterly.

The captain seems to be very familiar with this place...

Anna looked at her profile and thought to herself.

But she didn't rush to ask, because she knew that the captain would tell her the answer on his own initiative.

"Sister Jie'er! You came to see us? Eh? This sister is..."

In the distance, a little girl who had not yet grown up ran over and dived into his arms. Behind her were five or six other children who seemed to be playing games together. When they saw Jier coming here, they immediately gathered around.

"Wow! You've grown so big? You're getting prettier and prettier... I almost didn't recognize you..."

Jier rubbed her head and joked with her affectionately, making the little girl smile happily. Then he greeted each child and introduced Anna to them. Finally, he said,

"Okay, go play, I won't disturb you anymore. I'll take your sister Anna for a walk."

"Yeah! Goodbye, sister. Goodbye, sister Anna too!"

The children greeted each other and ran away arm in arm, obviously to continue the game they had just been playing.

"What a lively and polite child."

Anna looked at the children's backs and spoke softly.

She clearly remembered that the captain said that this was an orphanage, so those children who looked lively must have some untouchable pain.

"Yeah, seeing these kids so energetic makes me happy..."

A nostalgic smile appeared on Jie Er's lips, as if he was lost in memories.

"It's really hard for the director to deal with these little guys."

After a long while, Jier sighed deeply and said softly as if suppressing some emotion,

"Come on, go somewhere with me."

Anna nodded slightly. She had a strong ability of empathy and was keenly aware of the captain's subtle mood at the moment.

Jier took Anna to the tall and ancient church. It was empty but spotlessly clean.

Jie Er looked up, sighed, and took out a neat photo from somewhere. She touched the little face in the photo with nostalgia, smiled softly and said,

"Andre, I'm taking you home!"

Chapter 69: Blessings (5,000 words)

As if sensing the sadness in the captain's tone, Anna felt as if something had hit her heart.

She was very familiar with the name "Ander".

It was the A-rank Valkyrie who served as the deputy captain of the Snow Lotus Team before she came and was later "transferred away". She remembered it because the incident left such a deep impression on her.

"team leader?"

Anna called out worriedly.

"fine."

Jie Er smiled at Anna, indicating that everything was normal, and then said softly,

"Let's go?"

As if asking for her opinion, Anna nodded quickly.

Unexpectedly, although this church looked very tall, it was effortless to push open its closed door. Jier simply put his hand on it and exerted a little force, then he moved back and forth as his hand moved forward.

It's like opening the door to welcome you.

Inside the door was a spacious and bright church. The neat rows of seats were old but wiped very clean. It was solemn, quiet, empty and lonely. The footsteps of the two people echoed in the surroundings with empty echoes.

It was necessary to keep quiet in the church, so neither of them spoke, but just walked forward in silence.

Jier walked very slowly, stroking the long wooden seats one by one with gentle and delicate movements; Anna also walked slowly with her, watching the captain in front of her whose temperament gradually changed from hard to soft and weak.

In a trance, Anna felt as if she was walking through her life with her.

Walking to the empty podium, Jier looked up at the solemn murals high up. After a long time, he sighed softly and bowed slowly and solemnly towards the empty space in front of him.

"When I was a child, I stood here, listening to the heroic stories told by the director, and looking up at the colorful murals. I was still young then, and none of us were as tall as we are now. I thought, 'They are so high, so high... I had to crane my neck very high to see the whole picture clearly...' I wondered if I grew older and taller, would I not have to crane my neck so high?"

Captain Jie Er told the story of her childhood quietly, and then laughed at herself.

"Looking at them now, I realize they're still very tall. There haven't been many changes since then... Haha, come to think of it, those were heroes from mythology... How could it be so easy for mortals to reach them?"

"team leader……"

Anna seemed to sense the sadness and bitterness in Jier's tone, but she didn't know what to say to comfort her.

"Don't look at me like that. It's not that I'm rude, it's just that the dean has never asked us to keep quiet here!"

Jie Er suddenly laughed again, with the same hearty laughter as usual.

"You just came at the wrong time. If it were before, the noise here would have made you scream!"

"The dean likes to see children making noise. She says that's vitality and energy, and God loves energetic children... Anna, listen, this is truly a white lie..."

Jier said as he walked to the left, his tone calm and indifferent.

"If there really is a 'God' in this world, He would only want us to die."

Anna felt a lump in her heart. She had never felt the heaviness so clearly as she did now.

As a descendant of the Shaniyat family, she knew the history of Tianming clearly.

Once upon a time, Tianming united the people in the name of God and religion in order to gain strength and resources to fight against the invasion of Honkai. Later, with the gradual development of science and technology and the popularization of education, Tianming slowly and decisively abandoned its religious color and gradually became the purely military organization it is today.

Because: God is the enemy.

But humans have no way out.

Behind the glorious "mission" and "glory" of the Valkyrie lies the unknown "cruelty" and "heaviness".

And there is "sacrifice".

If you go around the back of the stage from the left, you can see a small door with a wooden cabinet at the door and several photo frames made of wood on it.

Jier gently picked up one, carefully put the photo in her hand into it, then held it gently in her arms, took out a key from her pocket, inserted it into the door lock, gently turned it twice, and pushed the door open with a "click".

As soon as the door opened, Jier was stunned.

Anna could see clearly that it was a small, somewhat dim room, with only a small window letting in a ray of light. There were several rows of heavily painted tables, with five picture frames neatly arranged on them, all of which looked like the one in Jier's hand.

On both sides of the photo, the same white candles have burned one-third of their light, and the jumping orange-red flames illuminate the same sweet smiles in the photo.

"The dean is really something..." Jier smiled bitterly.

The only difference is that those smiles belong to five different girls.

Jier solemnly placed the photo in her hand next to theirs, and the six girls were reunited.

Jier also gently lit two white candles on both sides of Ander's photo, emitting the same warm orange light.

"Anna, I want to ask you for a favor..."

Jier's gaze lingered on each of the six photos for a moment, and he spoke softly in a calm tone, without turning back. He just looked at the six familiar faces with nostalgia.

"Captain, you say."

Anna quickly responded, moving a little closer.

"Next time... please send me here."

Jie Er still didn't turn around, but just stretched out his hand and gently pointed to a place where there were a few empty spaces for photos, his tone still calm.

"Just put me there."

"team leader!"

Anna's heart trembled, but she pretended to be angry and shouted,

"This joke is not funny at all!"

Although he was shouting, his voice was actually very low, as if he was afraid of disturbing the six girls.

"Although this is a little sudden, I have to trouble you, my partner, Anna!"

Jie Er turned around, with a smile that was half nostalgic, half expectant, and a hint of apology on his face, and then turned back again, with a melancholy tone.

"After all... I'm the last one here."

"I told you not to joke like that!"

Anna refused angrily. After hesitating for a long time, Anna bit her lip and asked a question hesitantly. She was worried that this question would hurt her captain.

"...Are they...all Valkyries?"

"Yeah. We became Valkyries together, then were assigned to different teams. Some died on the battlefield, and some... hehe. Now we're reunited. Isn't that a good thing?"

Jie Er nodded, and after a while, he chuckled and said,

"After all, this is an orphanage funded by Heaven's Will, and most of the people in it are children who survived the Honkai... So, isn't it reasonable for Heaven's Will to recruit soldiers from here?"

Anna suddenly turned around and looked outside, because there were still some children playing and frolicking in that direction;

The souls sleeping here, they once played and frolicked there.

"It's not as scary as you think. Tianming's conscription is based on voluntary participation."

Jie Er came over and gently patted Anna's trembling shoulders, smiling and comforting her.

"We all volunteered, them and me."

Anna shed tears, but looked at her captain stubbornly. She didn't know why she was stubborn.

Looking at her fragile yet pretending to be strong, Jie Er suddenly smiled and said with some emotion,

"You are really different from us..."

Anna wiped the water stains from the corners of her eyes and said with some dissatisfaction,

"What's the difference? Aren't we all Valkyries? You volunteered, don't act like I was forced!"

"You misunderstood, Anna, I apologize."

Jier shook her head and gently brushed Anna's shoulders, as if to brush away the non-existent dust on her body, and as if to brush away the burden in her heart.

"We are both Valkyries, the same, but also different... Anna, I'm glad we are different..."

"Just because my last name is Shaniyat? So you think I'm some rich girl?"

Anna seemed to be humiliated and interrupted her with gritted teeth.

"If that's the case, then you really must apologize to me! Captain Jer Mist!"

"From the perspective of willfulness, she is quite a lady."

Jier glanced at her, put on a stern face, and said.

Anna was instantly deflated, remembering some of the bad things she had done before.

Jier chuckled and said,

"I really like the way you look when you're full of energy and enthusiasm, like a proud rooster—uh, is that not a very appropriate way to describe a girl?"

Jier scratched her head, looking troubled. Anna was both amused and confused at the sight of her.

"Anna, what do you think of the scenery along the way? How do you feel?"