"Did you have fun last night, Urien?" Kyuushou asked him with a nasty grin on her face.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Urien, feeling a little guilty, avoids the savior's gaze.

"The lie you two came up with might fool that idiot Tuna, but it won't fool us. Even Bronya realized there are some holes in your story," the grin on her face grew wider as she spoke.

After returning to Saint Freya Academy with Mei, Urien has to get back onto the battleship because of an urgent summon from the Schicksal HQ. Why did the HQ summon them? He didn't know. But he took off from the Academy as soon as he got the order as he didn't want to deal with the stares coming from Theresa and Fu Hua.

He had Kyuushou accompany him as they are a two-man team, Salvino. Yes, Urien asked Kyuushou to name their team, and he regrets it.

They are a team that has only been active for around a month but has done over 20 missions with a 100 percent success rate. Anyone would be jealous of it. Some even tried to poach Kyuushou from him, but they were all refused by the chunni.

Some tried to find the fault of Urien, but they all got nothing but his ID number. They can't even find anything about him. It was as if someone or something was protecting his privacy.

As for the missions, some were simple patrol missions, but sometimes, there were extermination missions and rescue missions, which both of them nailed perfectly.

"Shut up!" Urien retorted. His comeback was awesome.

"FuHaHaHa! Blushing Urien is cute," she laughed out loud when Urien didn't tell her about his nightlife with Mei. Who would want to blabber their nightlife to others? Not him.

Urien shut up his mouth as he knew he'd be digging his own grave if he kept talking. But he wondered why Kyuushou would want to know it as the girl he knew was not someone who is curious about these kinds of things.

*Ring!* *Ring!* *Ring!*

Suddenly, his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he noticed that his friend Bianka was calling him.

"Hello?" Picking up his phone, he answered.

"Oh, Urien! I heard that you'll be coming to the HQ!" Came the voice of his dear friend, whom he had not seen for over a year.

"Oh, you already know about that?" Urien's eyebrow raised a little.

"Yes, I heard it from Amber," a confirmation came from the other side of the phone. She sounds… very pleased.

"Okay…? So, I assume that you are also at the HQ," Urien asked, earning a negative answer.

"Nope, I am currently on a mission," Bianka answered, making his shoulders drop a little.

"Oh… okay," that was all he could answer.

Sensing his tone changed slightly, Bianka tried to cheer up her friend. "Don't worry, Urien. Let's go on a vacation together with Rita when I get my days off," she suggested.

"Hmm… A vacation," Urien thought. "That might be a good idea!" He quickly agreed.

"That's it! I'll try to get some days off from the Overseer!" Bianka replied with some happiness in her tone. As for Rita… She was somewhere else, tending some matters.

"Sure, I'll be waiting," Urien nodded.

"Then, I'll hang up the phone now," Bianka said goodbye and hung up the phone.

Looking at the phone in his hand, Urien muttered, "Oh yeah… I forgot to tell her that I got a girlfriend." Shaking his head, Urien smiled wryly. He wondered how his friend would react to this news.

"Urien… your smile looks creepy," Kyuushou mocked from the side.

"Oh, come on!" the whitehead groaned.

The ride to the HQ was filled with laughter because there is no such thing as boring when one travels together with Kyuushou.

---

Schicksal HQ

Urien and Kyuushou arrived at the Schicksal HQ with their small battleship. The place is enormous, and Urien looked around with awe. This place doesn't look like the Schicksal HQ he knew and grew up.

"That man moved the HQ to a new place… no, he made a freaking flying fortress and made the HQ on top of that… I don't know if I should be happy or angry," Urien thought as he looked around the buildings.

The two of them put their battleship at the hanger, and with the help of the kind Valkyrie who was wearing a short kimono, they arrived at the main building.

Just when Urien was about to thank the girl, she was nowhere to be seen. "Where did she go?" Urien muttered and glanced at the girl standing beside him, but he regretted his choice. He saw Kyuushou with a nasty smirk on her face.

"To see her here… we are very fortunate. Although she looks smaller than the one I knew, as long as it is her, I can work on it," she thought as she looked over at the girl with the Stigma on her arm.

"Urien…," Kyuushou's voice came from the whitehead's side.

"Yes?"

"When you meet her again, try to invite her into our team," Kyuushou advised him.

"Why did you change your mind? I remembered you telling me not to take in another teammate," Urien asked.

"You also noticed, right?" Kyuushou didn't answer Urien's question but asked him one in return.

Staring intensely at Kyuushou, who is looking right back at him with a grin on her face, Urien finally sighed.

"Yes, I did," he nodded. Cut marks and calluses on her hands indicate that she is a hard worker. And both Urien and Kyuushou don't need a genius on their team. As long as they work hard, both of them will welcome them with open arms.

"That's why I had changed my mind," Kyuushou replied. But Urien had other thoughts. They had seen other hard workers. But even then, Kyuushou refused to accept the other Valkyries.

"She must have thought something," Urien thought. And he doesn't want to ask Kyuushou because of the smirk she was making earlier.

After talking, the two turned around to look at the main building in front of them. Heaving out a sigh, Urien walked toward the building with a large stride. But… It ended when they saw a woman outside the building.

Looking at the woman, Urien felt anger swelled up inside him. "That death seeker! Aside from making a clone of Mother, he even made an android similar to her!" Even with that thought in his mind, his facial expression doesn't change. He was using his previous life knowledge to the fullest here. He didn't feel any life force from her; thus, he dubbed the woman in front of him as an android.

Glancing at Urien, Kyuushou chose not to say anything. She could feel the emotions raging inside the whitehead right now, but she ignored it.

"Are you two perhaps from team Salvino?" the woman asked when they arrived in front of her.

"That… is correct," Urien nodded with a heavy face.

"Then, please follow me," the woman turned around as soon as she said that and walked away.

The two also didn't ask any questions and followed behind her.

"This man really looks like Lord Otto," Amber, who was walking in front of the two, thought. That was also the reason why she immediately turned around after talking to them.

They arrived into the room following the woman, which was strikingly similar to the job interview room.

"Please have a seat," the woman offered the whitehead and the savior the seats while she took one in front of them.

Looking at the two students in front of her, the woman introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Mister Urien Gregorios and Miss Houraiji Kyuushou. My name is Amber, and I work as the secretary for Lord Otto," she introduced.

"I… see. So, can you please tell me why the HQ summoned us, Miss Amber?" Urien nodded and asked his question. As for the thing that Amber resembles his mother, he did what he was excelled at, not looking at the woman entirely and only listening to her voice.

"It is about your promotion exam," Amber replied curtly.

"Promotion exam?" Kyuushou tilts her head. Of course, she already knew what that meant, but she needed to play her role.

"Yes, promotion exam," Amber nodded. "After looking at the completion rate of your missions, with the recommendation of Lady Durandal and acknowledgment of Lord Otto, we had decided to promote you to A-Rank Team as well as promoting the two of you to A-Rank Captain and A-Rank Valkyrie," Amber informed them.

"Wait… Durandal? Did you mean Bianka?" Urien's eyes widened.

"That is correct. It was also Lady Durandal who recommended you and the three other students to Saint Freya Academy," Amber replied.

"That's why her voice sounded so smug when we were talking on the phone," Urien sighed. "I should thank her when I meet her again," he thought.

"So… promotion exam," Kyuushou started.

"Yes, promotion exam," Amber nodded. "After you finish this exam, you will be promoted from C Rank team to A-Rank team," Amber answered.

"That… We are skipping a rank?" Urien inquired.

"Yes, it was Lord Otto's order. According to the report we got, you have done 14 C Rank missions, 9 B Rank missions, and 6 A-Rank missions. So, your team is qualified to be an A rank," Amber replied.

After thinking for a while, Urien nodded. "That's fair," he sighed. "Please tell us about the exam," Urien leaned forward.

"Your exam will be…," Amber started.

---

*Scene Change*

"Hey Kyuushou," Urien called out to his teammate/partner beside him.

"Yes, Urien?" The savior replied.

"Why aren't you wearing your battlesuit?" He asked.

"This *is* my battlesuit, Urien," The chuunibyou replied.

"Oh… okay," Urien nodded, and the two kept walking toward their destination.

"Hey, Kyuushou," Urien called out to the girl who was humming a song.

"Yes, Urien?" she replied.

"It is supposed to be the Fall Season in Japan, right?" he asked… again.

"You are correct, Urien," the girl nodded.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me, Kyuushou?" he inquired.

"No, your eyes are still fine, Urien," the 1st Herrscher from another Bubble Universe replied as she created twin daggers from thin air.

"Then, why are sakura flowers blooming in front of us?" The Herrscher of Compassion asked the 2nd Herrscher from another Bubble Universe.

"Blame Honkai Energy if something unusual happens, Urien," the girl replied.

"That sounds about right," cracking his neck, Urien nodded. Holding out a fist to the side, he said, "So, let's start our mission, Kyuushou!"

Smirking, Houraiji Kyuushou chuckled and bumped the whitehead's fist, "Sure, let's start our mission!"