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Dispatching Ana to the Far East Branch wasn't an immediate process, akin to how employees need to complete handover tasks before leaving their jobs.
First, Schicksal Headquarters had to send a formal notice to the Far East Branch. Only after receiving their response could they finalize Ana's transition at Headquarters and transfer her over.
And there were numerous matters for Ana to handle during this transition.
The promotion ceremony as an S-rank Valkyrie, assuming the role of Schariac family head, handing over the new Godslayer Armor... To put it mildly, the situation was far more complex than just these items.
For instance, consider Ana's ties with the Snow Lotus Squad.
Typically, with only Ana remaining as the vice-captain, the squad should be disbanded. However, due to her commendable efforts in rescuing many civilians, she earned significant recognition.
Of course, even without those achievements, as an S-rank Valkyrie, leading a Valkyrie Squad would still be a reasonable standard configuration.
As for squads like the Immortal Blades, they exceed the usual setup—Cecilia's Snow Wolf squad never enjoyed such privileges back in its time.
Ultimately, with Bianka and Rita firmly under Otto's control, he also needed to place Rita as a covert operative near the real Kiana.
As for whether Rita could be swayed? To Otto, their relationship mirrored that of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Zhao Gao in Shenzhou history; as long as he was around, Rita wouldn't dare overstep her bounds.
Like her mentor Ragna, Rita was highly intelligent.
Moreover, even with both Kiana and Rita together, they posed little threat to his grand plan. Under this premise, Otto preferred to treat people generously whenever possible.
In essence, every decision Otto made revolved around whether it would impact his mission to revive Kallen. When sacrifices were necessary, Valkyries became mere expendable resources.
However, teaching Valkyries about love and beauty struck Otto as utterly foolish. After all, Honkai cannot be dissuaded by such ideals alone.
Rita did not inform Ana about Otto's intention to transfer her to the Far East Branch. Likely, Rita assumed Schicksal Headquarters held greater emotional significance for Ana, making it harder for her to leave.
If Ana were still her old self, that would indeed be true. As a member of the Schariac family, she had close ties with Schicksal Headquarters—her relatives and friends like Rita and Bianka all resided there.
Unfortunately, Ana was no longer the same person. Instead, her sole focus now was to slip away to Saint Freya Academy.
However, on the surface, she couldn't reveal these intentions yet. For now, she continued undergoing various training sessions from Rita.
In a lavishly decorated, classical-style office, Ana sat at the desk, staring at the mountain of documents piled high before her, feeling overwhelmed.
She then looked pitifully at Rita beside her.
"Rita, do I need to finish reviewing all these today?"
"Certainly," Rita nodded gracefully. "As an S-Class Valkyrie of Schicksal, administrative skills are essential qualities."
"But, aren't these not even Schicksal's documents?" Ana picked up one randomly, skimmed through it briefly, and questioned.
"Of course. These documents have accumulated over years within the Schariac household. Ever since Lady Cecilia's passing, the position of family head has remained vacant."
Though Rita's expression remained unchanged as she spoke, there was a hint of schadenfreude in her voice—she vividly recalled Amber's face when handing over these files.
It had been one of numbness and pity.
"It seems Lord Bishop wants to hone Ana's administrative skills so she can assist Lady Theresa," Rita surmised internally. Her guess wasn't far off from Otto's intentions; indeed, he aimed to send Theresa a versatile assistant.
"Ahh—" Ana let out a mournful sigh, slumped forward onto the desk, and muttered despairingly, "Just let me die! Let me die!"
"This is worse than battling Honkai Beasts!"
Alas, no matter how Ana lamented, Rita, acting as her overseer, showed no sympathy. In Rita's eyes, this was all for Ana's own good.
With a specialized skill, you'll be less vulnerable at the Far East Branch, Lady Ana, Rita thought silently. However, such concerns were likely unwarranted, given that S-Class Valkyries were exceedingly rare even at Schicksal Headquarters, and Theresa eagerly sought talented individuals. How could she possibly mistreat Ana?
Rita thought to herself silently. Of course, such concerns were unwarranted; S-rank Valkyries were as rare as phoenix feathers even within Schicksal Headquarters. With Lady Theresa eagerly seeking talent, there was no way she would ostracize Ana.
In reality, Rita's considerations stemmed more from Ana's personality. If not for her somewhat timid nature, Ana might have directly become captain of the Snow Lotus Squad. However, under those circumstances, it's likely she wouldn't have survived for long.
Perhaps this is a matter of cause and effect, Rita mused. In some sense, it might indeed be true, albeit with the caveat that Ana becoming an S-rank Valkyrie itself was quite unexpected.
Day by day, Ana endured this torturous routine, beginning to question her very identity as a Valkyrie amidst her workaholic existence.
She should have been out there combating Honkai, hunting down Honkai Beasts, not cooped up inside doing administrative tasks every day. Why was she stuck here instead?
She ought to protest to the Lord Bishop—yeah right.
Ana didn't possess the courage to confront Otto, so all she could do was resign herself to her fate.
During this period, however, something occurred that further dampened Ana's spirits: Bianka went on a mission.
"What? You're deploying?"
In the office, Ana looked up at Bianka with disbelief written all over her face.
"That's correct." Bianka nodded earnestly. "A Honkai incident occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Lord Bishop has dispatched me there for support."
"Oh, Bianka, my dear friend, please help me out! Beg the bishop to let me join you!" Ana emerged from beneath the pile of documents, stood beside Bianka, and pleaded while gently shaking her arm. If she had to deal with these trivial paperwork any longer, she felt like she would snap.
"Sorry." A wry smile crossed Bianka's face. No wonder Rita wore that expression when she learned Bianka was coming to see Ana; the bishop truly seemed on the verge of driving her insane.
Unfortunately, regardless of the situation, a mission is a mission. She couldn't bring Ana along, though in the past, she might have found a way to negotiate it.
However, now, deploying S-rank Valkyries casually was not feasible. This was just a minor Honkai event, unlikely to even spawn an Imperial Honkai Beast, so mobilizing two S-rank Valkyries would be excessive.
"But I'll do my best to plead your case with the bishop," Bianka reassured her.
"Wahh, thank you so much, Bianka! You're truly my best friend! I love you dearly!"