"Achoo!"
The man with deep brown hair sneezed unexpectedly. Seizing the moment when no one was paying attention, he discreetly conjured a soft tissue with his Honkai Energy and wiped his nose.
"Weird, I don't think I'm sick."
Welt Yang took a few seconds to check his body before tossing the tissue into the trash can at St. Freya Academy.
This paper, conjured by the Herrscher of Reason, would exist for a few hours before quietly dissolving into Honkai Energy and returning to Earth's energy cycle.
Continuing his stride, he soon arrived at the faculty cafeteria of the academy.
The faculty cafeteria was a relatively small room, separated from the student cafeteria by a wall and a door, with both sharing the serving area.
There weren't many people inside, but there were several male faces, most of them older, some with graying hair, yet they looked lively.
Welt knew that these were all the male staff members of St. Freya Valkyries—mostly teachers responsible for teaching courses.
"Welt, dining here again today?" asked the gray-haired old professor with a smile.
Welt smiled wryly in response, "Yeah, it's... quieter over here."
In fact, most of St. Freya's teachers dined with students in the large cafeteria. However, every time Welt ate there, he couldn't help but feel the students' curious gazes drifting towards him.
This troubled Welt greatly because using the powers of the Herrscher of Reason required him to maintain a keen awareness of this world, analyzing the cognition governing everything. The Valkyries' intense stares made it hard for him to eat peacefully.
Every time he glanced around and gave warning looks to these people, the Valkyrie students would giggle and turn their heads away. But once Welt resumed eating, they would sneak glances at the man with deep brown hair again.
It was well known that males in a girls' school were a rare commodity, and after forming cliques, some of these girls were just as proactive in certain aspects of their thoughts as boys, if not more so.
Moreover, Welt had a unique temperament, not to mention he was good-looking, gentle, and articulate—a clear indication of a good man, naturally drawing attention.
Another middle-aged male teacher stirred his spoon and smirked, "You kid don't appreciate your luck... If it were me, I'd enjoy the attention out in the main hall."
The old professor nudged him, "Dylan, let me remind you, your wife is a Valkyrie, and she's also a teacher here at St. Freya. Who knows, she might have heard what you just said."
"Oh, she's probably still in class, and I was just fantasizing, fantasizing."
Then, the middle-aged man sighed, "But with your expression, it doesn't look too good. Love life must be tough for you."
Welt exaggeratedly raised his eyebrows, "Reading expressions? You mean those ancient divination methods from Shenzhou?"
"Well... not exactly. It's more of an intuition—I see a shadow of one of my programmer friends in you. He wore glasses, spoke slowly, and smiled gently."
The middle-aged man gestured with his hands, "Technically, he should be considered a high-quality asset, but he hadn't found a girlfriend until he was forty, not even knowing many girls. Every time he went on a date, he'd shrink back like a snail when he saw a girl— I feel like your temperament is quite similar to his; neither of you is good at dealing with girls."
For some reason, an image of a girl with red hair flashed through Welt's mind.
He waved his hand with a smile, "Actually, I do have a few acquaintances who are girls."
"Don't deny that you're not good at dealing with girls, right? But I'm different; back in the day, I was quite the ladies' man!"
The middle-aged teacher patted his chest, striking a bodybuilding pose, "Do you need me to impart some experience on how to interact with Valkyries? I'm quite experienced, Mr. Welt."
"Oh? Can you tell me about the specific process of 'being quite the ladies' man'? My dear?"
A voice, tinged with some resentment, sounded from behind the middle-aged teacher. His body stiffened instantly, turning his head as if he were a malfunctioning robot.
The old professor and Welt sighed together; they had noticed his wife walking over from the student cafeteria earlier. They had even attempted to subtly signal him to tone it down, but he was oblivious.
And then, things went south very smoothly.
The Valkyrie effortlessly lifted the middle-aged teacher as if she were catching a chick.
"My dear, why are you here?"
Faced with the middle-aged teacher's ingratiating attitude, the Valkyrie didn't appreciate it, "Hmph, my morning classes are over... Those two classes were particularly frustrating; every student seemed distracted, unable to answer questions when called upon... My teaching skills can't be that bad, right?"
"It's probably because they're interested in the guests from the Far East Branch who are visiting today... Even students have the chance to interact with one of the strongest Valkyries, Durandal, right? Such news is bound to distract them."
The old professor replied, "Who would have thought that the headquarters would send S-rank Valkyrie Durandal to inspect our work? Even the students have the opportunity to interact with one of the strongest Valkyries... This news is sure to distract them."
The Valkyrie's tone sounded a bit frustrated, "I don't know where they got the news from; it was several hours earlier than the information I received from the work system..."
The middle-aged man, still suspended in the air, cautiously said, "My dear, actually, some well-informed people knew about this yesterday. After all, Durandal is so famous that one glance reveals her identity."
The Valkyrie became furious, "You knew about it yesterday? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I, I thought your friend had already told you..."
"My friends don't work at St. Freya!" (shaking vigorously)
Welt watched as the middle-aged teacher spun helplessly in his wife's grip, his eyes seeing stars, feeling a pang of sympathy. He reminded, "Valentina, Dylan is just an ordinary person; he's about to pass out..."
"Oh!" The Valkyrie realized she had exerted too much force in her anger. She quickly set the middle-aged man down, "Darling, are you okay?"
"I... I'm fine, ugh..."
The man looked like he was about to vomit, so the Valkyrie swiftly scooped him up and dashed to the infirmary at a hundred meters sprint.
"Urgh!"
It's hard to say whether it was because of the previous jostling or the sprint-style rescue that made him throw up.
The old professor sighed, "I really don't know how Dylan managed to win over Valentina, a Valkyrie... There's such a big difference in physical fitness, I wonder how they spend their nights."
"Well, without Honkai Energy, Valkyries aren't that different from ordinary girls... probably."
Welt looked into the distance, murmuring softly, "I actually really want to see what the strongest Valkyrie, Durandal, is like and how powerful she really is..."
After all, he still had the responsibility of being the Anti-Entropy Leader. It was only natural to investigate the combat effectiveness of the S-rank Valkyrie of Destiny.