49: Chapter 46 Shenzhou Airport

When the few of them walked into the classroom, Welt Yang at the podium was already flipping through his lesson plans.

He was wearing that faded grey shirt, with black-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and was reviewing today's lesson on the podium.

Seeing Kaiwen walk by, he greeted her gently.

"Morning, student Kaiwen."

"Morning, Teacher Yang."

For a month now, Kaiwen had been able to exchange greetings with the Anti-Entropy Sovereign extremely smoothly and without changing her expression.

Before coming to Saint Freya, she already knew that Welt Yang worked here as a history teacher.

However, knowing was one thing, and watching a Herrscher and Anti-Entropy Sovereign lecture a group of teenage girls on the Honkai Chronicles with her own eyes every day was quite another.

Soon, the class bell rang.

Welt picked up a piece of chalk and turned around: "Today we will continue with last week's material."

Kaiwen propped her chin with one hand, letting her mind wander a bit as she listened.

Inside her mind, Rin's voice faintly floated up:

[The Honkai Energy fluctuations on this man seem to have gotten weaker again.]

Kaiwen muttered inwardly: [Weaker? Well, that's normal, after all, it's Yang's sit-ups.]

[Sit-ups?] Deep within the Stigma space, Yae Sakura's voice was drawn over with a trace of confusion, [Does that refer to some kind of body-tempering technique? Has this person integrated Honkai Energy into their physical breathing and cultivation?]

Kaiwen almost laughed out loud: [No, it means every time everyone thinks he's going to sacrifice himself and kick the bucket, he manages to get back up in some extremely bizarre way, and the key is it happens more than once, making everyone think he's practically immortal.]

Yae Sakura pondered for a long time, seemingly trying to understand this modern vocabulary: [...To possess such tenacious vitality? Truly an extraordinary person.]

With that, Yae Sakura sank back into the depths of the Stigma.

On the podium, Welt Yang put down the chalk in his hand, a rare solemnity added to his tone:

"1955, North America. A large-scale leakage of Honkai Energy triggered a devastating disaster."

Kaiwen raised an eyebrow.

What was written in Schicksal's official textbook was "North America Branch accident", so how did it become a leakage in old Yang's mouth?

If Otto heard this... Oh, good grief, smuggling Anti-Entropy's historical view right into class and tricking students into investigating Schicksal's dark history, huh?

Welt turned around and wrote four characters on the blackboard: Herrscher of Reason.

"The first generation Herrscher of Reason, Welt Joyce."

His speaking speed unconsciously slowed down, but his tone seemed to carry an unstoppable pride: "In that catastrophe, the first generation Herrscher of Reason, Welt Joyce, single-handedly endured a Honkai Energy impact far exceeding the limits of the human body, buying time for hundreds of thousands of civilians to evacuate."

Speaking up to this point, Teacher Welt raised his gaze slightly, looking at the blue sky outside the window.

"Prior to that, he had already intervened in Honkai disasters with his personal strength many times, protecting a vast number of innocent lives. It can be said that in the era when he was active, the four characters 'Herrscher of Reason' were humanity's most solid shield."

He pushed up his glasses.

"No matter from which angle one evaluates him, he is... a truly remarkable hero."

Kaiwen sat below, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.

Teacher Yang, the personal bias you're sneaking into this class is way too obvious.

Although I know you're mourning your guide, praising the founder of Anti-Entropy as a Deliverance hero right on Schicksal's turf—Archbishop Otto's budget cuts are truly not unjustified at all!

——

The class bell rang.

Welt Yang closed his lesson plans and left. Just as Kaiwen was about to lie down to catch up on sleep, a series of footsteps were already walking over this way from the front row.

Here they come.

Kaiwen sighed silently in her heart.

Monitor Fu Hua held a stack of homework notebooks and stopped steadily in front of Kaiwen's desk.

Her back was held straight, her silver-grey short hair was combed meticulously, and those eyes gazed quietly at Kaiwen.

"Yuan has angelica, Li has orchids; I think of the noble one, but dare not speak it. Yet the reason I dare not speak is not that I have nothing to say, but that I fear what I say might be inappropriate. Student Kaiwen, although you have been diligent recently, there is still an air of indolence between your brows. You should reflect upon yourself with the precept of 'reverence and caution to never fail', and not let others increase their worries in vain."

Kaiwen nodded without changing her expression: "Alright, Monitor, I'll pay attention to it."

Monitor Fu Hua nodded slightly and turned around to continue collecting the homework notebooks for the next group.

Then Kaiwen turned her head to look at Bronya.

Bronya, with a expressionless face, brought up a screen: "According to Project Bunny's database comparison, the opening sentence quoted by the Monitor comes from Qu Yuan's 'The Lady of Xiang' in 'Nine Songs', and its original meaning is 'I yearn for you in my heart, but dare not speak it out.'"

The expression on Kiana's face sitting behind froze instantly.

"The subsequent content is packaged with 'reverence and caution to never fail' from the 'Zuo Zhuan', disguising personal emotions as academic admonition," Bronya added without changing expression, "Based on a comprehensive analysis, there is a 76% probability that the Monitor's speech just now was carrying out some sort of..."

She paused, not continuing further, but the meaning was already self-evident.

"Huh?" Kiana's expression completely distorted.

Kiana's gaze slowly shifted toward the direction where Monitor Fu Hua had left, then back to Kaiwen, her expression extremely subtle.

Kaiwen said with an innocent face: "Why are you looking at me? She uses classical Chinese to talk to me every day, I'm already used to it."

Kiana stared at her for a few seconds before turning her head back:

"...As long as you're happy."

——

After school, Kaiwen did not return directly to the dorms.

Mei said she was going to the logistics department to collect new training equipment, Bronya went along with her, and Kiana found it troublesome so she went back to the dorms first.

Only Kaiwen was left alone carrying her backpack, wandering aimlessly along the path behind the academy.

She didn't have any other destination; she just didn't really want to go back.

When she walked to the edge of an unassuming grove at the back of the academy, Kaiwen stopped in her tracks.

In the clearing of the grove, someone was practicing martial arts.

It was Monitor Fu Hua.

She had taken off her school uniform jacket, wearing only a white short-sleeved training shirt, her fists and kicks faintly kicking up a muffled sound of breaking the air!

Punching, retracting her fist, turning, stepping.

Every movement was as precise as a textbook, stirring up a roaring wind that swept the fallen leaves on the ground into rings of vortexes.

Kaiwen walked over to a large tree, leaned against it and sat down, watching quietly.

This composure and resilience precipitated by long years were truly pleasing to the eye.

After about a dozen minutes, Monitor Fu Hua concluded her stance and exhaled.

Then she turned her head to look at Kaiwen sitting under the tree.

The two of them looked at each other for a split second.

A rare flash of panic flickered in Monitor Fu Hua's eyes, but she suppressed it instantly.

Hesitating for a moment, she untied the arm guards on her hands, walked over slowly, and sat down on the grass next to Kaiwen.

The setting sun leaked through the gaps in the leaves, falling upon the two of them and casting a patch of gold.

Kaiwen turned her head slightly, looking at her with some curiosity: "Monitor, there's something I've always wanted to ask you."

Monitor Fu Hua turned her face sideways: "Hm?"

"Why do you run over every day to talk to me in that strange classical Chinese?"

Monitor Fu Hua was stunned.

She lowered her head, looking at her fingers covered with slightly hard, thin calluses, falling into a long silence.

The setting sun elongated her silhouette, making this Monitor appear a bit desolate.

After a long while, Monitor Fu Hua slowly spoke:

"...I don't know either."

Kaiwen blinked.

"From the first time I saw you, I..." Monitor Fu Hua deliberated on her phrasing, her brows slightly furrowed, as if trying to describe a feeling even she couldn't understand, "I always subconsciously wanted to get close to you."

"Yet every time I walked up to you, I found myself having no idea how to speak to you at all."

She raised her head, her amber eyes filled with awkwardness: "So I would end up saying things even I didn't understand... I hope you don't mind."

Kaiwen smiled: "I don't mind, actually I feel it's quite interesting."

Monitor Fu Hua was stunned for a moment, and then she turned her head away.

The air grew quiet once again.

However——

"What are you guys doing here?"

Nagi's crisp voice suddenly sounded from the direction of the bushes behind them.

Kaiwen turned her head back.

Nagi was standing a few steps away holding the orange cat Soda, tilting her head as she looked at them.

And in the grass behind her——

Three extremely unprofessional lurkers were squatting behind the bushes, trying in various postures to hide themselves.

Mei was half-squatting at the very front, holding the equipment she had just collected tightly in her arms.

Kiana was squatting beside her with her arms crossed; clearly having said she'd go back to the dorms first, she was now trying hard to pretend she was studying the ants on the ground.

Meanwhile, Bronya was expressionlessly squatting at the very back holding Project Bunny, her grey eyes staring straight at Kaiwen and Monitor Fu Hua—she was even too lazy to hide at all.

Kaiwen looked at this scene and remained silent for a moment.

"...How long have you guys been squatting over there?"