20demayo Chapter 407 His silence was deafening.
Chapter 407 His silence was deafening.
The small airport attached to the Far East branch was brightly lit under the cover of night, and several young figures were reflected beside the runway.
"Dead Gray Hair, hurry up! We'll miss it if we're any later!"
Kiana's shouts echoed across the empty runway as she sprinted to the foot of the small plane, one hand on her knee, panting heavily, her hair plastered to her forehead by sweat—it was all Theresa's fault! She made them wait so long!
After confirming several times that Anna and Rita were not on the plane, Kiana was completely relieved. Luckily, she ran fast, otherwise she really wouldn't have made it in time.
"What's the rush? We're already here, we're sure we won't be too late."
Qiong followed behind at a leisurely pace, carrying several large bags of things—snacks and local specialties that the two of them had just hastily purchased. In Kiana's words, Anna rarely went back, so she had to bring something back with her.
Can't you hurry up?
Kiana urged him anxiously, which made Sora find it a little amusing.
"But she hasn't left yet, has she?"
Qiong pointed to a spot not far away.
In the darkness, Anna and Rita walked side by side toward them. Rita, dressed in her usual maid outfit with nothing on her body, approached with impeccable poise; Anna, carrying a light suitcase, walked more slowly.
Upon seeing the person approaching, Kiana immediately straightened up, hastily wiped the sweat from her forehead, and flashed a big smile, waving her arms vigorously in greeting.
"Anna, Rita, over here!"
"Good evening, Kiana..."
Unlike her usual decisive and efficient Valkyrie persona or her secretary-like demeanor, Anna at this moment resembled an ordinary girl who was about to embark on a long journey and was somewhat apprehensive.
She had been walking rather slowly, but when she saw Kiana at the bottom of the ladder and Sora carrying large bags behind her, she quickened her pace noticeably. As she approached, her gaze was first drawn to the bulging bags in Sora's hands, then to Kiana's sweaty face.
"You really came! I told you, you didn't need to come all this way to see me off..."
"That won't do!"
Kiana grabbed Anna's hand, which was exposed to the cold wind.
"You said you wanted to go back and advance to A-rank Valkyrie, of course we have to come and help! Go for it! Even that deadbeat can advance, you're much more reliable than him, there's no reason why you can't!"
Hearing Kiana say that, Rita glanced at the casual gray-haired guy behind Kiana—well, he didn't say anything, that's good.
"Oh, right, take these with you!"
Kiana glanced back at Sora, gesturing for him to hurry up and come forward.
Qiong handed over the bags at just the right moment. They were filled with pastries sold in St. Freya, cutely packaged candies, two boxes of mousse, and Kiana's favorite fried food.
"Qiong, consider this a gift from you—"
"Kiana and I chose it, and we told you to take it back and share it, or eat it on the way."
Feeling that something was still unclear, Qiong added a little more.
"Although I paid, I agreed with Kiana that we would split the bill."
Hearing Qiong's addition, Anna's fingers tightened slightly as she took the bag, her gaze falling on the colorful snack bags, and the corners of her mouth curved up a little.
That idiot, it goes without saying! He has absolutely no idea how to please a girl...
"Thank you."
Kiana was still excitedly comparing which box of pastries tasted better, but Anna's gaze quietly rose, quickly swept across Sora's face, and then fell back to the bag in her hand as if she had been burned.
Rita took everything in. A hint of wariness crept into the maid's elegant smile—could Miss Anna's presence interfere with His Holiness the Bishop's plans?
"It's almost time, Miss Anna, it's time to board."
Faced with Rita's urging, Anna paused for a moment, then smiled at the two of them.
"Thank you, I will enjoy it. When I advance to A-rank Valkyrie, I will definitely bring you gifts too!"
"A gift? What gift? Hehe, well, I'll take note of that too!"
Kiana's eyes lit up when the topic of returning the favor came up.
Kiana's longing for the gift made her stare intently at Anna's face, but she noticed that Anna's gaze was fixed on Sora...
Kiana followed Anna's gaze and grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"Hey, you dead gray hair, aren't you going to say something?"
"Would you like to say a few words?"
Qiong composed herself and looked directly at Anna.
"Anna, don't worry, I believe that someone as outstanding as you will find the A-rank Valkyrie assessment a piece of cake. It's just..."
Qiong's voice suddenly softened.
"You'd better come back soon! Without your help, I'll die from overwork on the latest workload that Himeko-neechan just assigned me!"
Anna was taken aback when she heard what Qiong said, and then she couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as possible—"
"Miss Anna, it's time for us to board."
……
The gangway slowly retracted, and the cabin door closed. The plane taxied onto the runway, accelerated, and finally took off, disappearing into the night.
Kiana kept her head tilted back until the plane's lights disappeared, then looked at Sora, who was already playing on her phone.
"Hey, you dead gray hair."
Kiana suddenly nudged Sora with her elbow.
"Did you notice that Rita was looking at you strangely just now?"
Qiong paused for a moment, then lazily yawned.
"Really? You must be mistaken. If you're not mistaken, it's that slutty maid who's trying to get revenge on me... Hurry up and go back, don't disturb the headmaster's sleep."
"is it?"
Kiana scratched her head, somewhat skeptical, but was quickly drawn to other topics.
"Do you think Auntie will catch us and start lecturing us again after we get back?"
"Who knows?"
Qiong shrugged.
"Maybe after reading Uncle Yang's latest comic, she'll forget all about it, or she might be having a long phone call with Himeko, who's planning to secretly drink behind Mei's back..."
As the two walked back, talking, Kiana suddenly didn't want to go back—what if Theresa was still holding a grudge about that?
"I suddenly miss my dad a little..."
Kiana couldn't help but think of Siegfried: putting everything else aside, with her stinky father around, as long as it wasn't a matter of principle like failing almost all her exams, Theresa could simply hide behind Siegfried if she wanted to scold her, and then she'd be fine...
"Just give him a call if you miss him."
Qiong's tone still sounded nonchalant, but the two tacitly changed their direction from "going back" to "going to Himeko's house"—let's visit Himeko first.
"Although it's hard to contact the uncle, what if we manage to get through?"
"No way! If I call him, who's such a busy man, who knows if he'll even answer? And if he does, he'll just nag me a whole bunch of things... like whether I've missed Dad, whether I've been listening to Theresa, how are Sora and Mei doing lately—basically, it's so annoying!"
Kiana complained, but her voice gradually lowered.
Although she had a lot of complaints about her father, who was such a busybody agent that he neglected his daughter, he was still her father, after all...
Only Kiana herself knew how much she wanted to tell Siegfried about her amusing anecdotes of how she dominated Changkong City and competed with Qiong in cleaning speed, and how disappointed she was when she learned that Siegfried was "out of business and had not returned"—this was the first time Siegfried had been out of contact for such a long time since she found him. If it weren't for Theresa and her fellow agent, Walter, vouching for her, she would have really thought that she had lost her father again.
"How about we play one now?"
Under Qiong's surprised gaze, Kiana, talking to herself, took out her phone.
"Sister Qi, didn't you say you wouldn't fight?"
"That was the Kiana I was a second ago, not the Kiana Kaslana I am now."
"hehe."
Qiong neither confirmed nor denied it, only saying that people's hearts are fickle.
beep--
The long, drawn-out tone was now exceptionally clear. One, two, three… Just when Kiana thought it would go to voicemail as usual—
"Hello? Is this Kiana?"
No doubt about it, it's Siegfried.
"What's wrong, Kiana? You called Dad but didn't answer? Did you get into trouble again and want me to help you deal with Theresa?"
"No, no!"
Kiana nearly jumped up, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"What nonsense are you talking about, you old geezer! I've been very obedient lately! I've excelled in training! I've completed my missions very well! Even Aunt Himeko praised me, saying I could be a vanguard assault soldier!"
She spoke very quickly, as if she wanted to pour out all the words she had accumulated over this period of time.
As Qiong listened from the side, she couldn't help but smile—the hesitant Kiana from just moments ago vanished instantly, and she reverted to being that overly lively paramecium.
Fortunately, Old Yang lost the Tranquility Gem, preventing the Queen from descending; and he also found Dr. Magi—with this doctor around, there should be a better chance of suppressing Siegfried's Honkai Beast genes. Without either of them, the deep father-daughter bond might turn into a love-hate relationship...
"Yeah?"
Siegfried's laughter became even louder.
"But Theresa complained to me before that someone failed all their exams—"
"Dead Ash Hair is dead too!"
Kiana immediately steered the conversation toward Sora, her swift action startling Sora for a moment.
"Hey! I missed the exam, not failed, you idiot Na!"
Kyō protested on the spot against Kiana's slander.
"Kiana's voice? Kiana, is Xiao Qiong next to you? You're with him?!"
Siegfried's voice suddenly rose, tinged with tension and urgency. Kiana was completely bewildered by his reaction.
"Yeah, is it weird that I'm with that gray-haired guy? Dad, why are you getting so worked up?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Siegfried cleared his throat.
"N-nothing, I was just a little surprised to hear Xiaoqiong's voice. Where are you all? Where is Theresa?"
After looking around, Kiana gave her answer.
"My period should still be at home, right? We're in the grove of trees in the school."
"What?! Just the two of you?! Where's Theresa?!"
"Why does Auntie have to come along when we go to Himeko's house?"
Kiana told the truth.
"Oh, I see..."
On the other side, Siegfried wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his prosthetic leg on the plane.
"Kiana, Dad's mission is complete, he'll be back soon..."
In the distant night sky, a jet plane trailing a fiery exhaust plume streaks across the horizon at astonishing speed, heading straight for the far east.
Siegfried Kaslana, carrying the Heavenly Judgment that can incinerate everything, is on his way home. His destination is St. Freya, the Far Eastern Branch of Schicksal, because he and some others have unknowingly fallen into the Serpent's Eye.
No one anticipated one thing: generally speaking, snakes are creatures that lurk in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike. As the undisputed leaders of the world's snakes, the countless gray snakes have always maintained a strategy of concealing their strength and biding their time in managing their organization...
But times have changed.
When that great man returns, the serpent will surely announce his return—and since he has returned, he must act in the name of "saving the world" to liberate all living beings.