Chapter 11: Familiar Strangers

Bianka felt as though she had been dreaming a lot lately. Although adults often said that few dreams could be fully remembered and that most of their contents were bizarre, the girl vaguely sensed that all her recent dreams had one common theme.

It seemed like... battles, endless battles, fighting against multiple opponents.

With questions in her mind, Bianka sought advice from the nuns at the orphanage. They always looked at her with strange, slightly sympathetic expressions, gently patting her head and telling her not to suppress herself too much, to let go and play.

Perhaps the nuns thought Bianka was under too much pressure, but the little girl was well aware of her situation; these dreams were not caused by stress.

After a few days, Bianka finally got used to waking up every morning with fragments of dreams lingering in her mind. The girl began to ponder what these dreams were trying to convey to her.

Perhaps, only battles.

Bianka started trying to use the knowledge from the dream fragments. She went to the open space behind the orphanage, following her instincts to run and jump, and then rested at the edge of the woods, a place often overlooked by other children. There, Bianka clumsily practiced her punches and kicks.

So, waking up the next day became the time Bianka most looked forward to— the dream spirits would bring her knowledge, and she would use that knowledge to train herself.

This peaceful routine continued for a while. The nuns also noticed Bianka's increasing appetite due to her training, but they didn't mind it too much. Watching Bianka run around the orphanage every day, coming back dirty from head to toe, it was obvious she was getting plenty of exercise.

Moreover, Bianka was at the age where she was growing, and almost every other day someone would notice she had grown a little taller. Eating a little more was not a problem.

Until one evening, during dinner time, the nuns informed the children that the next day there would be special guests coming to the abbey to teach classes for a while, but what they would teach depended on luck.

The children's faces immediately fell. Most of them didn't think teachers were good people, at least not the ones they had encountered before, who were always scolding them.

Soon, they forgot about it. Children rarely dwelled on complicated matters; they preferred to focus on what they would play after finishing their meal, or stealing a bite or two of something tasty from their friends' plates...

Compared to other children, Bianka was a little more mature, although not by much. After all, she was just a child. The profound growth experiences she had once been through were forgotten due to injury-induced amnesia. Now, Bianka was like any other child, more concerned about the surprises the dream spirits would bring her tomorrow morning.

The next day, Bianka, armed with new insights, finished breakfast and headed to her usual spot. After a quick warm-up, she ran along the edge of the open space, then rested, and practiced a combat stance.

Unfortunately, Bianka couldn't access pistols right now—there were no toy pistols in the shape of handguns either—so she had to pick up a few tree branches from the woods, break off the extra branches, and then figure out how to smooth out the thorns that might hurt her hands, makeshiftly using them as pistols.

At that moment, the nearby children started to get excited.

"Huh? A new big sister?!"

"Is she the teacher mentioned yesterday?"

"She looks a bit absent-minded."

More than just Bianka was active here; there were more children of different sizes. They noticed a new face appearing on the edge of the open space and excitedly started chatting.

Bianka also seemed to notice something. She turned her head and saw a big sister in uniform standing there, her short hair fluttering in the breeze, her black eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Is that...?"

The blonde girl blinked, feeling a slight intimacy in her heart. This was an experience she had never had before; it was as if she had known this big sister for a long time and had become good friends with her.

With this burning excitement, Bianka took a step forward and ran towards Luo Lin!

---

There's a saying that internet users can talk big online, criticizing others to even talking bad about their ancestors, even some claiming to be father and son, or engaging in brotherly camaraderie. But when internet users meet offline, they all quiet down, each one graceful and polite, almost ready to enter high-end socializing with just a change of suits, ties, or long dresses.

They are like dragons online, but goblins in real action.

That's how Luo Lin felt now. She watched Bianka running towards her, her eyes shining with excitement, feeling slightly shy. It seemed like she was waiting for Luo Lin to speak first.

"Hello, I'm Luo Lin, the teacher who will be teaching here recently... What's your name, child?"

As Luo Lin said this, she felt like slapping herself. Her tone was so stiff and unfriendly.

"I'm Bianka Ataegina, Sister Luo Lin," the blonde little girl said the title "Sister Luo Lin" very smoothly. She stared earnestly at the person in front of her, feeling something special about her, but it ultimately ended without a trace.

"Sister, Sister, I'm Spencer!"

"I'm Rudolf!"

Hearing Bianka take the lead in introducing herself, the other children who had come to join in also followed suit. Suddenly, Luo Lin felt like she was surrounded by a bunch of loudspeakers, with children's voices all around her.

The chaos lasted for more than a minute. Luo Lin finally remembered her identity as a teacher and mustered up her spirits, loudly stopping the commotion.

Now the children came back to their senses. The woman in front of them, dressed in uniform, was their teacher for the next period of time. And the teacher... just like the nuns in the orphanage, could punish them and make them do some repetitive and boring chores.

For children who were always looking for fresh and interesting news, this was terrifying. With a little imagination, the children became more obedient, and some even began to well up with tears, their eyes misting up and tears streaming down their faces.

What's going on? What happened? Why is someone crying?

Luo Lin, baffled, began to comfort the children with the nuns. As the night fell and darkness descended, she didn't even know how she got back to her room. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she felt like the whole world was strange to her.

"What's wrong? Luo Lin, you seem lost?"

"Ah, Captain Ragnar..."

Luo Lin looked at Ragnar's concerned eyes and poured out her heart: "No wonder when I chose this task, my colleagues looked at me like that... I totally don't understand what these kids are thinking..."

"Hahaha, you... Hahaha..."

Ragnar bent over laughing. Sitting next to Luo Lin, she rubbed the Valkyrie's head vigorously.

"It's okay, I'll teach you how to get along with children. Don't worry, it's very simple..."