Chapter 116: Father Otto

Chase suddenly realized that this world was very abnormal.

At first, he thought this was just an ordinary parallel world, where younger versions of Himeko and Welt Yang, who was still working at St. Freya, were present, similar to the early years of St. Freya Academy in the real world.

Moreover, not to mention Bronya, Raiden Mei, and Kiana were also attending school in this world, following the same developments as in the original world.

In this world, Kiana's body didn't have the consciousness of Sirin and didn't possess the core of the Second Herrscher.

Also, the Second Herrscher in this world had not appeared yet.

However, in other aspects, there didn't seem to be much difference. Kiana was still the happy-go-lucky and justice-loving, and Raiden Mei was still the skilled cook. Chase had the privilege of trying Raiden Mei's homemade lunch once, and to be honest, it tasted good. Although there was a gap compared to his own cooking skills, he was a culinary genius, after all.

However, the peaceful days started crumbling from the day Bronya began to act abnormally, heading towards an uncontrollable direction.

Chase felt somewhat distressed about the sudden change in Bronya. The once intimate duck head was gone, and the duck head that used to compete with Seele for attention was also missing.

Although Bronya tried to show a similar lifestyle to before, Chase couldn't be fooled by the distance in her eyes. It was also something that couldn't be concealed from the talent he obtained through the "Tranquil Life" settlement.

Interrupting the Tranquil life arc that had lasted for several years, Chase summoned the cute little angel in the Stigmata Space and tested the usage of this talent.

Simulating the accumulation of several years in the space, Chase finally obtained...

A green talent attribute.

[Danger Perception (Green): You can sense the malice directed towards you. (Are you watching me?)]

[Note: Sensing the malice of others in advance may help lead a more peaceful life.]

Honestly, although the ability to generate talent attributes out of thin air was quite useful, it was somewhat disappointing to spend several years just to get a green attribute. In reality, it could be considered somewhat useless.

However, this green attribute proved to be quite useful. For example, whenever Chase chatted with Himeko lately and got carried away, he could always feel a hint of danger emanating from a certain duck.

This was something Bronya had never shown before. The previous Bronya, even if she saw him spending time alone with Himeko, only had the jealousy typical of a teenage girl, and danger was something unheard of.

Thinking about Bronya, Chase had a guess in his mind.

But he needed to deal with the current issue.

"Teacher Welt is missing?" He was called to the office by Himeko, and her words surprised him.

But after thinking about it, Chase realized that he hadn't seen Welt teaching history in the classroom for a few days. At first, he thought Welt might have taken leave, but he didn't expect him to be missing. That was beyond Chase's expectations.

"Yes, I believe you've also noticed that Welt has been absent from class for the past few days," Himeko shook her head with a hint of helplessness in her tone. These days, she had been teaching both English and history, in addition to being responsible for practical combat training. It felt like she had been split into three people. If she hadn't forcefully dragged the principal, who was hiding in the office reading comics, out to take over some of the duties, she would have been exhausted sooner or later.

"So, what do you mean, Teacher Himeko?" Chase asked with a hint of speculation after hearing Himeko's words.

"Well, a few days ago, Welt went on a business trip to Siberia, but he has been out of contact for three days now," Himeko nodded and said, "I'm really tied up, so I'm asking for your help."

"Teacher, is it okay to leave such a responsibility to a student like me?" Chase wondered.

Himeko was stunned for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"You can take a few classmates with you."

"???"

Chase was full of confusion, is this destiny?

.........

Siberia is covered with snow all year round, and the only difference in seasons is the thickness of the snow. In September, the beginning of autumn, four figures appeared on the snowy ground. Their boots stepped on the snow, immediately sinking in, making a puffing sound.

"Brother, is this snow?!" Sirin was the most excited among the four. Wrapped in thick clothes, wearing a small red hat on her head, and a scarf around her neck, she happily ran ahead, making joyful sounds.

"Sirin, you're not from the southern part of Shenzhou, do you need to be so excited?" Chase sighed somewhat helplessly, puzzled.

"It's different!" Sirin retracted her steps, walking instead of running, hands wrapped in gloves, stepping on the snow. She responded, "When Sirin was here before, she didn't have time to see the snow."

"It's rare to come out to play. Sirin wants to appreciate it well." Sirin turned to look at her brother, her golden eyes shimmering with expectant emotions, but also with a slightly anxious feeling, as if afraid of being rejected.

"Next time, Sirin," Chase smiled, "we have a mission this time, and Welt is still waiting for us somewhere in the corners."

"It's just... Mister Welt..." Sirin muttered, a bit dissatisfied.

"I'll tell Mr. Welt about it." Chase smiled.

"No, no!" Sirin suddenly became anxious, running in front of Chase, waving her hands, acting cute. It was quite adorable.

Bronya and Seele exchanged glances, silent.

Both of them felt a sense of not being able to join the conversation. Although they were familiar enough with Chase, their kind of relationship seemed to be a bit pale compared to the brother x sis in front of them.

"Okay, okay, I won't say it." Chase indulgently smiled, somewhat helpless. Then he looked at the communication device in his hand, confirmed it, and said, "We're not far from the coordinates Himeko gave us. Let's focus and see if we can find any clues."

After saying that, he paused and added, "Sirin, no more playing, okay?"

"Brother, really!!!" Sirin, feeling a bit scorned, pouted. In extreme anger, she reached out and punched Chase's chest, venting her dissatisfaction.

"Okay, three-person team, go, go, go!" After venting, Sirin said.

"Sirin, it's four people..." Seele weakly spoke up, reminding her.

"Yeah, that's right," Sirin's face was full of confidence, "a three-person team has four people. Isn't that common sense?"

Seele: ????

Bronya: ? ? ?

Chase shook his head helplessly and went to give Sirin a little tap on the head.

"Learn some common knowledge, less strange things"

"But all of this was taught by my brother!" Sirin retorted instantly, leaving Chase momentarily speechless.

He seemed to have... actually said that.

............

Chase and the others hadn't walked on the snowy field for too long when they encountered a group of people.

Most of the people in that group were children. They formed a circle, bowed their heads, and trembled slightly.

Chase raised an eyebrow slightly. Because they were a bit far away, he wasn't sure what these children were doing. He turned to the others and asked, "Should we go take a look?"

"Bronya has no objections." Bronya gave her answer, and Seele and Sirin nodded in agreement.

But as Chase approached, his curious expression gradually turned to surprise.

He saw unexpected people here.

It wasn't the missing Welt, but a tall man in black clothes, someone he never expected to meet here —

Otto Apocalypse.

At this moment, Otto was crouched in front of a small tombstone, his golden hair tied to one side, tidying up the surroundings of the tombstone.

Suppressed sobbing reached their ears, and people, both adults and children, lowered their heads. There were no flowers, no photos, but undoubtedly, it was a funeral.

Otto half-knelt on the ground, his tone deep, unable to conceal the sadness. "My children, if you ask me why some people leave early..."

"Because death has passed, and there is no more sorrow, crying, or terror, because what happened in the past is already gone."

Chase watched Otto speak words filled with philosophy and couldn't help feeling a bit emotional.

It was well known that, in terms of cultural knowledge in this area, perhaps only Otto and the Grey Serpent of the World could compare. Both were people who liked to utter philosophical sayings for no reason.

Chase's gaze shifted to the white-haired girl in nun attire next to Otto. He was slightly stunned, and his eyes became strange.

How come there's another Theresa?

And the brown-haired child next to Theresa, who lowered his head with a serious expression, really looked like Welt, a youthful version of Welt.

Bronya also noticed the situation here, frowned slightly, and fell into thought.

"Children, let's go back." Otto stood up and said to the people around him. Then he naturally noticed Chase and the others standing aside, looking a bit surprised.

"You guys..."

"Hello, sir. We are looking for someone. Have you seen a brown-haired man about your height, wearing glasses?" Chase didn't hesitate, approaching and asking.

After listening, Otto pondered slightly, shook his head, and apologized, "I'm sorry, I haven't seen such a person."

"Well," Chase nodded, didn't continue to dwell on this question, and turned to look at the tombstone beside him, slowly asking, "What are you doing here?"

"As you can see, a child who hasn't experienced a complete winter yet was called urgently by the angels to play in heaven together." Otto said this with his eyes involuntarily sweeping towards the children beside him, then continued, "We really haven't seen anyone like that. I'm going to the village later, maybe I can help you inquire."

"We need to go back to the orphanage now. Will you come with us?" Otto asked.

"Yeah, thank you." Chase found Otto unexpectedly easy to talk to. Although surprised, he readily agreed.

So, the silently returning team added four more people.

Chase walked in the front, chatting casually with Otto on one side, occasionally talking to Theresa, trying to gather more information.

Bronya and the others, after exchanging glances, naturally retreated to the end of the team and began to discuss.

"Bronya nee-chan, what's going on?" Seele directly asked Bronya. Among the group, with Chase deep in enemy territory gathering intelligence, Bronya was undoubtedly the most reliable.

(TN: Machine spitting out facts "Bruh, what's going on, Sister Bronya?" the original.)

Seele was never good at thinking, and as for Sirin...

Seele met Sirin's clear eyes, silently withdrew the idea of asking for her opinion.

"They are holding a funeral, a child's funeral."

"Yeah, got it." Sirin responded.

"It can be seen that this Headmaster is not the one we know." Bronya pondered slightly and said.

"Yeah, got it." Sirin responded again.

"As for that blonde priest, he's mysterious. Better be cautious." After saying this, Bronya looked at the boy named Joachim walking at the forefront of the team and fell into thought.

This Joachim was not the one she saw in the Sea of Quanta. Although they looked alike, there were obvious differences in temperament and other aspects.

However, seeing him appear here... Bronya vaguely felt that he should be an indispensable part of completing the trial.

"Yeah, got it." Sirin responded again, but quickly noticed Bronya's somewhat unsatisfied gaze and pursed her lips. "Sirin is not good at this stuff. Don't make things difficult for me."

After speaking, she put on a look of a dead fish not fearing boiling water, leaving Bronya a bit helpless.

[Pic here: ]

Sometimes, a person can be quite helpless.

Bronya occasionally had the urge to smack Sirin's head like Chase did, and she had tried it before. However, since being pressed to the ground and smacked on the duck head by Sirin a few times, she had never had that urge again.

Who would have thought that this seemingly fragile girl had such strength?

It can only be said that appearances can be deceiving. Bronya sighed in her heart and involuntarily shifted her gaze to Seele.

Seele was the same. Who could have expected that such a quiet girl would attack so neatly and even have some... madness in a practice match?

Bronya shook her head, reining in her wandering thoughts, took out the communication device from her pocket, found the account of [Principal Theresa], and spent some time describing the current situation. Bronya sent the information.

After sending it, feeling that it wasn't enough, Bronya thought for a moment and added a sentence.

[Bored Duck is also a Duck: Principal, do you have any sisters left behind?]

But after waiting for a long time, she didn't receive a reply.