Chapter 14: My Student Is Gone

The Worst Case Scenario

Last night, I should have asked that idiot Kiana who she brought along.

The one person I absolutely never wanted to see in these eleven years actually showed up in the search party—and now he was standing right in front of me.

Although he was wearing somewhat loose mountaineering clothes at the moment, just standing there gave off an impenetrable aura that felt like he alone could seal off the whole city!

No, this feeling… that idiot should be the follower.

Uratama Himeko knew very well that this man had no chance of breaking through her encirclement from the front. Though Himeko was trained by him, that didn’t mean their strength was equal.

Putting aside Himeko’s years of battle experience on the battlefield, this man hadn’t fought for eleven years. The long period of peace and rest had likely dulled his skills drastically.

If he tried any attack or resistance, Himeko was confident she could subdue her first instructor within twelve seconds.

“Hoo~ indeed, long time no see.”

He neither fled nor showed any sign of attacking. Yao Bingling just straightened up normally and stared at Himeko, replying: “I burned the appointment letter this kid brought me. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Himeko was a bit stunned, even somewhat at a loss.

She thought Yao Bingling would actually attack her because he didn’t want to return… Well, that was impossible. But he definitely would run away—ten years ago, that was always his style.

Disobey and get hit; unwilling, then run.

“What? Surprised? I didn’t run?”

“…Indeed, because you always ran away when you encountered something you didn’t want to do in the past.”

Himeko answered honestly, causing Yao Bingling to raise his eyebrows slightly.

“That was in the past.”

Yao Bingling remained silent, like a condemned prisoner trapped in a closed space.

After a long moment, he finally said: “This isn’t the place to talk. I recommend going down the mountain.”

“Huh?!”

Himeko’s eyebrows instantly shot up.

“I won’t run. In fact, I must go home once.”

——————————————————————

Four hours later…

When Yao Bingling led them out of the mountain and arrived at his house, sure enough, he saw the elderly couple who had been waiting anxiously outside the door since early morning, worried about their grandson.

Without any politeness, he pushed Liu Yuyun forward and carried the still sleeping Kiana—who had survived a bumpy four-hour mountain journey on his back—onto his own back.

Carrying Kiana for four hours was both a training exercise for his student and punishment for the little brat who dared to betray him.

Exhausted and gasping for breath, Liu Yuyun could only glare back at Yao Bingling and was then dragged home by his grandmother, who grabbed him by the ear.

“What did you give Kiana to eat?”

Back at Yao Bingling’s house, Himeko took Kiana from his back and laid her on the bed to be cared for by Raiden Mei.

But Himeko noticed a problem. Although Kiana was usually the type to eat and then sleep, not waking until late morning, this deep sleep was extremely abnormal.

“It’s a kind of herb with a strong analgesic effect, but the side effect is that it makes people sleep very soundly. My conservative estimate is she’ll sleep another ten hours.”

“Was that your original plan?”

“Not entirely. At least not until I knew she was ‘The Chosen.’ I just wanted to play the role of a bit of a rogue big brother and trick her out, but she is the daughter of Cecilia and Siegfried.”

“So you sent her here?” Himeko’s wine-red eyes fixed on him with a look as if she had seen through his heart: “Is it because you feel guilty and indebted to Cecilia?”

“I don’t owe anyone anything.”

He stood up from the sofa, walked to the fridge, took out two beers, popped open one with his fingers, and drank half in one gulp. Then he placed the unopened bottle in front of Himeko.

“I don’t know how many of my past records you’ve seen from the military archives, how much of my history you know. But Himeko, you only need to remember one thing—it’s been eleven years. I don’t owe anyone now. Not The Chosen, not Saint Freya, not Cecilia or Siegfried. I owe no one.”

“But one thing is true—I don’t want to see you. Nor do I want you to come find me.” After finishing the rest of the beer, Yao Bingling’s mood clearly improved thanks to the alcohol.

He hung his head low, looking exactly like a destitute vagrant.

“I said, if you become outstanding, then you can come find me, and I’ll buy you a drink. But you’re still the same as eleven years ago—no opinions of your own, just blindly following and waiting for orders from those you trust and who are stronger. Even joining the Assault Army didn’t change that. Didn’t Ragna’s death teach you anything?”

“!!!” Himeko glared angrily at him, but the response she got was his usual look. Yes, the same as always. Whether eleven years ago or now, the disappointed Valkyrie always received that expression.

“That recommendation letter… was it you who wrote it?”

Seven years ago, The Chosen organization had an elite Valkyrie assault team wielding huge swords and known for pure violence and destructive power. Himeko was once a member of that team. But she didn’t enter through the standard test process; she was recommended by some mysterious figure. For Himeko at the time, it was an immensely glorious and shining era.

All these years, Himeko never knew who wrote her recommendation. She only kept the gratitude in her heart. Now that the answer was revealed, that figure had a rightful reason and psychological motivation to care for them.

A teacher caring for students—that’s normal.

“I wish I hadn’t written that recommendation.”

Saying that, he stood and headed toward the bathroom.

“Uratama Himeko, I still rate you as failing! After you finish this bottle, go back the way you came.”

During this, he showed no hesitation about having three women in his house. He took off his shirt and tossed it into the laundry basket.

His scarred body bore many cruel marks and past wounds, and those weren’t all glorious.

Fighting the Corruption with a human body—even a single scratch could cause irreversible severe injury or death. He fought many times against the Corruption but never suffered direct damage from it.

Most of his scars were from blades, bullet holes, stray shots, and some burns… In other words, all from human hands.

“But right now, this situation is not something you can simply judge me for!”

Himeko also stood, pressing both hands on the sofa’s back and shouted, “I don’t dare come see you! Not for eleven years! It’s not just me—all of us don’t dare come see you. You said to become outstanding, but how? Grow more mature? Fight more brilliantly? Save people more frequently? We don’t know, so we never dared to come see you, afraid of disappointing you… But now there’s no way!”

“Only one person! The only one who dared to come see you is me!”

Her last words were yelled out in a roar. Himeko’s unstable emotions flushed her face a bit red.

Her breath was rapid, her heart pounding many times faster than usual, even the blankness that numbed her whole brain couldn’t describe her excitement and fear.

“…What are you saying?”

Yao Bingling turned from the bathroom doorway. His thoughts brought him an extremely unsettling answer, and his face gradually showed signs of fear.

“Stella Richardson. Erika Balk. Dora Arthur. Sakura Nanakusa. Uratama Himeko. Zheng Chuxue. Zhou Yingying…? What happened to them?”

Himeko didn’t answer. She took a box from the backpack she left on the sofa yesterday, quickly walked to Yao Bingling, shoved it into his hand, and then walked out of the room without looking back.

The huge living room was left with only Yao Bingling breathing heavily, staring at the box in his hand for a long time.

He recognized the box—it was a medal box, used for storing medals and honors. It also had another function: storing dog tags of deceased soldiers.

As a soldier himself, he might have known what was inside. He had a strong psychological endurance, yet when he took the box and opened it, he didn’t move for several minutes.

Finally, even his hand holding the box began to tremble. Yet he still opened it… But that moment felt like a heavy blow. Just seeing what was inside made him forget to breathe.

His wide-open eyes reddened, like spider webs crawling over them.

Thud!

Without any warning or preparation, he fell backward, hitting the wall and finally sitting on the floor.

Just then, Mei, who thought the quarrel outside had ended, quietly came out and saw Yao Bingling collapsed against the wall.

“Colonel? What’s wrong with you?”

She had only guessed roughly what happened from the voices of Yao Bingling and Himeko inside, and since Himeko gave no words when handing over the box, Mei didn’t know the details.

She was confused and worried, watching Yao Bingling sit lifelessly against the wall like a corpse.

Yao Bingling slowly turned his head, eyes staring at Mei. Those soulless eyes scared her.

He then asked, “…Child, what has The Chosen been doing these ten years?”

The box fell from his weak arms to the floor, scattering twelve dog tags and twelve death notices—messy and stained with blood, like gravestones silently declaring their contents and facts to her and him.

“Why have so many of my students died?”