Collapse, the Ordinary Daily Life of the Valkyries

As he spoke, he drew aside the curtains of the room. It was April, and the soft spring sunlight streamed into the room, bringing warmth to it.

"Spring break is over. Being late for the opening ceremony will make you look very embarrassing. Why are you so sleepy? Spring sleep? Do you want to 'stay awake till dawn'?"

"Hmm~..."

Yuiru moaned softly and rolled over to her side. But even a little bit of laziness couldn't stop Lun's persistent morning calls. Lun sat on the bed, one elbow propped up on Yuiru's other side, supporting himself above the covers, and began kneading Yuiru's face with both hands. "Pa pa pa."

"Hurry up and get up! If you don't get up, these hands will not stop torturing you! I will pinch you all..."

"Well!"

"Wow!"

Jie Liu mercilessly punched Lun in the stomach, leaving him completely defenseless. Such a powerful blow right after waking up—like mother, like daughter.

Lun gently stroked his abdomen and moved aside. Jie Liu sat up, threw away the pillow, and hugged the duck stuffed animal. After a brief nap, he finally looked up at Lun.

"Glasses……"

Lun picked up the glasses beside the bed and put them on Jie Liu. The eyes behind the lenses blinked twice, but the upturned corners of the eyes did not look dangerous at this moment.

Her short hair was usually combed to look messy, and now that she had just gotten out of bed, it looked even messier. Jie Liu used a comb to straighten out the scattered hair while motioning for Lun to come closer.

Lun used his fingers to push his glasses forward to steady them, then supported himself on the bed with his hands and moved his face closer.

Jie Liu put her arms around Lun's neck and kissed him gently on the face.

"Click", the two people's glasses collided and made a crisp sound.

"Good morning, Lun. Love you."

An innocent smile. Lun kissed her back on the cheek, his eyes narrowed in happiness.

I love you too, Yuiyu.

Lun felt a little anxious because he couldn't express it.

two

April. For Lun and Yuiyu, today is the first day of the first semester of their second year of high school.

The two attended the Toyonoshige Prefectural Comprehensive High School 830 and the Toyonoshige Junior High School in Toyonoshige Town, two train stops away.

Seeing the students gathered in groups at the stairwell, Yuiru tugged at Lun's uniform sleeve and approached, saying, "Lun, the class placement results are out."

"probably."

"Hmm, let me see... huh? Chatting with the group again, are you in a different class?"

Jie Liu suddenly pouted, looking irritated. It wasn't without reason. Lun and Jie Liu were in different classes during their first year, and they had even chosen the same subjects to ensure they were in the same class this time. Yet, their luck remained bad.

"what a pity."

"This is a conspiracy to separate me from Lun."

"Oh, don't say that. Distance makes beauty, Auntie always says that."

"Haha, anyway, what mom said is something I learned and applied immediately..."

Lun and Jie Liu, who kept complaining about her dissatisfaction with reality, walked towards the gymnasium to attend the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony was very ordinary, nothing worth mentioning.

As Principal Ren's long and boring speech passed by his ears, Lun's eyes fell on the small piece of paper held in his right hand.

That's a crossword puzzle cut out from this morning's newspaper.

He didn't write on paper, but solved the puzzle in his mind.

Lun's defining characteristic was that whenever he had free time, he would ponder problems or puzzles like this. He was the type who wouldn't stop until he'd solved every little puzzle in newspapers and magazines. He'd finished his workbooks long before class, and his phone was full of puzzle games.

Lun particularly likes solving puzzles, which is a fact known to both students and teachers.

However, few people know that this is not just a simple interest or specialty.

A few minutes later, when all the boxes in Lun's mind were filled, the principal's speech came to an end, and the opening ceremony that lasted for nearly an hour was over.

The students left the gymnasium and headed to their new classrooms. In each classroom, after a brief speech from the teacher, the students, who would be in the same class for the next year, began to introduce themselves.

Lun absentmindedly supported his head with his hands and watched the classmates introducing themselves at the podium.

"Student number 3, Naoto Enozawa! From Y Middle School! My hobbies are walking and photography, so I'll take a picture of all my new friends as soon as possible!"

The flash went off with a slap of the masculine sound. Although it was considered rude to take photos of people without their consent, the students didn't seem to mind and laughed happily.

"Not bad, not bad, shall we take a picture of it like this for everyone first?"

Looking at the student holding the camera and making faces, I suddenly remembered that in first grade, I heard about a guy who was always taking pictures everywhere. This guy must be him. He seems like the kind of frivolous person that can be found in every class.

There were four classes per grade at Toyonoshige Comprehensive High School, and twelve classes across the three grades. Roughly three-quarters of the new class were new students, a perfect match based on probability.

During my freshman year, I hadn't joined any clubs or student organizations, and I hadn't interacted with students from other classes. For me, meeting three-quarters of the students was essentially a first. Therefore, I had to at least listen to everyone's introductions and memorize their faces and names. Fortunately, I was confident in my memory.

As everyone finished introducing themselves, it was finally his turn. He stood on the podium and, like any other ordinary student, calmly read aloud the essay he had written down in his head.

"Student number 23, my name is Jiuzhichao Lun. I'm from N Middle School. My hobbies are reading and sports, and my specialty is solving puzzles."

A flawless, flawless self-introduction. While my true interests and strengths aren't these, what I just said can't be called a lie. From elementary school to my current student life, this has been my basic self-introduction. Even if I reveal the truth about myself, nothing good will happen.

Listening to the scattered, obligatory applause from the audience, Lun walked down the stage and returned to his seat. Then, the girl sitting behind Lun stood up and walked up to the stage.

That was the first time Lun took a close look at that girl.

——She nodded slightly.

Are there hoods attached to the girls' uniforms in our school?

No. I've observed Yuiru's uniform up close several times, so I'm sure it doesn't have a hood.

However, when this girl walked past Lun, her head was completely covered by a pure white hood. Could it be that she was wearing a hoodie under her school uniform and pulled the hood out from the collar and put it on her head?

A closer look reveals more than just the oddities. The woman is wearing white gloves, like those worn by train conductors, and white leggings.

Lun took a quick glance and it seemed that this outfit did not attract the special attention of the head teacher. He just looked at her with a slightly worried expression.

The students around her began to murmur. Amidst this unpleasant noise, she, dressed in white to match the white school uniform, quietly walked up to the podium.

She turned around, and the two braids that hung from the sides of her head to her chest swayed slightly.

Her face, bathed in the curious gazes of her classmates, was covered by a huge white mask on the lower half and blocked by her long bangs on the upper half - in this expanse of white, her long black hair was set off with astonishing beauty.

Covered entirely in white, even her face, she used her white-gloved hands to pull out a small device resembling a smartphone and began to operate it.

She didn't even introduce herself, so what on earth was she trying to do? The students stared at her with intense curiosity.

Suddenly, the small machine in her hand began to introduce itself on her behalf.

What reached my ears was the silent, serene, yet toneless synthetic voice of a machine.

The surrounding noise completely disappeared at this moment, and everyone listened quietly to the synthesized sound.

She matched the pre-programmed, subtle synthesized voice perfectly.

After she said (played?) this, her self-introduction ended.

Ignoring the gazes of her stunned classmates, she, dressed in white, walked through the silent classroom without even a peep of applause, and returned to her seat behind Lun.

This was the first meeting between Hatosu no Suo Ron and Ruiping Jin.

three

After the memorable encounter with Ruipingjin, two weeks passed uneventfully.

"Lun, you should join the basketball club!"

After the class meeting ended and the homeroom teacher was about to leave, the boy sitting in the front of the class turned around and said to Lun, "Lun has become good friends with several of the boys and has even gone to karaoke to strengthen their friendships. Building interpersonal relationships that are accessible to all is important to Lun."

"Basketball club?"

"You haven't joined any clubs yet, have you? You're such a good athlete, what a waste!"

As expected, I said that sports were my hobby. My athletic ability was outstanding in my grade. Although this physical fitness was acquired through daily hard work, it could only be utilized in physical education classes or club activities.

Lun didn't exercise to be active in club activities, so he didn't even join a club in his freshman year. But after seeing Lun's well-developed motor skills in physical education class, classmates invited him to join more than once, and sometimes Lun seriously considered it.

But no matter what, I couldn't make up my mind to join the club activities.

I lack what is necessary to work hard and have fun with everyone.

When I think of this, I can't respond to the other party's enthusiasm.

Miscellaneous: Thinking

"Oh! That's Miss Grande, the all-around genius everyone praises?"

The castle hall was filled with exclamations of admiration.

"The kingdom of learning and art, the wisdom of the Vistoria Empire! A treasure!"

"The Emperor is willing to let her go!"

"This proves how much they value their alliance with our nation of Allen. His Majesty the Emperor of Vistoria is truly a man of broad mind and integrity."

Although it was night, the room was as bright as day. Several chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, and countless candles emitted a bright red light.

As the high-ranking officials of the Kingdom of Allen were whispering to each other and vying for a look at the almighty genius Miss Guland, I walked in timidly like a caterpillar with a pale face in my luxurious dress.

"But everyone says Miss Granger is a rare beauty with her dazzling golden hair, piercing blue eyes, and a swan-like neck. But to me, she's just an ordinary, lovely seventeen-year-old girl."

"No, no, no, don't be fooled by her appearance! Miss Grande alone is as capable as a hundred scholars, a thousand merchants, and ten thousand soldiers."

What I heard were the words I had been used to hearing since I was a child.

That's right, Miss Grande Doy of the Vistoria Empire is indeed an all-round genius.

At the age of seven, he won the first place in the admission list of the Central University of the Western Empire with a perfect score, and became a professor at the age of twelve.

The following year, she was granted a research room by the emperor in the National Institute, and in the same year she also served as deputy director of the Cultural Bureau.

Now she is seventeen years old. In addition to her academic knowledge, she also has extraordinary talents in politics, economics, art, and military affairs. She is simply a monster.

This is definitely not an overrated or exaggerated advertisement.

The most amazing thing is that everything said about Gulland is true.

However, the most serious problem now is that the person who was frightened to the point of incontinence under the gaze of the high-ranking officials of Allen Country was not the all-round genius Miss Gran, but her ordinary twin brother Sherlock Doyle, that is, me.

Ahhhhhhhhhh! How did I end up in this situation?!

This happened a week ago.

At that time, I was still living in Svanir, the capital of the Vistoria Empire, working as both a housekeeper and a failed student.

I had just been dumped by Flori, the girl who worked at the bakery, and I came home crying, only to see that guy.

"Hi, you're back. You're Ciel, right?"

The door that had been locked when I went out was opened, and a man who was obviously a thief but had a noble appearance was sitting on the sofa in the living room, smiling at me.

He was tall and elegant, wearing a black shirt, black vest, black trousers, and black gloves, dressed in black from head to toe. His neatly combed hair was also black, and his kind and bright eyes were deep blue. At first glance, he looked both rational and honest.

Charles is my nickname.

My father was a merchant born in the western Kingdom of Oran, and my mother, who was born in the Kingdom of Romancia, called me Charles since I was a child, so everyone around me followed suit and called me Charles instead of Sherlock or Shari.

However, this elitist title is not suitable for me at all as I failed the university preparatory exam this year.

I just had a breakup, and then this handsome guy who seems to be a winner in life appeared in front of me with a smile... It really made me uncomfortable.

"Who are you?"

I asked suspiciously, and he replied with a more cheerful expression:

"Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Haimu Daberg, and I'm your sister's colleague, a diplomat."

Tsk, he's definitely someone Gulander knows. He said he was a diplomat? Turns out he's a first-class civil servant. Seeing him casually walk into my house with such a familiar demeanor, I wondered if he was Gulander's boyfriend. But no matter how handsome he was, Gulander couldn't possibly be into men.

"If you want to find Grande, go to the National Research Institute or the Cultural Bureau. She hardly ever comes home, and she's leaving for Allen next week. The emperor has ordered her to be a governess for the royal family there. It's all over the newspapers. You should know about that, right?"

The Kingdom of Allen is a small island country located in the west. It has long been in a closed-off state and has not established any state change with other countries. However, about ten years ago, the current king, known as the Hero King or the God King, announced the founding of the country, so it is currently actively absorbing foreign culture.

This spring, the Kingdom of Allen and the Empire of Vistoria signed an alliance. To show its friendship, the Kingdom of Allen awarded the position of tutor to the royal children to Miss Grande, a talented girl from the Empire.

Whatever, I'm just a mortal with no merits, living off my sister. I couldn't even get into preparatory school, let alone university. I was dumped by the girl I liked, and my future is likely to be a career slave. For a worthy younger brother like me, those things are simply out of reach.

"Ciel, I need to discuss something with you."