"Soren!"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for the food you brought to us again! This could save us for a month!"

"God promotes kindness to all, so it would make sense that I must do this, no?"

Soren, his sole name, had a quiet smile on his face while retaining a calm, soft expression throughout. With the wind blowing softly against his face. His dark purple eyes seem half open, looking towards the unfortunate souls that are the orphans before him, huddling closely near the door. He was clad in a thick woolen dark gray robe with a scarf wrapped snugly around his neck.

The food and bottles of water that the boy brought with him were laid down beside the doorway inside the orphanage, with the representative for the orphans being a young boy with dark brown hair and wide, optimistically blue eyes.

"When I grow up, I wanna be like you, Soren!" The child daringly declared. Soren, smiling ever so often shook his head, removing any snow on his short, snowy white hair before kneeling down to the height of the child.

"If you wish to be a priest, that will take many religious efforts. And you must put your trust on God as well. Or did you wish to be a caretaker for an orphanage? If so, then you already did it as of now." The boy spoke with such formality that the child could have mistaken him for the Pope, but his more personal approach in socializing with the boy made it impossible to relate him to the Pope.

"But you've been taking care of us from the past 6 years, and you're 16 years old!!" The child exclaimed. The boy smiled still, before patting his head.

"Yes, but who was it that made sure everyone isn't destroying any property that was given by Schicksal?" The boy replied. He watched as the boy's cheeks becoming flushed, before he stood up and took his scarf off. Slowly, he wrapped his scarf around the child's neck, making sure it fit just right around his neck.

"You are a born leader. I would like to see you grow not to just take care of the orphanage, but to also defend this beautiful world we live in. You are young, but you have the potential. . . No, you are able to be kind. It is a matter of your decisions that would benefit those under your orders that will make the difference between them loving and respecting you, or to hate and despising you," Soren preached. The boy, too young to understand his profound words, but understood the gist of his words, nodded with wide eyes.

The boy of course preached out of experience.

"Now, move on. I must go before my superiors start to worry about my whereabouts," Soren continued.

"Alright, Soren!"

The child hugged the boy's waist, and the boy could feel his kindness and warmth emanating from him, before he stroked the boy's hair.

"I will return. My current situation does not allow me to return just yet."

"I know. Thank you for always caring for us."

The two separated, and they smiled at each other, before the boy turned around and began to walk away, trudging through the snow effortlessly, while the child watched in admiration for a while before someone called out to him, causing his attention to turn to the source of the voice, closing the door and leaving to attend to the internal affairs of the orphanage. The boy took one last glance to the orphanage and smiled again, before walking once more to meet his superior.

. . .

"Apologies for the detour we took, Overseer Otto."

"Don't be. We both made a promise to each other, didn't we?"

The boy smiled sincerely to the man standing before him, who in turn had a soft smile, although not as sincere as his. His emerald eyes masked those sincerity with ideas that would have the capability to mask any emotion should it dare leak.

"Correct. I appreciate your offer to save the orphanage and to constantly supply them."

"And you know what you should do starting now, Soren."

"Yes. I promised that 6 years ago, when you saved my life. In the name of God, I will fulfill the promise I gave you."

"Your training shouldn't go to waste, after all. Now, let us proceed to St. Freya. My adorable grandchild must be waiting for us."

"If what you said is true, I shall look forward to meeting her as well."

Otto let out a smile and gestured him to come with him into his personal airship.

. . .

"Soren, do you know Japanese?" Otto began. Their conversation did not start for the past 5 minutes after both got comfortable with their leather seats exclusively made for Otto and his guest. Soren could only stare at the vast ocean and was in his thoughts of wonder and curiosity of this large and ever so expansive world that he has yet to see its corners and beauty.

"Hm? Is learning it a prerequisite?" Soren questioned, his head slowly turning to face the blonde.

"Not necessarily, but it would be essential for you to understand the basic language of where the school would take place," Otto reasonably responded. Hearing this, the boy suddenly had a question in mind.

"May I ask a question in regards to my enrollment?" He asked.

"If I were to decline?"

"Then shall my answer be met the moment I land myself in St. Freya?"

"Heh. I should have expected that from you. I grant you permission to ask anything you'd like from me."

"Then to start, why now? Why could it not be any earlier?"

"It is because you were not of age. You are now 16, and so you are of legal age to join high school in Japan."

"Despite me not being Japanese?"

"We consider you as a. . . 'Cultural exchange student'. That would convince them of your presence."

"Despite me not being female, or have the qualifications to become a Knight?"

"Who said anything about you qualifying to be a Knight?"

". . . Ah, I think I understand why I am sent there now."

"Do you? Do tell."

"Simply put, I am only there as surveillance--"

"No, Soren-- you're supposed to study there to BECOME a Knight, not to watch over the students like some sort of stalker!"

"But, I do not have the qualifications--"

"You do not, at least right now, you don't. St. Freya will shape you up to become a Knight in the future. This is to help you achieve great potential in a field unique to you, and you only."

"I see. . . I understand now."

"Any other questions?"

"I am currently ill-informed of the Valkyries, or Knights. Can you elaborate on either of these?"

Otto leaned against his chair, as if wanting to get comfortable so he would be able to tell the young boy about them, only for the pilot to call out, with her feminine voice, "we will arrive on St. Freya soon. ETA 5 minutes."

"How fast. . . Can you do it briefly, Otto?"

". . . Just as I was about to tell you about the precise history. . ."

"Just a teensy bit should be fine."

". . . Alright."

A sudden turbulence caught them both off guard, as the whole ship shook violently, causing them both to fall off of their seats.

"Sir! We are detecting a Judgement Class Honkai atop the airship!" The pilot announced.

"A Judgement Class?!" Otto exclaimed, and by the sounds of Otto's shocked exclamation, Soren assumed that it must be a large and dangerous variation.

"Yes sir! It resembles a dragon--" they soon heard glass shatter, and an uncomfortably gurgling sound before they felt the ship slowly diving downwards, beeping noises with red alarms blaring. Roaring was soon heard outside of the ship, and both knew what was about to happen.

"Soren, can you--"

"Leave it to me, Overseer!"

The boy went to the back of the diving down airship while Otto went straight to the cockpit, as the latter noticed the door having ice shards struck onto it, and seeing that the pilot had shards all over her made him known what her cause of death was. Pulling the corpse off of the seat, he looked at all the controls and buttons and gizmos all over to assess the damage. Miraculously, none seem to be damaged of any sort, although the white tail, having blocks of sharp ice at its tip, was a main concern of his.

"Soren--"

An explosion soon followed, followed by the roar of the Honkai.

.

"Loading another one!"

The boy held in his arms a FGM-148 Javelin, a heat seeking anti-tank missile that automatically locks onto its target before firing off onto its target. The boy grabbed another missile of the Javelin and inserted it into the tube, before seeing the Honkai letting go of the airship, its eyes dead set on the white haired boy. The blue sky and sun shining above them made the blue chevrolet of the dragon almost invisible.

"We're stabilizing, Soren," Otto's voice called out faintly, and Soren could feel the airship slowly attuning itself forward and stabilizing before aiming the missile towards the dragon, before he saw the dragon flying away. Not taking any chances, he aimed down, and waited for the beeping to intensify before it became a long consecutive 'beeeeeeeeeeee' and he pulled the trigger. The missile proceeded to fly towards the dragon, who attempted to swerve out of the way, only for the missile to continue following it relentlessly, before inevitably coming into contact with the missile, causing another explosion to happen. The white haired boy knew that that shot was never enough to bring down a Judgement Class Honkai, but it should theoretically weaken it enough that it wouldn't try to come back. Indeed, he watched as the dragon let out a roar before flying upwards, above the clouds.

"Soren. . . Good job," Otto called out faintly.

"Thank you for the compliment," the boy replied, before heaving a sigh. Slinging the tube onto his back, he proceeded to grab the railing of the stairs that led to the roof of the airship before entering the airship once more. In his mind, he questioned the sudden arrival of the Judgement Class Honkai and its attack onto the airship. Was it a coordinated attack, or was it out of something else? He wasn't sure, but he thought that Otto might have something to say about it, as he continued walking to the cockpit. He soon arrived at said cockpit, and sat at the co-pilot's seat of the cockpit.

At this point, someone should make a cock joke already.

"I will admit, I did not expect you to take the Javelin with you," Otto confessed.

"It was the only practical weapon for me to bring, sir."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely."

"If that is what you think, so be it."

". . . Sir?"

"Yes, Soren?"

"Do you know why that dragon attacked us?"

"I don't. . . It is still problematic, however. . . Ah yes. I think I have a new rank to assign to you now."

"A new rank? I thought there was only Knights."

"I have a better one for you. For your bravery and practicality in the fight against the Judgement Class Honkai, you are deserving of the rank of Einherjar."

". . . Sir, is that a good idea?"

The boy knew his Old Norse, and 'Einherjar' is the furthest to describe his fighting capabilities, as it is literally translated as 'Army of One'. What that would imply was that the boy had the strength and strategic capability to turn himself into a one man army, something he does not have at the moment.

"Please, you're a natural fighter, are you not?"

"I may be, but I am still an amateur--"

"Don't think too hard about it. Go and tend to the pilot."

The boy then noticed the corpse of the pilot, and he became saddened. Lifting himself off of the seat, he made sure that the dead pilot was sitting upright, before whispering a soft, "may you rest in peace."