Project K-324

Chapter-45

P.O.V. 3rd Person / The day prior

"If that's all, I'll go back. I still have to finish Pixel's coding." Diana said as she went to the door. And before leaving she turned to look back. "Miss Himeko, see you tomorrow." she said with a smile, before humming happily to her room.

"..." Himeko and Einstein watched Diana leaving, before Einstein turned to Himeko. "Himeko, I know what you're trying to do, but her condition is not improving. At the moment, Diana's condition might be somewhat stable, but we don't know when her stability level will suddenly drop again. This is very risky." Einstein said in a serious tone.

"I know," Himeko said with a sigh. "But we can't keep her locked up here. Diana has always seemed to be under continuous stress ever since I saw her at St. Freya, always on edge or lost in thoughts. Based on the events we know about, we can only imagine how difficult it has been for her. Who knows what else she might have gone through? Diana needs a break." Himeko said without knowing how right she was.

---

Diana lost her memory and needed to accept the fact that she was now in the world of her favorite yet most dangerous game, a lot more abruptly compared to when she first arrived. And when she was starting to slowly accommodate to the new world she was in, and even started making friends, confusing thoughts and pieces of truth started appearing. Diana's image of herself started to slowly crumble before her eyes.

In the end, the truth she spent so much searching for, has almost driven her to the brink of insanity and even made her forcefully awaken as a Herrscher as a result of Otto's experiments. If it was not for the countless possible victims that could have resulted from it, Diana would have completely lost it right then and there. It took everything in her power to move to a safe place to 'detonate' herself. That left her in an incredibly unstable state, forcing her to isolate herself before she could investigate her past any further.

After a week, Diana started investigating Soukai City, where she found something that shocked her. Something that made her feel endless joy... but at the same time, she felt horrified by what that meant.

Right before her eyes, Himeko stood alive and well.

---

"I understand your feelings, but that doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of risks." Einstein said as she turned to her computer. "Even so, you're right. I'll send you a list of things Diana should avoid doing. It's a lot more detailed compared to what I warned Diana about. But mainly, she should avoid using her authority all together while you are out tomorrow." Einstein said as Himeko received the list on her phone.

"Since we're only going to the festival and to see the parade, there shouldn't be any reason for her to use it." Himeko said, inspecting the list Einstein sent her. "I'll still keep an eye out just in case and if something does happen, Theresa will have The Oath of Judah with her, but let's hope there won't be any need for that."

P.O.V. Diana

The music of the concert could be heard throughout the festival as the parade was nearing to our location. We were sitting at a terrace of the second floor of a nearby restaurant to get a better view of the parade. Himeko and Theresa did ask if I wanted to go somewhere closer to where the parade was going through, but it seemed too much of a headache so I refused. I don't really like crowds.

After a few more minutes, the concert started to quiet down as drums started to sound louder and louder as the parade started approaching in a rhythmic march. The parade was military themed as Valkyries, soldiers and mechs were the main composition and some Homu mascots were mixed in between. Letting aside the poor people who needed to wear those costumes in this hot summer, everyone was perfectly in sync. There were no obvious mistakes. But then, the mechs stopped, confusing everyone and then they stopped.