Chapter 19: Chapter 19: A Bright Vision
"Come on, Luo Lin, believe in yourself. You're a Valkyrie who has braved the abyss and even conquered the fear of death!"
Luo Lin stood at the classroom door, cheering herself on. Even though there was a door separating them, she could hear the children inside the classroom chattering away.
"I must maintain my momentum this time! I'll make them quiet down!" With determination, the girl strode into the classroom, and as she had hoped, the children quieted down and turned their shining eyes toward Luo Lin.
"Hello, everyone! Missed your teacher?"
"Yes!"
"Good, I'm also happy to see you all again! Today, let's explore something new! But remember, everyone must follow the classroom rules and not make noise..."
As Luo Lin explained, she smiled and took out a bag of candies, placing them on the table. "...Well-behaved children will receive candies as rewards, okay?"
The children immediately became excited, but they didn't make noise for long; soon, they quieted down on their own!
Their impression of Luo Lin was very positive. Compared to other classes, the handicraft class was much easier, and they could also "create" various "things" with their hands.
And Luo Lin brought them something new every class, including various toys or candies of different flavors, allowing these children in the orphanage to experience the different colors of the outside world.
"Alright, you didn't make me wait long." Luo Lin breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they would continue to be noisy, but to her surprise, they were so self-aware in this class. "It seems like everyone really wants candies... Well, let's see what teacher has brought for you today."
The children eagerly anticipated Luo Lin's new ideas.
The girl didn't make them wait long. She took out a large box containing colorful modeling clay—this was purchased by Luo Lin from a toy store in a slightly larger city in France.
Although modeling clay was invented in 1956 and has been widely available worldwide since then, it was still a magical thing for the children in this orphanage to encounter for the first time.
The children quickly got the hang of it. Playing with modeling clay didn't require much technical skill; they could mold it however they wanted. And if they wanted to play with something more fancy and advanced, modeling clay could create amazing things.
"Alright, today's theme is: what will the future look like? You can try to mold something with the modeling clay!" Luo Lin walked around the classroom, watching them to make sure they didn't put the clay in their mouths or accidentally get it in their eyes or ears.
She also held a few pieces of modeling clay herself, observing the scene in the classroom while molding some things herself.
Little Bianka was interested in the golden, white, and blue modeling clay. She eagerly rolled a cylinder, and after a few minutes, something resembling a poisonous mushroom from a game appeared, with two modeling clay balls stacked underneath, resembling a snowman.
Rarely did Bianka show her own inspiration. Luo Lin approached and asked, "Bianka, can you tell teacher what you molded?"
"This is an umbrella, and this is me! This umbrella can float and cover me from the rain! It can also cook for me... um, and help me with my homework!"
"Very creative! Keep up the good work!"
That was indeed quite futuristic, Luo Lin thought. She remembered that she also wanted a robot to help her with homework when she was a child.
Luo Lin gently rubbed Bianka's head, feeling the texture was very good, and the girl was like a cat, unconsciously rubbing Luo Lin's hand.
The children next to them also actively showed Luo Lin their creations: such as very delicious vegetables, trees that could grow money, and trash cans that could clean themselves (a cleaning robot?)...
Of course, there were also various strange shapes.
"Alright, children, come and see what teacher molded!"
Luo Lin showed the children the modeling clay she had molded—a sleek and exquisite floating warship, whose name was probably familiar to all Honkai Impact 3 players—the Hyperion.
Luo Lin had seen a warship that looked very similar to the Hyperion on the Schiksal Floating Island before. It was probably the sister ship of the Hyperion, with slight differences in appearance.
"This thing is a floating warship, which uses anti-gravity engines to fly in the sky, and it has several powerful cannons that can annihilate its enemies... In the future, there will be many of these things, guarding our homes..."
After seeing this model, several children became excited. They exclaimed, "Teacher, teacher! I've seen this thing before!"
"Yes, our Valkyrie sisters who saved us came down from such things! So cool!"
Luo Lin raised her eyebrows, not expecting to find children who had really seen a floating ship.
But seeing a floating ship didn't necessarily mean its a good thing, because Schiksal always deployed forces where they were most needed, and if there were floating ships, it meant that the Honkai events there were quite serious.
Seeing their reactions, Luo Lin wasn't sure if those memories were good or bad for them...
She rubbed the children's heads and said, "Then teacher will leave this thing here in the classroom. What do you think?"
Several children looked at each other and nodded vigorously.
"I want to become a scientist in the future and develop something a hundred times, no, a thousand times better than this warship!"
"I, I want that too, but I want to be a hundred times better than you!"
"Hmph, I must be the best. The warship I build will be better than yours!"
Two children began to argue softly.
Luo Lin timely stopped them and then asked other children, "They want to become scientists? What about you? Today we're going to imagine the future. Children, think about what professions you want to pursue in the future."
The children eagerly spoke up:
"I want to be an astronaut!"
"I want to be a scientist too!"
"I want to be a millionaire!"
With such a lively atmosphere, little Bianka also shouted loudly, "I want to become a Valkyrie!"
When she said this, the other children quieted down and looked at Bianka.
Little Bianka didn't feel shy at all. She continued, "I want to be like my Valkyrie sisters who saved me, and become a guardian for others!"
"Wow, that sounds very impressive!" exclaimed one child.
Another child had a sudden insight, "I want to become a Valkyrie too!"
The children beside him disdainfully said, "But you're a boy! How can boys become Valkyries?"
Luo Lin couldn't help but laugh at this—after all, the famous Siegfried Kaslana was also a Valkyrie!
"Well... then I'll just become a girl?" The boy thought for a moment and said.
The children beside him were obviously confused by his response. "Oh... okay..."
"Alright, alright, you all did very well today."
To prevent these two children from going down the wrong path in life, Luo Lin quickly interrupted their thoughts and discussions, hurriedly took out a bag of candies:
"Here, children, today's candies are tropical fruit flavored!"
"Thank you, teacher!"
"Thank you!"
After distributing the candies, Luo Lin led the children in cleaning the classroom together, collecting the used modeling clay to prevent any accidents.
Luo Lin placed the Hyperion she had molded on a base and placed it on the bookshelf in the classroom, where the children could see it just by looking up.
"I hope... you all only see this kind as a model in the future." The girl sincerely prayed.