Valkyrie Smash
Chapter 43 - 43: Fanclub.

Right around dinner time, Sam was feeling rather exhausted. He was looking forward to going back to his room and getting some rest, but first, he had to meet with Shizuru so they could have dinner together.

Same as with lunch, the cafeteria was crowded more than usual. A lot of people started gathering there after hearing about what happened at breakfast. Sam hated how people he never talked to before approached him with the same questions; when would be the next time he would bring the Valkyries with him?

Sam had to keep a good grip on his nerves, afraid he might snap whenever someone came to him with a variation of that question. He told them that it's not something he plans on doing often and that it all depends on if the Valkyries feel like it.

While what happened improved his image among the soldiers a little, the opposite was showing as well. Some claimed that he was trying to keep the Valkyries all for himself, which looked like a childish tantrum thrown by those jealous of his position. Little did they know that what they accused him of was actually happening.

At any rate, with the hatred directed at him being magnified as time passed, someone decided to step in and help him with the situation.

"This is Sergeant Melissa Ranford," Shizuru said with a smile, introducing a female soldier sitting on the opposite side of the table facing Sam.

She was a slender and tall woman in the latter half of her twenties with long natural red hair. Her face wasn't much to speak of when compared to Shizuru or the Valkyries, however, Sam could say she was attractive enough. Her sharp green eyes glared daggers at him as she crossed her arms and leaned on the back of her chair. It appeared like she was there to pick a fight with him.

"And? May I ask what she wants?" Sam said, keeping his cool as he sipped his coffee.

"Sergeant Ranford is the president of the forty sixth base's Valkyrie fanclub," Shizuru said. "She was hoping to discuss a few things with you."

"Valkyrie fanclub?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "It's real?"

"Of course it is," Melissa spoke, her glare growing sharper. "There is one in each military base. Ours isn't an exception."

"This is the first time I heard about it," Sam replied, unfazed by the way she looked at him. "Though I expected it to exist in one form or another."

The Valkyries were all beautiful females; it's to be expected that they would amass some kind of following among the public. Sam knew from the get-go that a lot of soldiers were their fans, what he didn't expect was that they would be organized enough to form a club.

'You're supposed to be humanity's last hope. The soldiers fighting to end the reign of Calamities. What the hell are you wasting your time over?' Thinking that to himself, Sam let out a sigh.

"So? How may I help you?" He asked. "You don't plan on asking me to set up a way for you to meet the weapons, right?"

"You sure are perceptive," Melissa said. "But sadly, that's not what I am here for. If we wanted to organize such events, we would've gone to the commander." She sighed wistfully. "Well, we tried and got rejected."

"Then why are you bothering with me?"

For a moment Sam thought it was strange that their request was denied. There was nothing harmful about letting the soldiers meet their idols, and the Valkyries were on standby most of the time so it wasn't like it would interfere with their job.

'Don't tell me they submitted the request while Alice was going through a breakup…' Sam speculated. 'I don't think she would do it, but... she might've redirected some of her anger onto them...'

"I'm sure you have heard about it already," Melissa said. "The news about Jörmungandr being defeated."

"Did they make the announcement already?" Sam asked, glancing over at Shizuru. Seeing that his girlfriend's eyes were wide in shock, he understood that most people had yet to hear the news.

"I have my own sources," Melissa said with a shrug. "Anyways, like pretty much every place with living humans, our base plans to hold a big celebration. we were wondering if you could invite the godde-... I mean the Valkyries. It wouldn't make much sense to keep them out of this."

Having predicted that it would come to this, Sam leaned on the back of his chair, took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Shouldn't you be taking this to the commander?" He spoke, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Oh! But this isn't that kind of event." The redhead replied. "We are just celebrating humanity's first big victory. Our godd-... our Valkyries aren't the center of this event. We will still hold it even if they don't show up."

Looking at the redhead for a couple of seconds, Sam stopped to think things through. He had no reason to go along with her request, however he also had no excuse to refuse her. Actually rejecting her would most likely lead to him becoming the arch-nemesis of their club, if he wasn't already.

Even if he didn't care what others thought of him, Sam realized that he could use this opportunity to lessen the headache they were causing him. It wouldn't hurt to get on their good side. All he has to do is invite the Valkyries who would definitely be overjoyed by the idea. Though that in itself might cause the most trouble.

Having made his decision, he looked up at Melissa and spoke.

"First of all, you need a new source. If you don't even know what happens on this base then your club is meaningless."

"... what?" Melissa lowered her eyelids, sensing that he knew something even she had yet to find out.

"When do you plan on making your little celebration?" Sam asked.

"A couple of days after the announcement."

"Alright then," Sam said, sipping from his cup and noticing that the coffee was getting cold.

His eyes wandered around the cafeteria. It was almost empty with everyone having left after seeing that none of the weapons were there. With no one around to eavesdrop on them, he spoke in a low voice that only the two women sitting at his table could hear.

"I'm sure this club of yours has at least one person who tracks the weapon's movements, right?"

"Yes…" Melissa replied, having no clue where this was going.

"Then you must know that one of them was damaged yesterday." Sam leaned forward, picking up his cup and pretending to sip from it.

"I heard that they had an encounter with a strong Calamity yesterday and that they returned later than usual," Melissa said. "I also heard that only two were seen leaving the base today."

"Yes. The three had discovered a calamity hiding in the city they found the day before. The battle resulted in Zero Five receiving some rather serious injuries that took almost an entire day to repair."

"... I see…" Melissa was fighting the urge to get up and slam her hands on the table. That alone was some really big news. Most soldiers wouldn't know about what the Valkyries went through until an official announcement was made, and those usually wouldn't include whether the weapons were damaged or not.

"The Calamity they fought, according to the data they collected, there is a big chance it might be registered as an S class."

The redhead shot up from her seat and slammed her hands on the table.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!!?" She shouted in his face, but he kept staring at her with an unchanging expression. A hint of embarrassment showed on the woman's face as she sat back down, but it disappeared the moment she turned to ask him for details.

"Are you saying we defeated an S class?"

"Well, from what I've heard, they managed to catch it by surprise and finish it off before it could use all of its powers."

If the giant eye had used the resources that went into recreating the city for the battle then the likelihood of it coming out on top was quite high. Thankfully it underestimated the three Valkyries and ended up getting destroyed by the proton canon.

Only five S class Calamities have been registered so far. It was still unclear whether the giant eye would be given the same rank, seeing that it was destroyed before causing any major losses. However, the reality is that it had the potential to be on the same level as the Ragnarok Heralds.

Even if it isn't given the S class title, it would still go down in history as one of the strongest and most terrifying Calamities they faced in this war.

"I see…" Melissa muttered, her eyes wide with shock. A minute later she looked up at Sam with a knowing smile "I think I get what you're trying to say."

If they're going to celebrate something then it should be their own victory. The forty sixth base had just defeated a powerful Calamity on their own. That was as good of a reason for celebration as the defeat of one of the Ragnarok Heralds.