"Himeko, listen to me! Young you and I really aren't in that kind of relationship!!"
Elias spoke nervously while caught between the Proper World's Himeko and the bubble world's Himeko. Compared with the other situations, this was actually the easiest hurdle to clear right now.
Because there truly was nothing special between him and the bubble world's Himeko. At most, they had only gone on a single date together.
It was practically the picture of innocence!
"Oh? Is that so?" After hearing Elias say that, Himeko raised an eyebrow before visibly relaxing.
She knew Elias would not lie about something like this. After all, back when the two of them had done that, he had gone and told Mei, who had still been the sole heroine at the time, the very next day.
Thinking back on it now made Himeko feel nostalgic.
Back then, before Mei had fully transformed into a queen, her reaction upon learning that Himeko and Elias had gotten together had been quite spectacular.
Ahem! In any case, as long as this wasn't a new romantic rival~
To everyone else, she might have been nothing more than one additional ordinary romantic rival, but for Himeko, this would unquestionably have been a catastrophic crisis!
Because this was her younger self! A nineteen-year-old beauty was precisely at the stage of transitioning from youthful innocence into maturity.
The bubble world's Himeko still had a pure and innocent light in her eyes, but her body had already developed exactly where it needed to.
Now over thirty and considering herself an old red-haired auntie, Himeko had genuinely panicked for a moment.
Elias scratched his head, feeling that Teacher Himeko might not understand just how attractive she was. Although the younger Miss Himeko certainly possessed a charm of her own, his absolute favorite would always be Himeko in her mature older-sister form!
And besides...
"Oh, come on, Himeko. Thinking you're old and faded just because you're over thirty is way too early. Look at Theresa. She's already over fifty and still spends every day acting cute. And us Flame-Chasers have an average age of over fifty thousand, yet we're still just as young."
Elias patted Himeko's fragrant shoulder comfortingly while handing her a bouquet of vivid red roses.
"Uh..."
Looking at the red roses in her hands, Himeko suddenly did not know what to say.
What Elias said actually did make sense. In front of this group of Flame-Chasers whose average age exceeded fifty thousand, her mere thirty-something years were not even enough to count as a fraction of theirs.
"All right. But Elias, why did you bring a younger version of me back? Don't tell me you were planning to..."
"My instincts tell me your thoughts are going somewhere strange. I only wanted to help her fulfill her dream."
"What?"
Himeko tilted her head in confusion. Elias then explained the bubble world's Himeko's circumstances, telling her that the younger woman had simply come to their world to attend university and eventually become an astronaut.
"..."
After hearing the full story, Himeko fell silent again.
The red-haired beauty looked at her younger self with a complicated expression, her eyes filled with envy and blessings. Incidentally, when the two stood beside each other, they looked like sisters, or perhaps even mother and daughter.
Elias could not help sighing inwardly at what a beautiful sight it was.
"Younger me, you're really lucky."
"Huh?"
The younger Miss Himeko froze.
"Being able to meet Elias while you're still this young... In some ways, you may be far luckier than I was."
Himeko looked at her past self with a complicated expression. She knew that this nineteen-year-old version of herself had already escaped her original fate. Because she had met Elias, her life had reached a fork in the road.
She could reclaim the dream she had once abandoned, put down the sword in her hand, and freely pursue the stars and the sea.
Although Himeko had no dissatisfaction with her life as a Valkyrie and was even deeply proud of it, she still could not help envying the version of herself from the bubble world before her. How wonderful, wasn't it? She had been able to meet the best man in the world while she herself was still at the best age of her life.
"Uh, I-I don't have those kinds of intentions."
Instinctively guessing what her older self was thinking, the bubble world's Himeko spoke somewhat awkwardly.
The younger woman looked at the mature and elegant version of herself with a complicated gaze. It felt like she was facing an older sister who had been separated from her for many years, which made the whole situation strangely awkward.
And because they were technically "the same person," whatever she was thinking seemed to be easily seen through by this other version of herself, just like right now...
"I know you don't. But some things, some feelings, aren't entirely up to you. By the time you truly realize what's happening, you'll already be unable to stop or turn back."
Himeko curled her lips into a smile.
Naive child... no, rather, naive me. Now that you've already met this man, do you really think you'll be able to escape in the future?
No one understood Murata Himeko better than Murata Himeko herself.
That was why she could be certain that even though Elias and her younger self had nothing going on right now, the future might be a very different story.
Himeko knew exactly what stage of life her younger self was in. Her mother had died early, her father had only just passed away, and she had joined Schicksal as a Valkyrie less than half a year ago, lost and unable to find any direction in life.
She had impulsively joined Schicksal and regretted dropping out of MIT, abandoning the dream she had pursued for so long.
This was the most directionless period of Murata Himeko's life.
And it was at precisely this time that she met Elias.
This white-haired young man had suddenly appeared before her, flawless in every conceivable way, and helped Himeko reclaim the dream she had once given up. On top of that, she already owed him her life.
Perhaps there were no romantic feelings yet, but the seed had undoubtedly already been planted. As time passed, Murata Himeko was almost certain that her younger self would eventually walk the same old path she had.
As for whether Elias would accept her...
(Hmm... He probably would.)
After three seconds of thought, Himeko reached her conclusion. First of all, all the women who had already successfully won Elias over knew that he was actually incredibly, ridiculously easy to conquer! You could even say there was almost no difficulty at all!
If this were a dating sim, his route difficulty would probably be second only to characters who gave themselves away for free. He did seem to care quite a bit about looks, but Himeko had never lacked in that department.
Put simply, all you needed to do was exchange sincerity for sincerity!
And there was one more crucial point. She was Murata Himeko too. That fact alone was enough to start Elias at maximum affection.
"Ahh~ I feel like I've already seen the future..."
"Himeko?"
"It's nothing. Ab-so-lute-ly~ no-thing~!"
Thinking that she might someday have to compete with another version of herself over the same man left Himeko unsure whether to laugh or cry. So she raised a hand and vigorously ruffled Elias' hair.
"Elias, go on a date with me next."
"Huh? That's sudden."
"Mhm~ How long has it been since I've gotten any screen time? If I don't remind everyone I exist, you're going to forget about me."
"How could I? Himeko, don't underestimate me. As long as someone is important to me, I'll remember every word they've ever said. Even after ten thousand years, I won't forget."
Elias spoke with complete seriousness. Every word was true.
"..."
Himeko fell silent for a moment. She had only been joking. Of course she knew the person before her would never forget her, but women were greedy creatures. They always yearned for more love.
The beautiful teacher with fiery red hair opened her arms and embraced the pure white young man before her. Naturally, he did not refuse.
To Elias, who had endured ten thousand years of loneliness, there were still countless things a thousand times more intense than an embrace that he wanted to do.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, quite a few people were curiously interacting with the bubble world's Himeko, including Theresa, Kiana, Bronya, and the others. After all, this was simply too novel.
"Whoa, so this is what Teacher Himeko looked like when she was young."
"Hehe, want to come study at St. Freya?"
"Kiana, have you finished today's homework?"
"Huh?! S-Sorry, Aunt Himeko! I didn't say anything! Waaah, don't pull my ear!"
Everyone knew exactly what was going through the tuna's head. She clearly wanted the bubble world's Himeko to enroll at St. Freya Academy and become her classmate. Just imagining the scene made everyone feel strange.
One Himeko standing at the lectern as the teacher, while another Himeko sat beside them as a student... It was completely absurd.
Elias chuckled. Truthfully, he also wanted to see what that would look like. But for now, he had successfully cleared Himeko's hurdle, so his gaze shifted elsewhere.
...
"Miss Rosemary, would you mind telling Rita how you first met Lord Elias?"
"Of course. Though I'm also very curious about the story between Miss Rita and my beloved Demon King. I heard some of it from the Demon King himself earlier, but given his personality, I'm sure he omitted all the most interesting parts."
"Demon King... What an unusual title. Though it truly is strange. Rita's master is an angel, so how did he end up being called a Demon King? How intriguing."
"Hehe, that's quite a long story."
The witch and the maid were smiling as they faced each other.
Neither had started fighting, and both spoke with perfect courtesy, yet Elias could feel an indescribable pressure radiating from them. Two flawless girls with identical appearances were clashing through words alone.
Gulp!
Elias involuntarily swallowed.
Rita Rossweisse, a woman practically synonymous with elegance and perfection, possessed natural seductive charm and could almost be called the Herrscher of Seduction.
Elias could not help worrying about his future. After all, either Rosemary or Rita alone was enough to turn him into someone completely incapable of taking care of himself.
And now that both of them were together, he feared that his future self might become the embodiment of sloth, someone who had clothes handed to him and food placed directly into his mouth.
But... being useless actually sounded kind of nice!
(This side probably doesn't need much worrying. After all, neither Rita nor Rosemary is the type to start fighting the instant they disagree. They're extremely rational, levelheaded, perfect girls!)
Just like right now. Although both Rosemary and Rita were holding their scythes, they obviously had no intention of attacking each other. They knew violence could not solve an opponent like this, and besides, that was not their style.
A maid or witch had to remain elegant! No crude behavior allowed!
So the way the two women clashed was very "peaceful."
The other side, however, was not peaceful at all.
Bzzzzzzzzzt—!!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—!!
The sound of a chainsaw colliding with a katana rang out. Elias turned his head with a complicated expression and saw his cook engaged in a "friendly spar" with his vampire bride.
And there was even a pink elf cheering them on.
Elysia: "Yes! Fight, fight! Go, Mei! Go, Miss Luna too! Whoever wins gets Eli!"
Elias: "ELY! SI! A!!!"