A rich tea aroma permeated the room belonging to Li Zihan.
The black-haired boy skillfully brewed the tea, following the knowledge he had previously plundered from several tea masters.
Although for someone who was tone-deaf to taste, all tea was essentially the same, Cecilia was his mother-in-law, after all. The proper courtesies had to be observed.
Cecilia sat at the table, looking at the boy who gave her a feeling somewhat reminiscent of Otto, her expression a little lost.
If possible, she would have preferred not to come here.
The Second Herrscher had created a great number of Honkai Beasts on the Siberian plains. Although those beasts were all block-headed and didn't seem very bright… they were still Honkai Beasts, and they needed to be dealt with.
And dealing with these Honkai Beasts, as well as subjugating the Second Herrscher, was the mission of the Snow Wolf Squad.
As the captain of the Snow Wolf Squad, Cecilia was actually very busy. Coming to this town was meant to be a temporary rest, not a business trip.
If she hadn't seen a lost Sirin on the road and had a surge of maternal instinct, deciding to help her find her family, she would be with Cheng Lixue and Shigure Kira right now, discussing their next battle.
But—
Despite being extremely busy, she came in the end.
Even though she knew this conversation might cause her to be late for the rendezvous with her teammates.
"Are you really Kiana's future husband?"
For what was likely the first time in her life, the ever-gentle Cecilia's gaze carried a hint of sharp, scrutinizing disapproval.
Honestly, the very idea of time travel was quite ridiculous. After all, such an explanation always sounded like something concocted when no other excuse would work.
But just as she was preparing to politely decline the boy's invitation, even bracing herself to fight her way out if he insisted on stopping her…
"Kiana has a very small birthmark on the inside of her left thigh, one that looks a bit like a plum blossom."
Just as she was about to summon Black Abyss White Flower, he had stated this fact with blunt directness.
It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck her very soul.
As Kiana's biological mother, who knew all of her daughter's physical characteristics, Cecilia froze on the spot.
It seemed her precious cabbage had been snatched away by a pig.
---o---
"It might sound incredible, but it's not that difficult to understand."
The boy, whose earliest studies in magecraft had involved the concepts of time and space, and who had later plundered the Emiya family's magecraft and obtained the power of a Herrscher, shrugged and explained.
"You just have to convert a person into a quantum state, throw them into a past or future era, and then confirm their existence using a special method to allow them to act in that time."
"The effect of such travel is the ability to change the past. The price is that it causes ripples in the Sea of Quanta, leading to the erosion of the main world by adjacent World Bubbles."
Without a doubt, this was a dangerous form of travel.
Once initiated, it would create a "future" that could overwrite the original one, causing the world to begin to change, and it would also cause World Bubbles and the main world to affect each other.
So, what kind of situation would be so dire as to warrant humanity in the future sending this person before her back to this era?
Cecilia, a model of an orthodox Valkyrie, grew anxious.
Although she desperately wanted to interrogate this rakish-looking fellow about his exact relationship with Kiana, a far more serious matter now lay before her.
What kind of crisis would force the humans of the future to initiate a Spiritron Dive experiment with such astonishing side effects?
"In that case, why have you come to this era?" the white-haired beauty asked, staring at the boy who had revealed Kiana's private details the moment he opened his mouth.
"I imagine that to warrant an experiment with such significant side effects, there must be something very important to deal with."
And then—
Words so outrageous they challenged her entire worldview fell upon her ears.
"I am the director of the Human Order Security Organization—Chaldeas. My use of the organization's Spiritron Dive equipment to travel to this era is essentially an abuse of official resources for personal reasons."
Cecilia's expression changed in an instant.
She shot to her feet, her expression grim as she stared at the boy brewing tea for her.
"Do you have any idea what you are saying?"
"Changing the past for your own selfish desires and adding variables to the future is a truly despicable act."
As if he were discussing what to have for dinner, the boy explained the consequences of his actions.
"If not for my rather special status, I would have been dragged out and executed by cannon a thousand times over by Schicksal's armed forces."
To gamble with the future of humanity to satisfy one's own desires was indeed a scummy thing to do.
But that raised a question.
What kind of selfish desire would be worth it for a man whose position in Schicksal was second only to the Overseer to risk being purged and personally come to change the past?
She looked at the boy, whose face always seemed to carry a smile similar to the Overseer's, and remained silent for a long time.
"Kiana needs her family."
As if he were a prophet, the boy spoke, revealing his reason.
"Familial love is something that romantic love cannot replace. I need you to be with her, to make her life complete."
Needs her family?
As if she had just heard something terrifying, Cecilia's eyes widened.
Could it be that in this battle, both Siegfried and I… perish?
At that thought, Cecilia's breathing hitched.
My child… becomes an orphan?
"In the future, Siegfried activates the Paracausal factor from his ancestor and repels the Second Herrscher. Then, the Second Herrscher goes berserk and unleashes all of her Honkai energy."
"The Kaslana bloodline provokes Otto's enmity. In order to eliminate this variable, he orders the launch of Honkai Fission Missiles at Siegfried."
"To protect the people of Siberia, and to protect Siegfried, you unleash your own 'Holy Blood' to purify the Honkai energy, and then you die."
So, she dies in the future?
But—
A question immediately followed.
Why did Kiana's future husband say, "Kiana hasn't experienced familial love for a very long time"?
An extremely ominous premonition washed over Cecilia's heart.
"Even heroes can fall."
"It might sound rather heartless to say, but I can only tell you that the Siegfried of the future is probably not the Siegfried you remember."
The boy, with dark red feathers swirling around him, sighed and said.
"Words alone are not enough to convince you of such things."
A feather drifted before Cecilia's eyes.
"So, please, make your choice in this dream."