Okhema, at the city gate.
"We just got back to Okhema, and now we're leaving again?"
Seeing Lumina halt at the city gate, seemingly waiting for someone, Herta's expression immediately fell. In almost an instant, she knew what Lumina was up to.
Herta felt utterly exasperated.
Why does it feel like she's incredibly busy, yet not entirely busy at all?
They had set out from Okhema, traveled to the Grove of Epiphany, briefly treated the locals afflicted by the Black Tide, encountered that Black-Robed Swordsman, imprisoned him, toyed with him for a while, and then headed back to Okhema.
Along the way, they met a beautiful girl and entered Okhema with her.
And now, they were leaving Okhema again...
Based on Lumina's earlier actions with the Black-Robed Swordsman, Herta could roughly guess that Lumina was planning to travel to the Grove of Epiphany with someone—or some people.
So busy... but what is she even busy with?
Herta couldn't figure it out.
"Shh, Herta. Don't be impatient."
"Just wait."
Lumina noticed the flicker of confusion in Herta's eyes but offered no explanation.
She raised a finger to her lips, closed one eye, and made a shushing gesture.
"..."
Herta's gaze followed Lumina's finger, settling on her lips. Seeing Lumina press her finger to her mouth, Herta felt as if she were staring at a gourmet delicacy and couldn't help but swallow hard.
Gulp...
The sound echoed clearly in the air, startling Lumina for a moment.
But she quickly recovered.
Looking at Herta, whose beauty could rival an Emanator of Beauty, Lumina's lips curved into a slightly mischievous smile.
She clasped her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and put on a pure and innocent smile—a signature pose belonging to the pristine "White Moonlight" from her memories.
"..."
Although Herta knew Lumina was just acting, she couldn't help but be captivated by this sight.
So beautiful...
The saying "A White Moonlight will forever reside in the hearts of youths" wasn't just empty words.
It was the truth.
Right now, Lumina's "White Moonlight" pose was deeply etched into Herta's heart.
Even if... this "White Moonlight" was black on the inside.
Herta understood this perfectly, yet she still seared the image into her heart.
While Herta was still dazed, Lumina leaned in, bringing her face close to Herta's.
She stopped just a few centimeters away.
From this distance, all Herta had to do was tilt her head slightly forward to "taste" the gourmet delicacy she had always dreamed of...
But Lumina paid this no mind. Instead, she blew a puff of hot air onto Herta's face and whispered in a seductive tone, "Hey, Little Herta."
"Since you like it so much... how about I let you kiss me?"
After speaking, Lumina puckered her lips, seemingly inviting Herta to kiss her.
But was it really true?
Of course not.
Herta knew better than anyone.
Lumina was just trying to tease her mercilessly, just like before.
But...
But seeing that face so close, seeing Lumina's puckered lips waiting for a gentle bite, Herta...
...was finding it hard to resist.
What if?
What if Lumina is serious this time?
Or...
What if Lumina doesn't react in time?
If I'm fast enough, maybe I can actually kiss her?
These thoughts raced through Herta's mind.
In those few short seconds, a thousand thoughts raced through Herta's mind.
Finally, she made her decision.
And that was...
Just kiss her!
If I succeed, it's a massive win. If I fail, it doesn't matter.
After all, Lumina had already toyed with her several times. What was one more?
Maybe if I actually kiss her, I can turn the tables.
Knowing Little Lumina's all-talk-no-action personality, if I actually succeed, I could probably stun her into silence for a while.
With this thought, Herta's powerful brain devised a complete battle plan in an instant.
Now that the strategy was set, all that remained was to execute it...
Hmm... but then again.
Lumina... this would be her first kiss, right?
Yeah... definitely. No doubt about it.
With her personality—all talk, wouldn't even do anything if a beautiful girl stripped naked and climbed into her bed—it has to be her first kiss!
With that thought, Herta's hesitation vanished.
She gazed at the face just inches from her own.
She snapped her head up and lunged forward for the kiss.
"..."
But just as Herta had predicted, the outcome was exactly the same.
A cool breeze brushed her face as she kissed empty air.
Though she'd expected it, Herta still felt a surge of annoyance. The power gap between them was simply too vast. In a direct confrontation with Lumina, the disparity was overwhelming...
And there was nothing Herta could do about it.
Such a massive power gap was a chasm that no amount of intelligence or items could bridge.
"Hahaha..."
Snapping back to reality, Herta saw Lumina standing a good distance away, covering her mouth as she giggled.
A nameless rage flared in Herta's heart.
Damn it!
She couldn't stand it. It was always like this.
Lumina always used her superior power to crush her.
Where the hell is Aha?
Can't he just pop out of nowhere and seal Lumina's powers for a bit?
Herta grumbled silently, though she knew the thought was completely absurd.
To defeat Lumina, I'd have to use certain... methods. Do something to make her so incredibly flustered that she loses her composure.
Only then could I seize the initiative.
But... if I do something that embarrassing to her...
Will I even have the presence of mind left to seize anything?
Herta grumbled internally.
Shaking off the thought, she refocused. Crossing her arms, she glared at the still-laughing Lumina and snorted, "Had your fun? Laughed enough?"
"Believe it or not, I'll climb into your bed tonight and strip you naked."
After everything that had happened, Herta had grown much bolder. She could now utter such threats—about climbing into beds and stripping clothes—without so much as a blush or a flutter of her heart.
Lumina already knows, so why bother acting?
She's not embarrassed, so why should I be?
Do I want to look weak? Like the eternally subordinate "little sister"?
"Sure," Lumina replied.
She assumed Herta was just bluffing and didn't pay the threat much mind.
Trash talk? Anyone can do that.
Lumina covered her mouth with her hand, playing along with Herta's threat.
"If you dare to do it, I won't resist!"
"Really?"
"Of course." Lumina lowered her hand and huffed lightly.
Bluffing ≠ I'll actually do it.
Not resisting ≠ I'll let you do whatever you want.
If Herta really did sneak into her bed on a dark, windy night and try something like that, Lumina would keep her word and not resist.
But whether Herta could even get close to me is another story, ha.
After all, the shield my body unconsciously projects doesn't count as me actively resisting, right?
Lumina snorted inwardly.
Of course, she didn't actually believe Herta would do such a thing anyway.
"Heh heh." As if possessing Mind Reading, Herta saw right through Lumina's thoughts.
She offered nothing more than a dry "heh heh" in response.
After all, Herta was used to it.
Lumina was all talk, someone who bluffed but never acted.
Well... maybe not entirely.
At least...
At least back then in the grove, she really did do some... more intimate things to me...
"Mmm..."
Thinking back to what Lumina had done to her in the grove, Herta's face couldn't help but flush.
A comfortable sensation—one Herta couldn't quite describe—welled up in her chest.
At the same time, a strange feeling stirred in her heart.
It was inexplicable, bizarre.
Driven by this emotion, Herta found herself wishing she could become an Emanator of Finality. She wanted to go back in time, stop Hyacine and her group, and prevent them from ever approaching the spot where she and Lumina had been.
So that Lumina could continue...
"Ahem, ahem..."
As the thoughts swirled, Herta suddenly felt unsteady, struggling to keep her balance.
To stop herself from getting too lost in thought and falling over, she coughed sharply to clear her head.
She knew dwelling on it further would lead nowhere.
So Herta didn't dwell on the topic any longer. After calming herself, she turned to Lumina and asked, "How much longer do we have to wait here?"
"No idea," Lumina replied, spreading her hands to show she was just as clueless.
Since Herta wasn't pressing the issue, Lumina naturally wouldn't either.
Continuing the conversation would be pointless.
After all, they were both just talking big. No matter how much they said, neither would take any real action.
Might as well think about something more meaningful, Lumina thought.
Hmm... though this kind of thing is meaningful in its own way.
Manipulating Little Herta, making her willingly become Sister Lumina's little sister—isn't that a meaningful endeavor?
At this moment, Little Lumina still believed they were both just bluffing...
Little did she know, Herta was already formulating a series of meticulous plans...
"You seem a bit unreliable," Herta remarked, her mouth twitching as she watched Lumina shrug helplessly, looking utterly clueless.
This idiot... if she weren't so overwhelmingly strong...
She'd have a three-and-a-half-year-old kid by now...
Hmm... wait, that's not right.
What Herta meant was, if Lumina had no power, she'd already be calling Herta "Big Sister Herta" with every breath...
Shaking her head, Herta dismissed such unrealistic fantasies. "Instead of just waiting here, why don't we go find them directly?" she asked.
"It's just Okhema. If you really wanted to, no one could escape your Perception, right?"
Instead of waiting foolishly, Herta proposed a direct search.
"Hmm... Herta, I think you're right," Lumina said after a moment's thought, finding Herta's logic impeccable.
She nodded in agreement.
But then, Lumina muttered to herself, "Hmm... so, who exactly is going to the Grove of Epiphany?"
"Stelle will probably go, right? There's no way she wouldn't."
"So, if we just stick with her, we should be able to get to the Grove, right?"
Lumina hadn't read the script, so she didn't know exactly when the Grove of Epiphany's story arc would occur.
However, based on the events involving the Black-Robed Swordsman and that "A-something-something-us" guy, it seemed like it was about to happen—or would happen very soon.
[I have the script, all the way up to version 3.4. Want to see it?]
[We're currently in 3.1, by the way.]
Just as Lumina was pondering this, an unexpected yet somehow logical voice echoed in her mind.
"Huh?"
Who was that again?
Hearing the voice, a flicker of confusion crossed Lumina's eyes.
But it quickly came back to her.
Oh, right. I have a System.
Realization dawned on Lumina. Amidst all the heartwarming moments with various beautiful girls lately, she had completely forgotten about it.
A pang of guilt pricked her, but it vanished just as quickly.
After all...
I did forget about you, but I remembered you now, didn't I?
Lumina's thoughts were completely unfiltered, reaching the System with crystal-clear clarity.
In response to Lumina's heartless, "use-and-discard" attitude, the System simply sent back six dots.
[...]
"Hahaha." Sensing the System's speechless thoughts, Lumina gave an awkward laugh.
Returning to the System's earlier suggestion, she thought for a moment before shaking her head and rejecting the idea of viewing the script. "No need. Even without the script, I, Lumina, can still be invincible in Amphoreus!"
After delivering such a grand, sweeping statement, Lumina's tone suddenly shifted. "That said..." she asked the System, "what's the story for 3.1? Is this when Stelle and the others head to the Grove of Epiphany?"
[...]
Hearing Lumina's question, the System was tempted to give her a tsundere-style kick.
But on second thought, it realized that tsundere was an outdated archetype in the current version.
So, it explained seriously, "The first part of the 3.1 story covers what happens after Stelle, Castorice, and Trianne go to the Grove of Epiphany."
"Hmm... Trianne. She must be one of Tribbie's Thousand Fragments," Lumina concluded after pondering the unfamiliar name for a moment.
"Since they're definitely going to the Grove, let's just wait here for a bit." With this understanding, Lumina nodded and made her decision.
Keep waiting!
This time, the wait wasn't long.
A few minutes later, two women and a child appeared before Lumina and Herta.