"Lynelle, Lynelle~"
Nearly a week had passed since the Schicksal conflict.
The group who had ended the strife were finally wrapping up the aftermath.
Hearing Sirin's sweet, clingy voice, Lynelle smiled slightly, set down the documents in her hand, and poured a glass of water for Sirin.
To her surprise, after taking a sip, the odd little pufferfish's face immediately flushed a bright red. She then mumbled something incoherent and clung tightly to Lynelle's arm.
"So... so hot... Lynelle, what did you put in my water?"
A mental image of a sweatdrop appeared above Lynelle's head.
"Hot water. Add it yourself if you want some."
Completely ignoring the clingy pufferfish, Lynelle coolly rolled up a document from her desk and gave Sirin a light tap on the head, as if knocking those improper thoughts right out of the girl's mind.
After all, no matter how much she might enjoy certain activities, after being 'assaulted' night after night by Wendy, Kiana, and Sirin—who had finally found an opportunity to gang up on her—Lynelle had to admit that she perhaps, maybe, probably wasn't as much of a 'top' as she thought.
Just maybe. Being outnumbered was a valid excuse, in her opinion.
Anyway, to avoid having legs too weak to make it to the meeting later, and to prevent her freshly organized documents from getting stained by any strange liquids, Lynelle decisively changed the subject.
"Any news from Schicksal's side?"
"Hmm... You'd have to ask Kiana about that."
Sirin thought for a moment, then closed her eyes. When they opened again, the one in control of the body was a yawning Kiana.
"Morning, Lynelle..."
Kiana seemed to have just woken up. She vigorously rubbed her eyes before processing Sirin's memories.
"Oh, you mean Schicksal? Not much has changed lately, really."
"The collaboration talks led by Durandal and Rita are going very smoothly. Schicksal and Anti-Entropy have temporarily reached a preliminary agreement to jointly deal with any future Herrschers... through persuasion, of course, if possible."
"See? I told you. Without that Otto guy around, Schicksal wouldn't cause so much trouble. But..."
Kiana fell into an odd silence for a moment. Under Lynelle's puzzled gaze, she gently locked the door and casually used her authority to set up a soundproof barrier.
"Lynelle, there's something... I don't know if it's just my imagination... Let me be clear, I have no proof. If it turns out I'm wrong, you better not laugh at me..."
"Oh?"
Seeing the usually brash Kiana wearing such a hesitant expression, Lynelle, ever the one to be first in line for gossip, immediately perked up.
"What happened? Spill the details."
"Well..." Kiana bit her lip slightly and lowered her voice. "These past couple of days, because of my status as the Second Herrscher, Aunt Theresa and the two doctors have been taking me along to the negotiation meetings between Anti-Entropy and Schicksal..."
"And then, I noticed something that might be a bit off."
"Over on Schicksal's side, that Durandal, the one with the title of strongest Valkyrie... She, she..."
"What about her?"
Lynelle was baffled. "Did she secretly play some weird game with Rita during the meetings?"
"It's not that!"
Kiana quickly shook her head. "But it is somewhat related to that area. Because... I noticed the way she looks at me seems a little strange..."
"Though, it's not a 'like-like' kind of look, I can tell that much. Her gaze... it seems very subtle and complicated. I can't really describe it properly."
"?"
Now, Lynelle's curiosity was genuinely piqued.
If Kiana was still unaware of the connection between herself and this Durandal, Lynelle, having 'read the script,' knew the reason perfectly well.
In the original timeline's early stages, while Durandal did appreciate Kiana, simple appreciation wouldn't lead Kiana to such a strange conclusion.
It couldn't be... that Otto was up to something again, could it? But that didn't make sense either. Otto had no reason to stir up trouble at a time like this.
Judging from the information from Schicksal, while Otto's schedule was mysterious, it clearly wasn't the kind that would involve creating family drama right now.
"Don't worry about it for now. Let me look into it."
After turning it over in her mind, Lynelle decided to reassure Kiana first.
"But if you want to make a breakthrough, I suggest you go find Durandal in Schicksal's training room and do a few routine sessions with her... With a common topic, you might be able to get her to reveal the reason for her odd behavior."
"Training?"
Kiana obviously wasn't convinced. "Will that really..."
"Trust me. For her, training is purely a form of daily exercise. The Schicksal training rooms, even at their highest difficulty, are just warm-up level for Durandal."
Lynelle patted Kiana's shoulder. "Any news about Otto?"
In fact, after the Schicksal battle concluded, the mastermind behind the whole upheaval had mysteriously vanished from everyone's sight.
Taking Fu Hua's body with him.
According to Nagamitsu's speculation, Otto might currently be at a research base in North Africa, or possibly in Antarctica.
In short, since the experiment he planned next wasn't particularly location-dependent, and he had taken the Cosmic Juggernaut with him, the chances of finding him were slim unless Sirin conducted a dragnet search across the entire planet.
After this battle, Schicksal's personnel structure had also undergone significant changes—Lixue and Sushang directly left the organization and joined Anti-Entropy on the spot.
Cecilia was very happy to welcome these two old friends.
However, due to Cecilia's sensitive identity, neither Anti-Entropy nor she herself had any plans to publicize it.
On a related note, when Lixue found out that Otto had taken Fu Hua's body, she almost turned the entire Schicksal floating islands upside down.
It was only after Lynelle promptly brought Fu Hua—in her feather form—to her that she calmed down.
As for why Lixue wasn't clamoring to find the body anymore... Since there weren't many people with mental perception abilities on Anti-Entropy's side, and Lixue, having trained in the Taixu Sword Qi, happened to be one, Fu Hua simply took up residence within Lixue.
That's right. Although her master's body was missing, Lixue had ironically gained the ability to 'stick' to Fu Hua on an even deeper level.
This left the young swordswoman's emotions in a complex state, but at least she stopped insisting on hunting down Otto.
"Otto? Nothing. Amber's injuries have recovered enough for her to speak, but she's also clueless about Otto's plans..."
Kiana shook her head. "That's pretty normal, though. That's just how Otto operates. No one but himself ever knows what he's truly planning."
"Alright."
Lynelle didn't press further. She stood up and patted Kiana's head.
"Then you should hurry up and go train with Aunt Cecilia. Einstein already notified me to prepare materials for the meeting later. By my estimate, it's about time to head over."
"Meeting? What meeting?"
"The preliminary meeting about exploring the Eye of the Deep—and in passing fishing a certain Anti-Entropy Sovereign out of the ocean."
--+--
However, just as Lynelle was busily preparing for the Eye of the Deep exploration plan, things were also getting lively over at the World Serpent's base.
"Honored Master, that covers the recent events. Regarding the Gem of Serenity, as a gesture of cooperation, Otto has already handed it over to us. As for the 'price' he demanded..."
"Set that aside for now."
Kevin dismissed the most critical matter with indifference.
"Play the footage of her fighting during the Schicksal battle again. The part where she used crystal magic, I mean."
"Uh..."
Though Grey Serpent very much wanted to say, 'Honored Master, you sound like a proud father watching his daughter perform in a school play,' for the sake of his own life, he firmly kept those words locked in his mouth.
"As you command, Honored Master."
A few minutes later, after once more reviewing the footage of Lynelle in her 'Elysia' form, Kevin nodded thoughtfully.
"Your conjecture is correct. The effects of this transformation... do bear a strong resemblance to Griseo's 'coloring.'"
"If Lynelle was truly created by the original Mobius, that would mean Mobius likely came into contact with Griseo. But when Griseo was still on Earth, she lived among us. She shouldn't have had an opportunity to meet Mobius. Therefore..."
"Lynelle... should know of that child's whereabouts."
Kevin suddenly felt a wave of relief.
Regardless of whether the Stigma Project ultimately succeeded, he knew he would hardly have the capacity to search for Griseo in the future.
But if Lynelle knew the child's whereabouts, the last stone weighing on his heart could finally be laid to rest.
"By the way, what was the condition Otto mentioned earlier?"
"..."
The resigned Grey Serpent repeated the previous information.
"I see... Tell him I agree."
Kevin gave his brief promise.
"Understood, Honored Master."
Grey Serpent's face immediately showed delight. "Recently, our spy within Anti-Entropy sent back intelligence. Anti-Entropy seems to be planning to restart the Eye of the Deep experiment. It appears they also intend to seize the opportunity to rescue their Sovereign."
"When they activate the Eye of the Deep, we will find an opportunity to drop the core into the sea... At that time, the Honored Master will naturally be able to break free from the Labyrinth."
"Anti-Entropy... Meaning Lynelle will be there too, correct?"
Kevin keenly grasped the keywords.
"That... should be correct."
"Good. Very good."
Kevin nodded with satisfaction. "I've been wanting to meet her for some time... It seems the opportunity is soon at hand."
"Make the preparations for the events at the Deep Sea HQ as soon as possible."
"Yes, Honored Master!"
--+--
"Whew—"
Lynelle sat up in the train car, stretching luxuriously and working out the kinks from a body that had just experienced a fierce 'battle' in the dreamscape.
Although only the abilities she gained were shared between her bodies in the two worlds, and not their physical states, that peculiar feeling of overall soreness and numbness, her mind seeming blissfully blank, wasn't something a simple body switch could completely erase.
"Lynelle, you seem pretty relaxed lately..."
"Yep. We just resolved a major crisis in my world... We should be in for a rare period of rest, right?"
Lynelle wasn't lying. Judging from the timeline, there was a good four-month gap between the Schicksal battle and the Deep Sea HQ arc.
Even if this timeline's Kiana was still the well-behaved daughter in Cecilia's arms, without the experience of wandering in Arc City, restarting the Eye of the Deep wasn't something that could be done in a few days.
In other words, Lynelle had at least ten days of rest time.
"So, Lynelle is free lately too?"
Stelle cheered immediately: "Hooray!"
"Why are you so happy... Did something happen?"
"Mhm. While you were asleep earlier, Belobog sent a communication. They're currently holding the Solwarm Festival celebration. As the great heroes who helped liberate Belobog, Bronya invited us to attend the ceremony and witness the fruits of Belobog's revival."
"March and I asked Pom-Pom. Since the Charmony Festival over in Penacony is only held once per Amber Era, the preparations are exceptionally grand. There's at least a month before the festival officially begins. So..."
"So, we go join the fun?"
Lynelle sounded interested. "Perfect, I'm also curious about what changes have occurred in the Robot Settlement..."
"Right! According to the itinerary Pom-Pom gave, we can stay in Belobog for about ten days."
"Then we'll make a stop at 'Washtopia,' followed by returning to the space station per Herta's invitation for your physical examination... Once that series of trips is over, we should be just about ready to head to Penacony."
Stelle nodded happily.
"Hey, wait, I know you're excited, but hold your horses."
Lynelle pulled Stelle back just as they were about to get up.
"Let me go ask March first."
"Uh... Dummy Lynelle, I already asked March. She said she'll go with us this time."
"No, no, no..."
Lynelle shook her head repeatedly. "That's not what I want to ask."
Thus, a short while later, Lynelle and Stelle appeared together in March 7th's room.
"Huh? Ask me what I think about this trip?"
March 7th, who had just changed into a new outfit and hadn't had time to show it off to the two, was a bit baffled by Lynelle's question. "What... what do you mean?"
"It's fine. If it's you, March, you probably wouldn't understand even if I explained."
Lynelle put her hands on her hips and nodded, a thoroughly mischievous smile on her face. "So, little March just needs to answer the question~"
"Hey... Whatever. Even if I correct you, you'd probably just call me silly again next time."
March narrowed her eyes and helplessly poked Lynelle's soft waist. "Then I'll wish for you to meet someone absolutely unexpected during this trip!"
And just like that, the smile was wiped right off Lynelle's face.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.