Because of Natsumi, Seele chose not to go eat with Shiori.
Feeling somewhat grateful to Seele for this, Shiori naturally had no intention of returning home for dinner.
Instead, she decided to have the evening meal on the Fraxinus, which didn't lack kitchen facilities—after all, many people worked overtime here overnight.
Not just kitchens, there were even quite a few staff dormitories.
Although the small size of the ship meant there weren't many dorms, they were still sufficient.
Knowing she could openly have dinner with Shiori, Murasame Reine's mood visibly brightened—a rare occurrence—and she proactively selected a room for everyone.
By the time the three of them returned to the room, Kotori and Reine had already laid out the dinner.
"Thought it would take much longer," Kotori remarked, raising an eyebrow with a lollipop in her mouth.
"Since Natsumi's already awake, Seele didn't need to stay there any longer," Shiori explained. "But it'd be best to send some food to Natsumi. She just woke up and seems a bit scared of her surroundings."
"Scared of her surroundings, or scared of a certain someone?"
Kotori turned her gaze toward Black Amber.
Having gotten a full description from Tohka, Kotori scrutinized the black-haired girl up and down, unable to match her with the image Tohka had painted.
Forget matching—they hardly corresponded at all. Such a sweet-faced, girl-next-door type of girl was hard to imagine being linked with words like 'terrifying,' 'eerie,' or 'violent.'
"Thank you for inviting Seele…"
Black Amber nodded shyly at Kotori, offering a timid smile, before looking toward Murasame Reine.
"Um… should this older sister go rest a bit…? Is that alright?"
"Reine? She's always been like this—often staying up late or pulling all-nighters for work. No amount of persuasion helps," Kotori said.
Truthfully, she also thought Reine's work habits were seriously problematic, but since the other woman never made mistakes and still managed to spare energy to look after her, Kotori had simply stopped pressing the issue.
What 'often staying up late'—more like constantly pulling all-nighters.
As the Spirit of Origin, one of Takamiya Mio's avatars, Murasame Reine hadn't slept for nearly thirty years.
Her life experiences would be staggering in any story—for example, mastering a language system in a single day, rapidly grasping historical and worldviews, and later becoming proficient in everything from multiple foreign languages and playing the violin to medicine and piloting aircraft.
You could say Murasame Reine was truly the world's favored one—or rather, her very birth was an irreplicable miracle to this world.
Whether it was her incredibly brilliant mind or her unmatched power, she could achieve anything she set out to do.
Yet she was precisely the lovesick type. If she had even one-tenth the drive of Westcott or Elliot, she wouldn't have spent thirty years drifting in such a daze.
In truth, this wasn't the first meeting between Black Amber and Takamiya Mio, but back then, Black Amber was Mobius, and Takamiya Mio was the Phantom.
Seele and Murasame Reine, however, really were meeting for the first time.
"I'm fine, Miss Seele. No need to worry about me. More than that, the food getting cold is what deserves attention," Murasame Reine said.
Perhaps out of arrogance, or perhaps from a genuine disinterest in everything at heart, Murasame Reine didn't particularly care about Seele's situation—after all, Seele wasn't a spirit.
In this world, only four people could make Murasame Reine change her expression: Takamiya Shin, Itsuka Shiori, Mobius, and Durandal.
The first two went without saying—one was the person she considered her beloved, the other her beloved and also her daughter.
Both were existences Murasame Reine would fight to the death to protect. The latter two… well, the situation was a bit more complicated.
Mobius was the first person in this world who made her think 'cannot be opposed.'
Murasame Reine knew perfectly well that in terms of sheer combat power, Mobius was no match for her, no matter what.
No one understood better than Murasame Reine just how powerful she was—not just Earth, but even a star like the Sun, over a million times larger than Earth, could be destroyed by her, given enough time.
Even so, Murasame Reine had to admit that Mobius had a reason she couldn't oppose: resurrection.
When she first went to Schicksal to recover the Sephira Crystals, Murasame Reine—no, Takamiya Mio—was shocked by her discovery.
The girls she had believed would die instantly once the Sephira Crystals were extracted hadn't died at all, but were instead lying obediently inside the laboratory.
She had never imagined humans possessed such power to reverse life and death—not even Westcott and the others, who considered themselves above humans.
So when she met that Mobius, she asked:
'You who can extend the lives of those who should have died—can you bring the dead back to life?'
Despite possessing world-altering might, even authority over time and space, Takamiya Mio directed her inquiry toward a human she could obliterate at any moment.
She revealed her identity, even displaying her power repeatedly to satisfy the other's curiosity, yet the response she received was:
'Your ignorance limits everything about you.'
Takamiya Mio couldn't believe someone who had witnessed such power could look at her with pity.
'Bringing a dead person back is simple, but why should I help you?'
The 'resurrection' she had poured all her effort and thought into for two years was described as 'simple' by the other.
Takamiya Mio was incredulous—she had fully grasped human culture and technology, understanding the limits of human power better than humans themselves.
But seeing the green-haired girl's confident demeanor and dismissive attitude toward her, she chose, with a kind of madness, to believe.
'What must I do for you to help me revive her?'
'Even if the price is all your power, including your life?'
'As long as she can be revived, I'll accept any price, including my life! But… how can you prove this resurrection you speak of?'
'I don't need to prove anything to you, and I have no intention of helping you… at least not now. Until I feel like helping you, just continue doing everything you're already doing.'
That was a human both insane and rational.
Murasame Reine understood well that high intelligence didn't equate to wisdom.
True wisdom required not only accumulated knowledge and environmental nurturing, but also extraordinary intuition, sharp thinking, and better luck than others.
In Murasame Reine's eyes, Mobius was the answer—the scientist who embodied every element of success in the world.
The only thing she couldn't grasp was exactly what method Mobius spoke of for resurrection.
But it didn't matter anymore… everything was now in place. Even without Mobius's help, I can revive Shin on my own.
Black Amber sampled Itsuka Shiori's cooking with a smile on her face, while inwardly pondering how to explain her 'failure to handle things properly.'
--+--
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.