"Mophead, why'd you go quiet?"
After celebrating enthusiastically with the little guy, Tesla finally found a moment to come over to Einstein, who'd been silent for quite a while.
Einstein gazed toward Shiraha in the distance, her voice very soft. "Do you still remember what this robot was originally built for?"
She didn't wait for Tesla to answer. She added on her own, "This robot was designed to test the young Welt Yang, to measure how well the boy destined to become the Herrscher of Reason could control his abilities."
Even as a child, Yang had never blown the robot apart this thoroughly. They'd patched it up again and again, and it had kept working all the way until now.
But Yang was the successor to the Herrscher of Reason. What was Shiraha?
Tesla still didn't take it to heart. She stabbed a piece of salad she'd set aside earlier and popped it into her mouth. "So... you're worried about a six-year-old kid?"
"Even if he really is connected to a Herrscher somehow, are you saying we couldn't raise a second Joyce?"
Her voice carried a note of complete confidence. She was thoroughly satisfied with Shiraha's performance, he played games with her, he was well-behaved and sensible, just like Yang as a child, only a little livelier.
Einstein found herself stumped by the question. She laughed and shook her head. True. While Shiraha's performance was indeed exaggerated, his background was far too clean.
Besides, even if there were issues, could they possibly be bigger than the issues with Joyce?
At that thought, a small smile returned to her face. "A soul split in two. A life unlike any other."
She paused. "Tesla, this resembles that alchemy you always fantasize about."
Tesla blinked. It did seem a little similar.
Though Shiraha definitely wasn't an alchemical lifeform.
"I thought you'd keep insisting on the schizophrenia theory."
Truthfully, Tesla herself had believed the schizophrenia diagnosis too. No quantum fluctuations. No Stigmata on his body. No Herrscher core inheritance like Yang. No trace of Fenghuang Down.
And yet this invisible imaginary friend could tangibly, undeniably boost Shiraha's burst power.
Einstein shook her head. "I'm not some fossil who refuses to adapt. Besides, Anti-Entropy hasn't fallen so low that we need to rely on a child's efforts."
Her gaze settled on Shiraha in the distance, her voice softening. "At their age, what matters most is that they're happy. As for the schizophrenia issue... when Shiraha grows up and develops his own judgment, we can address it then."
Tesla ground her teeth. "Honestly, I'm kind of jealous of this brat's talent. Why don't I have a superpower like that?!"
She wanted psychokinesis too.
Einstein: ....
She'd been about to remind Tesla not to swear in front of the kids, but then she remembered Tesla's habitual vocabulary. Probably wouldn't make a difference anyway.
On the other side, Elysia's ears perked up. She'd eavesdropped on most of the distant conversation.
Her eyes curved into crescents as she sidled up to Shiraha. "Shiraha... when you think about how bright your future is, do you secretly laugh in your dreams?"
Shiraha answered without a moment's thought. "Elysia-nee, you got one thing wrong. It's not just my future that's bright. Our future is bright."
Elysia let out a light laugh. "You're all talk."
Shiraha shook his head, his expression earnest. "If I can establish myself in Anti-Entropy, and when you stabilize your own condition, Nee... whatever identity you want, it'll be yours to claim, won't it?"
At least for now, Shiraha considered the label that helped his strength the most to be: Elysia's Proxy.
Elysia fell silent. Stabilize my own condition, huh?
That really is just a pipe dream.
She didn't continue the conversation. She was just a transparent person, after all. No, a ghost. And besides, her fickle little Shiraha still had to go smooth things over with little Mei.
Sigh. Men. Sigh. Little men.
Lunchtime arrived quickly. The cafeteria was huge, brightly lit. The three giants of Anti-Entropy didn't carry the slightest air of importance.
Mei didn't sit next to Shiraha this time. She carried her tray over to Dr. Tesla, her little face full of determination.
Teacher Yang stood frozen with his own tray for a moment, then had no choice but to sit down beside Shiraha.
"Eat more. No need to be so frugal. If you waste any... just pin it on Yang. God will forgive you."
Tesla piled a few chopsticks' worth of greens she didn't like onto Shiraha's plate, her tone breezy.
Shiraha opened his mouth, then closed it. He didn't like greens either.
After a quiet beat, he picked up the greens again, his little face full of eager devotion. "Elysia-nee, you eat some too!"
The three elders of Anti-Entropy: .....
Mei, however, was completely unfazed by now. She carefully tugged at Tesla's sleeve. "Doctor, you said before that I could have my own fierce ghost friend too."
Tesla: ....
"You will."
That was all she could say. With a helpless expression, Tesla ruffled Mei's hair.
"When will I get one?"
Mei's violet eyes shimmered, brimming with expectation.
She longed for the day when she'd face a problem she couldn't solve and get to shout, "Help me, Raiden Queen!"
And then... her Raiden Queen would have to be even stronger than Shiraha's Elysia-nee. So her fierce ghost friend would summon lightning from the sky itself and rain down divine punishment!
Tesla could only keep ruffling Mei's hair. "Well... probably when Mei learns to control the Stigmata on her body. Then the friend who belongs only to you will appear."
She'd just barely finished dealing with Mei and was about to lower her head and eat in peace...
"She actually ate it!"
Welt Yang slammed the table and shot to his feet. He rarely acted like a child, he was nearly sixty this year, a genuine old fossil.
"What do you mean, 'actually ate it'?!"
Tesla's head snapped up. "Why does this kind of thing always happen the second I look down?! What is this, a 'guaranteed to miss it if you turn away, regret it for life' setup?!"
No one paid Tesla any attention. Everyone's emotions were far too complicated.
Einstein narrowed her eyes. It wasn't so much that the greens had been eaten, more like they had vanished. Upon touching some unseen boundary, they'd suddenly been annihilated, erased from this world.
It vaguely resembled the Herrscher of the Void's ability, yet there was no detectable fluctuation of imaginary space. Almost like... it could be used as a pocket storage dimension.
Elysia's voice was mournful. "Shiraha, you don't need to be so frugal. If you don't want it, just leave it aside. I don't like greens either."
Shiraha's expression didn't change. He swapped to a piece of meat and kept feeding her. He had a feeling this raised affection points. Maybe not by much, but if he kept at it over time, it'd add up.
Fortunately, their spot was relatively secluded. Life had no audience, no one else was really watching this corner of the cafeteria.
"Don't just feed your Elysia-nee. You need to eat more yourself."
Welt's mouth still twitched. He piled some meat onto Shiraha's plate, genuinely worried the kid wasn't eating enough.
If word got out that a child of the Raiden household went hungry under the watch of Anti-Entropy's Sovereign, the shame alone... Otto would turn it into an Anti-Entropy joke. That level of shame.
Shiraha behaved himself a little. But only a little.
"Eat properly, children." Welt set down his chopsticks, his voice a shade deeper than usual. "After the meal... I'll show you a different kind of movie. A film of something that actually happened in this reality."
His shoulders sagged slightly. The original plan had been to keep Mei sheltered from this world entirely. But with the instability of her Stigmata and Shiraha's emergence, Ryoma Raiden seemed to have changed his original stance.
Then let these two little ones set their sights on a goal early.
He raised his cup and took a sip of water, quietly calculating in his heart.
It's decided! Siegfried, this time, you're going to be the stepping stone!