Shiraha… had truly learned his lesson. Was the Herrscher of Corruption's range really that wide?
With that thought, he glanced at Mei, whose expression was proud and her smile bright.
So when you become the Herrscher of Thunder, Mei, how come you're so weak? Small range, low attack, and not even that fast.
Back to the matter at hand. The meeting wouldn't happen today, it couldn't be resolved that quickly. Shiraha stayed glued to Rin's side… though he'd always been close to her anyway.
At night, they stayed in group dorms, boys in one group, girls split into two.
Beep! Beep!
Two honks sounded. Natasha stretched lazily, propping her feet up on the dashboard.
"Let's go, time to see the doctors."
Natasha had integrated well into Anti-Entropy recently. Though in Grey Serpent's eyes, having her infiltrate Anti-Entropy was a bit of a waste of her talents.
But since there was a chance she could enter the core circle… he didn't say anything.
"Still bringing that little fox?"
Natasha's tone was lazy. She reached out to take her, but this time, Rin dodged nimbly, perching on Shiraha's shoulder.
Shiraha thought for a moment, then nodded. "Rin-nee has helped me a lot. This little fox came from her, so by extension, I've grown fond of it too."
Natasha looked at Shiraha. He continued explaining. "Fu Hua, an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, suspected to be a descendant of Hua from the Previous Era, or possibly Hua herself."
"I don't have solid evidence, but I feel like Rin-nee has always been helping me."
As for how Shiraha knew about Fu Hua, it was thanks to Elysia-nee. Anyone familiar with him could probably figure that much out.
Rin made a few vague sounds, unclear what they meant, but from the way her tail moved, she seemed happy.
She still wasn't worried about Shiraha. After all, when he'd spoken about liking her in the past, as a little fox, his feelings had been genuinely warm.
Would a child lie?
A child's emotions were the purest.
Natasha looked at Shiraha in the rearview mirror, her expression unreadable.
Just then, Mei and Kiana came running over. Mei was especially excited, the car was a convertible, and she jumped straight into the back seat.
"Senpai, let's go! I can't wait to see the doctor."
Mei rubbed her hands together. The power from her Stigmata sent faint currents through her fingers.
She'd been waiting for this day. Doctor, my superpowers have finally appeared! So how do I train to surpass Little Shiraha?
Natasha composed herself and stopped joking.
"Not bringing Bronya?"
Shiraha asked.
Natasha was quiet for a moment, then shook her head. "Forget it, she's a bit shy. Suddenly meeting so many people might make her uncomfortable."
She didn't trust Bronya yet. In fact, Grey Serpent had described Bronya as a temporary hire, filler. Not someone to be trusted with important matters.
They didn't even need to drive, the doctors lived right in the campus faculty housing.
Shiraha held the fox and followed Mei as she hopped out of the back seat. Kiana, for once, looked a little nervous.
"Don't be scared, the doctors are really nice."
"It's not that I'm scared, it's just…" Kiana hesitated. "I feel like my grades aren't that good. I'm worried I'll disappoint the doctor."
She had a good relationship with Tesla, after all, Tesla and Shiraha had brought her back.
Shiraha blinked at that. "Then why didn't you study harder?"
Though she'd been a little shy just now, when faced with Shiraha, Kiana puffed out her chest. "That's different!"
She might feel a little embarrassed about her grades in front of the doctor, but growing up with Siegfried had made her never really see studying as all that important.
Knock, knock, knock!
Mei knocked on the door.
"Coming, coming."
Einstein's voice sounded tired.
Not because of the kids, she was always like that.
The door opened. Einstein stood there, her noise-canceling headphones hanging around her neck. She was a beauty, but always looked exhausted.
"Good evening, Doctor!"
As long as her dad wasn't around, Mei was cheerful and lively, definitely not a Yamato Nadeshiko.
"Good evening, Doctor." Shiraha followed, adding, "If you're tired, I can take Mei and Kiana to get some food first, you can get some rest."
Einstein's lips curled slightly as she ruffled Shiraha's hair. "Welt's already getting food."
She pulled her headphones down a little and looked at Kiana… Anti-Entropy hadn't forgotten the real Kiana all these years, but there was no trace of her, even the experiments seemed to have stopped.
Her gaze softened. "Go on in, Tesla's been talking about you nonstop, little Kiana."
"Yeah!"
Kiana seemed to suddenly find her courage, her back straight and her steps confident.
Natasha followed. Einstein stood at the door for a moment before speaking.
"Since when did Shiraha have a fox?"
Natasha's expression didn't change. "It's my sister's. But Little Shiraha seems to really like it, so now it's become his."
Einstein nodded, she didn't mind kids' hobbies.
At least compared to street racing and cursing, Shiraha's interests were pretty childlike… if a bit girly.
Then again, thinking about his imaginary friend, it made sense.
The living room was lively.
Mei stood in the middle, unashamedly rubbing her hands together before slapping them onto a nearby instrument.
The readings on the device slowly rose as the current flowed in, stabilizing at a decent level.
Tesla's excitement quickly faded. "Promising!"
Mei's performance was just like Shiraha's when he'd first come to the Americas, without relying on his other self.
Promising, but not quite there yet.
Kiana scoffed. "Looks like it's not as reliable as one of my punches."
Mei didn't argue. She pulled her hand back, a faint tingle still lingering in her palm.
"Every long journey starts with a single step. Shiraha's power back then…"
She paused, then changed the subject. "Dr. Tesla, I feel like the only thing separating me from Shiraha now is a ghost friend."
Back then, Shiraha's performance hadn't been anything incredible, but the moment he leaned on that friend, he could pop someone's head like a watermelon.
Tesla was at a loss. That was a good point, but she hadn't figured out how to awaken Stigmata consciousness. She was a physicist, good with mechs, weapons, even Imaginary rifts and turbulence.
But Stigmata consciousness? She had no clue.
"Ahem—little Mei, don't aim too high too fast. Look at Kiana…"
Kiana's expression went flat, so having no Stigmata is embarrassing, huh.
Tesla fell back into thought.
Shiraha offered gently, "If Mei had her own ghost friend, would she really be able to ignore everyone else and play with her at school?"
Mei: ….
She fell into thought. As a real kid, not a transmigrator or reborn, she found herself torn between power and friendship.
Some girls valued friendship above all else, though looking at Mei's group, Shiraha couldn't see many true friends.
"Maybe my ghost friend would be easygoing?" Mei mused. "Maybe she wouldn't be possessive, unlike yours… perverted."
Elysia paused for a moment. Mei's comments didn't bother her, she was used to it.
She casually draped her arm over Little Shiraha's shoulder, leaned down, and gently bit his cheek.
"Shiraha, Rin's clearly noticed something. Are you sure you want to keep her with you?"
Elysia wasn't foolish. She'd been quiet the whole way. Now it was time to separate for a bit and figure out a plan.
Shiraha didn't answer, just looked up, feigning embarrassment, but his eyes were full of confidence.
It's fine, it's fine. Rin's full mastery of her abilities as a mature Herrscher had indeed exceeded his expectations, but now it was time to see real skill.
Reason or emotion?
Facing that endlessly repeated question, Shiraha would choose the same answer in different situations, Theresa. More precisely, the Oath of Judah.
The Binding Key was there to be used. The question now was how to get Theresa here.
The living room was quiet. Tesla's expression was sorrowful, was my precious Anti-Entropy prodigy going down the worst possible path toward self-love?
Shiraha gave an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry, my Nee-chan's a little petty."
Tesla's expression was flat. "It's fine.... I understand."
Understand my ass!
Mei's smile faded slightly. "Doctor, I really think my ghost friend needs to exist."
At the very least, she could help Mei come up with ideas, maybe even give Shiraha's ghost friend a little shock.
Mei was older, so her ghost friend would probably be stronger than Shiraha's.
Tesla was silent for a moment, then nodded firmly. "Exactly, sometimes you have to fight magic with magic."
Himeko was unreliable. She had no interest in these kids, and couldn't even be bothered to play along with them.
After her teaching credentials conveniently melted away, she couldn't even be bothered to go to school.
"What magic?" Welt pushed the door open, carrying a few takeout boxes. "Is Tesla talking about alchemy again?"
"Alchemy?"
Kiana's eyes lit up, her sky-blue gaze reflecting the takeout containers. She forced herself to look away.
Alchemy, the kind of magic that turns lead into gold?
The conversation in the living room instantly derailed. Tesla hadn't expected to find another person in this world who believed in alchemy.
Shiraha stood to the side, holding the little fox, his smile clean and bright, like a well-behaved child.
Rin nuzzled against his cheek.
On the other side of the world, people were also hard at work.
The atmosphere in the Elysian Realm was lively, it was rarely this animated.
Sakura was surrounded, with everyone chattering away. As usual, Elysia did most of the talking.
Elysia of the Realm put on a confident front. "Sakura, when you're out there, don't be scared. You still have me out there too."
She puffed out her chest, looking utterly convincing.
After all, Elysia still had some lingering obsession in this era, and had left behind the seed of Origin.
As for Elysia of the Realm… she didn't know about that.
She really couldn't figure out how her past self had been so reliable.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. She continued, "Sakura, listen to me. Don't worry about what Kevin or anyone else says."
"Rin is your sister. You're going out to see her simply because a sister wants to see her sister."
"Not out of duty, or warrior's honor, to pacify a Herrscher sister."
Rin was undoubtedly a Herrscher.
None of the Elysian Realm residents had experienced this era, and their impressions of Herrschers weren't favorable. As for Elysia… people tended to unconsciously exclude her from the category.
Sakura looked like she wanted to say something.
Elysia smiled reassuringly and reached out to pat Sakura's shoulder, though she knew Sakura might not be used to such intimacy, she still did it.
"It's okay, Elysia's here!"
She wasn't confident, but at least for now, as the one playing the good cop, she had to soothe Sakura's emotions and lift the burden from her heart.
"Having said that, I do need to add one thing."
A voice tinged with compassion cut in. Aponia added, "The Elysian Realm has its own uniqueness. Sakura… once you leave, it will be very difficult to return."
Of course, they could simply copy her data, but no one wanted to do that.
Everyone here should be unique. If fighting Honkai required them to split into countless copies, Aponia was sure some would agree, but most had their own little stubbornnesses.
A person needs a reason to keep living. These small, unconscious acts of care existed everywhere in the Realm.
The Elysian Realm wasn't just a data storage facility. Aponia's presence had given it life, so Sakura should also be a living person. At least a continuation of a certain moment.
Sakura was quiet for a moment. "Mm, I'll keep an eye on Rin."
She paused, a small smile forming. "That child has grown up lately, she looks just like me now."
Her eyes were full of anticipation, Rin, and that child Shiraha too.
Just then, someone interjected. "Make sure to keep an eye on Elysia out there. Don't let her bully kids all day."
It was Mobius. She still hadn't forgotten that Shiraha's impression of rewards had turned into kisses.
Elysia of the Realm shot her a resentful look, but even Eden chimed in this time. "Sakura... while you're taking care of Rin, make sure Shiraha doesn't turn into a copy of Elysia too."
"Don't let her corrupt that kid."
Sorry, Elysia, I'll always be on your side. Except for anything illegal or immoral.
"I will."
Sakura's voice was soft, but firm.
Firm enough to make Elysia's lips twitch, and at the same time, she grew even more curious about that "Little Shiraha."