"Miss Herta must be quite famous in the universe, right?"
It was Yae Miko who spoke first.
Having just learned how vast the cosmos truly was, how could she not be curious about someone from outside it?
And aside from Su Ran, Herta was the only proper "alien" she'd met.
As for Alice…
Yae Miko refused to think about that woman.
Being bullied as a child was normal.
Being bullied as an adult was unacceptable and Alice absolutely could bully Raiden Ei, so Yae Miko had no desire to bring her up.
"I'm famous everywhere— except among primitive creatures who've never left their home planet," Herta declared proudly.
"In the proper universe, basically everyone knows me."
She was, unsurprisingly, very full of herself.
"But him—" she pointed at Su Ran, "—he's basically a nobody."
That caught Ningguang's attention.
"But he told us he's very sought-after in the universe.
If so, how could he be 'a nobody'?"
Su Ran was the benefactor she had personally chosen to follow.
She had also seen the construction of the space station— a project so massive and advanced that not even the gods of Celestia could replicate it.
How could someone capable of this be unknown?
Herta rolled her eyes.
"Everyone wants him.
That doesn't mean everyone knows his name.
Being powerful doesn't automatically make you famous."
Su Ran well-known?
Not exactly.
Only Herta, Asta, a few IPC executives, and some unlucky witnesses knew him.
"That… the Genius Society—what kind of organization is it exactly? You're a member too, right?"
Ningguang asked quickly.
Her curiosity about the universe outweighed her pride.
She only had Su Ran's descriptions so far, but every storyteller has their own bias.
She wanted a second source.
"The Genius Society?
What—do you want to join?"
Herta stared at her, genuinely puzzled.
Someone folded into Su Ran's inner circle and his future "rich woman," supposedly yet she didn't even know what the Genius Society was?
Was she… just a decorative vase?
"If possible…"
Ningguang admitted softly.
She truly wished to become more than a symbolic "station master."
But right now, this opportunity felt more like pity— and that stung her pride.
Herta leaned in.
"Have you made any world-shattering discoveries?
Advanced your entire civilization beyond gravity in a single year?
Do you have published research on quantum mechanics?
Imaginary theory?
Anything?"
Ningguang froze.
She didn't understand half the words Herta said.
"The Genius Society takes only the greatest of geniuses.
Membership requires recognition from Nous, the Aeon of Erudition.
Across 2,157 Amber Eras of recorded history, only 85 people have ever been chosen.
Do you have that level of talent?"
Ningguang wanted to disappear.
Amber Eras sounded long—
she didn't know how long—
but 85 members across the entire universe…
"What was I thinking…"
She regretted even asking.
"Do you even have a brain?"
Herta asked flatly.
"Is… is that a personal insult?"
Ningguang forced a smile, trembling slightly with restrained rage.
Why was this puppet so infuriating?
"Call it whatever you want.
If you had a functioning brain, you wouldn't dream of joining the Genius Society when you have zero achievements— especially not while saying it in front of a current member.
A Wise Aeon's Envoy, mind you."
"You're also an envoy of Erudition?"
Yae Miko blinked.
The unfinished space station wasn't small, but the only people here were herself, Ningguang, and Herta.
Su Ran had taken the others elsewhere.
So that meant Herta wasn't talking about Su Ran she meant herself.
"What, is that so shocking?"
"Of course it is!"
Yae Miko cried.
Sure, Herta constantly roasted Ningguang which Yae Miko enjoyed immensely, out of pettiness but meeting an Aeon's envoy casually, and then another, and yet another…
It made it feel like Envoys grew on trees.
"In the last five hundred years, I've only met three off-worlders—
and including that insect, that makes three envoys!"
To Yae Miko, the ratio felt ridiculous.
Herta snorted.
"Just think of it as 'birds of a feather.'
That insect is his creation.
Envoys aren't common.
Each Aeon has maybe—maybe—two hands' worth at most."
She sighed dramatically.
"These low-civilization cuties… see two envoys and a bug, and suddenly think it's normal."
"Still," Herta added, "for small-fry like you to get close to Su Ran is rare.
Did you pay him?"
Yae Miko immediately denied such slander.
"If money worked, there would be far more of us here."
"True. If bribery worked, the IPC wouldn't be completely helpless."
No one in the universe out-bribed the IPC.
If they couldn't buy their way in… these Teyvat girls certainly couldn't.
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