Scythe and sword clashed in the Sea of Quanta, but the sword wielder didn't seem very enthusiastic about attacking, just casually blocking and dodging.
Yet, even though the blonde girl hadn't launched any attacks of her own, Veliona's wrists were already numb. Her opponent seemed to be using some special technique that intensified the shockwaves from each weapon clash, making her arms ache. If this continued, she feared she wouldn't even be able to hold her scythe...
"I'm done! What kind of blonde monster are you? So much for 'the longer the weapon, the stronger the fighter'..."
Veliona stabbed her scythe into the ground beside her and collapsed onto the floor. Little Short-Haired Seele peeked out from behind a geometric polyhedron in the Sea of Quanta, observing the blonde girl who held a golden-orange flame sword.
"Whew... We've been fighting for so long, and I don't even know your name. Hey, hey—Lady Sword Saint, what's your name?"
The long-haired Seele looked at the blonde girl, who wasn't even breathing heavily after their fight, her expression filled with curiosity.
"Me? I'm Snow Apocalypse..."
"—God's Shadow on Earth, Heir to Schicksal's Holy Authority, King of Kings, Supreme Agent of the Imaginary Tree, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans..."
"Stop, stop—"
Veliona wiped the sweat from her forehead, interrupting the girl's endless monologue.
"So you're an emperor?"
"No... I'm not an emperor in the traditional human sense—though it doesn't matter if you think so..."
Snow shrugged indifferently, shifting the conversation back to the two of them.
"I know you... or rather, I know you—Miss Seele Vollerei."
The blonde girl looked at the smaller, short-haired Seele.
"Eh... You know Seele? But Seele doesn't..."
"Of course you have no impression of me... It's a one-sided acquaintance; I know you, but you don't know me. Have you ever heard the name Bronya Zaychik?"
"..."
Snow's question sent Seele into a state of immense shock...
"You know Sister Bronya?! Is Sister Bronya doing okay now... Is anyone still bullying Sister Bronya...?"
"She's fine. She's great. She's made new friends, found a new family... But she still longs for the past, she still longs for a certain girl who haunts her dreams—"
"Seele Vollerei."
"Sister Bronya..."
The timid Seele fell silent, seemingly lost once more in thoughts of the sister she so dearly missed.
"So, how do we get back to a normal world? Preferably this crybaby's world? Your Majesty Snow~ You must be from the same world as her, right?"
The long-haired Seele felt her head start to throb as she watched her companion retreat into herself again.
"I went through so much trouble to convince this crybaby to come with me and find a way out—and you've undone all my efforts with just a few words! You're taking full responsibility for this!"
Veliona glared irritably at the blonde girl before her.
"Speaking of which, the Bronya this smaller me keeps talking about... she couldn't be exactly the same as the Bronya I know, could she? Do both their mothers happen to be named Cocolia?!"
"...Yes, Cocolia... It seems you don't like that name?"
"A high-and-mighty ruler, an oppressor. Hmph—"
"So, what kind of person is the Cocolia from this crybaby's world? How could 'I' possibly have accepted her as a mother?"
Veliona's mind raced as she looked at Snow, hoping for an answer.
"Let's start by placing three bottles on the table: Ambition, Political Intrigue, and Familial Love."
"Then, let's take a bottle of water as our attribute points and distribute it among these three empty bottles. Cocolia would be one-third of a bottle in each—in short, useless at everything, but number one at stirring up trouble."
"...Sounds even worse than the one I know."
Veliona clicked her tongue...
"Perhaps... But now, she's probably a full bottle of Familial Love. After all, water and bottles... you can pour them back and forth."
"Hey... What happened to Mother Cocolia?"
Hearing this, the withdrawn, short-haired Seele looked up, suddenly concerned about her adoptive mother.
"She's in prison, of course. Illegal human experimentation, framing colleagues, and a whole mess of other charges. At the very least, it's life imprisonment. But given her past influence in the Anti-Entropy Radical Faction, it'll probably be house arrest—lifelong travel restrictions."
"You can definitely still see her if you want. Anti-Entropy's Leader has always been a softie..."
"So, how do we get back to the real world? Any world will do. You guys might not need to eat, but I still do."
After the fight, Veliona, who had tragically discovered that humans still need to eat, glared furiously at the two lively figures before her.
One cried all day without needing to rehydrate, and the other, judging by the quantum creatures she'd just diced into mincemeat, was clearly not normal. As the only normal human among the three, the long-haired Veliona shot them a look that screamed, Are you trying to starve me to death so you can inherit my scythe?
"You need to eat? Just pull something out of a World Bubble..."
Snow looked at Veliona with the fascination one might reserve for a rare animal. She recaptured the World Bubble that had been trying to escape, rummaged inside, and pulled out a bowl of noodles, along with a few bags of potato chips.
"As for going back... just wait. I don't know the coordinates of the Prime World, but I know someone will come looking for us."
Watching the tall Seele bury her face in the noodles, seemingly on the verge of being fully assimilated, Snow nodded in satisfaction.
"Someone's actually coming to find us? Who's that brave?"
Hearing this, Veliona stopped slurping her noodles and looked up at Snow, her expression clearly saying, Who's dumb enough to willingly jump into the Sea of Quanta?
"Of course, it's her dear Sister Bronya. Once that gate called the Eye of the Deep opens, I'll be able to locate the coordinates of the Prime World..."
"Even if Miss Bronya doesn't come to get us then, I can still send you back to the Real Universe."
"Us...? You're not coming out with me?"
Veliona asked, her expression turning curious as she looked at Snow.
"Hmph... A contract has been made and must be honored. But I have a commission for you."
The blonde girl huffed. A growing sense of unease filled her, and Miss Snow, whose hair was starting to turn green, began to wonder if she should take her mother's surname instead of her father's.
"Uh... What commission?"
"Go beat up my other self. How dare she cheat on me behind my back..."
"—Don't worry about not being strong enough... I'll give you a little buff."
"Little???"
The two Seeles stared at the iridescent black light swirling in Snow's hand, starting to question their reality.
"A billion little—"