Seele Vollerei, whose biological parents had died in the Honkai, lived with her adoptive mother in an orphanage on the Siberian icefields.
Seele found contentment there, drawing pictures and playing with her toys.
Later, two older sisters—one with pink hair and one with grey hair—arrived at the orphanage. They became Seele's new friends, protecting the timid girl and yielding all the best things to her.
Seele's adoptive mother treated her quite well, too.
From some unknown point in time, her adoptive mother became increasingly gentle, occasionally flattering Seele to the point of surprise.
But regardless, this was the life Seele wanted.
Although simple, Seele felt very happy.
She thought such days would last forever.
Until one day, Seele's adoptive mother heard a voice from above:
"Your daughter has been corrupted by sin; she needs to be saved."
"I will do my best to save her, Lord."
Seele's mother, who should have been dead, replied. Right in front of Seele, under her terrified gaze, she burst out from within the body of her adoptive mother.
Subsequently, she rushed into Seele's room, took away everything she owned, and even stripped off her clothes.
The voice rang out again:
"Your daughter's soul is still filthy. She needs to be isolated from all evil deeds in this world to prove your piety to me."
"I will obey your will, Lord. I am full of confidence in her."
Seele's mother replied.
She locked Seele inside her bedroom. Her older sisters could not find her no matter how hard they tried; she was cut off from the world.
The voice spoke to Seele's mother for the last time:
"You have done everything I asked, but I still doubt your piety. To prove your piety, I require you to do one more thing."
"Yes, Lord, anything."
Seele's mother implored.
"To prove your love for me, I want you to offer your daughter as a burnt offering. Enter her room, end her sin, and thereby save her filthy soul."
"It is my honor."
The mother answered. She walked into the orphanage's kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife.
The young girl named Seele Vollerei watched this scene in terror through the crack in the door. She locked the bedroom door, turned, and looked around, only to find there was no place to hide in the empty bedroom.
With no other choice, she chose to open her toy box, curling her petite body to hide inside.
The footsteps of the "Mother" outside her door drew closer and closer.
She dared not make a sound, curling her body tighter and tighter.
The narrow space inside the toy box held only thin air, making Seele feel hypoxic. But compared to being discovered by her mother, she would rather endure this brief suffering.
In a trance, she saw the azure blue "Sea" she had dreamed of visiting.
Her eyes saw different things.
Seele's left eye saw Sin and Bronya—these were the new friends Seele had just met. She saw a girl with messy green hair wearing a white lab coat, and a high school girl with bandages wrapped around her hands striking a chuunibyou pose, patting her shoulder to encourage her.
But her right eye did not see Sin.
Only Bronya, and behind her, two unknown older sisters with white hair and purple hair smiling kindly at her.
In her trance, she saw the box being opened. She saw her mother's terrifying face.
She also saw another long-haired version of herself, like a hallucination, hanging from the ceiling, staring straight at her with tears streaming down her face.
In the end, she could see nothing at all.
Cold. Shaking.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw only a strange but cozy ceiling, and a stove radiating heat that made one feel warm and toasty.
"Do your best, Hiro-chan! You're just a little bit away from surpassing Sherri-chan and the others!"
"I know! Don't distract me!"
"Ugh..."
On the frozen lake surface of the Stardew Valley Cindersap Forest, young girls wrapped in scarves and winter casual wear were engaged in a tense and exciting fishing competition.
Facing Hiro, who was holding a fishing rod and acting fierce toward her, the ordinary girl Sakuraba Emma shut her mouth bitterly.
Although she knew the other party meant no malice and it was just a subconscious instinctive behavior, she still felt it was so unfair every time Hiro was fierce to her.
Clearly, Hiro wasn't like this in front of the other 'her'!
"Emma, do you want to drink Crystal Fruit Juice?"
"? Oh, oh! Yes!"
Today's weather in Stardew Valley was much better than usual. The winter sun, rarely seen, had risen, shining on people and making them feel healed in both body and mind.
Taking a cup of transparent juice with the color of blue crystal from the hands of her other self, who was pushing a cart, Sakuraba Emma's eyes lit up after just one taste!
"It's so delicious!"
"Thank you, Emma-chan... Mmh, it feels a bit strange calling you that, like I'm calling myself."
"But, my other self, your life here must be really nice, right? I never see these novel fruits and delicacies outside. I'm so envious!"
In just an instant, the cup of Crystal Fruit Juice was drunk clean by Sakuraba Emma. She licked her lips, still wanting more, her foodie nature fully exposed.
The girl Emma, who had not experienced those terrible events, fully retained her enthusiastic and sunny side.
Although in a sense, such a girl had not attained growth, for the girl named Sakuraba Emma, this didn't seem bad.
"Of course, my life here is very happy. If you have time, Emma, you guys can take the Bus Ticket to come and play often."
It wasn't that the current Sakuraba Emma wasn't sunny, it was just that she had learned to be introverted.
She smiled slightly. Previously, Suke was worried he wouldn't be able to tell these two Hypno-shrooms apart, but now it seemed that even if their facial features were exactly the same, the temperament between their brows was completely distinct.
That was a degree of difference where even Haji-Hiro wouldn't mistake them anymore. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't see the scene of her breathing on the wrong person and then feeling awkward and regretful.
"That's great!"
"Kiang~! It seems the competition time is counting down. Will you win, Hiro-chan!"
She would not lose!
Nikaido Hiro wanted to say that.
But seeing Tachibana Sherri not far away with a catch count equal to hers, Nikaido Hiro also steeled her heart—
Splash!
It was the crisp sound of falling into water.
"Uwah!"
"Oh no, Sherri! Sherri fell into the ice hole, wah!"
Perhaps this Yamato Nadeshiko girl's luck was beyond ordinary people.
Although it was a bit hellish to say, accompanied by Tachibana Sherri falling into the water with a plop because she wasn't paying attention and got pulled by a Pike at the bottom of the lake, scaring Tono Hanna beside her into a panic, this fishing competition was considered concluded.
"Time's up!"
"I announce the winner is... Nikaido Hiro! With a fishing score of 7 fish!"
"Not bad, Haji-Hiro. You have a bit of my style from back in the day."
After fishing the fallen Tachibana Sherri out of the ice hole, Suke took a small purple crown made of Iridium, which looked expensive at a glance, and came to Hiro, solemnly placing it on her head.
Nikaido Hiro felt her head suddenly become much heavier. If possible, she actually wanted to switch prizes; she always felt that wearing a crown on her head was a bit chuunibyou.
But under everyone's gaze, she was too embarrassed to take the crown off.
"Uee~"
Shivering like a little blue cat while drying the lake water from her hair with a towel, Tachibana Sherri shuddered.
Although the weather was nice today, the feeling of falling into the ice lake was still very stimulating.
If not for the fact that she exercised often and her constitution was much better than her peers, she might not have been able to handle it.
"Are you okay, Little Sherri?"
"Hehe, I'm fine. I'm just used to having great strength outside, so I didn't react in time when I came here~"
"I didn't expect to be defeated so easily by a fish, ehe~"
Tachibana Sherri's mindset was quite good, although Tono Hanna beside her felt quite regretful that she didn't get first place.
"Here, this is your second-place prize, Little Sherri."
Suke took out a small gold crown and placed it on Sherri's head.
Although the original Stardew Valley only awarded the first place, he was the festival organizer now, so he had actually prepared awards for everyone willing to participate in the competition.
"T-This is gold?!" Tono Hanna's eyes widened.
Taking the prize from Tachibana Sherri's hands, she weighed the crown. This heavy texture and color—it was undoubtedly pure gold!
"Looks like it, Hanna."
"But I feel this one doesn't look as good as Hiro's. What a pity, I was just a little bit away from first place."
Tachibana Sherri was still dwelling on her mistake in the competition just now.
"That's not the point! Do you know how valuable such a gold crown is, hey!!"
"If I had known, I would have participated too. Even though I can't fish... Uwah, I regret it so much~!"
Regarding Tachibana Sherri, who didn't know the cost of living, Tono Hanna could only express speechlessness. One had to know they were currently living on the Island of Witches and had been worrying about their future livelihood plans.
Although the Island of Witches wouldn't charge them living expenses and the environment was nice, it wasn't very likely they could live there for the rest of their lives.
Tono Hanna had even started trying to save some money by helping Hikami Meruru sew clothes. This was important startup capital for when they grew up and returned to society in the future!
She had originally thought that if her best friend couldn't find a job after returning to society, she would help her out a bit.
But now it seemed Tachibana Sherri had directly earned the money that she would have to work for Hikami Meruru for a lifetime to earn!
It had to be said that the Cindersap Forest hosting the Festival of Ice was extremely popular. Besides the fishing competition here, other activities were being held on the other side.
For instance, Star was researching how to repeatedly strike and till the ground with a hoe and pickaxe to obtain various miscellaneous items, such as Winter Roots, Snow Yams, and Clay.
This child had gotten addicted to playing. Even though she couldn't dig up anything valuable, she forcefully turned it into an infinite blind box game.
Not to mention the various winter foragables piled on the ground from tilling, Suke even saw a strange, greenish doll!
You have to know that thing is worth 1000 gold!
Suke tentatively didn't disturb Star's tilling exercise of running all over the place. Instead, he walked toward Seele Vollerei, who was sitting on a bench by the river below the Cindersap Forest, staring at the river water accompanied by Elysia.
The girl, who had just awakened not long ago, was filled with confusion about everything strange around her.
If not for Elysia making her let down her guard with her affinity that surpassed ordinary people, perhaps she wouldn't have been willing to step out of her room during this festival with people coming and going.
But even so, Seele's condition couldn't be described as good.
'Darling, you're here~'
Noticing the approaching footsteps behind her, Elysia turned her head and lowered her voice to Suke.
She didn't disturb Seele, who was entranced watching the fish swimming under the floating ice in the river.
Although Suke said this Seele might not be from the same universe as her, for some reason, Miss Pink Elf still felt a kind of intimate familiarity with Seele.
Speaking of which, the other party's appearance was incredibly similar to the "Herrscher of Death" killed by her Flame-Chaser comrades in the civilization she lived in solely.
Was it a coincidence?
"Seele, you don't need to be afraid. No one here can hurt you."
Nodding to Elysia, Suke came to Seele's side:
"Can you tell Big Brother what happened in your world? Big Brother might be able to help, you know?"
"..."
The girl named Seele Vollerei pulled at the corner of Elysia's clothes beside her, shrinking back slightly.
It could be seen that communicating with strangers was still quite difficult for her.
Indeed, whether it was the gentle and cheerful Seele from Honkai Impact 3rd, or the introverted and yandere Seele from Houkai Gakuen 2, their origins all came from the same Azure Waters arc.
Regardless of which side her future headed toward, the current her was still that socially anxious Seele who, if not for Bronya's arrival, would only play alone with the toys in her toy box in her bedroom.
Looks like I can only take it slow.
Suke didn't force an immediate communication with Seele. This was also why he chose to let Elysia accompany her.
Although Miss Pink Elf wasn't good at fighting, when it came to mindset, the problem children on his farm couldn't compare to her even if they were all put together.
Including himself, this was a fact Suke objectively admitted.
"Your Grace..."
"Tripoka? Why are you here?"
A low murmur came, causing Suke to turn and look at the little Death God who should have been disliking the cold and staying in his Farmhouse playing tablet games, unwilling to go out.
For a rare festival, Tripoka finally obtained the chance to step out of the bus and get some fresh air in Stardew Valley. Suke originally thought she didn't plan to cherish this opportunity.
"This girl... Tripoka wanted to kill her."
Tripoka, carrying that large scythe with her everywhere, spoke shocking words:
"She has traits Tripoka is familiar with. If I kill her, Tripoka will become stronger."
"And she is very dirty and smelly. If not for Your Grace's request, Tripoka wouldn't have been willing to pick her up at all."
Tripoka looked at Seele expressionlessly. That icy gaze made Seele, hiding behind Elysia, shrink back even more.
"Hey, say a few words less."
Seeing the situation going south, Suke hurriedly smoothed things over.
"So, Tripoka, do you know what's going on with Seele?"
He suddenly remembered that Tripoka had driven the bus to the world Seele was in. Perhaps she knew some unknown details.
"Tripoka doesn't know how to describe it to Your Grace."
"Her death was not as Your Grace thought, where she died encountering some external force or accident."
"Tripoka can see that the world she was in developed that way. Even if nothing happened, the destiny of the her currently in this place would have met its end at that time."
Tripoka said.
"?"
Suke was a bit confused hearing this.
This made him, who had seen the original plot, unsure of himself. Did he remember something wrong?
"Then what Boss Mabel said about her existence being erased by reincarnation..."
"Yes, her existence was indeed erased, because she and the other her 'could only survive as one'."
"To use Tripoka's words, it is like a sapling growing two branches. They must compete for nutrients, and only one can become the main trunk."
"No one will remember the withered one; only the existing one remains for people to view."
"Such reincarnation has become the underlying logic of the world she was in... so Tripoka really wanted to kill her. That way, she could at least find release."
Tripoka looked gloomy. It was clear she had a big problem with Seele's original world.
And because of this, Suke finally understood some of what Tripoka said.
He looked at this pitiful, timid Seele Vollerei, wearing a white inner lining and a blue vest, her two thin legs in white stockings trembling slightly.
He realized his judgment of the world had a very, very large error.
How could he have forgotten?
The Seele before him came neither from Honkai Impact 3rd nor from Houkai Gakuen 2.
She came from Azure Waters.
That world which served as the same origin for two Honkai worlds, yet bifurcated into two world lines.
Assuming the condition that Seele herself in Azure Waters remained unchanged, how did it head toward two different world lines?
Excluding the various retcons and supplementary settings that appeared after the Azure Waters timeline, Suke understood Tripoka's words.
If the time of Azure Waters was guided toward Honkai Impact 3rd, then the one whose destiny was severed and existence erased was that introverted, yandere Seele.
If it was guided toward Houkai Gakuen 2, then the one whose destiny was severed was that gentle, cheerful Seele, and even the Dark Seele (Veliona) who acted as her inner personality.
Just like Schrödinger's cat in a quantum state, wasn't the Seele who hid in the toy box because she feared bullying also a kind of...
Suke had to confirm one thing immediately.
"Star, do me a favor. Make a temporary trip back to the Astral Express and ask your Uncle Yang. Ask him if he knows a girl named Seele Vollerei."
"Huh? Oh, okay Boss!"
"Alright, then I'll go find Boss Mabel."
Suke didn't stop for a moment. He went to find Mabel, who had been dragged away by Abigail to play Celestial Jade and was currently loitering in his Farmhouse.
Although he already had the answer in his brain, he still had to go confirm it.
The true ending of the girl named Seele Vollerei.
____
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