"I think you might not understand yet…"
The red-haired older sister sat on a large rock, holding a coffee cup, and although there was nothing inside, she made a gesture of sipping coffee.
"Humans never hide their desire to control the stars, and of course, that includes me."
Meanwhile, Stelle stood not far away, constantly taking photos of the red-haired older sister with March 7th's ever-present camera.
"How is it!? Does it look like her?"
In an instant, the older sister's aura vanished.
Stelle gave her a thumbs up.
"So this is Himeko from your place?"
Takatsuki asked Dan Heng, who was helping him with the cooking.
"Mm."
Dan Heng glanced at March 7th, who was constantly changing her appearance with the Gaia Foundation not far away, and sighed. Then he saw March 7th turn into him, making his face darken even more.
"March 7th is quite lively."
"She's just too lively."
Dan Heng even made a rare complaint about Takatsuki's words.
But it made sense.
Soon, dinner was ready. Seeing that March 7th finally wasn't running around in other people's appearances, especially not his own, Dan Heng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Wow, I didn't expect your cooking to be so good, Takatsuki."
Stelle also nodded: "Very delicious food."
"Found you, found you, you really are here!"
Just as they started eating, Big Seele's voice came over. Seele walked over with Bronya.
"You don't mind if we join you for dinner, do you?"
"Of course, why did you two come together? Have your relationship become that good?"
Big Seele scoffed disdainfully: "Who would be on good terms with a young lady from the Overworld? She just said she wanted to find you, and I guessed you might be here."
"I asked Seele to help me find you."
Stelle: "Have you finished talking with Oleg? Is there something you need to find us for?"
"I want to talk to you about the Stellaron. Mother, no, Supreme Guardian... did she really make a mistake?"
At this, March 7th immediately jumped up: "Of course she did! The Stellaron is the source of the cold wave on your planet, yet we're trying to help her solve the Stellaron problem and she's still putting bounties on us!"
"The Supreme Guardian said your identities were fake and your real intention was to destroy Belobog's peace."
"This guy! What do you think now?"
Bronya shook her head.
"I don't know, I don't know what the Stellaron is. If it's really as you say, then why would the Supreme Guardian..."
Dan Heng put down his chopsticks.
"Although I didn't know the Supreme Guardian would betray us, in the first day's conversation, she clearly showed an understanding of the Stellaron, but then immediately betrayed us on the second day. Combined with Svarog's words, she might have been swayed by the Stellaron's power."
Takatsuki also shifted his attention.
"Wait a minute, what exactly is a Stellaron? How can it even bewitch people?"
Takatsuki had originally thought it was just a massive, difficult-to-control energy, and that it was only listed as taboo because those who used it never had good endings.
"We don't know where the Stellarons come from or what their essence is, but what we do know is that the characteristics displayed by each Stellaron are not entirely the same. Some Stellarons only continuously affect the environment, while others seem to have a will within them."
Dan Heng explained to Takatsuki, but this explanation was essentially saying, "We don't know either; we only know what happens, not why it happens, so anything can happen."
"So, according to your theory, Stellarons could also have abilities you don't know about?"
Dan Heng just nodded at Takatsuki's words: "That's right, we can only continuously input encountered situations into the knowledge base for reference."
"Then is there a possibility..."
Takatsuki put down his chopsticks: "I'm just saying it's possible... what if the Supreme Guardian is already dead?"
"How could that be! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Before anyone else could say anything, Bronya got agitated first.
"I know you're in a hurry, but don't be..."
"Let me explain slowly."
"Since Stellarons have all sorts of strange abilities, it's perfectly normal for them to have the ability to manipulate others, manipulate corpses, or directly create an avatar, right?"
Takatsuki tapped the table, dipped some water on it, and drew a circle with a horizontal line dividing it.
"I heard that about a decade ago, the Overworld and Underworld were interconnected, unlike now where they are completely sealed off. And this order was issued by the current Supreme Guardian, Cocolia, wasn't it? And it wasn't when Cocolia had just taken office, was it?"
Takatsuki asked Bronya, who could only nod: "But that was to protect the Underworld from being encroached upon by the Fragmentum, allowing the people of the Underworld to focus on excavating marrow."
"But what was the result? Rivet Town has already been encroached upon by the Fragmentum, and its ore veins are completely unmineable. Cocolia withdrew all the Silvermane Guards from the Underworld. If it weren't for Svarog and the Wildfire appearing, the people of the Underworld would have died out long ago, and then the supply of marrow to the Overworld would have been cut off. So what would have been the result?"
The result would be the destruction of Belobog.
Bronya could also think of this, but it was impossible for her to admit that this was the Supreme Guardian's deliberate act.
"This is just a failed decision. Even the Supreme Guardian cannot be perfect in everything."
Takatsuki nodded: "Indeed, but then what? The Rivet Town incident didn't just happen. The Overworld and Underworld aren't completely without communication. Couldn't the marrow transport lines transmit information every once in a while?"
"I heard that the marrow transport lines are directly managed by the Supreme Guardian, right?"
Bronya could only nod to this.
"Then why didn't she take any countermeasures?"
"I believe you've also seen the living conditions of the people in the Underworld, and Oleg must have told you, too. Can you still tell me that the Supreme Guardian is protecting the people of the Underworld after seeing all this?"
Bronya opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.
"But this still doesn't prove..."
"Bronya! Wake up!"
Takatsuki slammed the table, startling everyone: "Now there are only two possibilities before you. One is that the Supreme Guardian, whom you once revered, whom the people worshipped, and whom everyone chose to protect them, is deliberately harming the people of the Underworld, attempting to destroy all of Belobog. The other is... the original Supreme Guardian no longer exists, and the one in that position now is just a puppet controlled by the Stellaron."
Compared to open-ended questions, a closed-ended question is more likely to make someone decide. Although there were other possibilities, Takatsuki's statement directly prevented Bronya, whose thoughts were already in chaos, from overthinking.
All she wanted to do was deny, deny the possibility that the Supreme Guardian was deliberately killing everyone...
"No... no... the Supreme Guardian couldn't do such a thing..."
"So you're admitting that the original Supreme Guardian died long ago, and the current Supreme Guardian is a puppet controlled by the Stellaron?"
"No..."
Bronya held her head, once again denying Takatsuki's statement.
"No! There must be other possibilities! The Supreme Guardian, she doesn't know, she doesn't know the harm of the Stellaron, it must be like this!"
"What does not knowing the harm of the Stellaron have to do with trying to harm the people of the Underworld?"
Big Seele suddenly spoke. Although she didn't like to think, she was different from Bronya, who desperately wanted to prove the Supreme Guardian's innocence. From the Underworld's perspective, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that the current Supreme Guardian was their enemy.
"Bronya, since you feel that way, then let's go find Svarog with us tomorrow. Svarog has information about the Stellaron, which is also Belobog's history. These things, as the Supreme Guardian, it's impossible for her not to know. If Cocolia truly considered the Stellaron a good thing, then the historical understanding of the Stellaron must have been entirely wrong. If the information at Svarog's proves that the people of Belobog once considered the Stellaron a good thing, then your statement holds true."
Takatsuki paused: "Conversely, it means my statement is correct."
"Good! The Supreme Guardian, she must be thinking for the people! She is unaware of all this."
"You, young lady, are still saying such things now."
Big Seele was getting a bit fed up, and Takatsuki quickly stopped Big Seele from continuing.
"Alright, Big Seele, time and facts will prove everything. We'll know everything tomorrow."
"For now, let's not talk about these things. Everyone, let's eat."
Big Seele also stopped mentioning these things and picked up a pair of chopsticks.
"I practiced especially hard the past two days, let me show you the results of my efforts."
Although still clumsy, Big Seele did manage to pick up a dish with chopsticks.
"How is it!"
"Good, good, you can do it if you try!"
"Of course, who am I?"
This dinner passed amidst everyone's laughter and Bronya's internal struggle.
Little Seele looked at the familiar face. Although she wanted to go forward and comfort her, she realized that the other person was not someone she was familiar with and didn't know her at all, so she couldn't offer any comfort and could only helplessly give up.
"It's rare to have so many people today, do you want to go to a hot spring?"
Takatsuki asked after dinner.
"Hot spring? Yes, yes!"
March 7th immediately raised her hand.
"What's a hot spring?"
However, Big Seele and Stelle had no idea at all. Bronya didn't know either, but she was still conflicted and didn't participate in the conversation.
"Forget Big Seele, Stelle, why don't you know either?"
Takatsuki looked at Stelle. She was a trailblazer who traveled between stars, how could she not even know this?
"Takatsuki, stop talking. Stelle doesn't have her past memories; she just woke up a few days ago."
"Ah, sorry."
Stelle shook her head at Takatsuki's apology: "It's okay, I don't mind. I'm already very happy to be with my companions now, more than past memories."
"Good, that's very carefree. Then today, no matter what, I have to let you experience the feeling of a hot spring. The first experience is precious. Wait for a while."
Saying that, Takatsuki walked to an open space in the distance, while March 7th was explaining what a hot spring was to Big Seele and Stelle.
"Actually, with so much marrow underground here, why wouldn't there be hot springs?"
"I don't know. Let alone hot springs, there's very little clean water underground."
Big Seele shook her head and looked at Takatsuki: "But how is he going to do it? We don't have any hot springs here, otherwise the mining teams would have discovered them long ago."
"I don't know, but Takatsuki is so amazing. Since he said he can do it, I believe he definitely can."
Although they hadn't known each other long, March 7th surprisingly trusted Takatsuki's strange methods.
"Eh? Where did he get that huge brush?"
March 7th asked strangely as she saw Takatsuki pick up a giant brush from the ground.
"Takatsuki just drew a huge brush on the ground, and then this appeared, and that bucket of ink next to it too."
Dan Heng had been watching and answered March 7th's question.
"March 7th, Takatsuki can turn things he draws into reality."
Little Seele also added from the side. Since Takatsuki had already decided to demonstrate in front of everyone, there was no need to hide it.
"What!? Turn drawings into reality? Then I'll have him draw some... uh, what should I draw? I don't seem to be missing anything."
While they were chatting, Takatsuki had already started drawing on the ground with a brush that looked like a mop, wielding it with one hand.
A rockery, a hot spring, a partition in the middle of the hot spring, and a constantly gushing hot spring eye.
Before finishing the drawing, Takatsuki activated his fruit ability on it.
The ink-wash painting of the hot spring on the ground instantly turned into a real hot spring. At the same time, Takatsuki also felt that the spring water gushing from the spring eye was continuously consuming his stamina, though it was very little, and he could sustain it indefinitely.
"Wow! It really came to life!"
March 7th saw the steaming hot spring and immediately ran over, squatting beside it to touch the water.
"Alright, since this is a drawn hot spring, there's no need to follow the rules of reality. Everyone can be at ease. Girls on this side, and Dan Heng and I on the other side."
Takatsuki drew a wall to divide the hot spring into two and then prepared some bath towels.
"I..."
Dan Heng subconsciously wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, he didn't. After all, everyone else seemed eager to try it. If he refused, he might as well just go back to the hotel to rest.
"Takatsuki, why would you think of making a hot spring down here?"
In the male bath area, there were only Takatsuki and Dan Heng. The wall separating the two sides was quite large. Takatsuki could only hear some of March 7th's laughter and virtually no other sounds. Such a large hot spring would be hard to find in the real world; it was more like a lake than a hot spring.
"Oh, that's because I have a hot spring at home in my world."
He submerged his body in the water, closed his eyes, and answered Dan Heng's question.
"After being out for a while, I miss it a bit."
No matter which world he went to before, Kiana and Mei would always be by his side. Now, after such a long time apart, he felt a bit lonely.
"Is that so? I noticed earlier that Seele often comes to your side. Is there a special reason?"
"Haha, Dan Heng, are you that gossipy too?"
Takatsuki opened his eyes and looked at Dan Heng.
"I just found it a bit strange. If you can't say, then never mind."
"There's nothing I can't say. March 7th already asked before, but we were in a hurry then and didn't explain much. Now, we have time anyway."
Leaning against the drawn rock, Takatsuki continued, "Seele's body was injected with an excessive amount of Honkai Energy—you can think of it as a special kind of energy—so she can't stay in the material world in our world. For Seele, the material world is like this water."
Takatsuki stretched out his hand and placed it on the water's surface: "Seele would just sink."
"I can draw out the energy from her body through physical contact, but because that energy is almost integrated with her body, violently extracting it would cause her injury, so it can only be done slowly."