"You're not very tired, are you?" Liu Bai asked gloomily.
"It's just shopping. Don't underestimate women, you know!"
She was absolutely bursting with energy.
With that, Tesla stomped up to the second floor in a few quick steps. Soon, the sounds of things rolling around and drawers being rummaged through came from upstairs.
"...What got her so fired up all of a sudden?"
"Because Dr. Tesla doesn't want to embarrass herself in front of Liu Bai," Einstein explained idly. "After all, if Liu Bai saw the room looking like that, Dr. Tesla would probably want to crawl into a crack in the ground."
Thud!
Another heavy object suddenly hit the floor upstairs.
"Ow, ow, ow... Why would anyone put a pizza box somewhere like this?!"
Wasn't that person you...?
Liu Bai silently complained to himself, then looked at Einstein, who was casually drinking cola as though nothing had happened.
"Seriously, I don't doubt Tesla's motivation, but for some things... I don't think motivation alone is enough."
Liu Bai lowered his voice as tactfully as possible.
"How about you go up and help, Ein?"
"Dr. Einstein suggests that Mr. Liu Bai quietly follow Dr. Einstein upstairs and help together."
"No problem. Ein, remember to cover for me."
If Einstein went upstairs, Tesla would definitely suspect Liu Bai had followed her. After all, fifty meters was neither particularly far nor particularly close.
"I will say that Mr. Liu Bai is being very gentlemanly and waiting at the stairway."
Einstein set down her cola, slowly got to her feet, and went upstairs.
"Ein? What are you doing here?"
The moment Einstein came upstairs, Tesla immediately turned wary.
"Don't worry. Mr. Liu Bai is being very gentlemanly at the stairway."
Einstein crouched down to pick up the pizza boxes scattered across the floor as she explained.
"I-Is that so?" Tesla looked suspicious for a moment, then her face twisted in fury. "That pizza box over there is moving by itself! Do you take me for an idiot?"
"Why are you looking around everywhere while you're talking?!"
"Because I knew you would follow me up here!"
"So Dr. Tesla was actually hoping Mr. Liu Bai would come help?"
"Of course not! It's just that this guy is moving around too much!"
The Pretty Girl Scientists
"So... Tesla, exactly how many pizza boxes had you piled up?"
"None of your business!" Even with her room completely refreshed, Tesla remained stubborn. "What do you mean, piled up? I just couldn't be bothered to throw them out."
"...Horrifying."
Einstein gave her assessment.
"You two!"
Tesla was both embarrassed and annoyed that Liu Bai and Einstein had joined forces to laugh at her.
"It was just an accident! An accident!" Tesla waved her hands, her face bright red. "And Liesel, stop staring blankly at my truffle! It isn't a mushroom!"
"...Still, now that it's cleaned up, Tesla's room is unexpectedly cute."
"Stop commenting on it!"
She now wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
Tesla shut the door and pushed Einstein away. Seeing Tesla like this, Liu Bai obediently went downstairs as well.
If they kept teasing her, Tesla might actually explode.
The next day, at London Airport—future Heathrow Airport.
Today, Einstein had unusually changed into a cute-style dress. Combined with her already petite figure, she truly looked like a doll that had stepped out of a fairy tale.
I had to admit, Tesla had pretty good taste.
That was right. Tesla had picked out this outfit for Einstein and had even paid for it herself.
Einstein herself would never have bought clothes like these.
Tesla beside her was still wearing the same fashionable outfit from yesterday.
"Um..." While waiting to receive their guests, Tesla seemed to want to say something. "About yesterday... um, thanks for yesterday."
"No need to thank me."
Liu Bai patted Tesla on the shoulder. "It was also an opportunity for me to broaden my horizons."
"..." Gratitude aside, Tesla really wanted to punch the ghost beside her.
What did he mean by "an opportunity to broaden my horizons"? Was he saying her room was a once-in-a-century disaster?
It really hadn't been that bad, okay?!
Since they were at the airport, Tesla decided to endure it.
"They're here."
Einstein softly spoke as she watched the crowd beginning to stream out.
However, Einstein did not seem in any hurry to find her teacher.
Before long, half the people waiting to receive passengers around them had left.
"Einstein! Tesla!"
A tall, green-haired woman with waist-length hair smiled and greeted Einstein and Tesla.
Two others stood beside her. One was a brown-haired girl with a side Roman curl and a cat-head hood, waving lazily in their direction.
The other...
"Damn it, why is she here?"
When Tesla saw the person beside the green-haired woman, obvious disgust rarely appeared on her face. Yet in an instant, she hunched her neck like a quail, though it was hard to tell whether she was unconvinced or simply scared.
The person making Tesla uncomfortable was a sharp-looking blue-haired girl in men's casual clothing, her hair tied in a ponytail.
A beauty in menswear... that really was a rare trait.
"The tall one is Professor Planck, my doctoral advisor and the nominal head of Schicksal's North American Branch," Einstein introduced quietly.
"The one beside her wearing the cat hood is Schrödinger, Professor Planck's assistant. As for that beauty in menswear beside them..."
Einstein's voice unusually paused.
"Nancy Thomas Alva Edison, chairman of Universal Group, the person who 'created the modern world'... the true authority of the North American Branch. It would not be an exaggeration to say she bought the North American Branch from Schicksal... But I didn't invite her."
Though Einstein's final words carried confusion, she was also explaining things to Tesla.
After all, she knew the relationship between those two was really...
Good grief, they were all great scientists whose names had gone down in history.
However, Liu Bai could recognize everyone before him even without Einstein's introduction.
"Liesel, darling, this outfit is so cute. You seem to have grown a little taller too?"
Professor Planck reached out and pulled Liesel into her arms, speaking in the tone of a mother right from the start.
—In fact, Planck had been Einstein's guardian since Einstein was eight years old.
So calling her motherly did not seem all that strange.
Yet Planck was brimming with youthful girlish energy and did not look thirty at all.
"How has Tesla been lately?" While holding Einstein tightly in her arms, Planck did not forget to ask after Tesla.
"...I was doing perfectly fine until you brought this woman here, old lady."
Tesla kept her eyes warily fixed on Edison, the beauty in menswear who was steadily approaching her.
Her entire body radiated fear, but also defiance.
"Mm... Ahem."
Einstein finally struggled free from Planck's embrace—or rather, she was let out.
The powerful pressure from every direction had left Einstein a little dizzy.
"By the way, old lady! Why is this woman here too?"
Tesla pointed at Edison, who was gradually closing in on her as she backed away.
"When the letter arrived, I happened to be discussing something with Nancy, so I showed the letter to her too."
"I was merely curious about the mech project capable of stumping great scientists Einstein and Tesla." The beauty in menswear smiled lightly.
"You've got some nerve saying that! Weren't you the one who rejected this project in the first place?!"
"I don't remember." Edison shrugged. "But I do hate weapons designed specifically to serve secular hegemony."
A faint sneer appeared on Edison's face as she finished speaking.
The conflict between these two really was no small matter...
But Liu Bai was in no position to step in and mediate at a time like this.
"I'm warning you! If you come any closer, I'll get angry!"
The beauty in menswear halted and spoke in a strange drawl. "Thaaat... soooounds... reeally... scaaary..."
"I... remem... ber..."
"Back... then..."
"You... only... got... a... little... angry..."
"And... you... nearly... burned... my... entire... office..."
"Down... to... the... ground—right?"
Edison smiled as she recounted something terrifying in that odd tone, enunciating every word.
Liu Bai gave Tesla a strange look.
Good grief, she really was one hot-tempered big sister...
Just how deep did their conflicts over research run...?
"You two..."
At last, Schrödinger, who had been like a background extra this entire time, finally spoke and broke the tense atmosphere between Edison and Tesla.
"Let's decide what to have for lunch first."
Schrödinger directly threw out humanity's eternal ultimate question.
Let's All Fool Otto Together
"We already chose the restaurant, it's just that..."
Einstein looked at Edison.
"You didn't reserve a place for me? That's fine. I can take care of lunch myself."
Once she stopped targeting Tesla, Edison seemed quite easygoing.
"No, there is still a seat available. It's just that, as the one in power at the North American Branch, is it really all right for you to come to Europe alone?"
Before you continue