Welt: Trembling, Lighting a Cigarette

"That is to say, she didn't treat us like idiots who could be brushed off with sweet talk. Instead, she tried to prove from the standpoint of facts and logic that she couldn't possibly be the mastermind behind the experiments."

"...Speak human, will you!"

Tesla hated ambiguity the most. Yes was yes, no was no. What was the point of beating around the bush for so long? It was an absolute waste of time!

The main problem was that she often got dizzy from being led in circles, and ended up getting played before she even realized it!

So, wouldn't it be better if everyone just spoke and acted honestly?

Amidst Tesla's annoyed glare, Einstein sighed with deep helplessness and said:

"Cocolia wasn't brushing us off, but rather presenting facts and reasoning. Her logic holds up and isn't easily falsified. Next, we'll meet the person in question, and the information we get from that child should be much more useful for reference than our remote investigation."

"Tch! Anyway, I don't believe that she-fox! Even though rules like the third one were pretty cool, and this disaster was handled quite well... Anyway, I'll keep my eyes wide open, and if that wretch really dares to desecrate Joyce, I'll definitely give her a piece of my mind!"

Tesla tugged at her hair. Seeing that they had reached the exit to the rooftop, she quickly rushed up and input the access code without a second word.

"Whoosh!"

The wind and snow at the peak of the mountain surged in, carrying a bone-chillingly low temperature that instantly made the previously warm and comfortable corridor begin to frost over.

Tesla and Einstein hurriedly put on the thick down coats Cocolia had prepared, and only then did they manage to fend off the cold slightly.

"Achoo! What the hell! Why would that child stay in a place like this? Is Cocolia child-abusing?"

Tesla sniffed, her nose and cheeks turning red in an instant. She hurriedly tucked her exquisite, smooth, red twin-tails into her clothes, pulled up her hood, and completely hid herself inside the coat she had just ridiculed as tacky.

Einstein rolled her eyes almost imperceptibly, made a few adjustments of her own for warmth, and then set off into the vast snowy expanse that formed the roof of the facility.

They walked all the way forward, braving the blinding wind and snow that filled the sky.

Finally, just as Cocolia had told them beforehand, at the edge of the rooftop snow field, they saw the little girl.

She sat within a snow-free circular area, wearing a thin, pure white, lovely long dress, quietly watching the quietly resting snow-capped mountain like a holy, flawless, and utterly impeccable lovely flower.

"Ninti..."

Einstein involuntarily called out the name Cocolia had given them.

The girl then turned her head to look at them, her clean and flawless purple eyes appearing exceptionally hollow.

Only then did Einstein and Tesla get a clear look at her true appearance: a delicate face, dreamlike golden hair and purple eyes, and skin as radiant and smooth as if carved from jade. She was exquisite and cute, almost as if she were fictional.

Then the wind and snow suddenly stopped.

Einstein and Tesla were momentarily stunned, subconsciously raising their heads to look around, while snow was still falling heavily a little further away.

It turned out that the wind and snow hadn't stopped; rather, an invisible force had spread to the place where they stood like a circular dome. The biting gale and drifting snow both detoured as they approached, and even the snow on their clothes and under their feet was swept away unawares.

Though the temperature was very low, in this environment, they suddenly felt much warmer.

Such skilled technique. She's not an out-of-control experimental subject at all, and is even more proficient than a newly born Herrscher. She's almost like...

Almost like the Joyce of back then.

Einstein's heartbeat skipped a beat uncontrollably, taking quite a while to return to normal before she flashed a gentle smile at Ninti.

"Hello, we are..."

"Liesel, Frederica."

Ninti's small lips moved, uttering their given names in a ethereal, soft voice rather than the surnames others commonly used.

Both Einstein and Tesla were stunned.

Tesla asked subconsciously:

"You know us?"

Ninti looked at them with hollow eyes, slowly tilted her head, and then blankly pointed at her own chest.

"Here, it told me your names, told me I know you. Seeing you, it feels very comfortable here... But these are not mine; I don't know you. So, who am I?"

Ninti lowered her head with a dull expression, lightly furrowing her delicate brows. Her words lacked any inflection, yet they made people feel all the more heartache and pity.

Einstein slowly clutched her own chest. In sheer disbelief, her legs went soft, and she took a step backward.

Tesla, however, stepped forward quickly, placing her hands on Ninti's frail shoulders, and said in an urgent and shocked voice:

"You mean you have Joyce's memories!?"

"That is my origin; I am familiar with him, but I am not him."

"Genes... genes... and memories... No, it's impossible. He was a Herrscher, after all, but it seems also..."

Tesla's pupils trembled as she gripped Ninti's shoulders tightly. Amidst the shock and disbelief, an uncontrollable anticipation grew rapidly like a tree.

Ninti looked blankly and dully at Tesla, who was in disarray, offering no reaction.

It wasn't until Einstein walked up, pried Tesla's hands away, and then sat down alongside Ninti at the edge of the rooftop suspended over the snowy mountain.

"You're sitting here all by yourself—what are you looking at?"

"I'm not looking at anything. It's just very quiet here, just like before I walked out of the incubation pod. Comfortable."

"Then are you feeling lost?"

"Mm. I keep thinking about what I am, but Mother can't answer me either. I know you're very smart, so do you know?"

Ninti raised her head to look at Einstein, who was much taller than her. Her mechanical, hollow purple eyes were like clean, translucent, and fragile glass.

The corners of Einstein's mouth lifted, and she couldn't help but reach out to stroke the top of Ninti's head. Finding that she wasn't being resisted, her smile deepened, and she said softly:

* This is almost the most complicated and yet the simplest question in the world. Many, many people spend their entire lives until the day they die without ever figuring it out. However, Joyce figured it out, so you certainly can too."

"Really?"

"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you."

Einstein smiled exceptionally gently.

Ninti stared straight at her smile. After a long moment, she raised her hands and clasped Einstein's soft, smooth little hands.

"I like you."

Ninti said as such, her light and childish words paired with her expressionless, dull look, yet making one feel exceptionally sincere.

Einstein's smile grew even more radiant, though a tear unconsciously slipped from the corner of her eye.

Joyce, is this what you wanted to say to me? If you were still alive, perhaps we too would have a child...

Einstein knew this wasn't the same thing as Ninti, whose origins lay in darker, unacceptable human experiments, but she couldn't help indulging in such daydreaming anyway.

At that moment, Tesla also boisterously sat down on Ninti's other side, threw one arm around Ninti's shoulder, and said brightly:

"Don't listen to Birdnest's nonsense. What the hell is the use of thinking about spooky questions like that? Being a human, the most important thing is to be happy, understand?"

"Happy?"

"Right! Be happy, be joyful, and face every single day with cheerfulness—that's the only way to have no regrets!"

"Then... how can I be happy?"

"Well, you'll have to find that out for yourself. Still, sitting in a place like this all day, thinking about questions like these, and not even seeing a single person, you'll never find a way to make yourself happy! Come on, follow me back to the heated room inside, and I'll teach you how to play video games!"

Tesla said with a cheeky grin, yet she couldn't hide her reddened eye rims—just like Einstein, she had been stirred by distant memories and longing.

Afterward, seeing that Ninti was only looking at her with incomprehension and offering no reaction, Tesla simply pulled her to her feet and headed back without allowing for any argument.

Einstein sat in place, looked at the snowy mountain for a moment, smiled and shook her head, stood up, and followed after Tesla and Ninti.

Chapter 47: Welt: Trembling, Lighting a Cigarette

"Teacher Yang..."

"Teacher Yang?"

"Teacher Yang!"

Anqi held the homework she had just collected, standing beside Welt Yang and puffing out her chubby cheeks in displeasure at having her voice ignored.

Welt shifted his gaze away from his unresponsive phone, turned his head, and smiled apologetically at Anqi.

"Sorry, my family members were supposed to call me these past two days, but there's been no movement at all, and I'm a bit worried. Thanks for helping collect the homework, classmate Anqi. Sorry to trouble you."

"Don't mention it, I'm the class representative after all."

Anqi said with a flat expression. At first glance it sounded like nothing, but looking at her simultaneously akimbo with her chest puffed out, she was obviously feeling very proud.

Welt shook his head and chuckled, feeling a fondness for this cute little classmate, while inevitably giving rise to worry as well.

This child is also an orphan of Changkong City. In the future, if she ends up with Mei, Bronya, and the others... Ah, why is fate always so cruel to innocent and kind people?

Welt sighed inwardly, taking a box of biscuits from his drawer.

"Teacher's salary is meager, falling far short of a B-Rank Valkyrie like you. I can't afford to buy good things anymore, so I can only give you a box of biscuits to thank you for your help these past few days."

"Thank you, Teacher Yang!"

Anqi cradled the biscuits, trying her best to keep her expression rigid while her eyes uncontrollably sparkled with bright light.

Clearly, little girls could not resist delicious snacks.

Welt chuckled again, watching with a gentle gaze as Anqi left with a skipping, bouncy gait.

Then, in the solitary office, Welt picked up his phone once more and frowned.

Tesla and Ein said they were going to investigate the situation, so how can there still be no news? It's already been several days. Could Cocolia really dare to... No, don't jump to conclusions. Ein is very cautious; she definitely made defensive preparations, and at worst she would ask me for help. Hmm, the situation must be more complicated than expected. I'll wait a bit longer. If there's nothing today, I'll contact them again tomorrow.

Welt hesitated for a while, ultimately deciding to trust those two close friends who were both elders and companions.

After all, Tesla alone might require worrying about her occasional scatterbrained moments, but if the reliable Einstein was tagging along, there was no way one would need to worry, right?

As it turned out, the phone never rang the entire day.

Welt sat in his room all the way until dawn, and finally dialed Tesla's communication line.

"Hey! Who is this? I'm busy!"

"Tesla, who else could use this channel? Of course it's..."

"Ah yes yes yes, jump, strike him! Right there! I'm coming in to finish him off! Combo combo... Woohoo! We won! Little Ninti, you're amazing, you're practically a genius, hahaha!"

"Beep~~"

Listening to Tesla's passionately lively clamor, Welt watched his phone screen go dark amidst hearty laughter.

He tilted his head, utterly bewildered.

"???"

After sitting in a daze for a moment, Welt gave up on trying to figure out whether the call had been intentionally hung up by Tesla or accidentally dropped, and turned to contact Einstein instead.

"Hello, is that Yang? Is something the matter?"

"Of course I'm..."

"Eh, hold on, the apple pie is about to finish baking. I'm going to take it out for little Ninti first. We can talk about whatever it is later."

"Beep~~"

Welt blankly stared at the screen that had gone dark once more. For some reason, even though there was no wind in the room, he felt as though he had been hit by a gust of desolate, bone-chilling wind right in his heart—freezing him right to the core!

So who in the world is little Ninti anyway!?

Am I no longer your favorite little darling... bah, the family member you trust and care for the most anymore!?

Half a day later, Welt was puffing on a cigarette Siegfried had left behind—one that had been sitting around for quite a few years—listening with a calm expression as Einstein and Tesla recounted Ninti's story.

"It can be concluded that Ninti is a child born after a series of adjustments and modifications based on Joyce's genes. It's hard to say whether this counts as cloning or offspring, but regardless, Ninti is a good child, and she alone is definitely innocent."

"Yeah, yeah, she's super cute!"

"Joyce was the first Herrscher of Reason, after all. Some of his special traits have probably permeated down into his genes, and that's likely why Ninti retains a small fragment of Joyce's memories. However, Ninti is not Joyce; when you see her in the future, I hope you'll remember this too and not make the child feel troubled."

"She learns video games super fast—she's a match made in heaven with me, I like her so much, hahaha!"

"Right now, this child is like a blank slate, yet some of Joyce's memories and thoughts flow within her, causing her to feel completely lost regarding the world and herself. We must properly guide and take care of her."

"Oh right, she even shares her apple pie with me! Ah, holding it up high with both hands to feed it right into my mouth with such a serious look, she's so well-behaved and adorable! Anyway, she's a thousand times cuter than you were when you were a kid—no, at least ten thousand times!"

Einstein recounted Ninti's basic situation.

Tesla gleefully and unceasingly stabbed daggers into Welt Yang's heart.