19. Kal'tsit, the On-Call Stand-In

Theresa moved the detector's screen toward Ain so that she could see the scene on the screen clearly.

"This is... a message in a bottle?"

Ain's voice was full of doubt.

Although the object on the screen does indeed appear to be a message in a bottle, it seems rather out of place in the Sea of Quantum.

"Let me try to see if I can control the robot to open it."

Ain took the remote control from Theresa and manipulated the robot, attempting to pull the cork out of the message in a bottle.

However, even with the robot operating at maximum capacity, the message in the bottle remained intact.

"What a strange thing..."

Ain's eyes were filled with confusion.

"Should Bronya bring it back with her?"

Seeing that Ain had put down the remote control, Theresa asked.

"No, now is not the time to worry about that. Bronya's safety should be our priority."

After a pause, Ain added, "If Welt happens to pass by here later, we can ask him to take it out."

"Hey, is Welt really your Alliance Leader...?"

Theresa, manipulating the robot, said, "Then I'll just throw this thing away for now, okay?"

"Yeah, remember to throw it far away."

Just as Ain was about to turn around, she heard Theresa's voice again.

"Huh? How did this thing open by itself?"

"Um?"

Ain turned back again. "What's going on?"

"I was just having the robot grab the cork and drag it along, but the moment I started to control it, the cork suddenly fell off."

Theresa looked equally bewildered.

"Since it's already open, let's see what's written inside..."

Ain simply took over, directing Bronya while she and Theresa looked at the note in the bottle.

[Xia Ling, this is Kal'tsit.]

You've been traveling alone for several years now; you must have accumulated enough experience and grown considerably.

I will be arriving in your world soon to conduct a small test to see if you have been slacking off during this time.

I will arrive within one year from the day you found this message in a bottle.

I hope you are ready.

"This is... the legendary exam notice?"

Ain's expression turned somewhat strange. "And, Xia Ling... could this name be a coincidence?"

"Wait a minute, Ain."

Theresa, operating the robot, said, "There seems to be one more."

Hi everyone, this is Theresia.

[As always, Kal'tsit either uses riddles or isn't frank. I'll let you in on a little secret: there wasn't actually any assessment at all.]

She was actually just missing you a little, and based on the characteristics of the message in a bottle, she deduced that your abilities had been weakened, so she was a bit worried about you.

So she immediately pulled me out to look for it—

The letter ends abruptly here, seemingly because the woman Kal'tsit was enraged.

I just don't know why she didn't delete that page.

"This... seems to actually correspond to Xia Ling's situation."

Ain looked at Theresa beside her. "I remember that when Xia Ling first came to the St. Freya Academy, she was in a weak state, right?"

"Welt's previous assessment of Xia Ling's strength was always between A-rank and B-rank. It wasn't until she regained her strength that we realized she actually had the strength of S-rank Valkyrie."

Theresa fell silent. When she saw the letter, she was already somewhat convinced that it was addressed to Xia Ling, and the contents of the second half of the page only confirmed her suspicions.

Moreover, Xia Ling only mentioned that her World Bubble was on the verge of destruction, but did not say whether she had any other family members.

Judging from their handwriting and tone, the two people who wrote the letter were clearly Xia Ling's elders.

She received another message about Xia Ling, but she couldn't feel happy at all.

Although they knew Xia Ling was still alive, according to Ain and Yae Sakura's speculation, the possibility of her being resurrected was far greater than the possibility of her not being dead.

Put yourself in her shoes. If you hadn't seen Kiana for a long time and were just about to go see her, the first news you would receive would be that she was dead. Even if she could be resurrected, Theresa might not be able to guarantee that she would remain emotionally stable.

"Hmm... So here's the question, should we ask Bronya to bring this message in a bottle back for us and keep it safe?"

Ain was also in a dilemma. This time, the issue wasn't whether the message in the bottle was safe, but whether it was appropriate to retrieve it.

After all, judging from Theresa's condition, Xia Ling is probably not dead. If they take this thing away and Xia Ling doesn't get it, wouldn't that be very troublesome?

"Bring her back," Theresa suddenly said. "After this World Serpent's operation, the Sea of Quantum is unlikely to be calm for a while. Even if Xia Ling is still alive, she can't enter the Sea of Quantum during this period."

"Alright, Xia Ling isn't here, so since you think she should be brought back..."

"Then Bronya, you should change the route and follow the route we took before."

"You'll find a message in a bottle on the road; it'll be very noticeable. Pick it up and bring it back."

Chapter Nineteen: Kal'tsit's Didi Proxy Service

"Doctor, Bronya has arrived at the designated location."

Bronya was slightly out of breath, holding Seele's hand with one hand, while reporting her location to Ain.

"Thank you for your hard work, Bronya. The message in a bottle that belongs to Xia Ling is right in front of you. Please bring it back first."

"Bronya received, target located."

"By the way, after you get this, you can try to see if you can open it."

Ain reminded, "Based on our experimental results, it seems that only specific people can open it."

"Specific?"

"If we're explaining it using the game analogy you're familiar with, it would be that you need to raise Xia Ling's favorability level high enough to unlock it?"

Bronya picked up the message in a bottle that the robot had stuck in the ground and said, "Then Bronya will have to give it a good try."

With a gentle pull from Bronya, the cork popped open.

"..."

"So, my favorability rating with Xia Ling is really that low...?"

"Don't be discouraged, Doctor. We're still not sure what the mechanism of this stopper is, are we?"

Bronya comforted her.

After saying that, she tried to stand up again, but her body went limp and she almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, Seele caught her in time.

Bronya, are you alright?

Ain's voice came through the communicator.

"Just hang in there a little longer, we'll be within the Abyssal Eye's capture range soon..."

Before he could finish speaking, Einstein's voice suddenly became disordered, as if it had been disturbed by something.

"Oh no, Sister Bronya!"

Seele looked somewhat anxious.

Just now, the other Seele inside her told her that the environment of the Sea of Quantum seemed to be deteriorating rapidly, and a large number of Honkai Beast had begun to be generated in their vicinity.

She quickly tried to carry Bronya on her back, but the long battle had left her and Bronya nearly exhausted, and carrying Bronya, who was about the same weight as her, was still too much for her.

"Seele... you should leave now..."

"No! I don't want to leave Sister Bronya behind!" Seele shook her head fiercely, calling out anxiously to Black Seele in her heart.

"My other self, do you have a way to...?"

"... I'm sorry, Seele, I'm just more skilled at manipulating the power of the Stigmata than you are."

"You don't have much Honkai Energy left in your body now. Even I... never mind, hand over control of your body to me, I'll give it a try."

In the mental imagery space, Black Seele seemed to have made some kind of decision.

Seele nodded, seeing the Honkai Beast that were already faintly appearing around her, and was just about to hand over her body to another version of herself.

Result...

A dark figure appeared before her eyes.

No, the reason it was a black shadow seems to be because the shadow was just too fast.

"Sigh... Luckily I came and took a look."

A figure wearing a wide-hooded cloak appeared out of thin air.

Short white hair, a smart outfit, and... a pair of cute cat ears?

Bronya and Seele exchanged a glance, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.

The white-haired cat-eared girl merely glanced at them indifferently, then addressed the dark figure wreaking havoc among the Honkai Beast:

"Mon3tr, command, tactical coordination."

"Let's finish this quickly and get rid of these guys as soon as possible."

The black monster let out a cheerful cry, its body emitting a pale yellow light. At the moment Kal'tsit gave the command, its speed suddenly increased significantly.

"Are you shocked by my appearance? It's nothing to be surprised about. Most creatures on this land cannot decide their own form of existence, and I am no exception."

"Hello, ma'am, thank you for your help. May I ask if you...?"

After a moment's consideration, Bronya chose the title "Madam," since the mature aura emanating from the other person, aside from her somewhat flat chest, was really unlike that of someone her age.

"No need to be polite. I saved you only because of this."

Kal'tsit looked at the message in the bottle in Bronya's hand.

"Don't worry, I don't mean to take it away."

"I just saw you open this message in a bottle, which proves that you are Xia Ling's friend, right?"

"That's right... Sister Xia Ling is my teacher, and she has also helped my sister and me a lot."

Bronya nodded, but still showed no intention of handing over the bottle.

"Being vigilant is a good habit, but... never mind, the mechanism of this bottle is actually that it can only be opened after detecting traces of a special ability belonging to Xia Ling."

Seeing that Bronya was still somewhat skeptical, Kal'tsit had no choice but to present more evidence.

"As for what's on you, it should be the conch shell around your waist."

"That Divine Sound Conch, Xia Ling gave it to you, didn't she?"

"You even know this..."

"Of course, because I am Kal'tsit, the one who wrote that letter in the bottle."

"Ah?"

Bronya and Seele were both shocked.

"But didn't you say in that letter that you would only... a year after she received the letter?"

"That's right, she had already received one of the messages in a bottle a year ago."

Kal'tsit shrugged. "Since it's a message in a bottle, there can't be just one. In fact, the one you have now is the last one I haven't taken back yet."

"Of course, you don't have to return it to me. Keeping it as a souvenir is fine too."