"Even so, Seele, can you tell me roughly what happened in your world? I need to confirm whether we're from the same world."
If not, then he could only ask that Su for help again.
If possible, Kaino really did not want to go back to that place. It made him too dizzy.
Seele grew a little nervous after hearing that and lowered her head as she thought back.
"The biggest event Seele knows about should be the Second Honkai War? It broke out in the year Seele was born."
"Were you born in 2000, Seele?"
"Mm, October 18, 2000."
Kaino nodded.
The timing of the Second Honkai War matched up.
He had left his world in 2007. He had been nine years old then, and after spending several years in the World Bubble, he was probably around sixteen.
In other words, if time passed at the same rate in both worlds, then it should be 2014 over there now.
"Then, Seele."
Kaino looked at Seele and asked,
"About what year did you enter the Quantum Sea? And how long have you been here?"
"Huh? I remember entering the Quantum Sea in 2013. As for how long I've been here..."
As Seele spoke, she shook her head dejectedly.
"Sorry, I don't remember."
"You don't remember? Forget it, the timing should differ by..."
"About a year."
Red-eyed Seele crossed her arms and glanced at the downcast Seele before speaking.
"Idiot Seele only knows how to sleep all day and never kept track of time. But if I didn't calculate wrong, it should have been around a year."
Then the timing matched.
Coastal City
"If I'm not mistaken, then we should indeed be from the same world."
After thinking it over, Kaino came to that conclusion.
"I was born in 1998, and I'm exactly sixteen this year. I remember the Second Honkai War too. Both the event and the timing match."
"Then, you'll return to my world with me afterward, and we'll see whether that's your world. If it isn't, I'll think of another way."
Just having matching events and dates could not rule out the possibility that Kaino and Seele came from two similar worlds. But considering that falling into the Quantum Sea would not leave any border records, there was no need to dwell on that issue.
If someone looked exactly like a person from your world and had the same experiences, whether she truly came from your world was not that important.
...Still, his world was clearly far from this place, so why had he appeared in a nearby World Bubble while Seele had appeared in the nearby Quantum Sea?
Did his world have some connection to this place?
Forget it. He could think about it later.
"Then, thank you, Brother Kaino."
Seele's eyes lit up upon hearing Kaino's words. When she saw that the Seele beside her had not reacted, she hurriedly nudged her with an elbow.
"O-other Seele, hurry up and say thank you."
Seele spoke softly.
Red-eyed Seele rolled her eyes, but when she saw Seele's serious expression, she sighed and reluctantly looked at Kaino.
"Thank you."
"It's nothing. You're welcome."
A broad smile formed on Kaino's lips.
"Come to think of it, why did Brother Kaino appear in the Quantum Sea?"
Seele tilted her head, and the ahoge on top of her head swayed along with it.
"Since Brother Kaino can travel through the Quantum Sea freely, there shouldn't be any reason for you to stay in the Quantum Sea, right? You even almost got killed by a Honkai Beast because you fell asleep."
"Oh, that..."
At the mention of it, Kaino's expression turned awkward.
"I originally came here to help a friend with something. But after I finished, my Stigmata suddenly started heating up, and then I passed out."
"Although this Stigmata is indeed pretty powerful, it can really screw me over sometimes."
Considering that pulling open his clothes in front of girls would be improper, Kaino merely tapped his chest.
"It is in the same place as your Stigmata. If I'm not mistaken, the reason I can see Seele is because I have a Stigmata."
Seele lowered her head and looked at her own chest. For some reason, her face reddened, and she stopped speaking. The other Seele, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow with an unhappy expression.
"Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you implying that I'll hurt Seele? I'm warning you, don't drive a wedge between us!"
Kaino covered his face.
You really overthink things.
"Seele, don't be like that. Brother Kaino probably didn't mean it that way."
Blue-eyed Seele stopped red-eyed Seele, then looked up at Kaino.
Her face was still a little red, though, and she looked rather cute.
"But speaking of which, Brother Kaino, doesn't your Stigmata have a consciousness like Seele's?"
"No. There are too few examples, so I can't tell whether I'm the unusual one or you are. But that isn't important."
Kaino shrugged and looked around.
"By the way, Seeles... don't you think it would be a little boring if we spent an entire week here just talking?"
Kaino leaned slightly closer to the two Seeles and spoke quietly.
"How about we do something interesting?"
"Something interesting?"
Seele furrowed her brows, somewhat confused.
"Seele, you've probably only stayed in the Quantum Sea during this past year and haven't gone to any other worlds, right?"
Rubbing his chin, Kaino made a suggestion. "In that case, how about we find a World Bubble and have some fun there for a while?"
Going directly to a world that was still connected to the Imaginary Tree could be too dangerous, since they might encounter a Honkai outbreak. But a World Bubble that had already been severed from the Tree was different.
Even if there were some Honkai Beasts, he and the Seeles could handle them easily. As long as they chose a World Bubble with a relatively stable anchor, they could take a short trip.
"A World Bubble?"
Seele was confused after hearing the unfamiliar term.
"Simply put, it's a world. It should be a good choice for a short trip. At the very least, it would be better than here."
"Then... okay?"
Seele agreed hesitantly, though her eyes had already begun to shine.
"What about you, Seele? Do you want to go?"
Kaino asked red-eyed Seele for her opinion as well.
She looked at the Seele beside her, then pointed at herself uncertainly.
"Me?"
"Yeah." Kaino shrugged. "Who else would it be if not you?"
Heh, now you know the downside of having the same name.
"Hmph, what could I do if Seele is going even if I don't want to?"
Seele agreed somewhat awkwardly.
Kaino smiled, unconcerned.
"Alright, then I'll take a look."
As Prometheus had said, because they existed in different dimensions, World Bubbles could not be observed with the naked eye alone.
But if Kaino remembered correctly, Su could observe World Bubbles within the Sumeru Mustard Seed and even provide coordinates that the Herrscher of the Void's power could reach.
If so, could he use the Herrscher of the Void's authority to observe the World Bubbles around him?
Closing his eyes, Kaino began recalling the sensation of crossing worlds several times. At the same time, he compared the coordinate patterns from inside and outside World Bubbles in his memories, trying to find the differences between them.
Kaino had a feeling that he still had plenty of room to improve in his use of the Herrscher of the Void's power. After all, according to the Book of Cang Xuan, a Herrscher's authority was essentially control over rules. There was no reason the Herrscher of the Void's authority could only be used for teleportation.
Thus, using the thread-thin Honkai energy within his body to activate that authority, he continued exploring the concept of space.
A short while later, Kaino finally grasped that sense of scale.
When he opened his eyes again, the Quantum Sea unfolded before him in an entirely different way.
"Looking at it like this, it's pretty beautiful."
Kaino tilted his head and could not help but praise it aloud.
A brilliant vortex like a galaxy continuously revolved around some distant point. Countless dazzling specks of light on the vortex either flickered brightly or gradually dimmed until they went completely dark.
The Quantum Sea, once utterly black, had become something entirely different in his eyes, breathtakingly beautiful.
Kaino took a breath and began examining the World Bubbles close to him.
A purple-clad swordswoman and a ninja with donkey ears...
A detective from the City of Fog who looked similar to Fu Hua...
A continent divided into three, caught in the midst of conflict...
Those really were not suitable places for a trip.
Kaino frowned and looked toward the next point of light.
...A seemingly peaceful coastal city in summer?
This was the one!
"Seele, I've found one."
Withdrawing from the perspective he had entered through the Herrscher of the Void's authority, Kaino looked at Seele.
"If it's the seaside, would you two be interested...?"
Seeing both Seeles' faces inexplicably redden, Kaino looked completely confused.
Had he said something strange just now?
"Thank you... for the compliment."
Blue-eyed Seele lowered her head and spoke softly.
"The seaside is fine. Thank you..."
Swimsuits... and Honkai Beasts?
Kaino had never been to the seaside. The only water activities Ziegfried had taken him to were rowing boats and playing in the water. Because of that, his impression of the seaside existed only in movies and anime.
The sun was fierce, but the temperature was fairly cool. That had always been his impression of the seaside.
But now...
"It's so hot..."
Kaino moved listlessly along the roadside like a walking corpse.
He had only been under the sun for a short while,
but after truly arriving at the seaside, Kaino realized that he might have had some serious misconceptions about coastal cities.
"There's so much water by the sea, so why is it still this hot?! And on top of that, it's suffocatingly humid."
Before you continue