Section Forty-One · When Happiness Comes Knocking

"Fuck, help me take the blame and reject the application." Surtr instinctively spoke to Persephone the same way she always had.

"I'm afraid that according to PRTS's authorization hierarchy, the only people who can make the decision are you or Amiya. If you don't want to go back on your word, then you'll have to persuade Amiya. She trusts you deeply, so she might help you resolve this little matter."

However, Persephone was not omnipotent this time as she had been before.

"Of course, you could also choose a more extreme method. Life has no meaning to me, and I don't care about rewinding time once more. If you're willing to do everything that happened today all over again, I can take you back to the place where the Sarcophagus had yet to be opened at any time."

Surtr fell silent.

Start over? Do everything all over again?

What a joke. After finally bringing everything to a perfect conclusion, I'm supposed to rewind time over some insignificant detail that doesn't affect the bigger picture?

NEVER!

"I'll go talk to Amiya." She hesitated for several seconds before sighing. "It isn't anything serious. If all else fails, I can go on a long-term field mission and let time smooth over this little setback... Speaking of which, how are you getting along with PRTS?"

"Very well." Persephone's voice rose slightly from the other end of the radio. "We get along wonderfully, and she has provided me with quite a bit of help. I've also seen many... interesting things. Especially Ms. Kal'tsit, whom I deal with so often. I really had no idea she had that sort of interest."

"What is it?" Surtr asked casually. She got to her feet and headed toward her room. She felt she should go to sleep as soon as possible. If she could return smoothly to Dark Souls, then whether she was cutting people down or being cut down there, it would still be more pleasant than dealing with these messy trivialities.

"It's a good thing." The voice on the other end returned to normal. "Of course, if you wish to pry into her secrets, I don't mind sharing them with you. However, there's a very high chance that Ms. Kal'tsit will come after you if she finds out afterward."

Come after me? Why? Aren't you the one snooping into people's privacy, you jerk?

Wait, is this woman deliberately baiting me... What an obvious attempt to hide something!

"Then forget it," Miss Surtr replied as she pushed open the door and then closed it. What met her eyes was a neat room and a comfortable double bed. "I have no interest in learning things I shouldn't know. Just keep it to yourself."

As long as the words 'Precise' don't come out of your mouth, I don't care what it is.

"Then, as you wish, Surtr." The drone trembled slightly and was about to leave through the window.

However, Surtr suddenly grabbed it.

"Wait a minute." Surtr's tone suddenly turned serious. She raised a finger and pointed at the bed, then at the two pillows on it.

"Why is this a double bed?"

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door—footsteps she knew well.

Section Forty-One: When Happiness Comes Knocking

"Because this is my room too."

The door opened. Reflected in the crimson eyes was a face Miss Surtr had never expected to see here: long light-purple hair, emerald-green eyes, a petite figure, and a cool, aloof face. Without a doubt, this was Persephone—the Maiden Doctor, who should have been unbearably busy at this hour, now standing in the doorway.

"Does it bother you?" she asked, though her tone was declarative. She casually removed the white coat symbolizing her status as a researcher in the entryway, then hung it on the clothes rack on the wall.

Her movements were natural, as if she were in her own home.

"You... But shouldn't you be incredibly busy right now!?" Miss Surtr stared at her in disbelief.

Then she saw Persephone point to the strange device hanging by her ear. It looked like an earpiece, but also like an antenna meant for a robot. For a moment, Miss Surtr even thought she had walked through the wrong door and ended up in the neighboring world of Punishing: Gray Raven. Of course, that was merely an illusion—just an illusion.

"PRTS. This is a communication device Amiya gave me. It's waterproof, dustproof, and electromagnetically shielded. It can ensure a sufficiently clear signal at any time. With it, it doesn't matter where I work. In fact, I'm currently handling nearly thirty projects of various sizes simultaneously, and talking to you is the thirty-first."

"My brain can support this level of computation, but my body needs rest. Have you eaten?"

Her topic changed abruptly and rapidly.

"Not yet... Why?" Miss Surtr felt slightly dizzy from that barrage of words.

"Then I was right. Perhaps you don't need to eat at all? After all, those who consume qi are divine and immortal." Persephone removed her boots and socks and changed into sandals. A drone carrying several large and small bags flew past her from behind and placed food containers emitting a rich aroma on the dining table in the room.

The drones closed the door intelligently—or were 'intelligently' closed by something—when they left.

"But I still prepared some food for you. Based on PRTS's records of your meals on Rhodes Island, I inferred that you have a particular fondness for Yan cuisine. Fortunately, there happens to be a suitable Yan chef in Chernobog. So I spent some time and effort helping prepare a few dishes. Four dishes and one soup: Lotus Bamboo Fungus Soup, Shredded Fish Maw, Two-Style Prawns, Stir-fried Mushroom with Cabbage, and Steamed Chicken with Coconut. PRTS told me that you once called this set the Zhou Family State Banquet and recorded the recipes. Otherwise, some of the ingredients would have been quite difficult to find."

She passed the stunned Miss Surtr and went to the table, opening the food containers. Fragrant aromas filled the room alongside the dishes' vivid colors. The lotus was pale and delicate, the bamboo fungus light yellow, the fish maw fresh and smooth, and the shrimp refined and glistening with oil. The light-brown mushrooms were bursting with broth, while the coconut milk, difficult to find in Ursus, gave off wave after wave of sweet fragrance.

Faced with such a feast, anyone who didn't feel hungry was either stuffed or had something wrong with their stomach.

Yet Miss Surtr only felt a pang in her stomach.

"You..." She even wanted to touch Persephone's head and see whether she had overworked her brain until it burned out. "...Are you all right?"

"Did I never do things like this before?" However, the Doctor's question left her speechless.

"...Occasionally." Surtr admitted it with difficulty. In her memories, there had indeed been one or two times.

But every one of those occasions had been special!

"Exactly. A large portion of my memories is missing, so I judged that doing things I had done in the past would help recover them. I imagine you would also like to learn some things from me with my memories intact. In the Yan saying you like to use, this kills two birds with one stone. Why not?"

"..."

"And this." The purple-haired girl took a cup of chilled chocolate-and-cream mixture from the last, smaller food container. It looked exquisite, but was quite different from the dishes before it, whose ingredients and knife work had been so carefully prepared. She placed what was evidently handmade ice cream on the table, then set a small spoon beside it.

"PRTS's records mention that you like an ice cream brand called 'Häagen-Dazs.' Unfortunately, there are no records of that flavor of snack in this city. So I had to make one by hand according to the sweetness, fat content, and other parameters provided by PRTS. Although having it with dinner isn't good for your health, it may suit your taste."

The atmosphere suddenly fell quiet.

Surtr fell silent. She stared motionlessly at the ice cream on the table.

The silence lasted for several seconds.

"In the past..." Her voice was slightly low. "Theresia handled all my ice cream. Whenever I came back from outside, she would make me a serving. So only she knew what I liked."

"I could guess." Persephone tilted her head slightly. "If you don't like it, you can leave it there. The same goes for the food. After all, I haven't had dinner either."

"...I will never forgive you for what you did to Theresia."

"Is that so?" The Doctor's expression did not change. Instead, she seemed even calmer than before. "But have you ever truly cared whether anyone lived or died? In the past and now, what exactly is it that you refuse to forgive? That I killed her, or that I killed her outside your plans and permission?"

"..."

A second silence.

"You see? You can't answer that question yourself. Because you're too lazy to do everything over again today, a normal person would attack immediately after hearing me provoke them like this, yet you merely fell silent. Just as you can see through my nature, I can see through yours. You and I are actually the same kind of creature. We simply have different ways of amusing ourselves in this world... Do you want to take a bath?"

"...No."

"Then I'm going to take one. Cold water is beneficial to my brain function. Or, to put it another way, it helps keep my rationality relatively stable. With that Miss Amiya constantly making noise in my ear, I'm already about to snap her rabbit head off. To save both of us some time, I assume you won't stop me here?"

"Go if you want." Persephone received a response.