I Found My Home!
"No need to thank me~"
Cyrene picked up a plate of pastries and set it beside Sparkle.
"You rushed all the way here. You must be exhausted, right? Have some snacks and take a break. Ms. Ruan Mei made them."
"They're delicious!" Feiying said, giving a thumbs-up as she ate a pastry.
"Mm, I hope you like them."
Ruan Mei's tone was flat, making her seem like an emotionless machine.
"Cheer up, Ms. Genius~ Don't think of yourself as a machine."
Sera, who was drawing up plans nearby, heard their conversation.
That was how Sera felt about Ruan Mei. The genius was so excessively rational that she truly seemed like nothing more than a machine to him.
Did Ruan Mei have emotions? She did, but for some reason, her rationality kept them firmly suppressed.
Sera believed that Ruan Mei had no capacity to love him. She had simply offered herself to him as a bargaining chip, driven by her yearning for truth and the primordial.
But that was fine. Sera didn't mind. Since she was like a heartless doll who didn't understand love, he would teach Ruan Mei what it meant to love, just as Cyrene had taught him.
How novel. Was this the fun of raising someone~?
Sooner or later, Ruan Mei would understand the weight of emotion, and Sera would make her truly fall in love with him.
And as for Herta?
Sera looked at the witch beside him.
Herta was making a vessel, humming a song with a relaxed smile on her face.
Noticing Sera's gaze, she looked at him quizzically.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. It's just a little unusual to see you looking so happy."
Sera showed no sign of panic and calmly explained himself.
"Of course I'm happy!"
There was a hint of cheer in Herta's voice.
"I'm saving Dual-Phase Paradise."
Of course, Herta left one thing unsaid.
With you.
"Mm."
Sera resumed drawing up the plans, though he was still puzzled.
What he didn't understand was why someone as proud as Herta had agreed to his joke back then.
Did she like him?
Yes, Sera was certain of it.
There was no mistaking that look in her eyes. It was affection, along with something else. Sera couldn't quite say what that other emotion was.
But that had been the first time Sera and Herta met.
Why would Herta look at someone she'd just met with a hint of affection?
The answer seemed obvious.
Then... was this also a chain of cause and effect that Sera needed to complete? Or had "Finality" simply helped Herta?
Sera didn't know. Only Herta did, presumably.
Sera didn't intend to take the initiative. If he had to complete the chain of cause and effect, Herta would speak up when the time was right. If it was Finality, then there was no need for Sera to do anything.
"All done."
Sera had finished the design plans.
Herta handed Sera the completed vessel. He took it and loaded the plans into it, completing the area that would shelter the disaster victims.
After the people of Dual-Phase Paradise entered, the Fools of the new Tavern would distribute food to them. Of course, they wouldn't be allowed into the other areas.
Sera picked up his phone and checked the news online.
"Beep beep! Haiyuan City TV reporting!"
A little yellow duck was reporting the news on television.
"According to an informed source, the World's End Tavern was the site of a massacre carried out by unknown individuals!
"It was horrifying. Not a single Fool present survived.
"Mr. Oswald of the Interastral Peace Corporation has strongly condemned the incident."
"Tch..."
Sera heard the name and felt a little disgusted.
Sera suspected that Voracity's resurgence was also connected to Oswald Schneider.
Oswald Schneider's arrival on Dual-Phase Paradise and his takeover of control were inextricably linked to Sera himself.
He was probably hoping to get Sera to join the Corporation, adding a crowning achievement to his résumé in his bid to become a director.
Hmph.
Sera had no interest in the Corporation, much less in that kind of person.
But Sera thought he would be quite interested in helping the Strategic Investment Department get involved and take control of Dual-Phase Paradise.
Just as Pearl had become the chief executive officer of Dual-Phase Paradise in the original timeline.
That would be far better than Kageyama of the Market Development Department.
"Herta, do you have the number for the Corporation's Strategic Investment Department?"
"Let me check." Herta didn't ask why. She took out her phone and found Diamond's number.
"Here." Herta handed it straight to Sera.
Sera had actually wanted to make the call himself, but Herta had already handed him her own phone.
He placed the call, and it connected after a single ring.
"Hello, Ms. Herta. Is there something you need?"
Diamond's voice came through.
"This is Seraphis."
"Ah, hello, Mr. Seraphis." Diamond corrected himself immediately, without a second's hesitation.
"Let's skip the small talk. Dual-Phase Paradise. Taking down Oswald. What do you say?"
As Sera spoke, he sent Diamond a video.
He believed Diamond would make the right choice after watching it.
"I agree to your proposal."
For Diamond to hesitate even a second would have been disrespectful to the prospect of taking down the Market Development Department, to say nothing of the fact that he had watched the video.
"I trust you're good at digging up dirt on your competitors?
"Here's a lead: Marcus Antali and the Perfect Evolution School."
Sera sent Diamond the information and video on Deathly Doom.
"Pay particular attention to that investment of unknown origin."
Leave professional matters to the professionals; everyone had their own specialty. Sera believed Diamond must know his opponent's methods well.
Once the source was properly confirmed, Oswald Schneider could be considered finished under pressure from the Xianzhou Alliance.
"Very well. I'll send one of the Ten Stonehearts to Dual-Phase Paradise."
Diamond naturally accepted with pleasure.
One of the Ten Stonehearts would, barring any surprises, be Pearl, who came from the same planet as Screwllum.
In Sera's memory, she was an Intellitron born from the analysis of art.
She had also devoted herself wholeheartedly to Dual-Phase Paradise.
Sera ended the call and placed the completed compressed world in the management area.
"Now we can relax. It's still early."
Sera and Herta returned to the sofa and lay down. Sera picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip.
Such a relaxing time~
Sera finally had time to rest for a while after the past few days.
Sera brought up the screen and checked the visitors to the new Tavern.
"Hm?"
Sera spotted a name that interested him.
Aha's strictest mother, the fictional-history comic artist, Xuzhao.
My goodness, the lady who wrote "Medicinal Fragrance Entwines the Wind" and still hasn't had The Hunt show up at her door to deal with her.
Put on the glasses, and who knows what you'll get.
She had actually been invited in too.
Surely she wasn't so poor she had nowhere to live and got kicked out, so now she wants to stay at the Tavern forever?
Sera looked at how long Xuzhao had been there and felt somewhat helpless. The Tavern had only been finished for a day, and she had already spent a whole day inside. She apparently hadn't left since being invited in right after it was built.
Xuzhao: I found my home! Free fruit (picked from the plants in the real-world area), a free place to stay, and I don't have to worry about my editor coming after me in person. It's amazing!