First Meeting
(I forgot to stack armor in Chapter 1, so I'm adding it at the beginning of Volume 2... hehe.)
Warning: Out-of-character (OOC) characters, original character settings, poor writing skills, and bad prose.
"What am I doing...?"
My mind was like a blank sheet of paper, unable to think of anything, like a chaotic mess, or like it had sunk to the bottom of the sea.
Then, the 'drowning' person struggled to rise from the 'seabed,' gradually regaining consciousness. Countless contents were arranged into a book, and the owner of consciousness finally recalled some Remembrance.
Where is this?
Sera looked around at her surroundings. It was a garden, and the flowers looked like they had been carefully tended.
Hmm... Sera confirmed the situation; he seemed to have appeared in someone's backyard.
Moreover, Sera has lost part of her Remembrance, which he speculates is sealed off by herself and will be returned at a specific time.
Sera's current Remembrance is of herself lying on a haystack in Elysia, leisurely humming a song, waiting to go to the Grove of Epiphany with Cyrene.
And some things that seemed out of place...
Sera shook her head, deciding to put those thoughts aside for now and try to find the owner of the garden to learn more about this place.
He felt that his mind was much sharper than before, something that couldn't be achieved simply by reading books. Sera even had a feeling that he could be considered a pseudo-genius.
Sera got off the chair, assuming that the garden's owner had found him and moved him onto the chair.
Sera looked around the garden with curiosity. The flowers were beautiful, but the owner seemed to prefer purple; not a single one was any other color.
Tap tap tap--
Footsteps came from a distance, seemingly from the garden entrance.
As Sera's gaze swept upwards, the first thing that caught her eye was a pair of small, exquisite shoes. The black uppers were adorned with a touch of purple, followed by pure white fabric, with a bow tied at the back of the boots.
Next were her fair, delicate legs, so white they seemed to be free of any impurities. A greyish-white inner layer paired with a purple Rita- style skirt revealed a small portion of her shoulders, with chain elements adorning the garment.
Ah, what a perfect and magnificent face it was! The violet pupils held a hint of indifference, and a beret adorned with purple lilies on the side of the girl's head sat atop her head.
The name of the girl popped into Sera's mind— Herta.
So, has he arrived on the Blue?
As for why Sera didn't consider that this was Herta City, lol. The Herta girl's appearance lacked the joints of a doll; how could she miss such an obvious answer?
Have you seen enough?
A cold voice came from the Herta.
Sera was not startled by the sudden voice, but reacted instinctively, as if she had been taught a formula for a math problem and used it to solve many similar problems.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Herta."
Sera placed her right hand naturally in front of her heart and nodded slightly in greeting.
I apologize for my rudeness and hope it didn't cause you too much trouble.
My Seraphis, and I am... or perhaps... a student.
"Alright."
Herta waved his hand impatiently.
"I don't like these formalities. Get to the point—where did you get here?"
"..."
Sera paused for a moment, then waved her hands.
"I also want to know. In my Remembrance, I should have been about to enter the Tree Garden to study, but my physical Remembrance and the feeling I had when I first woke up tell me that I have lost a part of my Remembrance."
Sera stopped there, saying that he couldn't say anything more.
"The Memetic Snatcher?"
Even when Herta is frowning, he's so cute!
"No, you don't have their frequency fluctuations. Hmm? Interesting..."
Hey, what's your name again? Oh, right!
"Sera, would you be willing to be my first experimental subject?"
"..." Sera fell silent. As Herrscher, he felt somewhat uncomfortable about being the subject of experiments.
Seeing Sera's silence, Herta posed a series of questions.
"While you were unconscious, I checked the records. There is no record of you on the Blue, and you are not listed among the company's registered personnel either. Either you are from a remote planet not included in the Pan-Galactic System, or you lied about your identity."
But since you know my name, you can't be from some remote corner of the world, yet you don't seem like someone who lies about their name.
Now, can you tell me why?
You can think of it as something that comes with your Remembrance.
Sera was telling the truth, but she didn't explain it clearly.
"Um."
Herta crossed his arms and nodded.
"I will prepare a temporary identity document for you. The experimental compensation is up to you, settled one session at a time, but of course, it cannot go against my personal wishes..."
"I agree, Miss Herta."
Sera did indeed need the Herta's help, and he also believed in the Herta's conscience and morality.
He desperately wanted to know the situation of Amphoreus; he was on the verge of collapse because time flowed differently in Amphoreus than in the outside world, and the Cyrene he knew might already be gone...
Sera's unease was soothed by a strange emotion, Sera suddenly had a feeling that following the Herta would lead her to the answer.
"You have good taste; I won't hold what happened earlier against you."
Herta's lips curled up almost imperceptibly; as expected of her.
Come with me.
Sera followed Herta, curiously observing the flowers around her, and then noticed that there was another flower behind Herta.
Herta didn't mind Sera's gaze; curiosity was normal, and she was naturally curious.
For example, she's very curious about Sera right now.
"Stand up."
Without turning his head, Herta manipulated the screen. Sera stepped onto the designated spot, and the instrument covered him and began scanning.
"... Um?"
Herta frowned, but his eyes were full of surprise.
Unknowable...
How delightful! Someone she couldn't even decipher—she'd truly struck gold!
The Herta has encountered someone so many geniuses have dreamed of. But... what is truly unknowable?
The Herta proudly raised its head; the so-called unknowable was merely knowledge waiting for it to explore.
"Sera."
Herta looked at Sera, who had just stepped out of the scanning pod, and spoke.
"What's wrong, Miss Herta?"
How much do you know about your own abilities?
Sera did not answer the question immediately; he was still hesitant—he trusted the Herta but was also afraid of accidentally pushing the galaxy toward Honkai.
In the end, Sera chose to trust her intuition and the Herta.
"I know about it."
Sera nodded.
"My power is... Corruption."
"Corruption..."
Herta for a moment, "Power...?"
"Demonstrate it once."
"Forehead..."
Sera looked around at the obviously expensive experimental equipment and hesitated.
"Are you sure, Miss Herta?"
"Sure."
Herta nodded, not caring about the equipment at all. After all, broken equipment can be replaced. But after watching the demonstration of power, it was a real-world experience of touching the unknown!