As for whether Mei had the capability to lead Fire Moth to victory against the Honkai—well, that's something no one can verify anymore.
After all, in the original course of events, the time when Mei gained leadership came far too late.
Following the tragedy of the Herrscher of Binding, Fire Moth's strength had been severely depleted.
No matter who took over at that point—even if someone like Durandal were to cross into that timeline—honestly, she didn't think she could have done any better than Mei did.
But one thing is beyond doubt.
Fire Moth under Mei's leadership would certainly have been stronger than if it had been led by those people with unclear motives.
And the Schicksal she leads would also be stronger than the badly weakened Fire Moth that Mei led after the Binding tragedy.
Thinking this, Durandal felt the pressure mounting. She stood up and went to the adjacent break room to pour herself a cup of black coffee.
When she returned to her office with the coffee, she noticed a pink envelope lying on her desk.
No need to guess—within the Flame-Chasers, there was absolutely no second person besides Elysia who would use this color and style.
Shaking her head, Durandal set down her coffee cup and picked up the envelope.
Seeing a small, hand-drawn red heart on the front, she could almost picture Elysia leaning over her desk, a playful smile on her face.
Carefully opening the envelope, she found just a single graceful line of text:
Compared to seeing you dance in formalwear in a ballroom, I'd much rather see…?
Durandal was stunned for a moment before it finally clicked what Elysia meant.
At noon, when Elysia had suggested holding some celebration for the official establishment of Schicksal, Mobius was the first to voice skepticism.
She said that if the so-called celebration was going to be like Fire Moth's 'Traditional Night'—a ball where everyone dressed formally to dance—she absolutely wouldn't participate.
Back then, Elysia's exact words had been—"Though I'd really love to see our leader dancing in formalwear on the ballroom floor…"
And what Elysia had eventually revealed was a three-day hot spring trip over the New Year holiday.
So, connecting the dots… wasn't Elysia saying that compared to seeing her dance in formalwear, she'd rather see her wearing nothing at all, soaking in the hot spring baths?
In an instant, Durandal felt a rush of heat flooding straight to her brain.
She wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or anger, but she gritted her teeth and spat out, "E! ly! si! a!"
Meanwhile, in the office next door, Elysia heard Durandal's cry—laden with complex emotions—and curled her lips into a smile, humming a cheerful tune.
Operation Tease Durandal: Great Success!
January 1st, 2014, Previous Era, 10:00 AM. After a four-hour drive, Schicksal's business vehicle pulled into the dedicated parking area outside Kinosaki Onsen.
Besides the fifteen members of the organization, three additional people—family and friends of members Mei, Su, and Rin—joined the trip.
Eighteen people in total, enough to nearly book out one of the many hot spring inns in Kinosaki.
The area had a very classic, traditional feel. A small river divided two sides of retro-style streets, connected by a stone arch bridge.
Because it was winter, the willow branches along the riverbank were draped with thick snow, their tendrils silvered with frost, and the arch bridge looked as if blanketed in pure white snow.
Everyone could imagine how fairy-tale-like the place would become after nightfall, when the lights along both streets turned on.
"The hot spring inn we booked is right here."
Following the navigation, Elysia led the group to their destination.
"Alright, time to assign rooms."
Elysia pulled out a layout map of Kinosaki and began allocating rooms.
In the end, Ato, Blanca, and Griseo took the largest room, Number 1.
Sakura and Rin were in Room 2.
Mobius and Klein in Room 3.
Fuxi and Nuwa in Room 4.
Kevyn, Su, and Mei in the also quite spacious Room 5.
Connie, Eden, and Vill-V in Room 6.
Emile alone in Room 7.
"And finally, I'm afraid our leader will have to make do and share the remaining Room 8 with me."
Durandal offered no objection to Elysia's arrangements.
After all, this really did seem like the optimal solution.
Still... the thought of her own less-than-proper sleeping habits gave Durandal a bit of a headache.
Oh well. Since Elysia already knew about it, if there were ever similar situations where she had to share a room, she might as well just pick Elysia.
Durandal certainly didn't want her habit of clinging to something while she slept to become common knowledge within Schicksal.
Hmph, she definitely wasn't missing the wonderful feel or the unique, lovely scent of Elysia. Absolutely not!
After everyone had settled into their assigned rooms, it was soon time for lunch.
The group chose not to eat at the inn, instead heading out to the streets to enjoy various local snacks and delicacies.
Eighteen people was still too large a group to stay together—waiting times would be too long—so they mostly split up according to their room assignments, heading off in twos and threes to different eateries.
The lone wolf Emile was kindly adopted by Mama Connie, joining her, Eden, and Vill-V as a party of four.
"Hey, there's an udon place here. Mei, Su, want to go in and try it?"
Kevyn pointed at the shop in front of them.
Mei and Su were well aware of Kevyn's particular fondness for all kinds of noodles.
Neither of them were picky eaters, so if Kevyn wanted it, they had no objections.
"Hmm... so hard to choose. Durandal, what do you feel like eating?"
Elysia stood on the street, gazing at the dazzling array of shops on both sides of the arch bridge, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
'When in doubt, hot pot is always a safe bet.'
Durandal pointed to a Japanese-style hot pot restaurant not far away.
Elysia: "..."
"I think that red bean soup place looks nice~? And there's taiyaki right next door. Let's go try that first~?"
Elysia completely ignored Durandal's hot pot suggestion and dragged her off to queue for taiyaki instead.
"Eating so many sweets—aren't you worried about getting sick of them?"
Durandal reluctantly followed Elysia into line but couldn't help voicing the reminder.
"Why would anyone get sick of sweets?"
Elysia widened her eyes, looking at Durandal in disbelief. "Isn't eating sweets something that makes people happy?"
--+--