"Bronya."
"You will remain on standby in Nagazora City. After the Third Herrscher is born, I will send people to assist you in securing her."
Inside a convenience store, an eighteen-year-old girl with a hint of youthfulness in her features heard the calm, mature female voice in her earpiece and replied.
"Understood."
The girl had beautiful, light-gray curly hair and eyes to match. She had a cute appearance, and despite being over eighteen, she was still hugging a Homu doll.
The only unfortunate thing was that she was sitting in a wheelchair.
This girl's name was Bronya Zaychik, a member of Anti-Entropy.
She was eighteen years old.
The woman on the other end of her earpiece heard Bronya's flat, emotionless voice and fell silent for a moment.
"Bronya, after this experiment is over, I will find a way to use the Herrscher Core to open the gate to the Sea of Quanta."
"When the time comes, after we find Seele, you and Seele can go home together."
The person speaking with Bronya was her adoptive mother, Cocolia.
Although she was her adoptive mother, ever since Seele was trapped in the Sea of Quanta because of Cocolia's X-10 experiment, Bronya and Cocolia had gone their separate ways.
Now, they were more like familiar strangers.
Bronya remained silent.
She didn't say a word, even after Cocolia cut the connection.
Bronya removed the Bluetooth earpiece and looked at the magazine rack in front of her, but the image that appeared in her mind was Seele's smiling face.
I want to see you so badly, Seele.
Just then, the convenience store's door opened. Bronya glanced toward the entrance and saw a man and a woman walk in side-by-side.
Are they a couple?
The moment she entered, the girl with beautiful long white hair scampered straight to the snack aisle.
The blond man following behind her spoke with a helpless tone.
"If you eat that much, be careful you don't turn into a pig."
"Hmph, hmph, this young miss doesn't get fat from eating!"
Are they foreign tourists?
Without paying them too much mind, Bronya withdrew her gaze.
Coming to Nagazora City at a time like this... they really have bad luck.
Once the Herrscher of Thunder was born, who knew how many people in Nagazora City would survive the Great Honkai Eruption.
The thought caused no ripples in Bronya's heart. She had her origins as an assassin, after all.
She had long since become indifferent to matters of life and death.
She wasn't so magnanimous; she only wanted to protect the people she wanted to protect.
Bronya hugged the Homu doll in her arms tighter, reached out for the latest issue of the Homu manga, and then maneuvered her wheelchair toward the checkout counter.
However, there were a few people queuing at the counter, so Bronya could only wait patiently at the back of the line.
But out of habit from her time as an assassin, Bronya observed her surroundings with her peripheral vision while she waited.
Everything was ordinary. Some people would even cast pitiful glances at the girl in the wheelchair.
After all, for such a cute girl to be in a wheelchair at such a young age was a great pity.
Her gaze gradually shifted to the snack aisle. She saw the cute, white-haired girl with her hands on her knees, which were slightly bent. Her perky rear was stuck out as she swayed her body, looking at the dazzling array of snacks with a conflicted expression.
"Otto, what do you think I should buy? They all look so delicious."
"If you want them, you can buy them all."
The blond man was toying with a pen in his hand.
He spoke dotingly, looking like a man who spoiled his wife. However, Bronya noticed that the man's gaze was fixed squarely on the girl's upturned rear.
An old pervert, I see.
Bronya mentally tagged the blond man.
But with his looks, that girl would probably willingly fall for all his moves.
She retracted her gaze. No matter how handsome he was, Bronya's heart remained unmoved.
After losing Seele, she thought she might never again feel joy or sorrow in this life.
But then, she suddenly heard a sentence.
"Otto, who is this girl named Raiden Mei that you're looking for?" the white-haired girl asked.
The blond man smiled and said.
"Hmm, our future cook?"
Seeing the man's perfunctory answer, the white-haired girl patted his shoulder in dissatisfaction, but the gesture was exceptionally gentle, without any real force, as if she were afraid of hurting him.
The two seemed to be flirting.
However, to Bronya's ears, their words were like a bolt from the blue.
Why are they looking for Raiden Mei?
Bronya narrowed her eyes. She knew about Cocolia's plan to use Raiden Mei to create the Third Herrscher. Her current mission was to wait in Nagazora City and secure Raiden Mei after her awakening.
Cocolia had told her that with a complete Herrscher Core, there was a very high chance of opening the gate to the Sea of Quanta.
But this foreign couple, why were they looking for Mei?
Bronya instinctively sensed that something was wrong. She clenched her small fists.
"Next, please."
The cashier called out. It was Bronya's turn.
After paying, Bronya maneuvered her wheelchair out of the convenience store and went to a coffee pavilion across the street.
Sitting at a window seat, Bronya opened the Homu manga in her hands, but her eyes remained fixed on the convenience store's entrance through the window.
Bronya watched. After a short wait, she saw the man and woman leave the store, carrying several bags of snacks.
Following them quietly, Bronya tailed them all the way to a high-end hotel with many black luxury sedans parked at its entrance.
She hid in a dark corner, took out a small computer from her pocket, and connected to the hotel's network. In just two minutes, she had breached the hotel's database.
Her hacking skills were even more fearsome than her assassination abilities.
Her gaze focused, Bronya began searching for where the couple was staying.
Soon, she found the answer. It was easy to filter for a young couple from the data.
The name the man registered with was Orga Itsuka, and the girl's registered name was Kiana Kaslana.
She had never heard these names before.
They had just booked two rooms on the top floor of the hotel, and the bill was charged to a European account.
Europeans?
Bronya frowned. Cocolia had already made arrangements concerning Raiden Mei. She had told Bronya to simply wait for the fruit to ripen. But now, two people had suddenly appeared, looking for Raiden Mei.
This was an unexpected variable.
"Seele..."
Thinking of Seele, who was still trapped in the Sea of Quanta, Bronya's eyes became resolute.
Although she disliked Cocolia's plan, she now had to ensure its success, because only by relying on Cocolia could she get Seele back.
Therefore...
She had to help Cocolia eliminate this variable.
At the very least, she had to dig out their purpose for finding Raiden Mei.
And the time for that would be tonight!