“Mei-senpai, she…”
Dizzy and pale-faced, Bronya soon also noticed that Raiden Mei was nowhere to be seen. In this unpredictable Sea of Quanta, even Seele couldn’t bring herself to say something like “Mei is definitely safe.”
“Don’t worry, Seele. I won’t act recklessly. Right now, our top priority is to find a way to establish contact with the real world. Once we’re sure we’re safe, we can go rescue Mei-senpai.”
Watching Bronya’s unusual condition, Seele fell into deep thought.
Originally, when they were deciding who would enter the Sea of Quanta, Theresa didn’t want to let her students take such a risk, so she suggested that she herself should go. But the rejection reaction on Theresa’s body was too severe—she simply didn’t qualify to enter the Sea of Quanta, so they had no choice but to drop the idea.
“Unlike Theresa, Bronya-senpai was perfectly fine until just now, which means she doesn’t have that kind of constitution. But then why…”
“Right, the other me, how are you doing?”
[…What, now that Bronya’s fine, you finally remember I exist?]
“I…”
Hearing the other self’s sour, jealous tone, Seele didn’t know what to say in this situation.
“I was thinking…”
[Alright, alright. I’m fine. If anything, ever since we entered this space, I’ve been doing even better than usual. As for you… unlike Bronya, you seem perfectly normal on the surface, but I have a feeling something’s not quite right…]
“Sigh, me? Let me think…”
[Since you already noticed that pale purple crack earlier, why didn’t you tell Bronya or discuss it with me? Why did you just assume it was a normal phenomenon in the Sea of Quanta?]
“That’s because… wait, why did I… why did I…”
As Seele thought about it, the doubt in her heart grew deeper and deeper. She felt that they had likely fallen into someone’s trap.
[It’s not impossible to change the current situation, but… it might scare Bronya. Still, doing it could actually make things more comfortable for all of you. I’ll leave the explaining to you then.]
[Oh, and don’t be too surprised, because…]
As the “other Seele,” this was the second time she had used that ability outside the “mental room” where she and Seele could communicate with each other. And once again, the targets were Seele and Bronya.
The first time she actually used this ability in practice was back when Seele was kidnapped and Bronya killed someone with her stockings.
Because she had no mental preparation whatsoever, that timid, crybaby Seele who would hide herself in a box directly mistook her for a demon.
Little did she know that those words, spoken out of fear, had hurt two people. Not only the other Seele, but also Bronya—from that point on, she became extremely restrained when it came to killing, and never displayed any of her skills in front of Seele again.
Back then, the retirement of the “Silver Wolf of the Urals” briefly caused an uproar in the underworld, and many people in the business had their own opinions about it. Unfortunately, amid all the speculation, not a single person knew that what made this genius assassin put down her blade was nothing more than a single casual remark from a gentle, fragile girl.
For the other Seele, that misunderstanding was, without a doubt, a complete failure of an awakening.
Seele had mentally prepared herself, but she still didn’t understand what the other her was about to do—until she saw a stream of black mist rising from her own body, and the other her stood beside her, both feet on the ground.
“In this special space, we can split apart like this with ease.”
Bronya also sensed something unusual coming from Seele, and then the dizziness in her brain gradually faded, her mind slowly clearing up.
“Strange… Seele… there are two?”
Black Seele spread her hands and glanced at White Seele. White Seele thought carefully for a moment and said:
“Bronya-senpai, actually… ever since the first time I met you, there have always been two people inside this body…”
Bronya looked thoughtfully at the two Seele’s, without saying a word.
“Bronya-senpai, she is actually…”
Seele was at a loss for words. She didn’t really understand the reason behind Black Seele’s existence either.
“I am the other her, born from the awakening of Seele’s Stigma. That’s the principle behind it, but if you ask me about the philosophical side of things—I don’t really know what I am myself.”
“And besides… it’s because I came out of Seele’s body that your abnormal symptoms started to fade.”
“…To put it simply, when the three of us exist independently, the Sea of Quanta happens to form a relatively stable structure around us—similar to how a triangle won’t be deformed by external force.”
“Both Seele’s cognitive block regarding the ‘cracks’ and Bronya’s dizziness are effects created by this space itself.”
White Seele gave Black Seele a grateful look. Even though they had agreed that she would handle the introduction, Black Seele still stepped in to help when she got stuck.
“Thank you for the explanation. But you misunderstood—Bronya wasn’t doubting you. Everything Seele just said, Bronya believes. In fact, after seeing you, many of the questions that had been bothering Bronya have finally been answered.”
“Looking back, back in the orphanage, Seele would occasionally act in ways that were completely unlike her. Those things never escaped Bronya’s eyes.”
Black Seele suddenly became interested:
“Oh? Like what, for example?”
Bronya glanced at Seele, then said:
“For instance, normally, Seele isn’t a picky eater. She can eat anything that Mother Cocolia prepared. But sometimes, she would only eat a few specific dishes, and the ones she didn’t want, she’d secretly dump into Cocolia’s plate.”
“Seele loves sweets, but a few times, she swapped the canned tomatoes used for soup with canned chili peppers—which just so happens to be something Cocolia hates.”
“Also, Seele clearly loves reading, but there were times when she’d get sleepy the moment she touched a book, even dozing off on top of it and drooling on the pages…”
Bronya looked over and saw that White Seele had already lowered her head, her face bright red, so she swallowed the rest of the embarrassing stories she was about to share.
“Wait, Bronya, what kind of stuff have you been keeping in your head?!”
Perhaps sensing White Seele’s embarrassment, just as Bronya was about to change the subject, Black Seele cut in and interrupted her.
“These changes show up in every little gesture. Your personalities, your habits—they’re completely different. Even the small movements you make when zoning out are worlds apart.”
“If anything, with so many obvious differences, it’d be stranger not to notice.”
Black Seele glanced at White Seele and let out a cold laugh:
“Hmph. That one probably thought she was hiding it well and that no one knew.”
“Bronya-senpai, I…”
“Seele doesn’t need to explain anything to me. Everyone has their own secrets, more or less—it’s completely normal. If Seele wants to keep this secret, Bronya will never reveal it in front of anyone else. The reason I fell into thought just now was because I was thinking…”
Bronya’s gaze shifted from White Seele to Black Seele.
“Now that Bronya knows about this, it means there might be more chances to interact with both of you in the future. But Bronya still doesn’t know what to call you.”
“Hah, so that’s what you were thinking about. Couldn’t you just tell Seele and have her pass the message to me?”
Seeing Black Seele’s outwardly indifferent attitude, Bronya simply shook her head:
“No. There might be times when Bronya needs to have a private conversation with you. Even though you and Seele are deeply connected, in the end, you are two separate individuals. So you should have your own name.”
At that moment, White Seele also realized something:
“You’re right. You’re clearly an equal existence to me. It doesn’t seem right to always call you ‘the other me’… For now, we’ll have to make do with a bit of inconvenience. But once this is all over, you can take your time thinking about what name you like best. After that, we’ll all call you by that name.”
“…Alright, let’s focus on getting things done. I’ve only explained the reason behind ‘why there are two Seele’s.’ As for why this place ‘has two Seele’s’—even I don’t understand that. If there’s a mastermind behind these recent changes, I have no idea why they would shape this space into one where even an entity like me, without a physical form, can move around freely…”
“Unfortunately, that question won’t be answered anytime soon. Right now, what matters is how to get back to the real world. So Seele, and Bronya—it’s time to get moving. Do you two plan on staying in this godforsaken place for the rest of your lives?”
“Yeah, you’re right. We really can’t stay here forever. Bronya-senpai, the Sea of Quanta is ever-changing. The safest approach right now is to enter the nearest bubble world. Based on the coordinate relationship between that bubble world and the real world, we can establish a path back there. Because compared to the Sea of Quanta, bubble worlds are relatively more stable.”
The three continued walking forward for a while, and a portal appeared before them. Seele walked up to it, reached out her hand—but then pulled it back.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can feel that compared to where we were before, this place is indeed relatively more stable. But I still feel like there’s something around here that makes me uneasy…”
