"What… what did you just say?"
All three of them stared, wide-eyed with shock.
"Yes, you heard me right," Welt sighed, letting out a heavy breath as though trying to release the weight pressing down on his chest. "I only learned about it myself not long ago."
"Cecilia who should have been long dead has appeared in St. Freya Academy. Right now… she's probably unpacking her things in the teachers' villa not far from here."
"When I saw her, I immediately contacted him. He didn't explain much—just said, 'Yes, I brought Cecilia back to life,' and then hung up, as if he was busy with something."
Welt pushed up his black-rimmed glasses.
"And you all know Cocolia's daughter, don't you? That orphan girl named Bronya. Well, when I saw Cecilia, there was another woman beside her—someone who looked almost exactly like her. My guess? Bronya's mother. Which means…"
"Without a doubt, that was his doing too."
To lighten the heavy atmosphere, Welt cleared his throat. "Judging from these two examples, I think you should understand what it means if you accept him as your son-in-law."
Raiden Ryoma froze.
For a moment his face looked dazed, but in the next instant realization flickered in his eyes.
To bring back someone already dead—someone like his wife!
The thought alone sent a surge of memories flooding his mind, the image of her back burned so deeply into him that it had never faded.
"…Thank you for speaking on my behalf, Mr. Welt. When you and Dr. Tesla eventually get married, I'll make sure to bring a very generous wedding gift."
Ripples spread through the air like waves on water.
A crisp, youthful voice suddenly rang out inside Anti-Entropy's secret base.
A black-haired boy stepped out of the distortion with a bright smile on his face.
"But I don't need tricks like that to win Mr. Raiden Ryoma's approval. Oh—no, I suppose I should be calling you Father-in-law, shouldn't I?"
Nagami's sudden appearance left every executive in the room stunned.
"Nagami!?"
"Yo."
Grinning, Nagami casually dropped into the seat right beside Raiden Ryoma.
Tesla, struck head-on by his opening remark, clutched her chest and coughed furiously, her pale cheeks flaring red as though she'd been caught in some embarrassing act.
Even the ever-composed Einstein widened her eyes.
Watching Tesla fluster and Welt avert his gaze awkwardly, a mischievous smile tugged at her lips.
Her curiosity about this was almost stronger than her interest in Nagami's ability to resurrect the dead.
"How did you even find this place?"
Ryoma tried to suppress the spike in his blood pressure from being called Father-in-law. His face hardened into seriousness as he shot Welt a questioning look.
"Leader… was it you?"
"Cough, cough—no, not me." Welt quickly deflected, shifting the focus back onto Nagami.
"Finding someone in the Far East isn't hard," Nagami replied casually.
He tilted his head toward Ryoma. "Cecilia, Kiana's mother, and Bronya's mother are already back. When the time is right, I'll bring back Mei's mother too."
After all, if his goal was a true happy ending, then he couldn't leave any regrets behind.
"You—" Ryoma began, but Nagami raised his hand, cutting him off.
"No offense, but let me make one thing clear. I'm not doing any of this for you. I'm doing it for Mei. That's all."
His calm words, paired with his steady gaze, carried no hint of hesitation.
The truth was, Mei's "spoiling plan" had worked almost too well.
Nagami had grown so used to her constant care that the thought of living without her felt unbearable.
For someone who once prided himself on being a self-reliant shut-in, it was terrifying to realize those instincts were slipping away—eaten up by the powers of the Herrscher of Rice.
Terrifying indeed.
"..."
Ryoma fell silent, eyes locked on Nagami.
Then he bowed his head slightly, letting out a quiet sigh.
Deep down, he knew—if Mei were here right now, she would be standing firmly on Nagami's side.
'So this is what they mean when they say daughters are impossible to keep forever…'
"You used the Herrscher of the Void's powers just now, didn't you?"
Einstein turned in her chair, crossing her long legs with a rare seriousness in her expression.
"As expected of Dr. Einstein—you saw through it instantly." Nagami gave her a sincere nod.
"Thanks for the compliment, but…" She scratched at her messy light-blue curls, which now resembled a bird's nest.
Her tone grew heavier. "If you're planning to build him a mech, doesn't the Herrscher of the Void's core still reside in Sirin?"
"Of course. But for the Herrscher of Reason, reproducing other Herrschers' powers is just… natural, isn't it?"
Welt's mouth twitched violently.
He still hadn't recovered from the trauma of Nagami's so-called "research sessions."
Back then, Nagami had made him and Tesla break down Eden's Star piece by piece just so he could "learn" its structure.
And now, Nagami was talking as if it were no harder than solving a math problem.
"You can even understand the mechanics of imaginary space?" Welt groaned.
The truth was, Nagami's Alpha Stigma Eyes worked too perfectly with the Herrscher of Reason's powers.
And with the core of the Void on top of that, he could analyze, replicate, and wield almost any ability he came across.
"Hey, hey, what about the resurrection thing?" Tesla leaned in, tugging at her hair in frustration. "How the hell did you do that!?"
As scientists, neither she nor Einstein could just shrug off something that seemed so impossible.
"Simple," Nagami said, almost casually. "By traveling along the Imaginary Tree, I can slip into different points in time. Before someone dies, I collect their soul. After that… well, the resurrection is the easy part."
There was no real need to hide it.
After all, reversing time wasn't something just anyone could do.
Even if someone opened a path to the Imaginary Tree using the Second Divine Key, they wouldn't be able to replicate his methods.
Nagami was a special case—a "Fated One" blessed by the chat group itself.
Without that, resurrection would demand impossible resources and absurd amounts of Honkai energy.
"The Imaginary Tree…"
Both Einstein and Tesla whispered the words, their eyes meeting.
The weight in their gazes was obvious, but so was the fire of their curiosity.
"We can dig into the Imaginary Tree and the Quantum Sea later," Einstein said.
The Three great minds—hers, Tesla's, and Otto's would be more than enough to push the limits of human understanding.
If Nagami wanted to deepen his own mastery, there could be no better allies.
Analyze. Understand. Recreate. Control.
That was the power of his Alpha Stigma Eyes. Even if "recreation" and "control" were impossible for mere mortals, analysis and understanding alone would strengthen Nagami beyond measure.
"For now," Nagami said with an easy smile, "I came here for one purpose—to bring Father-in-law back to St. Freya. Mei misses you very much."
Ryoma looked up, meeting the boy's gaze.
His expression was complicated, but after a moment he nodded.