Herta and Ruan Mei both fell silent.
They weren't young anymore, so they naturally understood what those few words from Screwllum really meant.
If things were truly as Screwllum said, then Asta really did have a serious problem.
But…
"Could it be that you saw it wrong? Asta was just tidying the hem of her clothes."
Facing Herta, Screwllum replied, "Ms. Herta, my visual system is not like that of living beings. Situations like 'seeing it wrong' do not occur."
In other words, Asta really did do it.
But Asta herself had no idea.
She was still using a first-person viewpoint, synchronized with Levi.
Naturally, she couldn't know what Levi had done.
And Levi himself didn't know what he'd done either.
After all, that thing was purely instinct.
The reason instinct is called instinct is because it's something the body already has, an action not controlled by conscious thought.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
[Where are you right now?]
Levi, sitting at his station entering data, looked at the message from Herta on his phone and scratched his head.
"Something up?"
He originally wanted to reply like that, but his current identity was Asta.
Out of a student's respect for a teacher, he couldn't send such an impolite message.
[Ms. Herta, I'm entering data right now. Is there something you need from me?]
[No… just asking where you are.]
After that, Herta said nothing more. Looking at this completely random exchange, Levi could only chalk it up to some malfunctioning part of a genius's brain.
The sound of keyboard tapping rang out again. In a corner Levi didn't notice, a Herta puppet that had been on standby was activated.
Without a sound, Herta walked up behind him, looked at the information on the monitor, and nodded.
He was working seriously, so it didn't look like this Asta.
After all, if it were a disguised intruder, they wouldn't be completing work this earnestly.
Then, just as silently, she walked back to the corner. The light in her eyes faded, and her consciousness was transmitted back to Screwllum and Ruan Mei.
And just as she left, Levi, staring intently at the screen, couldn't help but let his left hand move downward.
———
"Asta is very safe right now. She's organizing the Aeon data obtained from the Xianzhou… I've already contacted the space station's security personnel. As long as Asta is spotted elsewhere, they'll capture her immediately."
Herta was quite confident in her space station's security forces.
Combined with the fact that the other party was disguising themselves as one of their own, it suggested that the intruder's strength wasn't very high.
Arlan wouldn't have much trouble dealing with them.
In the room, Herta took a seat. The three of them sat around the table, tasting Ruan Mei's baked treats while discussing the next step of the Simulated Universe plan.
———
Meanwhile, Levi wasn't speaking and couldn't move freely, leaving Asta bored out of her mind.
This time, she successfully noticed Levi's movement.
She immediately demanded, ["What are your hands doing?!"]
"What?"
Caught off guard by Asta's sudden question, Levi looked confused. He moved his gaze away from the screen and looked at his hands.
"Did I do something?"
His expression couldn't have been more baffled.
Honestly, he really didn't know what his hands had done.
But from Asta's words, it seemed like his hands had indeed done something inappropriate when he wasn't paying attention.
Could it be that his hands were also possessed by some alien lifeform?
Thinking this, Levi held his breath and focused on his hands.
Slender fingers moved nimbly, with no stiffness or awkwardness at all.
He could be certain, there was absolutely nothing wrong with these hands.
'So what was the problem, then?'
["You're the problem!"]
Asta accused him. ["I clearly saw your hand move downward just now! You were definitely taking advantage of me!"]
'Downward? Taking advantage?'
Levi suddenly realized something and lowered his head to glance at the hem of Asta's skirt.
He raised his head again, expression calm. "It's fine. I was just adjusting trajectory."
"What a big deal? Such a fuss over nothing."
["I have a big problem with it!"]
Asta shouted in embarrassment and anger.
He might be fine, but this body wasn't his.
She was an unmarried young woman, if someone saw her making such a movement, did she still get to keep her dignity?
"This is instinct. An unconscious bodily action. I can't control it."
Levi looked innocent. "Just bear with it a bit. The data's almost done, we'll finish recording it soon."
["Bodily instinct… you're using my body right now. The instinct should also be my instinct…"]
Halfway through her sentence, Asta froze. Levi froze as well.
'Oh no! Didn't I just take the blame onto myself?!'
'Oh no! I engraved this kind of instinct onto my soul!'
'DNA's already full, now it's being carved into the soul?'
The air fell silent. The two of them tacitly chose not to speak. Levi continued typing on the keyboard.
Asta retreated inward into the body.
Recalling what Levi had said at the beginning, Asta began studying this so-called third-person perspective.
And then she saw Levi move his hand again.
Asta: "..."
So is this her instinct, or his?
If it's his, then it's deliberate on his part.
But based on their earlier exchange, he didn't seem like the type who loved taking advantage of others.
But if it's hers…
Forget it, she'd just pretend she didn't see anything. Anyway, she couldn't feel anything.
Asta chose out of sight, out of mind, closed her eyes, and started resting.
———
At the same time, the people in the chat group were chatting enthusiastically behind Levi's back.
[Elysia: Speaking of which, it's been days now, why hasn't any newcomer joined yet?]
Her seniority and authority as a veteran had nowhere to go. It was about to explode.
[Kiana: If you want to show off your senior authority, you can go find Levi. He's the youngest.]
[Lumine: Youngest in what way?]
[Kiana: …]
[Elysia: I suspect you're making a dirty joke, but I have no evidence.]
[Elysia: But looking for Levi… I wouldn't dare. My happy life still depends on him!]
Curled up in her room sleeping soundly, Elysia looked at the invitation that had been mailed directly to her home.
"That person named Mobius really is as capable as Levi said."
"She actually managed to track down where I live."
Looking at the name on the invitation, Elysia rolled over, placed it on the table, then reached out and pulled her pajama top up a bit before rolling back over to keep sleeping and chatting.
'I, Elysia, have mastered mind typing too!'
With her eyes closed, the chat group still appeared in front of her following her thoughts. Before, she'd needed a phone as a medium.
But once fixed thinking was broken, the chat group could be used anytime.
"Hehehe, I, Elysia, really am a genius!"
[Kiana: Sorry, I learned this before you!]
———
In the classroom, Kiana smiled as she looked ahead, so much so that the teacher on the podium felt a chill run down their spine.
Faced with Kiana's eerie expression, the teacher giving the lecture felt like they'd wandered into a horror movie.
[Lumine: Huh? Isn't this how you chat?]
———
There were no things like mobile phones in Teyvat.
From the very beginning, this chat group had appeared before Lumine's eyes in the way they described.
So she could be considered the first person in the chat group to master this mind-typing ability.
[Kiana: Why does it feel like she's mocking us.]
[Elysia: +1]
[Stelle: On how to break out safely with only three people while being surrounded by hundreds.]
Seeing Stelle suddenly say this, the other three in the chat group froze.
Adventurer Lumine was the first to react.
[Lumine: Sounds like meow~]