"This really is an unexpected situation."
Elias stared at Kallen and Himeko in surprise.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected two noble and beautiful Schicksal Valkyries to actually be working part-time at a burger shop.
What was going on? Could they be carrying out some kind of special undercover mission? Was there some important secret hidden inside this burger shop?
Himeko and Kallen were equally surprised. One hadn't expected Elias to show up, while the other hadn't expected Luna to appear.
The shop had been so overwhelmingly busy, and Kallen herself was already nearing her limit, so she hadn't sensed Luna, whose life was connected to her own, approaching the area.
"Perfect. Saves me the trouble of looking for you."
"Sister?!"
"Goodbye, Theresa. Goodbye..."
The white-haired girl who had been a burger shop employee just a second earlier changed clothes in the blink of an eye, returning to her identity as Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie. The crimson twin pistols, Blooded Saints, were already drawn.
Their muzzles were aimed directly at Luna. The girl's fingers rested on the triggers, but even though she had already steeled herself beforehand, when this moment truly arrived, Kallen still hesitated.
Of course, she wasn't hesitating over her own life. Warriors of the Kaslana family had never feared death. It was simply that the vampire girl before her was her only family, her only younger sister.
And Kallen's actions dealt Luna a devastating blow.
"Why? Why is it like this? I thought that in this world, Sister was the one person who would always love me."
"Theresa, you're far too dangerous. Before any new victims appear, I have to kill you... Theresa, my beloved little sister, I was the one who brought you out. This is my sin."
After a brief hesitation, Kallen completely steeled herself. The finger resting on the trigger no longer trembled.
"Don't be afraid. At the very least, I'll go with you..."
"Ahem! Welcoming customers with Honkai-powered weapons? This burger shop really is interesting."
"What? My guns!"
Kallen froze. Elias had flashed in front of Luna, and before she even understood what he had done, the twin pistols Blooded Saints had already landed in his hands.
Elias casually toyed with the blood-red twin pistols.
If one were to ask which of the twelve Authorities he possessed he was most proficient with, it would naturally be the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void.
After all, the first Herrscher he had become was the Herrscher of the Void. Now, even without opening those iconic black portals edged in gold, Elias could freely manipulate all space within his range.
In truth, Elias had always thought those black-and-gold portals were far too conspicuous. The moment they appeared in battle, the enemy immediately knew what you were about to do. They were basically an annoyingly obvious wind-up.
But now, he no longer needed such a wind-up. Without Kallen even realizing it, the twin pistols in her hands had been directly teleported into his.
"Although I'd already guessed as much, you really are Luna's sister, Kallen Kaslana."
When Luna had told her story last night, she hadn't mentioned Kallen's name, but Elias had immediately known who the sister she spoke of was. After all, no matter which bubble world you were in, there was only one Kaslana saint that damn simp was obsessed with resurrecting.
"Who are you?"
"Himeko never told you about me? Forget it. Who I am isn't important. What's important is that I won't let you hurt Luna."
As Elias spoke, he wrapped an arm around Luna's fragrant shoulder and gently drew her into his embrace, comforting the vampire girl whose heart had been wounded after her beloved sister pointed a gun at her.
"It's okay, Luna. Even if Kallen doesn't want you anymore, you still have me. I'll always be on your side."
"Thank you, Human. You're the best to me. As for Sister... I hate you the most!"
"Th-Theresa!"
That sentence was a true critical hit.
Kallen's entire body trembled, and she suddenly felt the urge to cough up blood.
She and her little sister had only been apart for a single day, yet apparently the girl had already found someone she liked at lightspeed.
Although Kallen might have already lost the right to call herself Luna's sister after aiming a gun at her, still... hearing Luna so directly say that she hated her dealt Kallen ten thousand points of critical damage.
It wasn't as if she had a choice!
If possible, Kallen didn't want to kill Luna either. Even now, she still loved her little sister, but as a member of the Kaslana family, she could no longer allow more victims of vampire incidents to appear.
Therefore, she had to deal with Luna.
But before that...
"Y-You! Who exactly are you, and what is your relationship with Theresa?!" Kallen glared furiously at Elias as she demanded.
Yet seeing her like this, Luna, who had just been hiding behind Elias, immediately stepped forward without hesitation and stood protectively in front of him.
"Sister, you're not allowed to yell at Human!"
"Theresa..."
"...My name is Luna now. Anyway, Sister wants to kill me. You've already abandoned me, so if that's the case, then I don't want you as my sister anymore either. And no matter who it is, even if it's you, I won't allow anyone to hurt Human!"
As Luna spoke, she hefted her blood-red battle-axe and stood in front of Elias like an adorable little beast protecting its master.
Although only a single day and night had passed, Luna's affection for Elias had already far surpassed her affection for Kallen.
All one could say was that Elias truly deserved his title as a master of romance.
"I used to love the name Theresa because it was the name you, my sister, gave me. But since Sister doesn't want me anymore, I'll give that name back to you too."
"Theresa, wait, you..."
"Sister, from now on, Luna is my only name. So please don't call me Theresa anymore. I don't want Human to misunderstand."
Annihilated!
At this moment, Kallen felt dizzy. They had only been apart for a single day, yet her little sister had become incomparably unfamiliar. Even if she'd found someone she liked, did she really have to go this far?!
"My~ Captain really is terribly sinful."
"Agreed. This show is seriously entertaining."
Rosemary and Ai clicked their tongues in amazement. Although the two girls felt as though they'd missed quite a lot of prior plot development, the sisterly conflict unfolding before them was already entertaining enough on its own.
Meanwhile, Kallen dropped to her knees in an OTZ pose of utter despair, her entire body seeming to lose all color.
She wanted to say something, yet couldn't get a single word out.
After all, although she still loved her little sister, she had no choice but to kill her. She had already lost the right to be called Sister.
"Ahem! Anyway, let's talk first. Violence isn't the only way to solve a problem. Also, Himeko, give me an extra-large iced cola, ten HOMU burgers, fries, chicken wings..."
Elias clapped his hands as he spoke.
"Eh~ We haven't even seen each other for a day. How did things turn into this? And... Elias, you really didn't hold back at all when swiping my card. My poor money..."
Himeko glared at Elias through gritted teeth. Thinking about how her card balance had been reduced to just two digits made her feel as though her heart were bleeding.
"Uh... Weren't you the one who said you'd cover it, Himeko? Er, I'll give you some extra gems as a tip later."
Elias scratched his head and spoke somewhat awkwardly.
...
After that, Kallen seemed to turn her grief and indignation into appetite, sweeping through the food on the table like a whirlwind. Elias told her to eat as much as she wanted. There was no way she could possibly eat him into poverty anyway.
"Captain, ah~"
"Mm, thank you, Rosemary."
"Human, you can eat mine too. Ah~"
"Uh, o-okay."
"Captain, Ai-chan also..."
"No need. I can eat by myself."
Watching the three girls suddenly begin a feeding play session, Elias waved his hands with cold sweat on his brow. Being fed certainly felt nice, but the current atmosphere was obviously not suited for this sort of couple's game.
Himeko and Kallen's gazes were as sharp as blades, as though they were looking at some kind of scumbag.
Especially Kallen, who had just been turning grief and indignation into appetite. She had already stopped binge-eating. She felt full now, stuffed by the rage in her heart and the public display of affection before her eyes!
"Ahem, well then, you can start telling your story now, Miss Kallen Kaslana."
"Is that necessary?"
"Of course. I've already heard Luna's story, so I want to hear yours as well. Only by comparing both sides can I judge who's right, who's wrong, and where the problem lies."
Elias shrugged as he spoke.
It was difficult for people to truly understand one another.
Most people weren't perceptive enough to understand someone else's feelings. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many emotionally dense blocks of wood in the world, nor so many clowns suffering from the delusion of She likes me.
So if something was going on, it was better to speak frankly and clear things up. Not everyone in the world was the Herrscher of Transcendent Sentience.
If anyone insisted that "true understanding doesn't need words," Elias would pick up Shamash, press it against her neck, and tell her to demonstrate.
"...All right. You're right."
After a moment of silence, Kallen nodded. Kaslanas might be dense, but they weren't unreasonable people.
Then she began telling her own story.
Elias gradually came to understand what was going through the minds of these two sisters.
In Kallen's eyes, both she and Luna were "existences that should never have existed in this world." Her body had died five hundred years ago, but she had awakened once more due to a vampire's abilities.
She had lost most of her senses and retained only shattered fragments that could barely be called memories belonging to a woman named Kallen. Yet in her own eyes, she was not that saint.
The man named Otto chased after the phantom of the woman named Kallen who survived within her memories, while she herself was nothing more than a prop he used to convince himself that everything before him wasn't merely an illusion.
A-872/Luna was also nothing more than a tool in Otto's eyes.
She was the life-support device that maintained "Kallen's" existence, and tools didn't need freedom or emotions. Therefore, Otto didn't allow Luna to leave Schicksal's containment room.
Elias: (I see. That damn simp in the Proper World still doted on Theresa quite a bit, but things are different in this bubble world. Makes sense. Kallen has already been revived here, so of course that guy wouldn't pour his emotions into anyone else.)
Still, in Elias' eyes, that damn simp was pretty miserable too.
After all, the revived Kallen had no memories of him. No matter how much affection he poured into her, it was all useless, because the one memory that remained in this Kallen's mind... was of the time she'd spent in Yae Village with a certain pink-haired fox.
Otto would absolutely never forget that the first person's name Kallen called after being revived wasn't his, but "Sakura."
Otto: (I hate pink-haired vixens!!)
Kallen: "Bishop Otto is a good person... Uh, all right, I guess he can't really be called a good person. I'm very grateful that he brought me back to life, but in his eyes, Theresa... Luna and I are both nothing more than tools."
Kallen herself didn't particularly mind. Her desire for freedom wasn't that strong, and she spent most of her time asleep anyway.
But Luna was different. The vampire girl had always longed for the outside world. After hesitating again and again, Kallen decided to fulfill the wish of the girl who had always relied on her and called her Sister.
And so one day, she escaped Schicksal with Luna and came to this Far Eastern region.
Otto: (Again...)