Back at the Golden Courtyard's dining table, Kevin and the others had returned as well.
Here, they all had to mind Eden's mood. The house they lived in was one of Eden's properties, and when she took in tenants, she never cared whether they had money or not. Even if someone was broke, as long as fate brought them there, Eden would still let them move in directly.
Most of them only paid a token amount of rent. Compared to other places on the market, living here was unquestionably much, much cheaper.
"So you're Elysia too?" Office-worker Sakura scratched her head. "This is way too surreal."
The resemblance was absurdly high. Who could have imagined something like this would happen?
"You could say that. It proves that you're all the same people, in a sense," Elysian Realm Elysia said with a nod.
There were definitely differences, of course. One world was an ordinary everyday world, while the other was a world of Honkai.
"Kevin, your girlfriend Mei isn't here?"
Not seeing Kevin's external brain, Elysian Realm Elysia could not help asking.
Could it be that in this world, Kevin and Mei had not ended up together?
Kevin scratched his head shyly. "Mei's work is pretty busy. She works overtime a lot, and she hasn't come back to the Golden Courtyard for two days already."
He wanted to spend more time alone with Mei too, but he had a job of his own. He could not just run over to her place whenever he wanted.
"If Mei-nee comes over, the two of them are going to start showing off their love again. We'll be full before dinner even starts," Pardo complained.
At the Golden Courtyard, Kevin was the only one who had a partner. Every time the two of them acted lovey-dovey, it felt like everyone else was being force-fed romance.
Kevin became even more embarrassed. The way he and Mei got along should not have been that sticky-sweet. It was nowhere near the level of those couples in short videos showing off affection.
"Pardo, honestly, it's already pretty restrained. The fact that those two don't start getting jealous all over each other means they're holding back a lot," Streamer Elysia said with a smile.
Everyone thought about it for a moment, and the corners of their mouths twitched slightly. That was true. They were already being very restrained. Otherwise, everyone would be drowning in secondhand romance.
"It's not that exaggerated."
Kevin said it flatly. He and Mei were not that shameless.
Just imagining the two of them openly flirting in front of everyone made him feel embarrassed.
"Other me, what is your world like?" Streamer Elysia asked curiously.
She had not asked before. All she knew was that Elysia and Koji were visitors from beyond the world.
Elysian Realm Elysia gave them a simple description.
"This…"
Pardo's expression turned odd. "What Sister Elysia described… I think I've dreamed about it before. And more than once."
"Same here."
The silent boy Kosma echoed her. He had also had dreams like that, and what he saw in them was highly similar to the scenes Elysia had described.
"In the dream, we all became heroes… and also failures…"
He could not really say whether it counted as a nightmare or not.
"As long as we can leave behind a spark that carries hope forward, then it isn't a failure."
"No matter what the cost, humanity will defeat the Honkai."
Kevin reached out and patted Kosma on the shoulder, his voice firm and powerful.
"That really sounds familiar, doesn't it, Elysia?" Koji asked with a smile.
Elysian Realm Elysia nodded. "It does. Kevin is still Kevin. No matter which world he's in, he's always someone you can trust."
"No matter what the cost, humanity will defeat the Honkai."
"When in doubt, quantum entanglement. That explanation should work, right?" Streamer Elysia joked.
"That actually does explain it," Vill-V said. "It's just that the technology in our world still isn't advanced enough to observe parallel worlds."
She was very interested in the inventions of her other self.
"Mobius didn't come back. Otherwise, she definitely would've been interested in that Honkai Beast."
In this world, Mobius was also engaged in biology-related research. Most of the time, she stayed immersed in the institute and would not come back to the Golden Courtyard.
…
Although Elysia greatly enjoyed this peaceful everyday world, she also knew it was not a world that belonged to her. Eventually, the time came for her to leave.
"Thank you. You let me see so many unforgettable things," Elysia said softly.
"I'll accept that thanks."
A hug as thanks really did feel nice.
"Why not stay in that world a little longer?" Koji could not help asking.
"There's no need. In the end, I'm only a passerby. If I stayed in that world for too long, I wouldn't want to leave."
Elysia shook her head. She was, after all, just someone without any legal identity there. Seeing it was enough. Settling down was not suitable for her.
"Fair enough. We'll go pick up the other Flame-Chasers and send you all back to your world."
"Then I'll trouble you."
Although Amphoreus had many similar things, it still was not their world.
After sending Elysia and the others off, Koji returned to Teyvat.
"Koji, want to come to Natlan as a witness?" Ronova invited him.
"Does it have something to do with the Night Kingdom?" Koji thought for a moment. If Ronova wanted to go witness something, it was probably related to the Night God.
"Mm. You're free anyway, so just come with me."
Ronova spoke casually. She was only going there to witness things. She had no real interest in whatever was happening over there.
"Morax and the others are there too?" Koji asked.
"They are. Instead of staying in their own nations, they keep running all over the place. Every last one of them is absurdly idle," Ronova said, sounding speechless.
They had all gathered in Natlan. Anyone who did not know better would think they were plotting something big, when in reality it was just a bunch of bored gods having a get-together.
"Barbatos has ties to the Ruler of Time, and Baal also has ties to the Ruler of Time. Does Morax have some connection with anyone?" Koji asked.
"That? Anyway, he has nothing to do with me. The only place where I have some connection is Natlan," Ronova said indifferently.
Even on Natlan's side, she only had an agreement with the first Pyro Archon. She was not especially close with the current Pyro Archon, Mavuika.
"But Morax's origins are different from those of the other gods. He knows a great deal, and we made a contract too."
Among the many gods, the Geo Archon Morax had come from beyond the heavens. He had a contract with Celestia, so she could not speak about matters related to Morax.
"What I can't figure out is how Morax ended up like this," Ronova said in puzzlement.
This image of a washed-up layabout made old acquaintances like her, who had known Morax since long ago, feel both strange and speechless.
"He's got nothing to do, and it's not the Archon War anymore. In this era, power on the level of a god basically isn't needed," Koji said.
If a god ever needed to step in, then it would not be some minor issue. It would be a major event capable of shaking an entire nation. The mere existence of a god was enough to serve as a deterrent.
(End of Chapter)
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