Was her kissing just that bad? Did she need to ask Durandal for some pointers?
Lost in those idle thoughts, Kevyn couldn't even manage a decent nap during the noon break.
On the other side of things, Durandal hadn't rested either.
Don't get the wrong idea—it wasn't as if Durandal and Elysia were up to anything.
She was busy reviewing the latest analysis reports on the locations where Zombies had been appearing recently.
First, on the electronic map integrated with the security system, clear red dots marked the various sites where Zombies had cropped up lately. To Durandal's eyes, the distribution of these points looked incredibly familiar.
If Mobius, Vill-V, or Mei were here, they would have recognized what the pattern represented at a single glance.
Of course, Durandal was only a fraction slower. She quickly sifted through her own reservoir of knowledge and identified the pattern: a probability cloud.
The concept of a probability cloud comes from quantum mechanics.
According to calculations, electrons in an atom do not move along fixed orbits; instead, they are found distributed around the nucleus according to certain probabilities. People vividly refer to this spatial distribution as a "probability cloud."
Right now, the locations where Zombies were appearing in Nagazora City followed a pattern similar to the distribution of electrons around a nucleus.
And that nucleus was none other than Morita Hospital, a very famous general hospital in Nagazora City, best known for its psychiatric department.
Furthermore, Durandal had a bit of history with this hospital.
The victims rescued from the human experimentation base she had dismantled previously had all been sent to this very hospital for psychiatric evaluation and follow-up treatment.
Supposedly, more than half of the victims had already been discharged.
Although they weren't fully recovered, they were stable enough to maintain their condition with medication at home rather than remaining under constant observation.
A few others, however, had suffered such severe psychological trauma that they remained hospitalized for treatment.
Upon analyzing this result, a sense of utter absurdity welled up from deep within Durandal's heart.
She had thought that five thousand years in the future, the fact that the Second and Fourth Herrschers originated from Schicksal's experiments—and the Third Herrscher arguably from an Anti-Entropy radical faction's experiment—was already a bitter enough pill to swallow.
She hadn't expected the Previous Era to be exactly the same.
Was it true, then, that there was truly nothing new under the sun?
Taking the thought further, why were so many of the Herrschers of Dominance in the future members of Fire Moth?
Did it have something to do with Fire Moth performing certain "death-seeking" experiments on those people?
Durandal couldn't confirm a causal link.
But she knew she needed to pay Morita Hospital a visit.
If the Honkai truly had chosen one of the victims from that experimentation base to be the host for the Third Herrscher, then she wanted to try and snatch them back from the Honkai's grasp.
Of course, since the Will of Honkai didn't seem to exist in the Previous Era, she couldn't pull a Herrscher back to the human side by shielding them from its whispers.
Therefore, Otto's method of "reforming a Herrscher through love" likely wouldn't apply here.
However, Durandal had her own ways.
If her hypothesis held water, then the losses caused by the Third Honkai Eruption might be even lower than she had imagined.
As for now...
"Elysia, come with me to Morita Hospital."
"Are you planning to find the future Third Herrscher right now? Will that really work?"
Elysia naturally understood Durandal's intentions, which prompted the question.
"How will we know if we don't try?"
Durandal looked at Elysia, but her mind drifted to the original timeline. In that future, Fire Moth had identified Rin as the Twelfth Herrscher even before the eruption, simply by the Herrscher readings she emitted.
When it came to "Herrscher readings," Durandal was arguably more familiar with them than whatever instruments Fire Moth had developed at this stage.
After all, just within her memory, she had personally dealt with two Herrschers of Reason, the Herrschers of the Void, Thunder, Ice, Stars, Rimestar, Sentience, Dominance, and Flamescion.
She was intimately familiar with how a Herrscher felt.
"Besides, I really do want to check on those victims. Maybe there's something I can do to help."
Hearing this, Elysia nodded.
She never had any intention of stopping Durandal. She only asked to ensure Durandal kept her expectations in check, fearing she might feel discouraged if things didn't go smoothly.
Then again, knowing Durandal's character, whether a failure or two could actually discourage her was a matter for debate.
With that, Durandal and Elysia gave Connie a quick heads-up and drove toward Morita Hospital.
Kevyn, who had spent the entire afternoon nervously bracing herself and finally deciding to ask Durandal for advice, naturally found nobody home.
By the time Durandal and Elysia arrived at the gates of Morita Hospital, it was already two in the afternoon. The hospital had finished its midday break and resumed afternoon operations.
Although Nagazora City was currently under traffic restrictions—meaning people could only travel via public transit, bicycle, or on foot, with even electric scooters banned—the flow of people at the hospital remained undiminished.
In fact, with the Third Honkai Eruption drawing near, the Honkai energy concentration in the city had risen significantly.
This caused many to suffer from physical or mental distress, making the hospital's "business" even more booming than usual.
The arrival of Durandal and Elysia naturally drew a lot of eyes.
It wasn't just because they were beautiful—well, that was part of it.
More importantly, the vehicle they were driving was actually allowed on the road despite the restrictions. That fact alone proved their status was anything but ordinary.
Some people there had even lived through the recent Zombie attacks. They recognized the car and Elysia, immediately jumping to the conclusion that something big was about to go down nearby.
They didn't even wait for their specialist appointments or pick up their prescriptions; they just wanted to get out of harm's way and save their own skins.
"It seems quite a few people have grown familiar with your face lately," Durandal remarked.
Then, sounding purposefully casual, she added, "By the way, Eden mentioned wanting you to become the public face of Schicksal. I told her to talk to you directly. How is that progressing?"
Seeing Durandal trying so hard to act like she didn't care made Elysia want to laugh.
She shook her head. "We can talk about that when we get back."
Durandal glanced at Elysia. Seeing that she really didn't intend to elaborate, Durandal pursed her lips and focused her attention on Morita Hospital.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.