The weekend came quickly, and Yuuji and Lala decided to go on a date on Earth before leaving.
It has to be said that convincing their parents was quite easy. On Yuuji's side, they were quite open-minded and gave him permission without thinking too much about it. In fact, when Yuuji joked that they should be more worried about their son's safety in unknown space, they replied that his soul was protected anyway and they could resurrect him, Yuuji still to this day wasn't sure whether they were joking or being serious.
On Lala's side, she is technically still running away from home, so she doesn't have to follow anyone's orders, although Zastin is still stalking her and protecting her at all times, so the fact that they hadn't seen him trying to stop them over the last few days meant that, at least tacitly, he had given his consent.
For their date, they had headed to a rather special place. At that moment, they were in a floating restaurant in the middle of Tokyo. Yes, that existed, although floating was technically a figure of speech.
The place was entirely made of glass, the walls, the floor, and the ceiling, while clever lighting tricks and intelligent lights made it impossible to see the part underneath supporting the building, giving the impression that the building was actually floating. They also used many other tricks to let sunlight in without allowing too much heat or glare, all without somehow obstructing the view.
Even so, all the money they had probably invested to achieve it was worth it once you saw the astonishing result.
"Incredible, how did they manage this with Earth's level of technology?" Lala exclaimed in surprise. "They're incredibly creative."
"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Yuuji asked, genuinely unsure.
"Yes" Lala nodded innocently, having no idea that she had said something wrong.
"Although the food was pretty ordinary"
"Nobody really comes here for the food, after all" Yuuji replied with a smile that showed he had everything planned out.
He looked around the place. Although the main menu had very little variety and not particularly high quality, the homemade and commercial snacks offered an incredible variety. In addition, the seats at every table were extremely comfortable and even reclining, giving the impression that they weren't designed for someone to sit upright. The tables could even be moved away, with a simple button causing them to compact until they became much lower and smaller, transforming into low tables.
All of this would make anyone notice the truth, although the place was called a restaurant, it was actually designed and furnished with the purpose of letting people simply spend some time resting and admiring the view.
Something Yuuji, of course, already knew.
Seeing Yuuji transform his chair into an almost horizontal seat and the table into something resembling a floor table, Lala was surprised for a second before following his actions.
Lala reclined and looked at the sky. They were high enough that no building could obstruct the view.
"Oh, this place is much better when you see it like this" Lala reacted quietly, realizing that everyone in the place had done the same and was calmly admiring the view. "This seems much more like the kind of place you would like."
"That's right. After all, tomorrow we're starting a journey that is going to be filled with adventures, so today, let's just lie down quietly and talk for a while.
I hope you don't find the date I planned boring" Yuuji explained, slightly embarrassed at the end.
"Not at all" Lala denied with a smile. "As long as I'm with you, it's fun."
"...I wish I could say only you would think of something that cheesy" Yuuji joked.
"Hehe. So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Nothing in particular, really. How about you tell me about the succession to the throne on Deviluke? Is it difficult? Like in fantasy stories where there are factions and nobles and everyone wants to usurp the throne or place their own heirs?"
"Pffft, of course not" Lala laughed. "It's not that there aren't nobles, but my father's power is absolute and nobody would dare go against him. Maybe on the more distant planets of the galaxy they dare to do some things that Dad doesn't like, but on his own planet? Nobody would be that stupid.
Actually, the biggest problem with being my fiancé is the other contenders who might want to kill you in the process and steal your position, but even that is something Gid tacitly allows to test my fiancé, not something that happens without his permission."
"That's good. I wouldn't want to get involved in complicated political drama" Yuuji sighed in relief.
"Then, since we're asking questions, there's something I'm curious about. Was there really nothing supernatural in your previous world?"
"Not really. And if there was, then it was to a much lesser extent than here, and the government was much better at hiding it than this world's government.
"Although there were several legends, none of them were confirmed or widely believed" Yuuji answered.
"Oh, and do you think those legends exist here?" Lala asked with interest.
"Yes. When the memories of both my lives merged, I saw that during my journey I visited mostly the same places as in my previous life, except that here I saw real things instead of the places that gave rise to legends."
"And there wasn't any difference? Something that was mentioned in your previous life but not in this one?"
"Hmmm." Yuuji thought about it for a moment. "Maybe Antarctica."
"What about Antarctica?"
"In my previous world there were many legends about it being private territory and there being a secret organization there. Nothing like that is said here. Although I have some theories.
...Ah, yes, I was right."
"What happened?" Lala asked upon seeing the sudden change in Yuuji's expression.
"Mona just confirmed that the secret organization in Antarctica is the Ruling Family" Yuuji explained.
"The Ruling Family?"
"The Ruling Family, The Illuminati, The Guardians of the Gate, The Ouroboros Circle, The Empty Throne, Order of the Threshold, Project Eclipse, and even The Bureau of Anomalous Phenomena, they have too many names."
"So...your parents?" Lala asked.
"My parents" Yuuji nodded.
"Moo...then why didn't you say that from the beginning?" Lala complained, making a playful pout.
"I like the names, they're pretty cool, but I never had the chance to say them out loud."
"Oh, then I forgive you" Lala said, since she also thought the names were cool. If anyone was fond of names that sounded good, it was Lala, although creating them herself had never been her strong suit. "Although I'm still surprised by the differences between your universe and this one. To think that system can not only make you travel to another universe once, but twice. You should create a machine to travel to other universes and take a look at what interesting things there are throughout the multiverse."
"No, please, I've already got enough trouble with two" Yuuji immediately refused.
"...Then I guess I won't" Lala said, looking away guiltily, clearly not planning to stop her plans.
"Speaking of that. Since you can create a machine to travel between universes, don't you have something that could help me with the situation in the other universe?"
"Hehe, about that..." Lala proudly puffed out her chest. "I can't help you with that because I turned it into your test."
"Test?" Yuuji asked, confused.
"That's right. My father loves setting impossible tests for everything, so I knew he would give my fiancé one.
Instead of giving you another super complicated test that would just be another problem for you, I asked him if this situation could be your test, and he accepted after considering the difficulty.
But since it's a test, obviously I can't help you."
"That's...thank you very much" Yuuji reacted. He knew about the test from the anime, so knowing that he wouldn't actually have an extra problem was quite pleasant.
But while Yuuji was thinking that, two people suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, causing everyone in the room to faint just by releasing a little pressure.
The only exceptions were Lala and Yuuji, not because that person had restrained themselves around them, but because they had controlled their power perfectly, to the point that anyone who surpassed the human level would barely feel anything.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Lala was the first to react.
The king of the galaxy, with the appearance of a rebellious teenager with black hair, smiled. "Yes, Lala, about our previous agreement, I'll have to break it."
"What?! Why?" Lala immediately reacted, standing up as she complained.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Gid raised an eyebrow while focusing his gaze on her.
"...N-no."
Lala gave in almost instantly before giving Yuuji an apologetic look.
"Good, it's a long story, but basically I have to prove that you are a worthy heir now, and I can't wait two months, so I'll give you a test. I assume you're okay with that, right?" Gid looked at Yuuji.
"None" Yuuji immediately nodded.
'The test wasn't that difficult in the anime anyway' Yuuji thought with some relief.
"Very well. You're at least determined enough to be my heir. As for the test, you're an Earthling and very young, so it won't be very difficult. You only have to go through an obstacle course that I created around..."
'The entire city' Yuuji remembered. 'Good, it seems there are no changes.'
"...the entire Solar System" Gid finished.
"...What?"
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