Not long after sending Mei off, the booth finally had a moment of peace.
Shu was looking down, carefully tidying up the merchandise display that some picky fan had rummaged through. Before he could even look up, he heard a calm, emotionless voice that instantly made his scalp tingle.
"Is this the support booth for the idiot Kiana?"
Wait, this emotionless voice—
Shu jerked his head up and, sure enough, saw Bronya standing in front of the booth at some point. Her gray eyes were like the most precise scanners, meticulously sweeping over every item on the shelf.
Beside her, Seele followed quietly and gently, looking curiously at the booth's decorations. However, when her gaze swept over the two stall owners, it paused slightly.
Bronya is here too?
And with Seele?
Shu's heart skipped a beat.
What is today? An acquaintance team-building event?
Mei just left, and now Bronya has arrived. What about the others?
He remained silent for a moment, then probed with the curious tone characteristic of a fan, "Is Lord Bronya here to visit the convention too? I seem to have seen quite a few... uh, big shots today?"
Bronya's gaze momentarily shifted from the merchandise to glance at Shu, her words concise.
"Overseer Otto suggested that we participate appropriately in this support convention to understand the cultural atmosphere of the base.
"So Headmaster Theresa, Bianca... oh, I should say Captain Durandal, and Class Monitor Fu Hua should all be in the venue."
As expected...
Shu and [Shu], who was listening in, simultaneously felt a phantom toothache.
How is this "appropriate participation"? This is practically a collective inspection!
Otto, what exactly do you want to do?
Are you trying to turn the support convention into a high-level management team-building site?
Before they could digest this information, Bronya's attention was completely captured by the Kiana figures.
She leaned forward slightly, getting close enough to almost touch the glass display case. A glimmer, like a data stream, seemed to flash through her gray pupils.
Her observation was outrageously detailed.
Starting from the overall modeling and painting, she seemed to be analyzing whether the direction of the muscle lines conformed to the logic of force exertion, observing whether the trajectory of the hair tips was natural, and scrutinizing whether the physical simulation of the clothing folds in a combat stance was reasonable.
She was even studying whether the position of the highlights in the pupils accurately reflected the preset lighting environment.
After watching for nearly a full minute, Bronya finally straightened up and let out a soft, almost inaudible "Mmm."
Then, she gave her evaluation:
"The motion capture precision is completely reasonable, the material rendering realism is nearly a perfect reproduction, and this expression..." She paused, her gray eyes looking at Shu, her tone flat but carrying an affirmation that sounded like praise.
"It is exactly the same as the idiot Kiana herself."
Shu: "..."
This... should count as a compliment, right?
A compliment delivered in the tone of a scientific report?
Bronya, have you been hanging out with Schrödinger lately?
Seeing "Stelle" in a daze, Bronya immediately realized that calling the supported subject an "idiot" right in front of the "Kiana Fan Club" booth might not be polite.
And after all, she wasn't in front of Kiana right now. No matter what, badmouthing Kiana in front of others was bad.
Even a joking address like "idiot," which carried a hint of ambiguity, was not acceptable.
On her expressionless face, she frowned ever so slightly.
"...Apologies." Bronya stiffly adjusted her wording, trying to make amends. "What Bronya meant is that the reproduction degree of these figures regarding Kiana is very high.
"Kiana... although her thought circuits are sometimes relatively direct, and her actions take precedence over planning, her determination towards missions, her courage to protect her companions, and... her quality of always being able to step forward and create miracles at critical moments, are very distinct and worthy of affirmation."
Her praise was as stiff as if she were reciting some kind of objective character report.
But the imperceptible familiarity and recognition in her tone could not escape the ears of those who knew her even a little.
Shu listened seriously, sighing with emotion in his heart.
Coming from Bronya, these comments were practically the highest level of praise.
Unfortunately, Kiana herself probably wouldn't have the chance to hear it with her own ears.
After all, given Bronya's personality, if she were face-to-face, it would probably always just be "pet names" like "Idiot Kiana," "Paramecium," or "Single-celled organism."
Even at a decisive moment like in Everlasting Flames, even when entrusting the authority of the Herrscher of Reason, her trust, and everything else, Bronya would still say to the burning Kiana: "Because she is an idiot."
Yeah, pure tsundere.
More tsundere than Sin Mal.
Shu thought to himself, finding it a bit funny but also heartwarming.
Just then, [Shu], who had been quietly watching from the sidelines, suddenly felt that there was something unusual about the gaze of Seele, who was standing beside Bronya.
Seele's vision wasn't fully focused on the exquisite merchandise; instead, it lingered more on their faces and bodies.
That look was very complex, like seeing a familiar person appear in a strange place.
Seele pursed her lips. Several times she had the urge to say something, but she swallowed the words back hesitantly.
All she showed was her hands unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, looking heavy-hearted.
Probably due to their synchronized thinking, Shu also quickly noticed Seele's abnormality.
Just a moment ago, he thought it was because of Seele's introverted personality, making her unaccustomed to such a lively occasion.
But soon, a thought woke him up like ice water.
Seele had seen the Book of Time!
It was extremely likely that she had seen information related to "Stelle" in the memories belonging to him recorded in the Book of Time!
Although Shu had once explained the inspiration for the "Acheron" codename to Mei and mentioned the concept of Star Rail, he had never described the specific character "Stelle" in detail.
So, the only reasonable explanation for Seele's familiarity with "Stelle" was that she had seen the image or information about "Stelle" in the fragments of Shu's own memories!
And now, two living "Stelles," perfectly matching the image in Shu's memory, appeared here, running a Kiana support booth... This was enough to cause huge confusion and vigilance in the knowing Seele.
Why would a character from Shu's memory appear in reality?
Why are there two?
What is their relationship with Shu?
And what connection do they have with this support convention before her eyes?
Seele's silence and that look of wanting to speak but stopping were more unsettling than any direct questioning.
Bronya, however, didn't seem to notice Seele's strange behavior. Or rather, she was focused on "correcting" her evaluation of Kiana, and finally selected a combat posture figure that she believed "best embodied Kiana's tenacious gaze" and completed the purchase.
"Thank you for your patronage, Lord Bronya." Shu maintained his composure and processed the transaction.
Bronya took the packaged figure and looked at Seele: "Seele, is there anything you want to buy?"
Seele seemed to snap back to reality just then, shaking her head frantically: "Ah, not for now... Bronya-oneechan, let's go look somewhere else?"
"Okay." Bronya didn't ask further questions and turned to leave with Seele.