Saturday arrived, and Lily rushed to Herta's place immediately after school. She had never looked forward to the weekend with such eager anticipation.
Previously, weekdays were for studying, and weekends at home were also spent studying. For Lily, there had been little difference between them. But now, everything had changed—she had made her first friend!
On the way, she couldn't help but wonder if friends exchanged gifts when they met. If so, what would be an appropriate gift to bring?
After a while, Lily arrived at Herta's doorstep, lugging two large bags. She set them down briefly to stretch her wrists and shoulders before gently knocking twice.
Knock-knock.
Footsteps hurried toward the door, and it swung open quickly. "Teacher Herta, I'm here..." Lily began, but her words froze in her throat. There was no one behind the door. Within seconds, her face turned deathly pale. If no one was there, how had the door opened?
"Stop scaring yourself. Look down!" Herta's voice startled her. Lily lowered her gaze and gasped. A charming little girl—Little Herta herself—stood before her.
Lily froze in place, her brain momentarily overloading. After several seconds, she stammered, "Teacher Herta... how did you... get so small?"
"Come inside first," Little Herta said casually, turning and heading back into the house. Lily hurriedly grabbed the two large bags of gifts from the ground and followed.
As she walked, Lily couldn't help but ask, "Is this some kind of Otherworld magic? Turning yourself into a child? A fountain-of-youth spell?"
"Or did something go wrong when you were brewing a Magic Potion? Is this a side effect?"
The house wasn't large to begin with. After taking just a few steps into the living room, Lily spotted Herta Herself sitting on the sofa. She glanced back at Little Herta beside her, freezing again for several seconds.
Her brain had already overloaded multiple times in the past few minutes. Absurdly, Lily's first thought was: Two Teacher Hertas? Does that mean I have two friends now? My friend count just doubled?!
This is... amazing!
Herta pointed at Little Herta and explained simply, "This is a puppet I designed and built to look like myself as a child. Isn't she cute?"
"A... a puppet?" Lily stammered, blinking in surprise. She stared intently at Little Herta, finally noticing the distinct seams at the puppet's joints. Her mouth hung open as she mumbled, "Wait... no way! Does this mean my friend count just got cut in half again?"
Herta raised an eyebrow, a question in her eyes.
Lily snapped out of her daze and waved her hands frantically. "Ah, never mind! I didn't say anything! Please don't pay any attention to me, Teacher Herta!"
As she flailed, the two large bags she was carrying slipped from her grasp and tumbled to the ground with soft thuds.
"What's this?" Herta's delicate eyebrows arched slightly.
"These are... gifts for my friend during my visit!" Lily blurted out. She hastily bent down, opened the bags, and quickly described their contents: a mountain of exquisitely packaged fruits, white liquor from brands Herta had never heard of, and a lavish assortment of luxury cosmetics.
Whatever the reason, the gifts were undoubtedly expensive. Herta's lips twitched slightly. What was the point of bringing gifts when visiting a friend? Besides, the items Lily had brought felt more appropriate for elders or superiors.
"Don't bother with these things next time," Herta said with a sigh. "They're not necessary."
Lily panicked. "E-eh? Teacher Herta, don't you like them?"
"It's not that I don't like them," Herta replied. "I just have no use for them. Anyway, what did you really come here for?"
Lily hesitated, then tentatively said, "T-tutoring?"
In truth, Herta and Lily's relationship was more akin to friendship than mentorship, as Herta had little left to teach her.
What was supposed to be a tutoring session turned into two people working separately. Herta continued pondering how to optimize her Herta Puppet, while Lily worked on her homework nearby.
Of course, they weren't completely disconnected. Occasionally, Lily would get stuck on a particularly difficult problem and ask, "Teacher Herta, how do you solve this?"
Herta glanced sideways briefly before returning to her work. "The answer is 30% element A and 70% element O," she stated.
Lily stared blankly, utterly bewildered. This was a complex problem, the kind that would normally require at least half a page of calculations.
"B-but... what about the steps?" Lily stammered.
Herta, still absorbed in her work, replied, "Steps? Just write 'Clearly Obvious' and be done with it."
After a moment of silence, Lily actually did as she was told, writing down "Clearly Obvious" followed by the answer Herta had given. Well, I wouldn't have been able to solve it anyway. Writing something down is better than leaving it blank.
The two spent the rest of the day in relative quiet. Though they exchanged fewer than a hundred words, Lily was overjoyed.
Simply having someone by her side, a friend to keep her company, made her immensely happy. Moreover, after getting Herta's permission, Lily had even gotten to pinch Little Herta's cheek!
Lily: "Ugh~ Little Herta was just too adorable as a child! She was so soft and huggable—it was pure bliss~!!!"
Finally, after enjoying a dinner prepared by Little Herta, Lily reluctantly bid farewell. Standing at the doorway, she waved eagerly and asked, "Teacher Herta! Can I come back tomorrow?"
Herta replied nonchalantly, "Suit yourself."
As for what Herta had been up to all day? She was researching methods to mass-produce Herta Puppets. More precisely, she was writing a program that, when uploaded into a Herta Puppet's system, would upgrade its software and enable it to manufacture more puppets.
Once this upgraded Herta Puppet was sent to White Eagle via the Chat Group, Elysia had already instructed Baldy Burke to prepare a suitable factory and stockpile ample materials. Before long, there would be countless 'Little Hertas'.