Amphoreus, Okhema, Marmoreal Palace.
"Hmm?"
"That's... a Space Anchor."
"Looks like we've come to the right place."
Guided by Tribbie, the two arrived at the Marmoreal Palace.
Upon entering, Herta immediately spotted a Space Anchor.
Amphoreus was a simulated world, so there shouldn't be a Space Anchor here. This must have been brought by the Trailblazers.
"Eh? You two actually recognize this thing?" Tribbie was surprised that Herta knew what it was.
After a moment's thought, she quickly realized the implications.
However, instead of voicing her thoughts immediately, she pressed her hands against her chest and furtively glanced around like a thief, as if preparing for a secret conversation.
Confirming that no one was nearby, she leaned closer to Lumina and Herta, lowered her voice, and asked, "Miss Lumina, Miss Herta, you're from Beyond the Sky, aren't you?"
If they recognize something Stelle placed, they must be from Beyond the Sky.
Tribbie hadn't expected so many Outworlders to arrive in Okhema in such a short span of Time.
"Beyond the Sky?" Herta pondered for a moment before nodding. "Yes, we come from Beyond the Sky."
The truth would be too cruel for them. Let's just go along with their assumptions.
But...
"Why are we sneaking around like thieves?" Herta asked, observing Tribbie's furtive demeanor.
"Because Beyond the Sky is a taboo for the common people of Amphoreus," Tribbie whispered, explaining in a hushed tone.
"Hmm... that makes sense." After a brief moment of consideration, Herta nodded in agreement.
Amphoreus was a Data World. Leaving it would mean exiting the Data World itself.
In Herta's words, it would be like a Simulated Universe dweller trying to breach the Simulated Universe's Data Wall and escape.
An impossible feat, naturally.
Presumably, someone in Amphoreus had once tried to breach the sky to witness the world beyond. The result, of course, was that they were intercepted by the Data Wall, or Firewall, identified as a virus, and ultimately met their death while pursuing their heroic dream of escaping Amphoreus.
"Huh? Miss Herta, aren't you curious why?" Tribbie asked, puzzled by Herta's lack of inquiry and her matter-of-fact nod as if the answer were obvious.
"Because you're from Amphoreus. Someone once tried to breach the Sky and explore the World beyond it, right? But they fell from the Sky before they could break through, didn't they?" Herta replied casually, guessing the outcome perfectly even without Tribbie explicitly stating it.
"Eeeeh?! What?!" Tribbie's already large eyes widened even further upon hearing Herta's deduction. Her big blue eyes brimmed with utter bewilderment and astonishment. Her little mouth hung slightly open in an "o" shape.
"Y-y-you, how did you know?!" Tribbie asked in utter shock, completely unprepared for Herta, an Outworlder, to guess the truth.
"Isn't it obvious? Anyone could guess the Answer to such a simple question," Herta countered with a matter-of-fact tone, as if Tribbie's astonishment and confusion were utterly baffling.
"Um..." Tribbie's adorable face fell, her expression filled with incomprehension.
"Alright, Tribbie, remember what I said earlier?" Lumina interjected with a smile, cutting off the conversation between Herta and Tribbie.
"Herta is a researcher, a genius researcher, her intellect is exceptionally high. Even in the vast World beyond the sky, she ranks among the very top."
"So, it's perfectly normal for her to skip the tedious intermediate phases and arrive directly at the final result with just a few words."
As Lumina explained to Tribbie, she also praised Herta's intellect.
She really gets how to make Herta incredibly happy with just a couple of sentences, Lumina thought.
"Hmm... alright," Tribbie said, not dwelling on it further. "Then... let's go. Agy is just ahead; we'll be there soon."
Tribbie gestured forward and continued leading the way.
"I never imagined the [program] simulating this place would be so complete," Herta murmured to Lumina, leaning in close. Even a genius like her couldn't help but be impressed as she watched Tribbie lead the way.
"Surely even Madam Herta can't achieve something like this?" Lumina teased.
"Heh heh heh," Herta rolled her eyes, chuckled dryly, and avoided answering directly.
Lumina's just spouting nonsense, Herta thought. I won't waste my time answering such trivialities.
Besides, her teasing aura was practically overflowing, and Herta had no interest in playing along.
Ending the conversation, Herta began observing her surroundings.
"This place... is actually quite interesting." After a moment of silence, she offered her assessment of the various bathhouses around them.
Herta had little interest in bathhouses.
Exposing her body so openly to others? That held no appeal for her.
Hmm... but if it were just the two of us, Lumina and I...
Herta mused, perhaps that interest might actually stir within me...
"What's this, Madam Herta? Thinking of taking a dip in the bathhouse?" Lumina asked with a smile, hearing Herta's comment.
"Are you going in?" Herta asked Lumina directly, without pretense or evasiveness.
"I am somewhat interested in that, but... you know how it is," Lumina said with a faint smile. Her smile carried multiple layers of meaning, making it impossible for most people to decipher what she meant by "you know how it is."
But Herta understood perfectly.
The gist of it was this: if a bathhouse were filled entirely with beautiful young women, Lumina would definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, take a soak.
This line of thinking was exactly what Herta had expected from Lumina.
In fact, it was precisely the kind of thought Lumina's personality would inevitably produce.
"Hey, are you girls interested in bathhouses?" Tribbie asked, leading the way. She had only caught snippets of Lumina and Herta's conversation—"bathhouse," "soak," and "somewhat interested"—and was curious about their thoughts.
Before they could answer, Tribbie muttered to herself, though her words seemed directed at Herta and Lumina:
"Hmm... after we meet Agy, we can take a soak."
"Given Miss Lumina and Miss Herta's personalities, I doubt there will be any problems."
"But ultimately, it's up to Agy herself. Hmm... there shouldn't be any issues, right?"
Tribbie muttered to herself, her small mouth constantly moving.
"Tribbie, let's save the bath for later," Lumina reminded her, noticing Tribbie's deep in thought. "Let's meet this Agy you mentioned first."
"Ah? Oh, right, right!" Tribbie snapped out of her reverie, nodding in agreement. "Follow me! Let's head straight to Agy's location!"
With one hand on her hip and the other pointing forward, Tribbie struck a pose like a lively little girl, her face beaming with a smile like a commander playing pretend.
Seeing this, Lumina and Herta remained silent, quietly following behind Tribbie.
Hmm...
Of course, they were holding hands~
-
Amphoreus, the Marmoreal Palace.
In no time, Tribbie led Lumina and Herta to a stone platform elevator.
"Miss Lumina, Miss Herta," Tribbie began, quoting Agy, "From here upward lies the bathhouse gifted by the Council to the Chrysos Heirs. Originally, only the Chrysos Heirs were permitted to enter."
"But you two are honored guests from Beyond the Sky, so I'm willing to make an exception for you."
"However, taking two people at once still goes against tradition."
"These are Agy's exact words—what she said to Stelle, Dan Heng, and the others back then."
Tribbie recounted the experience of Stelle, Dan Heng, and the others when they first arrived at the Marmoreal Palace.
But her hands didn't stop moving. Reaching the elevator, she gestured to Lumina and Herta, urging them to hurry over. "Teacher Tribbie is about to activate the device!"
"Didn't Agy say that taking two people at once goes against tradition?" Lumina asked curiously, stepping onto the stone platform with Herta. As Tribbie activated the mechanism and the platform began to ascend, Lumina glanced at her.
Since bringing two people wasn't traditionally allowed, why was it suddenly acceptable now?
To be honest, Lumina felt a tiny pang of regret.
If only one person could ascend, wouldn't that mean she could have Tribbie and Agy—the girl Tribbie kept mentioning—all to herself?
And since the place was supposedly the Hero's Bath, if she were the only one to go, and if making "friends" went smoothly, she might even get to soak in the bath with Tribbie and Agy.
But behind this regret lay anticipation.
Anticipation of a scene where she, Tribbie, Agy, the purple-haired beauty with the scythe, and Herta all soaked together.
Hmm, and of course, if any new beauties joined the group later, they could join in too!
"Hehehe."
Though Lumina kept her thoughts to herself, her eagerness overflowed onto her face.
Naturally, this didn't escape Herta's sharp eyes.
In response, Herta merely sneered coldly, saying nothing.
She just wanted to soak in the bathhouse. What could I possibly do about it?
Still...
As I said earlier, Herta isn't comfortable showing her body to anyone except Lumina.
Even wearing a swimsuit or a bathrobe makes her extremely uneasy.
If Lumina had intended to bathe alone with me, there would be no problem at all. Herta would be absolutely thrilled.
But judging by her overflowing excitement, that's clearly not the case.
Most likely, she was planning to soak in the bath with a group of beautiful girls.
And without a doubt, as someone who embodies both intelligence and beauty herself, Herta is confident she'll be among Lumina's targets—one of the girls she invites.
However, this is somewhat difficult for Herta to accept.
There are two reasons for her reluctance.
First, as mentioned earlier, she's deeply uncomfortable sharing a space—whether with individuals or a group—while wearing a swimsuit or bathrobe and exposing her body to their gaze.
Even if the others wouldn't mind, Herta herself would still care.
The other reason was that, because she cared about this, she'd have to decline Lumina's invitation and miss out on bathing with Lumina and her newly acquainted group of beautiful girls...
Compared to the first reason, this one was even more unacceptable to Herta.
Isn't this just like one of those... "story" scenarios from short videos?
Therefore, if such a situation ever arose, no matter how uncomfortable or opposed to it Herta might be, she would definitely accept Lumina's invitation and bathe with Lumina and her newly acquainted group of beautiful girls...
Hmm... But the ideal scenario would be simply watching them soak in the bath?
Not only would she avoid exposing her body to others, but she'd also get to see Lumina in her swimsuit and bathrobe.
But that would make her seem aloof, as if she didn't value Lumina's feelings, or Lumina didn't matter enough to her.
Herta firmly believed that such a scenario could never occur between herself and Lumina. However, the same might not be true for other beautiful girls.
If she were to give them the false impression that she and Lumina disliked each other, potentially triggering a series of actions against Lumina, it would be a costly mistake.
"What are you thinking about, Herta?" Lumina, who was daydreaming about a blissful future, suddenly sensed an aura of "determination" emanating from Herta beside her. A large question mark floated above Lumina's small head.
What's Madam Herta going crazy about now?
"Oh, nothing, just looking for some motivational short videos," Herta replied smoothly, instantly snapping out of her reverie upon hearing Lumina's voice. She shook her head and spoke in a flat tone.
"Hmm..."
Lumina shot Herta a suspicious glance but didn't press further, withdrawing her gaze.
Tilting her head upward slightly, Lumina noticed the elevator was nearing its destination.
Ding!
With a soft chime, the elevator arrived at its destination.
"Miss Lumina, Miss Herta, Agy is just ahead. Let's go."
Tribbie continued leading the way.
But at this point, whether they needed a guide was almost irrelevant.
A blonde woman had been waiting for them ahead for quite some time.
Sensing movement behind her, she turned around.
A wave of divinity washed over them...
"Not as impressive as Ruan Mei," Herta remarked.