[Question Ten: In the Doll Academy, what secret of Theresa's does Xiaoyue Zhenhunge discover, thereby triggering Theresa's rampage and ultimately leading to no survivors?]
[A: Theresa is actually the magical girl TeRiRi.]
[B: Theresa stole and ate Otto's offerings.]
[C: Theresa's real age.]
[D: Theresa likes to slack off and read manga during work hours.]
Theresa: "...?"
What kind of strange question was this now?
And what on earth was a "Doll Academy"? Was she going to open another academy for dolls in the future?
Theresa was completely baffled.
"Great Aunt, this question is about you," Kiana pointed out.
"Hmm... this question is a bit odd. Does it mean that some secret of the Principal's was discovered, and she had to silence everyone who found out?" Bronya mused, stroking her chin.
Instantly, all eyes turned to Theresa.
Theresa's face turned beet red, and she hastily tried to explain.
"D-don't look at me like that! I really don't have any secrets!"
"Theresa, stop pretending. We're all friends here. Even if we learn your secret, no one will tell. You can rest assured," Himeko said with a grin.
"I-I really don't have any secrets!"
Theresa felt like crying but had no tears. What kind of secret could a weak, pitiful, and helpless old white-haired woman like her possibly have?
"The Principal's secret must be one of these four options," Bronya said, looking at the choices. "Principal, you don't have to tell us, but you should choose the answer yourself. We promise not to look."
"Bronya..."
Theresa pressed a hand to her forehead, exasperated. It was clear no one believed her. Fine. In that case, she would answer the question herself to prove her innocence.
Theresa looked at the four options, frowning and muttering to herself.
"Magical Girl TeRiRi? I think that was an anime I watched decades ago, and I might have cosplayed it once."
"Stealing Grandpa's offerings, what the hell? Is Grandpa dead? But even if he were, I'd never steal his offerings!"
"My real age... that's not really a secret, is it?"
"Slacking off at work to read manga... Hey! Who's spreading these rumors?! I don't slack off! I clearly only read manga during my break time after my work is done!"
In Theresa's eyes, all four of these answers were utterly ridiculous.
There was no way any of them could be correct!
Was this question really about her?
Theresa racked her brain for a long time but couldn't decide which to choose.
In the end, she could only use the process of elimination.
First, she eliminated the second option. Then, she eliminated the third and fourth, because the question mentioned a "secret." Things that everyone else already knew couldn't be considered secrets.
Thus, in the end, Theresa chose the first option.
"I choose A!"
[Answer... correct.]
[Congratulations, you have obtained partial information on the Sea of Quanta.]
A sheet of paper radiating a faint blue light drifted down from the void and landed in Theresa's hands.
Theresa glanced at it and saw only two or three hundred words recorded on the paper; the contents were very sparse.
But Theresa treated this information with the utmost importance.
After all, this was information about the Sea of Quanta!
The Sea of Quanta was an extremely mysterious realm. Very few people had ever been there, and humanity's understanding of it was minimal.
Without even taking a moment to complain about why A was the correct answer, Theresa quickly gathered everyone to look at the paper together.
A few hundred words was a very small amount of information. If one read quickly, it could be scanned in just a few glances.
But the group read it with extreme care and concentration, poring over every single word, especially Bronya.
After all, Seele was in the Sea of Quanta right now. If she could learn more about it, she would have a better chance of rescuing her.
"Whew... so that's what the Sea of Quanta is like."
After reading the information, Theresa let out a breath, unable to hold back her awe.
To put it simply, the Sea of Quanta was an extension of every universe.
If you compared a universe to a glass of water, then there were countless identical glasses next to it. When the water from these glasses overflowed, it would form a small puddle on the table.
This puddle didn't belong to any single glass, but every drop of water within it could have come from any of them.
And floating within the Sea of Quanta were countless "World Bubbles."
Each World Bubble was a world unto itself.
Some of these worlds were broken, others were complete, but they all had one thing in common.
They were all 'failed products.'
As for why they were failed products, that was unknown, as this was all the information provided.
With this information, the group now had a preliminary understanding of the Sea of Quanta.
"Is Seele in one of those World Bubbles, too?" Bronya murmured.
"So, how do we get into the Sea of Quanta? It doesn't say anything about how to enter," Himeko said.
"The Sea of Quanta... that place isn't somewhere we can reach yet. And don't forget, the leader of World Serpent is in there."
Theresa's tone was cautionary. "In short, this information is extremely important to us, but it cannot be shared with anyone outside this group, understand?"
After she spoke, she turned to Bronya, her voice softening.
"Bronya, I know you're anxious to rescue Seele, but we don't have a way right now. However, I promise you, as soon as we find a way to get to the Sea of Quanta, I will help you find her."
"Mmm, thank you, Principal. Bronya understands."
Bronya nodded. Although the future visions showed that she would be able to save Seele, wouldn't it be better if she could do it sooner?
Seele had been in the Sea of Quanta for years. She must have been so lonely. How could Bronya bear to let her stay in a place like that any longer?
Just then, a new video appeared in the Q&A Space.
The scene was a living room, where two cute little girls were sitting.
One of them, a gray-haired girl, was engrossed in a book, while the other, a white-haired girl, was frantically and clumsily tidying up the room.
"Oh dear, I was so careless. I can't believe I left the house without even bringing Judah."
At that moment, the front door suddenly opened, and Theresa walked in as she spoke.
But perhaps it was just their imagination, the group felt that this Theresa looked... a little strange.
It was as if... she was drawn in a completely different art style from the Theresa they knew.