Did they really think currying favor with her would work?
Was she so easily bought?
Herta drove the man away, then stared at the white-haired girl inside the observation room. Inwardly, she decided that not only would she take her revenge, she would drag this unlucky fellow in front of her along for the ride.
In considerably better spirits, she opened the door.
Seeing that the main character of the trial was in an even worse state than herself, the bitterness from being stabbed in the back eased a few degrees. Now neither of them could laugh at the other.
In a moment, she would have this Kiana deal with those who had betrayed her and vent her anger properly.
Sensing someone approaching, the girl struggled uneasily. But her wrists and ankles were firmly bound, leaving her no chance of breaking free.
At close range, Herta examined her.
She confirmed it.
This was Kiana.
Reaching out, Herta tore away the cloth covering the girl's eyes and looked at the pair of azure eyes staring back at her in confusion.
"You've developed some rather peculiar hobbies."
Holding the strip of cloth she had just removed, Herta greeted her with a half-smile.
"Are you... Dr. Herta?"
Kiana's voice was light and fragile, as though a gust of wind might scatter it. There was no joy of reunion in her gaze—only timidity.
She was tense, her body stiff.
"It hasn't been that long, and you've already forgotten me?" Herta tossed the cloth aside and casually removed the restraints from her wrists and ankles.
Ignoring the gratitude in her eyes, Herta asked with mild curiosity, "Wasn't Ruan Mei with you?"
Since she had found Kiana, that left only Ruan Mei. Was Ruan Mei not with her at this time?
Strange.
There was no immediate reply.
The girl before her showed confusion and unease. Lowering her head, afraid of displeasing her, she asked softly, "Ruan Mei... who is that?"
After a pause, she added with visible bewilderment, "Did we know each other before?"
Did we know each other before?
Hearing the confusion in her voice, Herta's expression shifted slightly. She lifted a hand and caught the girl's chin, ignoring the startled look in her eyes as she examined her closely.
Had she really forgotten her after such a short time?
Was that even possible?
She was not some random passerby.
She was Herta—unique, unparalleled, blessed with both beauty and intellect.
"You don't recognize me?"
Her appearance was no different from Herta's memory. She was quite familiar with her. After a brief inspection, she confirmed she had not mistaken her.
This was Kiana.
Aside from the mismatch in her expression, everything else was the same.
Perhaps because Herta spoke without expression, Kiana—her chin still held—stammered uneasily at the close proximity. "I—I've heard your name. You're the greatest genius in this world. The only savior who can save it... I heard about you in Sapphire City."
"You don't recognize me?"
Herta's brows drew tightly together as she continued to scrutinize the frightened girl before her.
The repeated questioning seemed to confirm something for Kiana. Her throat felt dry as she asked in extreme confusion, "...Did we know each other?"
Herta withdrew her hand, uncertain of the current situation, and asked, "What's your name?"
Unexpectedly,
Kiana fell silent and shook her head.
"I don't have a name. I don't remember," she replied softly.
So the reason she had ended up in such a miserable state was amnesia.
Was that part of this trial as well?
In an instant, Herta considered many possibilities.
"Then what do you remember?" Herta accepted this setting and said, "Be clear. No rambling."
"I don't know anything." Kiana lowered her head uneasily. "When I woke up, I was lying in ruins. A search-and-rescue team found me and brought me back to a shelter. After that... they sent me here."
It had only happened recently.
Which meant Herta had arrived in the trial world several years earlier than Kiana, which explained why she had been unable to find any trace of them no matter how she searched.
There was still no news of Ruan Mei.
Ruan Mei was not someone who would sit quietly.
That meant she might appear later than both of them.
"Dr. Herta...? Did we really know each other before?" Kiana had no memories at all. The only thing she remembered was opening her eyes to find herself in a sea of ruins.
She had never met Herta before today.
Even Herta's name she had only heard after arriving at the shelter, listening to refugees chatting.
Perhaps they truly had known each other?
Kiana felt no real sense of it and could hardly believe that, before losing her memory, she had known someone so extraordinary.
"Yes. We did."
At the confirmation, a faint light blossomed in Kiana's anxious blue eyes.
"Then... do you know my name?"
"Kiana."
"Kiana..."
She repeated it, as if anchoring herself to something. The confusion and unease in her heart gained a fragile support. "Kiana... so that's my name?"
"And our relationship?"
Watching her reaction, Herta found it rather amusing. "Naturally, that of researcher and research subject."
Kiana's pupils tightened. The fragile warmth that had just begun to form shattered instantly. She instinctively edged backward.
So that meant—
just like now?
Those people had captured her and delivered her to Herta as an experimental subject. She had overheard as much while being transferred here.
She did not fully understand what that implied.
But it certainly was not good.
"Relax. As long as you behave, I'll consider your opinions on certain matters."
A mischievous impulse stirred within Herta. Though she knew Kiana had misunderstood, she deliberately spoke in ways that would deepen that misunderstanding.
"Then... why was I in Sapphire City?"
"Because you escaped from me, of course." Herta looked at her with a half-smile. "Well? Has that helped you remember anything?"
Escaped.
So the savior everyone spoke of—the Herta standing before her—wasn't a good person after all?
Kiana stared at her blankly.
Seeing no reaction for a long while, Herta waved a hand in front of her eyes. "Don't tell me I scared you stupid."
"...No." Kiana pressed her lips together before responding, "You don't seem like those people."
"Which people? The ones who brought you here?"
After spending so long here, after being betrayed by the people of this trial world, and with nothing else to occupy her time, Herta was more than willing to chat.
Especially since Kiana had lost her memory. She would believe whatever Herta told her.
It was quite interesting. A perfect opportunity to toy with her properly.
Kiana did not answer. Perhaps yes. Perhaps more than that. She simply pressed her lips together and forced herself to meet Herta's gaze despite her unease.
"Then tell me—how am I different?"
Kiana fell silent for a moment.
She knew nothing about Herta.
If she had to describe her first impression—she looked unexpectedly cute.
Far too young.
Completely different from what she had imagined.
"They all say you're the savior."
The smile on Herta's face vanished. A sense of insult flickered across her expression, replaced by a sneer. "They certainly love gilding their own faces. I have no interest in that sort of thing."
Kiana stared at her in shock, her mouth slightly open. This was nothing like what she had heard or understood from the outside world.
That was what everyone said out there.
"B-But they all say—"
"They?" Herta cut her off. "If they say I am, does that make it true?"
At the mention of those people outside, irritation surfaced openly on Herta's face. She reached out and pulled the girl, who had retreated into the corner, to her feet.
"I have no interest in being anyone's savior."
"But only you can save them."
"I can, so I must?" Herta let out a cold laugh. "I do whatever I want. No one gets to tell me what I should do."
Kiana fell silent.
The Herta before her was completely different from the one she had heard about—almost like two entirely different people.
"To tell you the truth," Herta said, her earlier good mood thoroughly ruined, "I'm your friend. And this is your Stigmata trial world. Once you remember, you'll understand. Everything here is fake."
Kiana's eyes widened.
She felt dazed.
If one day the most powerful and capable person in the world stood before you and told you that you were friends—and that the world you lived in was fake—how would you react?
A surge of resistance rose instinctively.
But it was quickly followed by doubt.
What would she gain from lying?
Yet how could something this absurd possibly be true? She was saying the world itself was fake.
Then why had she lost her memory?
The flood of questions made the already uneasy Kiana even more at a loss. She did not know whether to believe Herta, nor did she know how she was supposed to recover her memories.
She remembered nothing.
She did not even know what she was meant to do.
"Why are you still standing there? Come with me."
Herta had already stepped out of the observation room and was now at the doorway, calling out to Kiana, who remained rooted to the spot like a block of wood.
After a brief hesitation, Kiana hurried after her.
True or false, she had no way to verify it.
If she wanted to survive, she had to stay by Herta's side. For now, that was the only place that felt safe.
That was what Kiana told herself.
Besides, judging from Herta's reaction, it did seem as though she truly knew her. Otherwise, she would not have responded that way.
"Where are we going?" Kiana followed behind her, not daring to get too close, yet not daring to fall too far behind. "To the laboratory?"
"Just follow my arrangements."
Herta led her away from the newly built laboratory.
Outside lay lush green grass and an unpolluted sky.
The weather was clear, the sky cloudless. Warm sunlight bathed the fields, painting a scene of tranquil peace.
At the end of the road stood a castle-like structure.
When Kiana saw the world outside, astonishment filled her eyes. She stared at the scenery for a long time, unable to snap out of it.
"Move. What are you staring at?"
"So the sky can actually be this blue..." Kiana murmured. "I thought..."
She recalled everything she had seen upon waking.
"Stop being sentimental. Once you pass the trial, there'll be plenty of scenery outside for you to feast your eyes on." Herta showed no patience and dragged her along.
It was precisely this unceremonious manner that gave Kiana a strange sense of reassurance.
"You keep mentioning the trial," Kiana asked softly. "What exactly is a trial? And why don't I remember anything?"
"A Stigmata trial is a Stigmata trial. How would I know what your trial entails? I didn't design it," Herta replied. "As for your memory loss, I know even less. I was dragged in by you."
Kiana hesitated, unsure what to say, and finally managed a dry apology. "I'm sorry?"
She should apologize, right?
"No need. If I had known your trial could pull others in, I would have asked to come along and take a look anyway."
"Oh..."
Kiana nodded blankly.
Herta knew nothing.
Kiana knew nothing.
She fell silent again, obediently following at Herta's side as they entered the sanatorium that resembled a castle.
From what she observed, Kiana gradually realized that Herta was not here of her own will.
In essence, Herta was no different from herself.
She had simply been more valuable.
Those people still needed Herta.
So they were trying to appease her.
Kiana felt a sense of absurdity. Was this truly the fate of the so-called savior of the world?
No wonder Herta had looked so angry when she called her that—as if she had insulted her.
"Stop making that face."
Herta frowned, seemingly sensing her gaze and guessing her thoughts. "I haven't fallen so low that I need your sympathy. Just wait and see."
"I—I wasn't."
Though Herta's tone was far from gentle, Kiana still felt she had not misjudged her. She truly seemed like someone trustworthy.
"I just think they went too far," Kiana said honestly. "They call you the one who brought hope to the world, and yet..."
"I don't care," Herta replied coldly. "Sooner or later they'll regret it. Oh—perhaps they already do."
But it was far from enough.
"Eat quickly. When you're done, come to the study with me."
"Yes, Dr. Herta."
Kiana quickened her already rapid pace of eating, finishing her meal like a whirlwind.
It was the first time she had eaten her fill since waking up.
The remaining dishes would be handled by the household robots. Herta brought her to the study—a vast room lined with more than a dozen bookshelves, each packed to the brim.
"Sit there. Don't move."
The surveillance in this study had already been altered by her.
If those people thought they could monitor her with such trivial means, they were sorely mistaken.
Did they think that without a laboratory and materials she would be powerless?
Fools. They had underestimated a genius.
As long as she wished, she could leave at any time.
Kiana obediently sat on a stool, her clear eyes filled with confusion as she watched Herta, evidently unsure what she intended to do.
"Now speak. What abilities can you still use? Tell me everything."
"Ah? Me?" Kiana looked flattered and racked her brain before shaking her head in disappointment. "Are you mistaken? I don't have any special abilities. If I had to say something... my resistance to Honkai energy seems pretty good? That's what they said."
"None at all?" Herta pinched her wrist and examined her body, unwilling to give up. "Your spatial abilities? Your weapon and badge? Herrscher transformation? Not a single one?"
"...I don't understand what you're talking about." Kiana looked at her uneasily and voiced a hesitant possibility. "I think I'm just an ordinary person. Could it be... you've mistaken me for someone else?"
If she really had special powers, would she have been captured and brought here as an experimental subject?
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