"Kevyn-san, you're actually thirteen minutes early for the agreed registration time—you're not late at all."
That's right, the scheduled registration was at nine o'clock, just like for Durandal and Elysia.
All three of them had arrived ahead of time, with Kevyn just a tad later than the other two.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, I'll take you all to Class 2-A first. It's a good chance to get to know your future classmates for the next two years."
Miyako stood up and led the way.
Following behind her were Kevyn, who had just rushed over and was still sweating from the heat, Elysia, whose gaze remained fixed on Durandal, and Durandal herself, who still seemed a bit dazed.
'What in the world is going on here? Gnius, didn't you say this was the Previous Civilization? Since when was there a Kevyn in the Previous Civilization? Wasn't it supposed to be Kevin?'
Beneath her dazed exterior, the college student inside Durandal was already freaking out, relentlessly grilling Gnius and anxiously waiting for a response.
'Could it be that there are two KEVINs in this world? One Kevin, and the other Kevyn?'
Durandal speculated to herself.
Soon enough, Gnius replied, "No, there's only one KEVIN in this world—the one you just saw. As for why... well, naturally, it's the butterfly effect triggered by your arrival."
'You've got to be kidding me! I only arrived in the Previous Civilization four days ago. How could I possibly affect a Kevin who's already seventeen or eighteen???'
Durandal's outburst wasn't because she couldn't accept Kevin turning into 'Kevyn,' but because she had never been all that confident about saving the world in the first place.
The moment she confirmed that variables beyond her control had emerged in the Previous Civilization, her composure shattered instantly.
"Savior, please calm down! Whether Kevin becomes Kevyn or not, it doesn't change the fact that she'll grow into humanity's strongest warrior in the future."
"Honestly, this is nowhere near as impactful as you whisking Elysia away from Fire Moth. The future became unpredictable the moment you appeared on the battlefield where Fire Moth was fighting the Second Herrscher."
Gnius responded matter-of-factly.
"You still haven't explained why my arrival in the Previous Civilization just four days ago would affect the gender of a Kevin who's been alive for over a decade."
Somewhat reassured by Gnius's words, Durandal managed to calm down a little, but she still needed a clear answer.
"Savior, since you didn't skip the Elysian Realm storyline when you played the game, you should already know from Aponia's words that in this era, at least until Elysia becomes the Thirteenth Herrscher, everyone is a puppet of fate, right? Those strings were severed the moment you appeared."
"And those threads... they don't just stretch from the present into the future—they also connect the present to the past. In other words, you haven't just altered the future; you've changed the past as well."
Gnius's explanation finally cleared up the confusion in Durandal's mind.
"Who else's gender has changed? You might as well tell me now, so I can mentally prepare myself..."
Durandal asked, now fully composed.
"Su."
Gnius's reply was brief and to the point.
Well, damn...
If Gnius hadn't explained the whole situation to her beforehand, and if she had encountered a female Su first, she might have thought she'd crossed into that parallel world Su once mentioned—the one where a female Su went rogue and destroyed the world.
So, what could Durandal even say at this point?
All she could think was, 'Best friends for life, huh?'
Even gender-swapped, they're still sticking together!
Now they're still best gal pals—some things never change, after all!
The conversation between Durandal and Gnius didn't take long, so by the time they reached the classroom, Durandal had completely regained her usual calm demeanor.
Noticing this, Elysia could only pout slightly. She had been hoping to try and pry a little secret or two out of Durandal while she was in that dazed state~?
If Miyako and Kevyn hadn't been around, she might have gone for it.
What a shame~
As for Kevyn, with her lively and outgoing nature, she would normally have couldn't resist greeting the other two transfer students right away.
But she noticed that the golden-haired girl with subtle white streaks seemed spaced out and completely silent, which struck her as a bit odd, so she held back.
The pink-haired girl seemed much more normal, but seeing how 'concerned' she looked while watching the golden-haired girl, Kevyn figured it was better not to disturb them by speaking up recklessly...
After all, there seemed to be an invisible aura around those two, one that kept anyone else from intruding.
Shrugging, Kevyn told herself there would be plenty of time later.
With her social skills, she was sure she could befriend both of them within a week!
When the three of them followed Miyako into the Class 2-A classroom, the previously quiet self-study session instantly turned lively as the class noticed the sudden appearance of three strikingly beautiful girls, each with a completely different style.
No wonder their homeroom teacher had abruptly announced self-study halfway through the lesson and left the room.
So, there were transfer students coming today!
And three of them at once.
The pink-haired girl was sweet and pure, the golden-haired girl was cool and dignified, and the white-haired girl was bright and cheerful—together, they pretty much covered everyone in the class's ideal type, didn't they?
Miyako was well aware of how striking these three transfer students looked, so she didn't try to quiet the class immediately when the chatter broke out.
Once the murmurs began to die down, she clapped her hands to get everyone's attention and said from the podium, "Settle down, class. Starting today, three new students will be joining us. Let's give them a warm welcome~"
After the applause subsided, Miyako turned to the three girls. "Would you like to come up and introduce yourselves?"
Kevyn, who had been eager to do so, was the first to step onto the podium, flashing a sunny smile.
"Hi everyone, I'm Kevyn. I love playing basketball and making friends. Oh, and I'm a big fan of Eden, who's recently debuted."
"If anyone here likes her too, we should totally go to her concert together~"
With that, Kevyn picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name on the blackboard.
After finishing, she glanced at Miyako. "Teacher...?"
Miyako nodded, then scanned the classroom and pointed to an empty seat next to a bespectacled black-haired girl.
"Kevyn, you can take the seat next to Mei."
Following Miyako's direction, Kevyn's eyes landed on the scholarly-looking Mei.
She couldn't quite put it into words, but in that moment, Kevyn felt as if something had struck her heart, setting it racing wildly.
Not even leading her former school's basketball team to victory had ever made her feel like this.
It wasn't long before Kevyn realized that the flutter in her heart at that moment was what people called love at first sight... or well, maybe it was just being captivated by someone's looks—wait, no, it was definitely love at first sight!
--+--