And just when Eagle Sauce was incompetent and furious, Takumi also received a notification from the system.
However, it was not a notification that the mission had been completed, but a reminder that a new visitor had arrived in the Dimensional City.
"Is there a newcomer? It's about that time."
It has been less than half a month since he returned, but more than twenty days—nearly a month—had passed since Misaka Mikoto's last visit.
According to past rules, it was indeed time for a new visitor.
"I wonder what kind of world connects to us this time." Takumi couldn't help but look forward to it. He immediately put down the work at hand, opened the Dimensional Gate, and returned to the Dimensional City.
...
At this time, the Dimensional City, specifically the Forest of Death area, had entered winter, and the first snow had fallen not long ago.
After the heavy snowfall, the woods, the ground, and the buildings were all covered in a layer of silver. It was as if the world had put on winter clothes, exuding a pure and flawless beauty.
It was just that the temperature was a bit cold, especially for people like Takumi who had just returned from other worlds.
The temperature difference was so great that even Takumi, who possessed cold resistance, couldn't help but shiver slightly when suddenly hit by the cold wind, before getting used to it.
If even Takumi was like this, let alone others.
Therefore, when Takumi returned, he saw a pink-haired creature shivering from the cold, being rescued by Lijie and covered with a warm blanket specially prepared for visitors.
This was a beautiful girl with light and soft pink long hair, a golden hairpin on her left temple, blue-purple eyes, snow-white and crystal-clear skin, and a very friendly smile that made people feel at peace.
"I'm really saved, thank you."
The girl wrapped herself in the blanket. Feeling the cold isolated, she smiled and expressed her gratitude to Lijie.
"You're welcome, that is my duty."
Lijie responded politely with a smile.
"Ah, your ears..."
Only then did the girl finally notice that Lijie was different from ordinary people, and she couldn't help but be a little surprised.
"Well, don't be surprised yet. I'll explain to you slowly. I am actually an Elf. I was born with these ears. And where you are right now is..."
Lijie didn't mind either; she took advantage of the situation and began to explain the situation to the girl.
After listening carefully, the girl also understood why she had suddenly appeared here and what a magical place the Dimensional City was.
"It's incredible that I actually came to another world..."
Faced with this huge amount of information, the girl didn't know what to say for a moment and could only exclaim.
"Ahem~"
At this time, Takumi arrived at just the right moment.
"Lord City Lord, you are back."
When Lijie saw Takumi, she quickly greeted him politely.
"Well, I noticed a new guest arrived, so I came back." Takumi nodded, explained briefly, and then said, "Thank you for your hard work on duty. Leave the rest to me. You go down and rest first."
"Understood."
Seeing this, Lijie didn't waste words and returned to the duty room next to her.
Takumi then looked at the new girl, but he couldn't recognize who she was immediately. After all, there are many pink-haired characters in the multiverse.
Moreover, the girl was still wrapped in a blanket, so there were no distinguishing features in her clothing. It was difficult to identify her just by looking at her face.
Takumi simply didn't bother guessing anymore, smiled, and said his signature slogan.
"Hello, welcome to the Dimensional City. I am the owner here, and my name is Takumi."
Hearing this, the girl responded with a smile: "Hello Mr. Takumi, my name is Lacus, Lacus Clyne. I am honored to be here."
Takumi suddenly realized who it was. No wonder he couldn't recognize her immediately.
Lacus Clyne, isn't this the heroine in Gundam SEED?
Although Takumi had a fond impression of the childhood memory that was Gundam SEED, deep down, when mentioning Gundam and mecha, he would automatically think of the handsome multi-colored cannon... ah, the Freedom Gundam.
But after all, it was a relatively distant childhood memory. Since then, he had been baptized by many TV series and novels. Apart from the Gundams, it was difficult for Takumi to recall exactly what the characters in Gundam SEED looked like.
But when the name was mentioned, Takumi remembered.
Lacus Clyne, the number one singer in PLANT, whose father Siegel Clyne was the then-Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council and one of the key founders of the ZAFT army.
With such a father, Lacus could be said to be a PLANT princess in both popularity and politics.
She is quite gentle, and influenced by her father, she is a staunch left-wing dove.
But she is not at the level of a naive "Saint Mother". In the later period, she also took up arms with resolve and intervened with force. She led the war to its end and played a vital role in the conclusion of the conflict.
If I had to describe it, Lacus is probably a bit similar to Jeanne d'Arc in the Type-Moon universe, a kind and strong person.
"It turns out to be Miss Lacus, a beautiful name."
Takumi was slightly startled but quickly responded without showing anything strange.
"Thank you."
Lacus didn't notice anything strange about Takumi and just responded politely.
"This is not the place to talk. Please come inside with me."
"Okay, excuse me then."
Lacus didn't refuse. She was very curious about everything in the Dimensional City.
It was rare to come to a different world that only existed in fantasy novels, so she naturally wanted to take a good look.
Takumi took Lacus back to the City Lord's Mansion. In the reception hall on the first floor, someone brought her hot tea to warm her body, lest she catch a cold from the exposure just now.
Then, they started the usual conversation. While introducing the Dimensional City, he would steer the topic to Lacus from time to time to make conversation and understand the situation in the SEED world.
It must be said that this time, gathering information was definitely the most difficult task Takumi had ever encountered.
Lacus is a Coordinator herself; her intelligence is much higher than that of ordinary people, and she comes from a family with a strong political background. No matter how kind she is, her defensive awareness is not low.
Lacus was willing to reveal some information, but only vaguely described the background of her world.
For example, the difference between PLANT and the Earth Alliance, what is the difference between Naturals and Coordinators, etc.
If this were a first contact with zero foundation, this information would be valuable. But in the current situation, it was not. To Takumi, this information was simply nonsense. How could Takumi not know what is going on in the SEED world?
Not to mention that he has watched the entire Gundam SEED and knows the whole plot; even those who have never seen it know the background information just by reading summaries.
It is nothing more than the same old story of the Gundam series. The "Newtypes" who flew into space became independent, and they came into conflict with the Naturals who remained on Earth. The two sides engaged in a fierce exchange of physical diplomacy.
Then one day the protagonist got involved. After many twists and turns, he finally had to drive the Gundam to end the war, performing the cliché drama of a high school student saving the world.
However, in terms of private information, Lacus was not as guarded. For example, regarding her age, she confessed it frankly.
Lacus probably thought that it was just her age and not important information, so it didn't matter if she told Takumi.
But she didn't know that for Takumi, knowing her current age meant he could deduce a lot of things.
After all, Lacus is an important character in the original work, and the timeline of Gundam SEED is quite specific. Just based on her age, one can judge how far the plot has progressed.
For example, Lacus is only fourteen years old now. Combined with the fact that she was sixteen when she met Kira in the original work, we know that the SEED world is still about two years away from the start of the plot.
And at this point in time, the war had not even started yet.
Therefore, the war starts a few days after the "Bloody Valentine" incident, and Lacus is picked up by Kira on the Archangel when she is laying flowers on the first anniversary of "Bloody Valentine".
In other words, there is still about a year before the war between the Earth Alliance and PLANT in the SEED world begins.
I have to say that it is somewhat subtle for Lacus to come to the Dimensional City at this time.