Chapter 119: Is Seele Coming to "Catch an Affair"?
"But then again..."
The Big Duck took a deep breath. In truth, she had another matter to discuss with Su Mu.
"Do you happen to know Seele?"
Su Mu thought for a moment and replied, "I should, shouldn't I? Knowing someone unilaterally counts as knowing them, right? But why are you asking all of a sudden?"
Bronya's question was indeed a bit strange. After all, the name "Seele" had already been mentioned in the Wind-borne Sonnet chapter.
"What I mean is, you seem to understand the history between Seele and me," Bronya pointed out, referring to the plot in the Azure Sea arc. "Seele was indeed a bit timid when we were at the orphanage... and she was bullied, though I protected her later."
"That annoying girl Cocolia... no, Sin Mal, was also a member of the orphanage. Seele and I never got along with her, but that's all in the past. But in your game script, you wrote that Seele has a dual personality... what is that about?"
Seele's dual personality.
The surface personality: kind, innocent, and pure-hearted. The hidden personality: yandere, manic, and worshipping violence.
Veteran Captains like Su Mu, to differentiate them easily, generally called them "White Seele" and "Black Seele."
However, Bronya's question left Su Mu stunned. Does this mean... Bronya doesn't know about this?
Well, more accurately, Su Mu wasn't certain if the Seele of this world actually had a dual personality. After all, strictly speaking, the Honkai didn't exist in this world. The "Black Seele" born from the power of a natural Stigma shouldn't technically exist here. But the problem was that dual personalities don't require the Honkai to manifest; to put it bluntly, it's a psychological condition...
Still, Su Mu felt that such a major character trait wouldn't be wrong. Based on his experience so far, the characters he had met were nearly identical to their game counterparts in personality and traits.
Facing Bronya's suspicious gaze, Su Mu thought it over. "Didn't I tell you before? I had a dream. In the world of that dream, Seele is exactly like that."
Before Honkai Impact 3rd was officially greenlit, Su Mu had always used the excuse that he dreamed of the stories from another world. Only Kiana and Bronya knew this. Bronya had relayed this to Kiana, but Kiana clearly hadn't taken it to heart.
"Though your excuse is incredibly suspicious, there really isn't any other explanation," Bronya sighed helplessly. "I wondered before if you were investigating me in secret... but when I realized you know the personality of every single character in this game like the back of your hand, I knew I was overthinking it."
Nonsense. Even if Su Mu had the mind to investigate, could he really investigate this many people? Besides, he was just an ordinary guy without a family background; where would he find the channels to dig up so much dirt?
"But regardless, regarding the dual personality thing, I find it hard to believe the Seele in reality would be like that."
"Could it be that you just haven't noticed? Think about it, Bronya—when you're with Seele, has anything strange ever happened?"
"Something strange?" Bronya pondered, then shook her head blankly. "No. Seele has always been well-behaved and sensible. She was a top student in school and never gave the teachers any trouble. After graduation, I went to work at Anti-Entropy, and Seele... she was dragged off by those two unreliable girls, Rozaliya and Liliya, to an idol company under Anti-Entropy. They want Seele to be their 'Gold Medal Manager'."
The thought of it gave Bronya a headache. "Rozaliya and the other one are still trainees, I think? I don't know when they'll finally debut..."
Su Mu hadn't expected Seele to be dragged off to be the Olenyeva sisters' manager, but on second thought, it seemed entirely possible. Rozaliya and Liliya were definitely capable of such a stunt, and Seele was so kind that even if she were reluctant, she would give in to her friends' pleas.
"Mhm, there were a few minor incidents, but I don't think they had anything to do with Seele," Bronya paused. "When I was in school, many boys pursued me. I rejected them all, of course. But for some reason, they would all disappear the day after confessing to me."
Su Mu froze. "Disappear? What do you mean?"
Bronya replied, "Either they transferred schools or just never appeared in front of me again... I still haven't figured out what happened."
Su Mu felt a wave of cold sweat. Hey, hey, hey. One didn't even need to think to know that was Seele's... or rather, "Black Seele's" doing, right? She must have threatened those boys, right? But under normal circumstances, it was natural for Bronya not to notice. After all, who would suspect their weak, well-behaved, and cute little sister would do such a thing?
Bronya asked, "Those things shouldn't have anything to do with Seele, right?"
Su Mu replied, "Well, things in dreams aren't necessarily real. Don't take it to heart."
He had no hobby of exposing people's secrets; he guessed Seele didn't want Bronya to know about her dual personality either. Thus, Su Mu explained the "dual personality" as a mere "game setting," noting that discrepancies with reality were normal.
However, Su Mu didn't expect that the next morning, Bronya would come to his office again with an exceptionally strange expression.
"?" Seeing Bronya appear, Su Mu was perplexed.
"Su Mu... that..." Bronya's expression was indescribably weird. She seemed to struggle to find the words.
"Mhm?" Su Mu looked at her, tilting his head.
Finally, Bronya spoke, but her one sentence left Su Mu dumbfounded.
"Seele is coming."
"?" Su Mu was blindsided. What? Seele is coming? Why the sudden visit?
"Could it be..." Seeing Bronya's hesitant look, Su Mu understood.
"Mhm. Last night when Seele called me, I thought about what you said about the 'dual personality,' so I asked her a question..."
Bronya didn't need to say more for Su Mu to get the picture. Seele must have heard Bronya's question, immediately asked where she heard it from, realized it was related to him, and decided to charge over to demand an explanation...
"Did she say what she's coming here for?"
"She said she hasn't seen me in a long time and wants to visit, and also get to know the other people at miHoYo."
Oh, the reason was certainly sufficient and legitimate; no fault could be found. But the problem was that Seele only mentioned coming after Bronya brought up the "dual personality" thing. Suspicious.
Bronya wanted to believe Seele—she was her precious family, after all—but the timing was too subtle. Initially, she had treated Su Mu's claim as a joke, but now, it didn't seem so impossible.
Su Mu didn't speak; he just watched Bronya, waiting for more. Under Su Mu's gaze, Bronya finally surrendered: "I admit, I didn't believe it at all before, but now I'm starting to have doubts... As Seele's sister, I shouldn't doubt her, but..."
Seeing Bronya's guilt, Su Mu asked, "If Seele really has another personality, would you hate her?"
Bronya answered without a second thought, "Of course not! No matter what, Seele is Seele. She is my most important sister!"
"Then there you go."
"Eh?"
"If Seele having another personality wouldn't change your attitude toward her, why worry so much?"
"That... actually makes sense." Bronya nodded. Indeed, what if Seele did have a dual personality? It wouldn't make her distance herself; Seele would still be her sister. Furthermore, as an older sister, it was only natural to want to understand Seele more.
"Wait, your tone clearly implies that Seele having another personality is a done deal! You haven't even met her; how can you be so sure?" Bronya found a blind spot. She had almost let Su Mu lead her by the nose. Nothing was confirmed yet! You can't reach a conclusion on a suspect without sufficient evidence; that would be too arbitrary!
Su Mu smiled. "If you don't believe it, I have a way to help you verify it."
"A way?"
"Pardo's next livestream is lacking a guest. Seele will be staying here for a bit, right? Why don't you and Seele go on Pardo's stream as guests and see how she reacts to the game's plot?"
"...I suspect you just want me and Seele to be guests for Pardo."
"It kills two birds with one stone. And it really is time for Bronya to make an appearance, right?"
"...The image you used for me in the game is how I looked several years ago." The Big Duck made a classic (ᗜ˰ᗜ) face. Clearly, she held a bit of a grudge over this. Sometimes she really wondered if Su Mu had a thing for "kuudere" lolis. This suspicion had recently gained some evidence; for instance, Su Mu seemed particularly close to little Griseo, holding her hand while walking around the BW exhibition.
...Information sourced from Carole's first-hand eye-witness report.
In the [Midsummer Night's Fantasy]version, he had designed the Luna Kindred version of Theresa. Despite the main story having so many Theresa battlesuits, why go through the trouble of designing a new one? In the plot, she was even redeemed by the Captain—the kind of trope that makes romantic development far too easy.
These two points gave the Big Duck a strong suspicion that Su Mu was a lolicon! Thinking of this, she looked down at her own surging chest with annoyance. For the first time, she felt that developing too quickly was not a good thing! If she could still look like she did a few years ago, maybe...
"It's okay." Su Mu smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "Don't underestimate your charm, Bronya. Right now, you aren't inferior to anyone!"
Bronya's mood had plummeted due to her "extra weight," but hearing Su Mu's praise, her eyes widened. "Do you really... find me charming?"
"Of course," Su Mu answered without thinking. The Big Duck was naturally charming; wasn't that the consensus among veteran Captains? You should know that when Su Mu first saw the Big Duck in A Post-Honkai Odyssey, his eyes practically bulged out! After all, that was a growth rate that a certain someone couldn't catch up to in 50,000 years!
"Alright, I'll go with Seele as a guest on Pardo's stream. But I have to ask her what she thinks first." Bronya finally agreed to the request. After leaving Su Mu's office, she looked at her own full mountain peaks and, for some reason, instinctively reached out to touch them.
Feeling the weight, the corners of Bronya's mouth curled up in a tiny bit of pride. "Hmph... it seems I am charming."
At that moment, a gasp came from the corner of the hallway.
"!"
Carole was holding a stack of files, looking at Bronya in surprise—more specifically, at Bronya kneading her chest with a smug look on her face.
Bronya: "....." Carole: "....."
Silence. A deathly silence. One could have heard a pin drop in the hallway.
"...Um, Senpai, I didn't see anything." Carole was the first to break the silence. After a dry laugh, she bolted like a streak of lightning.
Holy crap! News, big news! Bronya-senpai came out of Director Su's office and was seen kneading her chest to relax. Is it because of fatigue? But why would that area be fatigued? There's only one possibility...
"Director Su made a move on Bronya-senpai during work hours! Has he finally woken up? No, I have to tell Ellie and Pardo about this!"
Standing in the hallway, Bronya watched Carole leave. After standing frozen for a long time, her face turned bright red.
"W-What was I doing?!" She was both ashamed and annoyed, wanting to sink into the floor right then and there! "Kneading my chest and giggling in the hallway... am I a pervert?!"
END OF CHAPTER
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