"I can't believe… Grandfather actually…"
Theresa didn't know how she felt at that moment. There weren't many other secrets in this underground forbidden area; the biggest secret was actually Cecilia's clones.
Theresa knew her grandfather was creating artificial humans; she herself was born that way. She also knew he had initiated something called the Sirin Project.
But when she discovered her best friend had been cloned, her emotions were complex.
On one hand, she knew her grandfather was conducting human experiments to defeat Honkai. On the other hand, the one being experimented on and cloned was her best friend, which was even harder for her to accept than if it had been herself.
Takatsuki did not choose to destroy the Cecilia clones underground. After all, they could enter without being discovered, but it would be difficult to conceal their actions after destruction.
After returning to the villa, Theresa's mood was still complicated.
"Headmaster, don't think too much. I just wanted you to understand what Otto is doing."
Lying on the sofa, looking at the somewhat troubled Theresa opposite him, Takatsuki said, "Besides, for Otto, this is just one of many experiments."
"Yes… I've known that for a long time."
Theresa nodded. "But why did you suddenly make me see that?"
Why? Takatsuki hadn't really thought much about it. He could only say, it just happened to come to mind?
"I'm not sure, I just happened to remember it. I also wanted to see what the situation was like down there, and I didn't recognize the place either."
Takatsuki thought carefully and realized he hadn't thought about anything at all.
"Is that so…"
Theresa wasn't someone who excelled at thinking deeply, so she didn't perceive any profound meaning behind it.
"Hey, Takatsuki, do you think it's possible to resurrect the dead in this world?"
Theresa wasn't sure what she was saying, but seeing so many Cecilia clones made her feel as if Cecilia had been resurrected, merely slumbering there.
However, those many clones told her it was impossible, yet how much she hoped that one of them would awaken, just like the Cecilia of old. If that happened, would it be considered a resurrection?
"Yes, it is."
"Indeed, I'm sorry, I asked such a strange question. Resurrecting the dead is… What did you say!?"
Theresa suddenly looked up, staring at Takatsuki.
"I said, resurrecting the dead is possible. It's just that we can't do it yet, but that doesn't deny that it can be done."
Theresa lunged forward and grabbed Takatsuki's clothes. "Really! How can it be done!"
"Oh, this…"
Takatsuki hadn't expected Theresa to be so excited. He had just gotten a little carried away and wanted to be a bit enigmatic.
Part of the reason he said it was possible to resurrect was that in the works he had read, there were many abilities that could resurrect others. Aside from that, the closest thing he had to resurrection right now was the Holy Blessing Potion he had once obtained, but the Holy Blessing Potion definitely couldn't resurrect Cecilia.
The second closest was the Throne of Heroes that Fu Hua had once mentioned. If he had met Fu Hua 50,000 years ago, it meant he should have gained the ability to travel through time later on. If he could travel through time, wouldn't it be easy to interfere with past outcomes? Even if he couldn't change the past, he could just pull Cecilia into Throne of Heroes and then find a way to put her soul back into a body.
There were so many soulless and unconscious clones underground.
"Well, right now, no, I'll have to wait a while longer."
Takatsuki didn't resist as Theresa shook him. "To resurrect Cecilia, I need to find her soul. I haven't found it yet."
"Soul? How do you find it?"
Theresa blinked. "Wait, does the soul even exist in the first place?"
Theresa had never heard of a soul before, or rather, the word only existed in fantasy; no one had proven that souls truly existed.
"I can't find Cecilia's soul right now, but if it's just to prove the existence of souls, I can do that. Do you want to experience it?"
"How do I experience it?"
Takatsuki extended a finger. "Don't resist my magic. I'll pop your soul out of your body."
He flicked Theresa's forehead with his index finger. Theresa, who had been gripping Takatsuki's collar, instantly lost consciousness and slumped onto Takatsuki.
Moving Theresa, who was pressing down on him, aside, Takatsuki looked at Theresa's soul, which was floating in the air and constantly moving its body, and said, "How does it feel? You're a soul body now."
"It's strange. Wait, you can still see me?"
Theresa subconsciously replied, then looked at Takatsuki in surprise.
"Isn't that obvious? If I can pop out souls, it means I can see souls. Don't worry, without relevant abilities, you can't see or hear souls, and you can't interfere either."
He grabbed a cushion from the sofa and waved it twice at Theresa's soul body to prove his point.
"Then, does that mean I can use this to go see what others are doing without being discovered!?"
Theresa's playful side emerged, and then Takatsuki poured a bucket of cold water on her enthusiasm.
"That's one way to put it, but are you comfortable leaving your body here? And a body without a soul is just an empty shell. If some wandering spirit gets in and occupies your body, I won't be responsible."
As soon as Takatsuki finished speaking, Theresa instantly returned to her body, cautiously hugging herself and looking around. After a moment, she reacted: "Wait, why didn't I see any so-called wandering spirits when I was a soul body just now?"
If a soul body couldn't see them, then a physical body certainly couldn't.
"Because there aren't any."
For some reason, after obtaining the Sheep Talisman, Takatsuki hadn't seen any ghosts, or so-called spirits.
However, he could sense the souls within other people, indicating that people in this world indeed had souls. It could only be due to the rules of this world that there were no ghosts.
And the price for playing a trick on Theresa was that Takatsuki was grabbed by the collar and thrown onto the sofa by Theresa.
Watching Theresa leave, seemingly huffing, Takatsuki wasn't angry. He simply lay on the sofa, intending to take a nap.
This little game called 'sleeping roulette' was interesting because you never knew how long you'd sleep.
Perhaps five minutes, or several hours, or even waking up the next day.
Although dangerous, it was Takatsuki's favorite little game now.
Of course, he didn't have the chance to sleep until the next morning.
Because in the evening, he was woken up by Kiana sitting on him.
"Takatsuki, Takatsuki! What we talked about yesterday! Are we going to see Big Sister today!"
"…"
Why did Takatsuki suddenly remember the things underground? This had a partial reason.
Takatsuki had promised Kiana that he would take her to Schicksal Headquarters today to see Durandal.
In order to enter Schicksal without suspicion, Takatsuki had made a lot of preparations in the past few days. Then, while wandering around Schicksal, he saw the clones Otto had hidden there, which reminded him of this matter.