At the very moment the Heavenly Generals' meeting was underway,
back on the Luofu, the trio from the Astral Express were sitting in a teahouse, waiting for someone to arrive.
After everything that had happened, whether it was Welt or the two youngsters tagging along behind him, all of them had become especially curious about the genius named Theresa.
Then suddenly, footsteps came from the stairway.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone."
Cecilia appeared on the second floor of the teahouse, with a tall white-haired figure following behind her.
March 7th was the first to jump to her feet.
"Miss Cecilia! You're here!"
She had just started rushing forward when Stelle quietly grabbed the back of her collar.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
Stelle's face was expressionless. "Manners."
March 7th: "..."
You're never like this normally!
At that moment, March 7th badly wanted to loudly accuse Stelle.
Usually, this girl was a shameless raccoon who loved digging through trash cans, and now she was lecturing her about manners?
And that was not all. Ever since they arrived on the Luofu, March 7th had felt that Stelle had become much more well-behaved for some reason.
No more digging through trash cans. Fewer weird one-liners.
What was going on? Had she hit menopause early?
But only Stelle knew the truth.
The reason for it all went back to the first time she met Cecilia.
Back on the Express, she had already heard about Welt and Himeko.
Apparently, in Welt's old world, there had once been a student of his who shared Himeko's exact same name and appearance.
It was something called… a counterpart from another world.
In the past, Stelle had never understood what that was supposed to feel like.
But after meeting Cecilia, she suddenly felt like she understood.
She kept having the strange sense that, in some other world, this woman might once have been her mother.
That was why, in Cecilia's presence, Stelle had unconsciously begun to care more about her image.
At that moment, Welt stood up and nodded to Cecilia.
"Miss Cecilia, Miss Jingliu, you're here."
Cecilia naturally found herself a seat and sat down. Jingliu did the same.
Welt adjusted his glasses and was the first to break the silence.
"Miss Cecilia, regarding what happened today at the Divination Commission, I have many questions."
"Ask," Cecilia said, lifting her teacup with a relaxed expression. "Anything I can answer, I will."
Welt pondered for a moment before saying, "That Theresa… in the world I know, she truly was a prodigy, but nowhere near the level of someone capable of creating Nous."
Good grief, Welt was actually calling Theresa a prodigy.
Cecilia found that a little shocking, but she still followed her script.
"So what you want to ask about… is the Theresa of this world?"
Welt nodded.
"Exactly. If counterparts from different worlds truly share some kind of connection, then the gap between the Theresa I knew and the 'genius who created Nous' you described is simply too great."
Cecilia gently set down her teacup.
"Mr. Welt, have you ever considered one question?"
"In your eyes, what exactly is different between me and the Cecilia from your world?"
That question genuinely stumped Welt.
When it came down to it, he was not particularly close to either of them.
He had only just met the Cecilia before him, so naturally he could not claim to know her well.
As for the Cecilia from his own world, she had died in the Second Eruption long ago. He knew Siegfried far better than he had ever known her.
So when faced with Cecilia's question, Welt found himself at a loss.
"...My apologies. I don't know."
"Huh?!" The first to react was March 7th.
She stared at Welt in disbelief.
"Uncle Yang actually doesn't know?!"
He had told her so many stories before about the Himeko from another world, so why, when it came to Miss Cecilia, did he suddenly have nothing to say?
Could it be… that Uncle Yang had been some gloomy shut-in in his old world?!
Stelle's expression looked much the same.
After all, she was not close to Cecilia yet, and had been hoping to learn more about her through Welt.
Then Welt answered:
"In my world, you died."
The moment he said that, Welt looked at Cecilia, wanting to see what sort of reaction she would have upon hearing of her other self's death.
But unfortunately for him, Cecilia showed no obvious reaction at all.
Instead, the other three were the ones who froze.
March 7th covered her mouth.
"D-died?! Miss Cecilia died in that world?"
Wasn't that just like Himeko?
The way she looked at Cecilia instantly turned complicated, full of sympathy and respect.
Stelle frowned faintly and unconsciously clenched her fist.
Even Jingliu reacted.
Now that she was in her current state, words like sacrifice and death had become rather sensitive for her as well.
But Cecilia herself remained completely unchanged.
She raised her teacup and took a small sip.
"I see. That truly is a sad story."
Welt looked slightly puzzled.
"You're not surprised at all?"
Then Cecilia said something astonishing:
"Why would I be? The Welt I knew died too."
"Huh?" Welt blinked.
Did that mean the version of him from her world had also died?
Cecilia set down her teacup and looked directly at him.
"Mr. Welt, the answer to your earlier question is actually very simple."
"There is indeed some sort of connection between counterparts from different worlds. But that connection does not mean we are the same person."
"The Theresa I know and the Theresa you know can be the same person—or they can be two entirely different people."
"Just like the me from your world and the me from this world. We may share similar appearances, similar names, perhaps even similar trajectories of fate. But in the end…"
"We are still different people."
Welt fell silent.
He thought of the Cecilia from his own world—the woman who had sacrificed herself in the Second Eruption to protect the world.
It was true.
They were not the same person.
"So," Cecilia continued, "the Theresa in your world was a prodigy, while the Theresa of this world created Nous—what is so strange about that?"
"Such is the branching of fate."
At that moment, Cecilia felt absurdly cool.
A line that philosophical—could it be that she actually had talent as a philosopher?
Welt pushed up his glasses and finally nodded.
"...I understand."
Then, after remaining quiet for a long while, Stelle spoke.
"Uncle Yang."
"What kind of person… was the Cecilia from your world?"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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