Dr. Mobius, for Shiraha, had indeed been unexpectedly easy to get along with in the Realm.
But put the Realm aside for now, at this very moment, Shiraha was being shaken left and right by Elysia, his schoolbag clattering against his back. Yet his smile didn't diminish in the slightest. If anything, the more he was shaken, the happier he looked.
"Nee-chan. We need to work hard now."
Just that one study session in the Realm wasn't nearly enough for Shiraha to fully keep up with Mobius's train of thought. Returning home, that was when the real battle would begin.
"Work hard at what? Don't tell me a seven-year-old brat like you wants to do physical training?"
If it weren't for the special nature of psychokinesis, the only training someone Shiraha's age could even access would be Honkai energy manipulation.
Like at Cocolia's orphanage, they'd select children with decent talent and have them use mercury to practice Honkai energy molding. Though in the end it never seemed to amount to much, this kind of foundational skill could indeed be laid down when children were very young.
Shiraha put on a childish tone, eyes sparkling. "Study Mobius-nee's knowledge, of course."
Elysia started whimpering again, shaking Shiraha violently. Don't play-act being a kid right now! Don't do it!
"St-stop shaking, Nee-chan. My head's getting dizzy."
Even if kids were hard to make dizzy no matter how much you shook them, it didn't mean it was impossible.
Shiraha pressed a hand to his forehead. Once his mind cleared, he switched to a calm, measured tone.
"Nee-chan, Dr. Mobius was arguably the foremost scientist of the Previous Era."
Elysia nodded. That was true.
"And every experiment, every project, none of it was the work of a single day. By the later stages, the Doctor had a hand in virtually every plan the Fire Moth was laying out."
Shiraha paused, as if organizing his words. "Studying under the Doctor might not turn me into that kind of genius. But it can give me some fundamental judgment, so when I come into contact with things like Stigmata, which I've only ever heard rumors about, I'll at least know what I'm looking at."
He lifted his head, met Elysia's eyes, and his voice turned a shade more serious. "Of course, if Nee-chan also understands all this, then I'm perfectly willing to be a plump, well-fed little piglet."
Elysia's starry eyes flickered. So keeping a child actually requires knowing this much? Too hard. Far too hard. Elysia can't do it!
Her voice came out sulky. "Then you'd better work hard at it, Shiraha."
At least it'd give him something to do. And she truly didn't understand the fundamentals. Elysia could say a little about everything, but ask her to explain the essence of things, sorry, Elysia genuinely didn't know.
At the school gate, Mei-nee was still waiting. Her small leather shoes tapped against the floor. She didn't look impatient yet.
"Mei-nee, sorry to keep y—" Shiraha caught himself. "Mei-nee, I'm back!"
No need to be overly polite when talking to a kid, really. Mei lifted her chin lightly and extended her hand, her voice carrying a note of playful reproach.
"You sure took your time. How slow can you be just grabbing a book?"
She hadn't bought popsicles today. Her stomach felt a little off, eating more would be bad for it. Probably the weather turning cooler. Definitely not because she'd eaten too many.
The two children's walk home was unremarkable. Kids always had endless things to talk about anyway.
"By the way, tomorrow we have Himeko-nee's class. Hope the PE she teaches doesn't involve running laps."
Mei prayed quietly.
In the Far East, PE class was highly dependent on the teacher's mood.
Oh, and Yuna, hoped their two classes had PE in the same period. When the time came... forget it. She'd better first pray she didn't find Yuna's club withdrawal letter tomorrow.
"Shiraha, are you listening to me?"
Shiraha gave a soft hum. "I don't really like PE class. So I was just thinking, someone as cheerful and energetic as Himeko-nee probably wouldn't make things hard for us, right?"
Shiraha disliked all forms of physical labor. Truth be told, even now his physical fitness wasn't particularly good.
Without using adult combat techniques, no, even if he did use them, as long as he didn't rely on psychokinesis, theoretically, Mei, who was three years older, could grab him by the arm and fling him four or five meters.
Though this lopsided situation, one leg thick, the other thin, was far from healthy, Shiraha didn't intend to do any physical training before his Stigmata had fully manifested.
Time spent training his body was better used studying foundational knowledge first. That way, when the time came, he could properly develop the power of the Stigmata. Shiraha believed this was the correct way to approach the Honkai world.
In cultivation novel terms: focus on cultivating the technique, not the body. Once your realm is high enough, let the early successes drive the later ones, and let your physical constitution upgrade naturally along with it.
"Don't worry. You're young. The PE teachers always made special accommodations for you before." Mei thought for a moment, then added, "Nothing big should happen."
Should?
Today, Himeko-nee was home again. The Raiden residence even had a dedicated room for her now. To Shiraha and Mei, this wasn't a big deal.
Because of Shiraha's appearance the year before, Mei was mentally prepared for things like this. And Shiraha—Shiraha simply didn't care about such things at all.
In the evening, a light rain began to fall from the sky, pattering, steady. Not heavy, but dense. Sitting by the window, flipping through a book, Shiraha found it all rather atmospheric.
"By the way, Shiraha. How are you so sure that the book you're reading will help you keep up with Mobius?"
Shiraha's expression was flat. "Because what I'm reading is Basics of Biology. And the book that will actually be helpful should show up tomorrow, in the delinquent senpai's satchel."
After a quiet moment, his expression grew harder to maintain. 'Elysia... weren't you able to discuss the Stigmata Project with Mobius? You were leaning over my shoulder watching just now, and you seriously didn't recognize this as basic biology?'
He didn't say it aloud.
Elysia simply let out a soft "Oh." She leaned against the window. The room's lighting was currently a warm amber hue. This feeling, leaning at the window with nothing to think about, able to pinch a child whenever her fingertips got itchy, felt very, very nice to her.
After who-knew-how-long, Elysia suddenly spoke. "Is the me in the Realm cute?"
Shiraha answered offhandedly. "Haven't met her."
Elysia paused. "Haven't met her?"
How was that possible? Knowing her own personality, how could the her in the Realm possibly let such an adorable little thing slip by?
"I only know Klein, Mobius, and Eden in the Realm." Shiraha was quiet for a moment, then continued, as if hinting at something. "I'm getting to know them one at a time. After all, if I dispelled the mystique of all the Flame-Chasers at once... the impact on my worldview would be a little too much."
Elysia's red lips parted slightly several times. Dispelled the mystique, could that phrase really be used here?
Actually, maybe it could. In the Previous Era, Eden might have been gentle and kind with everyone, but in battle, she was nothing like that at all. In private and in combat, she truly was two different people. As for Mobius, in her case, "dispelling the mystique" was perhaps even more fitting.
The little Mobius in the Realm was already a sweet, syrupy-voiced little girl.
"But I do plan on meeting Sakura in a few years."
Shiraha continued.
Currently, he didn't know a single assassination technique. Once he was a bit older, when he theoretically didn't need to keep up such an innocent front, he could use Rin as a way to thoroughly mess with Sakura.
Elysia half-understood. "Are you going to prove to her who the real World's Number One Killer is?"
Shiraha didn't hesitate. "That'd be me, obviously."
Even though Sakura could theoretically slice him into nine pieces in a single second.