The next day, everyone waited in Theresa's office.
The pendulum clock hanging on the wall ticked, then slowly stopped at a certain moment.
This signaled that the Q&A space had reopened.
Just like last time, everyone entered again when the Q&A space opened.
Of course, new visitors appeared as well.
"...Ms. Theresa?"
They were no stranger to Theresa. Einstein had fought bravely against the Second Herrscher's forces during the Second Eruption. She was a little surprised to see the few people gathered here.
Next to her stood Tesla, wearing a confused expression.
"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on?! I'm in the middle of an important experiment, and suddenly I'm in this weird place!"
Seeing Theresa, Tesla showed a mix of sadness and anger.
"How can there be people with Schicksal here? Mophead, were we caught by Schicksal?"
"Then shouldn't we see Otto?"
Einstein's words brought Tesla back to her senses and calmed her down.
Yes, if Schicksal really had caught them, they should be seeing the bishop now — not Theresa.
"Cocolia's adopted daughter..."
Einstein glanced calmly and finally fixed her eyes on Bronya.
"Bronya, I assume you don't mind explaining the situation to us, right?"
Though Bronya had been a comrade with Theresa before, they were now on opposing sides, so Einstein did not ask Theresa.
But Cocolia's adopted daughter was different.
Previously, the two sides had helped Bronya handle some aftermath, even though Bronya had not revealed many details.
Since Einstein had helped, Bronya undoubtedly owed them a debt of gratitude.
Originally, Einstein thought this favor would be useless, but now it was not meaningless.
"Let me explain."
After exchanging a glance with Theresa, Mei stepped forward and took over the conversation.
Einstein nodded without hesitation.
She just needed someone to explain the situation — she didn't care who it was.
"This place is like this…"
Mei spoke slowly, roughly outlining the nature and uniqueness of the space.
She avoided going into too much detail and omitted much of the information she had previously obtained.
Though the video suggested they had some cooperative relationship, without more clues, she couldn't reveal everything to Einstein and the others without risk.
Einstein noticed this but said nothing.
Mei's cautious approach was understandable.
Even Einstein herself would have acted similarly.
"How do you feel about this, Dr. Tesla?"
After hearing Mei's explanation, Einstein had a general understanding of the place.
She then turned to Tesla.
"Does it seem a bit unscientific to you?"
"Sure enough, I placed too many unnecessary hopes on you, Dr. Tesla," Einstein sighed at her answer.
"Then organize the information we have. If what you say is correct, Tesla and I will be your allies moving forward, right?"
"That sounds promising, but I have to admit, I have doubts," Einstein said bluntly.
"I trust your character, Ms. Theresa. After all, we had pleasant cooperation during the second Honkai, but... empty words don't convince people."
"So I don't expect blind trust, but at least show us the relevant... well, the video you mentioned, right?"
Her request wasn't excessive — it was quite reasonable.
After confirming with Theresa that there was no problem, Mei gave Bronya a knowing glance.
Bronya understood, summoned Project Bunny, and activated its video module.
Since the first time she entered the Q&A space, Bronya had deliberately recorded questions and videos for emergencies.
Though they had not been used before, Bronya had often watched her recordings in private.
The video showed Seele under the display.
Now was the time for these videos to be used.
With Bronya's careful selection, the segment about Otto's battle plan was presented to Einstein and Tesla.
Otto's mad scheme was revealed to them.
Even if Kiana and the others had seen it once before, they couldn't help but clench their fists subconsciously.
"Tsk, Otto is still as annoying as ever."
Though Tesla had realized this hundreds of years ago, seeing Otto's horrifying plan again made the impulsive Tesla furious, ready to punch Otto with her iron fist.
Einstein's usually calm face also darkened.
Then, her eyes fixed on Kiana's body.
A complex look flashed in her eyes.
According to Otto's plan, the Kiana in front of them was the body of the former Second Herrscher.
As long as certain conditions were met, the Second Herrscher could be resurrected.
With these characteristics, Kiana was a dangerous bomb in the eyes of the always cautious Einstein.
"Herrscher?"
Mei smiled and gestured to Bronya after noticing Einstein's meaning.
Then, another image appeared on the screen.
It concerned the Herrscher.
"If you're worried about the Herrscher, there's no need to be — because here… there are many Herrscher candidates."
In Theresa's troubled expression, Mei shared this shocking information with Einstein and Tesla.
They looked at the five Herrscher images in the video.
One by one, they studied the St. Freya Academy candidates.
One, two, three, four…
"Hey, hey, hey, Mophead, it seems we've fallen into the Herrscher's nest. Can we even get out alive?!"
Tesla's face turned pale with fear as she grabbed Einstein's sleeve in panic.
Einstein was shocked too, but remained rational.
She felt relieved once she concluded the images belonged to the future.
"Calm down. This is just their future."
"Besides, don't you find something odd, Dr. Tesla?"
Einstein looked at Bronya — the Herrscher shown in the video.
The logo read — Herrscher of Reason.
Tesla noticed this too and looked surprised.
"What's going on?"
The Herrscher of Reason should be Welt, yet this adopted daughter of Cocolia was also labeled Herrscher of Reason.
Wait…
Could it be?!