Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

A well-built high school girl sat up and gestured to the boy next to her not to worry.

"Who are you? Why did you suddenly fall down?!"

Kevin turned around angrily and glared at Melutina.

"Uh, um..."

Melutina looked at this younger version of Kevin and didn't know what to say for a moment.

“It’s alright, Kevin. She just fell too… She probably lost her footing on the railing up there. Luckily I was down there so she wouldn’t get seriously injured.”

Mei stood up, grabbed Kevin, and smiled at Melutina.

"...Yes, I was so engrossed in looking at the moon that I fell down."

Melutina paused for about three seconds before speaking.

"Thank you very much... and I'm very sorry. I'm a researcher at a nearby research institute, and I'm really sorry to have bothered you."

"Since you've apologized, it's alright. But since you said you're a researcher, that's perfect, we were just about to go to a nearby research institute."

Seeing that she was remorseful, Kevin scratched his head and said.

"Okay, then let's go together."

Mei also showed a gentle smile.

"Eh? No, wait..."

Merutina never expected that her very first words would let something slip. Her expression froze, and she tried to make an excuse to slip away.

However, things didn't go as planned. It was obvious that Kevin, who was standing next to her, had no idea what politeness was. He laughed and pulled Melutina over.

However, he clearly didn't notice Mei's expression turn cold the moment he reached out to pull her.

……

five minutes later

"The funding for this quarter hasn't been approved again, so I'll have to eat instant noodles... Ugh, I hate pickled vegetables."

At this moment, Dr. Möbius, who was always unable to receive funding, was complaining as usual, completely unaware that three people had approached from behind him.

"Beep beep... Hmm? Who? Vilvie? Who is that? Should I go see her? No, no, I'm going now..."

Just as Mebius was complaining to the headquarters, the three people next to him also began to talk in hushed tones.

"Mei, is this PhD really a very famous researcher?"

Kevin scratched his head and asked.

"Of course, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she's the most famous... However, I didn't expect her to come to Changkong City recently, especially to such a small research institute."

Mei nodded without hesitation, then said with a puzzled look after a moment,

"Ah, miss, aren't you a researcher here? Why would the renowned Dr. Möbius..."

How could things have turned out so badly?

"They probably did something that crossed the line again and got their budget cut... It happens all the time."

Melutina said it instinctively, then realized she wanted to slap herself.

"Huh? I didn't..."

Möbius turned his head angrily, paused for a moment when he saw Melutina, walked straight over, sized her up for a long time, and even sniffed her.

"Wait, you..."

“Mébius, I know you’re very unhappy with the result, but we need to prioritize the big picture. I promise you’ll get what you want soon, so please help us with this.”

John's voice came from inside, but Mebius lost interest in arguing with him.

"I understand, I will go."

She hung up the phone impatiently, looked at Melutina, and was about to say something when the other end reacted even faster.

"Dr. Möbius! I am the researcher who has been assigned to assist you in your research today!"

He bowed 360 degrees in an instant, startling the two people next to him, who looked as if they had seen a ghost.

"Huh?...Never mind, you can stay over there for now."

Möbius was clearly unaware, and couldn't possibly have been, but for some reason, instead of exposing this obvious lie, she beckoned to Möbius.

"You must be Mei? Come and sit down... Go make a cup of tea, assistant."

Melutina emphasized the word "assistant" and nodded stiffly.

Kevin scratched his head and then happily ran off to help.

"..."

While cleaning the dust off the tea box, Melutina roughly determined the time.

Without a doubt, this is not a parallel world, but the era in which she once lived.

At this time, Kevin and May were still high school students, and Velvet had not yet officially joined the Firemoth.

Blanca wasn't with Mebius, and neither was Klein.

But Blanca isn't married yet, which means Klein hasn't graduated either, so...

That is, when Velvi joined the Firemoth.

Chapter Seven: Möbius and Melutina

"So, what are you?"

At this moment, Mebius, who was still a "young woman" in her late twenties, put the instant noodle box into the trash bag.

"Um... Doctor, you didn't throw away the soup..."

For some reason, Melutina, who seemed several times weaker, cautiously offered a reminder.

“Someone will take care of that... I’ll throw this, soup and all, into the trash can.”

Mebius curled his lip.

"No, in terms of public morality, there is bound to be some issues..."

"You're so long-winded! I just helped you hide your identity, and now you want to criticize my lifestyle?"

Mebius said confidently.

"...No, it's nothing."

Is that a matter of lifestyle habits?

Despite her thoughts, Melutina obediently closed the door and stood in front of Mebius, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

"At first I thought it was one of my biggest fans..."

Möbius then walked up to her and carefully examined her face.

"But the details are clearly not manually corrected, and..."

Möbius sniffed.

"This is a perfume I often use, but not many people know about it."

"...I actually made this perfume myself."

Melutina said somewhat awkwardly, after all, there was no identical brand in the current civilization era.

"and……"

Mebius ignored her excuses, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a lollipop.

"You even have this habit. Who exactly are you? My clone? But..."

Möbius glanced at her chest and shook his head.

"But in the end, they only look somewhat alike; their hair color is different, and some parts of their bodies are quite different."

Möbius crossed his arms, subtly displaying his ample chest size.

"If I had to put it into words, would it be someone similar to my daughter...? But how could that be?"

Mebius had no daughter, a fact she was absolutely certain of.

So, where did this person come from?

“Dr. Möbius, I…”

Melutina felt that she couldn't hide it any longer, but she also couldn't reveal too much.

"You may not believe it, but I come from a time much later than this point in time."

"By what means? By building a time machine?"

Mebius put the lollipop in his mouth and asked.

"No...pass, Sea of ​​Quanta."

"……interesting."

Möbius squinted.

"You entered the Sea of ​​Quanta, yet you're still alive. How did you do that?"

"..."

Then we'll have to ask you, as the core of the "Fusion Warrior Project".

Of course, Melutina couldn't say these things at this moment; she coughed twice.

"Doctor, you are also a researcher. You should understand that revealing too much is not beneficial."

"The paradox of time, the existence of parallel worlds, and the fact that decay grows stronger with the prosperity of civilization?"

Mebius pursed his lips. Melutina would never have understood if she had said this to anyone else, but it was different with Mebius.

"Yes."

"Where's the evidence? After all you've said, at least give me some concrete evidence!"