Book 7: Chapter 9:1: The Theresilly Who Needs a Reality Check, Part 1 |
[TL Note: Theresilly is supposed to be a pun on Theresa’s name. It works much better in Chinese, and I simply can’t think of a good equivalent to use in English. In Chinese, the last character in Theresa’s name was changed to the character with the same pronunciation that means stupid, silly, or fool.]
Herrscher of Pufferfish: Shorty, long time no see! Remember me, Theresa?
Magical Girl Teriri: Huh? This display name and profile picture…are you the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin?
Herrscher of Pufferfish: Looks like your IQ hasn’t declined, Shorty.
Magical Girl Teriri: Huh? I remember now… Is this due to the world merger causing memory confusion? Memories of what happened before are coming back.
Theresa seemed to have recovered some of her blocked memories due to her joining the Dimension Administrators Association.
Umaru-chan: I was wondering why Magical Girl Teriri sounded familiar. So, it is Theresa.
Faillen Angel Gabriel: Theresa? St. Freya Academy’s principal?
Umaru-chan: That’s right!
Flat-Chested Chinese: Yes.
Magical Girl Teriri: Seems like there are quite a few familiar faces in the Dimension Administrators Association.
“Sirin, stop chatting. You can mess around with Theresa later. Have you taken note of the rules of the admission test that my third elder sister explained earlier?”
“I was listening seriously, Elder Brother.”
“That’s good. I’m not too worried about Luo Li. The only one I worry about is you, Sirin.”
“Why?” When Sirin saw Chen Heng treating her differently, she immediately felt upset.
“Why else? I’m worried you might get sneak-attacked because you let your ego puff up too much, you little pufferfish.” Chen Heng poked Sirin’s face firmly with his finger, which was actually quite fun.
“Argh! Elder Brother, don’t call me pufferfish again.” Sirin grabbed the finger Chen Heng poked her with. Then she bit down hard.
Sirin immediately regretted biting it. She felt like she had bitten on a piece of metal; her teeth hurt.
“You see? What gave you the courage to make the same mistake three times in a row?” Even after Sirin bit on Chen Heng’s finger, he seemed unaffected. He had already reinforced his finger earlier.
Before he poked Sirin, he knew she would definitely bite him. How to put it? Sirin was very simple-minded.
Sirin pulled Chen Heng’s finger out of her mouth, then looked around for someone to back her. Sadly, she found only Fu Hua to rely on. “Sob! Sob! Elder Brother, you are bullying me! Fu Hua, manage your disciple!”
“Ahem! Ahem! Little Heng, stop bullying Sirin.” Upon hearing Sirin’s plea, Fu Hua dryly chided Chen Heng, not wanting to get involved in a more serious confrontation. What else could she do? If she really beat Chen Heng up, Sirin would feel a heartache over it.
“How could I be bullying Sirin? She’s my adorable younger sister, and I love her so much.” After cleaning his finger with a cleaning technique, Chen Heng lifted Sirin from the sofa and sat down with her in his lap.
“Elder Brother, let me go! I’m angry. Don’t hug me. Bella, pull me out and beat up my elder brother.” Sirin was beyond consolation. While struggling weakly in Chen Heng’s arms, she sought Bella’s help.
Bella simply stood at the side, not moving, as if she had not heard Sirin’s call for help. It was primarily because she was well aware of the relationship between her queen and Chen Heng. Interfering now would not be a good choice. Bella felt remaining a bystander would be best.
“Alright, alright. Elder Brother was wrong. Isn’t Elder Brother just worried about Sirin? Sirin, you are still young and have not experienced society. Furthermore, you’ve already gained great strength at such a young age, so it would be hard to avoid having your ego inflate. You are the one I worry about the most, but it is out of love.”
Chen Heng kept hugging Sirin, not letting her struggle free. If he had to pacify Sirin later, it would be quite troublesome, so he opted to do it now.
“Really?” Sirin stopped struggling after Chen Heng’s explanation.
“Really!” As Chen Heng expected, Sirin was easy to pacify.
“Humph! I’ll forgive you this one time.”
“Alright, alright, alright. Thank you, Your Majesty Sirin, for forgiving me this once; I won’t do it again.”
“Humph! Good that you know it. Also, Bella, why didn’t you help me earlier?”
“…” Bella looked at Sirin, who was now comfortably nestled in Chen Heng’s arms, and chose to remain silent. Bella believed that if she had really laid a hand on him for her queen, regardless of whether or not she could win the fight, it would be Sirin who would regret it later.
“Because Bella knows I’m doing this for your own good, right, Bella?”
“Yes, my king.”
The Bella who had transformed from a Honkai Beast into this form had many positive qualities, but a flexible mind wasn’t one of them. Ever since she picked up the address of “my king” from somewhere (Sirin: “That address suits him quite well, doesn’t it?”), she had been calling Chen Heng “my king” despite his protests.
“Oh, by the way, Elder Brother, what’s the deal with Liz?” Just when Chen Heng had successfully appeased Sirin, the mention of a name from Sirin’s mouth made his hand holding her stiffen.
He glanced around and realized that not only was Sirin in his lap looking at him with suspicion and scrutiny, but everyone else was watching him, too.
Luo Li peeked at Chen Heng, making him feel like a scumbag whose wife had caught him in an affair.
Chen Heng’s master, Fu Hua, gave him a casual glance before withdrawing her gaze, but Chen Heng could sense her curiosity had been piqued.
Jeanne d’Arc, who had been petting Fafnir all along, seemed to be distracted not paying attention.
Ryougi Shiki, on the other hand, had an expressionless face, but Chen Heng noticed a spiritual presence, who resembled her, hovering over her head and staring at him with inquisitive eyes.
Upon noticing that Chen Heng seemed to see her, Root even waved at him.
“…” Chen Heng looked at the floating Root above Ryougi Shiki with some bewilderment. Root did not appear like this behind Ryougi Shiki’s back when possessing Ryougi Shiki in The Garden of Sinners. Is Root trying something else now that she is in another world?
“Elder Brother, why are you silent? Are you hiding some secret?” Sirin eyed Chen Heng with suspicion.
“What are you thinking? Your elder brother is an honest man. How could I possibly have something to hide?”