"If you think that sounds better, then of course I have no objections."
"Yay!" Nemesis cheered, raising her tiny hand with a grin.
Looking at the joyful little girl in front of her, Eriri found herself liking her more and more.
If before she had sought out Nemesis with a passing thought, now she truly felt her decision was the right one.
"Um, little Neme..."
As Nemesis enjoyed Eriri's gentle teasing, she suddenly heard someone calling her name.
She opened her eyes and looked toward the voice.
Seeing Tearju not far away, Nemesis tilted her head and asked curiously, "Ah? Is there something you need from me?"
Freshly born, Nemesis had no concept of good or evil. Aside from her absolute affection for Eriri, she viewed everything and everyone else with impartial neutrality.
Even if Tearju appeared to be close to Eriri, she made no exception.
"I'm happy to see your birth, little Neme," Tearju said with a warm smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Tearju Lunatique."
She suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled Eve over to her side.
"Oh right, this is Eve. Isn't she adorable? I hope you two can become friends."
"Friends..."
Eve's eyes lit up at the word. She recalled asking Tearju about it some time ago.
After hearing Tearju's explanation, Eve had longed to have a friend like those described in picture books.
In that moment, all of her prior annoyance over Nemesis's closeness to Eriri faded, including that challenging look Nemesis had given her earlier.
Eve gazed at Nemesis with hopeful, shining eyes.
"Can we be friends?"
Seeing Eve's expression and hearing her question, Nemesis's face broke into a sweet smile.
"Of course! Looking forward to it, Eve-chan—and Tearju-chan too."
As said before, Nemesis treated everyone equally aside from Eriri. And since Tearju and Eve had shown her kindness, she was happy to return it.
...
With Nemesis's matter resolved, this planet no longer held any interest for Eriri.
Before long, she left the planet with Tearju, Eve, and Nemesis.
Just like that, more than two months passed.
Of course, those two months were measured in Eriri and her companions' time. In this universe, thirteen years had already gone by.
The galactic war had officially ended under King Gid's command, with the Devilukean army sweeping through enemy forces.
During that time, Eriri's group visited many planets. But due to the war, most of them were engulfed in chaos.
Throughout their travels, they remained observers—never interfering in the galactic conflict.
They did, however, encounter beings with malicious intentions.
But in every case, those threats were swiftly eliminated—mostly by Nemesis, though Eve occasionally took part as well.
Indeed, Nemesis was responsible for about 80 to 90 percent of the takedowns.
Unlike the more gentle-natured Eve, Nemesis had a strong love for combat.
When they left the research facility, Eriri planted an energy seed in the bodies of Tearju, Eve, and Nemesis.
As a result, their strength continued to grow at an astonishing rate each day.
By now, both Nemesis and Eve had grown far stronger than in the original story. They were only a step away from reaching Level 7.
Eve had also grown out of her childlike form, now resembling a petite young girl similar in stature to Nemesis.
Their outfits had changed from the simple black camisole dresses they first wore. When they left the original planet, Eriri had transformed their clothes into the ones seen in the original series—Nemesis's black battle outfit and Eve's black yukata.
She also added properties like indestructibility and self-cleaning.
Even Tearju, who had always been gentle and without any inclination for combat, had learned to defend herself to some extent under Eriri's guidance.
Over the past two months, they had wandered through many planets in the galaxy—and even ventured into other galaxies.
However, planets beyond the Milky Way weren't all that different from those within it—at least to Tearju and the others.
So after a week of casual sightseeing, Eriri brought them back to the Milky Way and, just before the end of the galactic war, they made their way to Earth.
...
"Master, master, is this Earth?"
Along a quiet street in Sainan Town, Nemesis looked around at the buildings with curiosity. Tearju and Eve also observed the area with interest.
"That's right. This is our final destination. We'll be staying here until it's time to head ten years into the future."
Nemesis nodded in understanding. After sensing the area, she added, "This planet seems so underdeveloped. And the people living here are really weak."
Indeed, Earth at this time was far behind what it would be ten years later—let alone compared to high-tech planets elsewhere in the galaxy.
Even the future Earth wasn't all that impressive within the galactic landscape. Many species in the galaxy were capable of destroying the Earth with ease.
While many planets in the Milky Way had life forms with supernatural powers, Earthlings were weak by comparison.
That said, Earth wasn't the weakest. There were planets where residents had neither strength nor technological prowess.
But such planets had not fared well—especially those located near the galactic center. Most were wiped out during the war.
"Little Neme, even if it's a different universe, I'm still an Earthling~" Eriri said, chuckling as she ruffled Nemesis's cheeks.
"Mmm~ But that's different. Master is special. These ordinary Earthlings can't be compared to you."
Because Eriri was tugging at her face, Nemesis's words came out in a unique, adorable tone.
Thanks to Eriri's influence, Nemesis's personality differed from the original. While she still enjoyed fighting and teasing others, she never viewed herself as a weapon.
Though she knew much for someone just born, Nemesis still retained a child's innocence.
Her earlier comment wasn't meant to look down on Earthlings—just an honest observation.
It was true that Earthlings were weak, and none could compare to Eriri.
In fact, no being in the multiverse could rival her.
"Hmph, but of course," Eriri replied with a playful smile, gently tugging Nemesis's cheeks into a cute little curve.
But the cheek-pulling didn't last long—after a few seconds, Eriri let go of Nemesis's face.
She then turned to Tearju.
"By the way, Tearju, wasn't one of your classmates named Mikado Ryouko?"
"Yes!" Tearju nodded quickly, then tilted her head curiously. "Eriri, how do you know that? Have you met her in the future?"
"I haven't met Mikado Ryouko myself, but in the future, she comes to Earth for a temporary stay. You'll see her again."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Tearju beamed, a nostalgic look crossing her face.
"It's been so long since I last saw her. I wonder how she's doing."
"Don't worry—her life's been much better than what you went through at the lab," Eriri replied casually.
If Tearju's expertise in nanotechnology and biotechnology made her a top genius in the universe, then Mikado Ryouko's medical skills ranked just as high.
Because of that, no matter how brutal the galactic war got, Mikado remained untouched. On the battlefield, everyone needed a healer—no one dared offend a top-class doctor.
"That's good to hear," Tearju said with a relieved smile, trusting Eriri's words without question.
After two months together, Eriri's relationship with Tearju and Eve had grown very close.
As for Nemesis, that went without saying. After several battles fought together and daily interactions, she now saw Tearju and Eve as true family.
Though, of course, Eriri still held the highest place in her heart.
"Alright then, enough reminiscing. Let's go find a place to stay."
Eriri took Tearju's left hand with her right, then grabbed Eve's right hand with her other hand. Together, the three of them began walking down the quiet street.
"Master! Why are you only holding their hands and not mine? I want to hold your hand too!" Nemesis cried out from behind.
But she didn't wait around—quickly catching up to them, she trotted ahead, turned around, and began walking backward to face them with her hands clasped behind her back.
"Ehh~ But I only have two hands~ So our little Neme will just have to bear with it~" Eriri said playfully to the pouting girl.
Eve chimed in smugly, "Neme-chan, it's obvious Eriri-nee likes Tearju and me more. Hehe."
Tearju didn't say anything. She simply smiled warmly at the girls' exchange.
However, when she heard Eve's comment, her cheeks turned slightly red, and she subconsciously tightened her grip on Eriri's hand.
Noticing this, Eriri's lips curled into a faint smile. She gently shifted her fingers to interlock them with Tearju's, linking their hands together more intimately.
"Hmph! You're wrong, Eve-chan. I'm Master's favorite, obviously!"
"No way, Neme-chan. You're third at best."
"You're third—I'm number one!"
"Third!"
"First!"
...
While Nemesis and Eve bickered endlessly about their ranking in Eriri's heart, neither of them noticed the subtle exchange between Eriri and Tearju.
Even if they had noticed the subtle exchange, Eve and Nemesis probably wouldn't have reacted much. After all, this wasn't the first time something like that had happened over the past two months.
And so, with the two little girls continuing to bicker, Eriri's group of four strolled leisurely down the road, forming an eye-catching sight that would turn every passerby's head.
...
During her stay in the past, Eriri hadn't logged into the chat group or spoken to the other members.
It wasn't because being in a different time period within the same universe as Lala would create a time paradox or disrupt the chat group's synchronization across members' worlds.
Thanks to Eriri, the chat group was no longer bound by temporal rules. She could enter the group at any moment and join conversations as usual.
But unless she actively entered the chat, all activities within it remained frozen.
If she wanted, Eriri could even establish World Gate at various points in a single universe's timeline, allowing members to travel between different eras.
But she simply saw no reason to chat with the group right now. It wasn't as though she planned to spend the entire ten years living on Earth. For all she knew, they might jump to the future in just a few days.
Once Eriri returned to the timeline ten years ahead, it would be no different for the other members than her going offline for a bit of downtime.
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