While Li Zihan and Miss Mei were discussing wedding plans, Miss Dull Goose was officially waking up.
Is it my imagination?
I kept the blanket on properly today, right?
That's nice.
The girl buried her head in her saliva-soaked pillow, thinking groggily.
Although Durandal the Dull Goose was extremely self-disciplined, loved fitness, had a packed training schedule, and believed that a qualified Valkyrie would never inconvenience her comrades with poor lifestyle habits...
—This tsundere goose's sleeping habits were in complete contradiction to her creed.
When asleep, she would bury her head in her pillow, kick the blankets off the bed five times a night, roll around constantly, and sometimes even soak the sheets with drool.
Waking up according to her biological clock, Dull Goose rubbed her eyes and got out of bed.
And then—
She felt that her slippers were a bit... empty.
Is it just my imagination?
Perhaps because the age regression wasn't too drastic, Dull Goose, who only felt that her shoes were a bit loose, slowly walked to the washroom.
She squeezed toothpaste onto her brush in front of the mirror, then ran the water to wash her face.
As she pressed a warm towel to her face, Miss Dull Goose finally woke up completely.
And then—
She saw herself in the mirror.
A girl who looked to be a normal fourteen or fifteen-year-old.
"Ahhhhh—!!!"
Miss Dull Goose, who was the same age as Seele and Bronya but had developed to look like Himeko's contemporary, couldn't help but let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"Wh-What is going on?!"
And then—
A very alluring voice sounded out.
"You're awake, Lady Durandal."
The source of the voice was a girl just as alluring as her voice. Her ashen-gold hair fell straight to her waist, and uneven bangs covered her left eye, revealing a wine-red pupil so beautiful it seemed to draw in the soul.
Without a doubt, it was her former adjutant—Rita Rossweisse.
"Rita, do you know what's going on?!"
Dull Goose, who had drunk a cup of tea prepared by Rita before bed only to wake up looking as she had two years ago, looked absolutely horrified and hurriedly questioned her adjutant.
And then—
"Gulp."
A soft, but rather indecent sound of someone swallowing saliva came from her adjutant.
The expression on her own face froze.
Then, she remembered last night's tea.
"Ri—ta—, could you please explain this to me?"
Instinctively identifying the culprit, the girl's voice turned icy. Her cute little face twisted into a rather ferocious scowl. A fierce aura, like that of a lion or a tiger, erupted from her body, pressing down on the Scummy Maid who was much taller than her.
If she had made such a gesture yesterday, it would have been quite intimidating.
But now...
Just imagine a small ginger kitten descending with the ferocity of a tiger, only to let out a "Meow~."
It had zero intimidating power whatsoever.
The Scummy Maid, who hadn't seen Durandal's cute younger form in a long time, nearly had a stream of red loyalty gush from her nose.
Seeing the enigmatic blush on her former adjutant's face, Miss Durandal felt her heart begin to twitch.
"What in the world is going on?!"
"A secret potion from another world."
The Scummy Maid, whose personality was very similar to Li Zihan's and who would never deceive someone close to her unless absolutely necessary, raised her hands in a French surrender salute.
"Its effect is rejuvenation."
"And the antidote?"
Seeing her adjutant confess so readily, Durandal's anger subsided slightly. She held out her hand impatiently.
A girl with exquisitely delicate features and a hint of childishness on her face looks at you with disdain, then holds out a small, fair, and tender hand...
"I'm in heaven."
That was Rita's genuine thought.
Sensing that something was very wrong, Durandal's face instantly darkened.
"Oww—"
The Scummy Maid, who received a sharp rap on the head, clutched her head and let out a cry of pain.
"The antidote?" Miss Dull Goose, who was clearly skilled at physically demanding antidotes, said with a dark expression to the person who would have been pressed to the ground and [bleeped] if she had tried this on their Captain.
"The Captain and Miss Mei have already entered Chaldeas and are preparing for their wedding trip."
As if it were a completely unrelated answer, Miss Rita said something that had absolutely nothing to do with the antidote.
"What do you mean?"
Feeling that something was not quite right, Miss Dull Goose grabbed her adjutant's collar and asked with a "friendly" expression.
"Well, I got this potion from the Captain."
The Scummy Maid, whose experience bar in potion-making was at zero, let her gaze drift away.
"..."
Durandal fell silent.
After a long moment, she managed to ask with difficulty.
"Are you telling me you don't have the antidote?"
Miss Rita nodded very honestly.
"However, what is certain is that the Captain definitely has the antidote."
When she had first obtained the potion, she had taken a sip out of curiosity and her body had also regressed to fourteen or fifteen years old. It was Li Zihan who had cured her.
The specific method was... bodily fluid exchange.
Yes, that old pervert had clearly lost his self-control after seeing Miss Rita in a state other than her usual mature form.
But, that hadn't been so bad.
After transforming into a loli, Rita had discovered that a certain someone, worried that his size would not be compatible and would injure the female's pelvis, had also rejuvenated himself. Miss Rita couldn't help but lick her lips at the memory.
The Captain in his youth was every bit as cute as Lady Durandal or Lady Luna Kindred.
She really wanted to just bury him in her chest and slowly have her way with him... ahem.
How improper of me.
The Scummy Maid, who was probably Honkai Impact 3rd's number one lolicon, coughed inwardly.
---o---
So, if I want the antidote, does that mean I have to hurry and find the Captain, who's traveling with Raiden Mei to the era of the Second Honkai Eruption?
Durandal, who was feeling a deep sense of unease, felt her heart sink.
Although her teacher had called her a blockhead, that didn't mean she was a fool.
The Second Herrscher, Sirin, had seen her.
And what's more, she had called her a "cheating cat."
In all likelihood, her own future was somehow tied to the Captain.
Durandal, who thoroughly disliked the scumbag and couldn't even imagine what kind of life she would lead if they got together, instinctively wanted to avoid that possibility.
The possibility of her becoming the Captain's prey.
"Never mind. I'll just stay here and wait for the Captain," Durandal mumbled.
She didn't want to go to the era of the Second Honkai Eruption.
Or rather, she didn't want to, in that era, fall in love with a man completely unworthy of her love.
So, if she just doesn't go, she can change history... right?
Durandal thought, trying to evade a possible future.
And then, Rita's voice reached her ears.
"Um, Lady Durandal, if you want to break the potion's curse, you'd best go find the Director quickly."
"Why?"
For some reason, Durandal felt a profound sense of crisis.
"Because the Captain might not be staying in this world much longer."
"If you don't find him before he leaves, your body..."
"...won't be able to return to normal?"
Durandal's face turned pale.