‘Deriving meaning in useless things.’
Herta thought of the idea posited by her closest assistant. Her eyes scanned their full round table. Each was filled with scholars conversing to her about a specific field of study. These respected figures act high-and-mighty to the outside world, but in her presence, they humbled themselves.
The massive gap between their cognition and Herta’s cognition was too much to the point everyone stopped viewing her as a “human”. She is a Goddess of Wisdom, a Witch blessed by the universe with eyes to explore its most hidden truths. An era-defining figure who could lead The Blue to higher levels all by herself. That was why…
She did not bother to understand others.
These figures who thought of themselves as her “peers” were boring in her eyes. What was once a complex human mind turns one-tracked the moment Herta was added into the equation. They are one-dimensional, so to speak. Like mere puppets playing on a stage.
That was what she had thought… until she finally met someone interesting. At first, he acted just like others. Envious. Intimidated. Inferior. Every single bad label could be slapped on Sirius’ face. No amount of feigned calmness could save him from a disastrous first impression. However, everything changed after his first consultation. Sirius did not continue treading the path of a one-dimensional character. For reasons even Herta could not fathom, his fear, apprehension, and inferiority complex coalesced together with head-on stupidity. Thus forming Sirius’ unstoppable charge towards his sole goal:
Herta’s validation.
Unsurprisingly, she understood it fully well. That was what she found interesting the most, hence she humored him. She judged everything based on her own standards. Every rejection spurned on the usual feelings one would get from Herta. Yet, he never stopped showing a new side to her: embarrassment, straightforwardness, and even rejecting some of her personal ideas.
Everything no one could show her—no one dared to say to her—he did.
Amidst the gala’s dim lighting and the incessant chatter of the people on her table’s seat, Herta’s eyes landed on the silent Sirius. She could see the typical “black clouds” (i.e., dreary thoughts) floating atop his head.
‘Useless… I suppose it is not truly useless.’ Her gaze turned to the others. ‘...but they are.’
Herta stood up from her seat, jolting one of the scholars discussing something. Everyone stopped talking and turned their eyes on her.
“I want to get some fresh air. Assistant.”
“...Yes.”
Everyone could only stare at their fading backs in utter silence, still savoring the majestic presence in their minds.
*****
‘The award event’s at ten…’
Sirius pulled back the sleeves at his left hand after peeking at his wristwatch. The cold night breeze brushed past his cheek, sending shivers to his skin. Matching the gala’s grand scale, it was held in an extremely huge marble castle dating back from The Blue’s medieval era. It is the most luxurious historical site up to date, restored through advanced construction technology to ensure structural integrity while retaining its appearance.
The ten-storey-tall castle fitted the description of a “fortress” more. Its figure blocked most of the moonlight’s glow, casting long stretched out shadows over the main flower garden. Instead of forming an underwhelming sight, however, some of the flowers began emitting a soft white glow. They illuminated the entire garden, forming a nigh-mystical view like nothing Sirius had seen before. They perfectly complemented the beauty that was right beside him, making him dazed.
“Helianthus marianum… Do you know what makes them fascinating, assistant?”
Herta’s question extracted him out of his dazed state. He was about to instinctively say “you” when he forcefully stopped himself. Sirius tried his best to recall information about these flowers, but to no avail.
“I don’t know.”
He replied without an ounce of shame. Herta peeked at him in the corner of her sight before she nodded.
“Many thought of their glow as a result of a biochemical process. Like how fireflies emit their light. However, that was not the case…”
Herta’s research never stagnated since the moment she was two-years-old. Eight years of unrelenting attitude to seek the truth allowed her to answer countless problems that troubled the world for decades, if not centuries.
The Helianthus marianum (lit. Sun’s Thistle) is a special species of flowers that emit light without any biochemical processes. Such a process does not conform to the law of conservation of mass and energy. Something that appears out of nothing was enough to confound the scientific community… until Herta came.
Through her controlled experiments, she managed to discover a brand new type of energy from another dimension. As if Herta had seen the nametag plastered to it, she gave it the name “Imaginary Energy”.
Herta’s explanation stunned Sirius. He never thought she had long discovered the existence of Imaginary Energy.
‘Imaginary Tree… and the Aeons. It is only a matter of time.’
The thought of seeing Herta’s ascension into an Emanator of Nous filled him with complex thoughts. It gave him an impending sense of crisis. Once she gains that status, Herta’s already monstrous genius would become a class of its own. Sirius would no longer have a chance of coming up with something that would earn her approval.
‘No… this won’t work.’
It could be tomorrow. It could be five years later, or even decades if his arrival changed things. Sirius does not know. The biggest clue he had was the “Solitary Waves Theory”. His fondness with ‘certainty’ does not allow him to place his bets on something as unstable as that.
‘I need to be faster!’
This sharp thought pierced through everything in his mind. His eyes gained a renewed sharp look. Herta seemingly felt it and turned to look at him once more, caught off guard by his firm gaze.
Just as she was about to say something, a mindless yell entered their ears. They looked towards its source in unison—a drunk man with a loosened necktie. His black coat hung on his shoulders as his cheeks held a noticeable red blush. His manic eyes locked onto Herta, desperation evident from it. Sirius felt something was wrong the moment the drunk man laid his eyes on Herta. The moment he approached the two, Sirius became more alert.
“I… dwon’t… down… like this..!”
The whiskey bottle in his hand flew straight in their direction. Everything happened in an instant. Sirius’ body took control by itself as he ran swiftly and shielded Herta’s small body in front.
Shatter-!
The bottle grazed a part of his right skull, causing it to shatter into fragments. Sirius’ pull also caused the two to fall to the ground. The superimposed sensations sent his mind spinning. His ears let out a buzzing sound as he grasped the back of his head with his right hand. The sticky sensation made him certain it was blood.
Badump.
Badump.
Adrenaline coursed through his veins. Sirius swiftly recovered. Much to the dazed Herta’s surprise, he stood up. He killed the impulsive thought of rushing straight towards the man as he peeked at his reaction. The drunk man’s widened eyes were filled with a hint of madness Sirius had never seen. His heart turned cold at the sight of it, more so when he started to rush straight to them.
‘To pick her up? Or to run away?’
Five meters wasn’t huge of a distance. Sirius’ mind acted fast, choosing the first option. His body tensed up, ready to meet the charging man, when a slight shaking sound came from his back. The drunk man’s eyes rolled back into whites as he fell headfirst to the ground.
“I did not expect for it to come useful anytime soon.”
Sirius turned his head towards Herta. She stood up and patted the dirt and mud sticking to her luxurious dress. A small handgun was held in her right hand. Feeling his curious looks, she explained:
“It is a special device that renders someone unconscious. Scanning its target and sending a unique brain wave pattern to make them fall unconscious…”
The rest of the explanation did not enter his ears. All he could think of was “damn, that was cool” before he started feeling dizzy. His abnormal reaction caught Herta’s eyes. Then she saw the blood trickling down his neck. It stained his white collar crimson red. The darkness of the night made it harder to notice his wound. She did not say anything and began to pull his right hand over. His eyes met Herta’s, briefly reminding him of the finest jewel he had seen, before dizziness took over once more.
The rest of the events no longer registered in Sirius’ ears. Herta found one of the gala’s staff and had him treated. The gala’s main programme was halted due to this huge event. The security assigned by the organizers took the blame despite them apprehending the drunk man.
Nobody noticed him sneaking out of the gala with an entire bottle of whiskey, which was a dereliction of duty. Their work of prohibiting dangerous items meant nothing when the Federation’s most treasured jewel was endangered.
As for the drunk man himself, apparently he was a down-and-out researcher who committed a serious accident during one of his experiments, killing more than a dozen. His life was thoroughly ruined, with him being invited to the gala as a mere formality. A final gift for a genius who worked for the Federation for years. Perhaps it was his unwillingness to go down by himself that he sought other targets… and Herta happened to be the perfect one at the perfect time.
Thus, the annual gala immaturely ended in a chaotic manner.
*****
‘Things went down like spy movies…’
Sirius does not have a background of sparring with others. He simply lucked out on his Baji one time which prompted him to spend more time perfecting his stances and the likes. He could not practice it on others as nearly all of the moves were designed to break bones. Him having to reconsider things was perfectly reasonable.
Still, the high-tech stun gun Herta pulled out of nowhere caught him off guard.
‘Compared to me, she is the spy.’
Sirius rubbed his head, feeling the rough texture of the taped medical gauze on the back of his head. The bottle strike wounded him despite trying his best to dodge. Though if he acted any later, it might not have been him sitting on the hospital bed, but Herta.
He could not understand himself. He shouldn’t have had any sense of responsibility towards her. Yet during that time, his body acted first before his mind; and its first thought was to push her away from harm.
Whether it was utmost foolishness or his desire to gain her validation this way…
Sirius did not know.
Feeling slightly lethargic, he passed his time staring outside the hospital window. The quiet air conditioning and the pure white background of the room brought peace to his mind. He caught sight of the basket of fruits and the empty chair inside the room, a sigh escaping his lips.
Back in his previous life, he had a caring family to be with. He was the middle child in-between his two sisters. Perhaps that was the reason why Sirius acted instinctively. Herta is the closest “friend” he ever has, followed by his mentor as his parental figure.
As for his parents in this life, they were divorced. He ended up being taken care of by his grandfather who passed away when he was five. Since then, he ended up living alone, with his allowance taken care of by his parents. It was very ironic that the two of them built new families on their own without ever being reminded of him—not until he found success.
By then, Sirius no longer wanted any connection with them. His parental connection with them was cut off, with his mentor being his legal guardian. Dealing with them was mentally exhausting for Sirius. He was rather fortunate he already dealt with that matter before meeting Herta.
The sound of the hospital door opening interrupted his thoughts. A familiar short figure entered his sight. The upper cloak attached to her shoulders fluttered along with the hem of her skirt. Her usual purple beret remained limply stable atop her head.
(Source: https://x.com/genshou_ex/status/1949377414444052722)
The overflowing elegance with every step along with her haughty confidence made it clear Herta wasn’t fazed by the events of last night.
“Have you slept well, assistant?”
The words of concern spoken with her usual confident tone felt a tad bit warmer than Sirius expected.