Inside a lounge, where the tables were more than half full and the air leaned warm with quiet conversation, Noel sat with Serah across from him, as she continued scanning the menu.
After a short walk — one where the tension in the air only seemed to rise — they had decided to sit down. And now, here they were.
Noel kept observing Serah as she ordered all kinds of sweets, while he chose something cold to drink for himself.
He pondered what kind of information he could try pulling from her, when suddenly — without warning — Elysia appeared behind Serah, stepping out from empty air.
No one around them seemed to make a fuss about her sudden appearance, and that naturally intrigued him.
"I’ll get jealous if you keep staring at Elysia like that," Serah said.
Her tone was one of playful pouting, but her expression carried something darker.
Noel didn’t comment on any of it though. He simply turned his gaze back to her and changed the subject.
He asked about the phenomenon of those strange dimensions appearing.
And Serah, while stuffing herself with sweets, gave a half-hearted response at first.
She explained that these so-called "dimensions" were more like shards of broken worlds — fragments that had somehow survived their destruction. And for reasons unknown, some of those shards ended up on Earth, overlapping with its space.
As for how their worlds were destroyed in the first place?
She didn’t bother to explain.
Still chewing, she added that there were all kinds of dimensions out there — but with a lazy wave of her hand and a casual, "Can’t be bothered," she made it clear she had no intention of going into detail.
Noel didn’t press her for that, though. Instead, he asked a more focused question:
How exactly do these dimensions appear? What’s the process behind the overlap?
This time, she gave him a more satisfying answer.
"Well, it’s literally like I said — space overlapping. The dimension would just press into our space," she replied, finally putting down her fork.
"The size of the overlapping area varies, but say a region is normally about ten kilometers wide... after the overlap, that same area, the space of it would stretch and twist until it becomes a hundred kilometers. The area gets... weird. Warped. Like it’s bending to fit both spaces at once."
She gestured lazily toward the window.
"At the edges of that warped zone, signals get picked up — that’s how we detect them."
Noel expected her to stop — but Serah kept going.
"Of course, these areas aren’t just left alone. Dimensions that overlap with Earth aren’t stable. They’re a threat, even if they’re interesting. And that’s where witches come in."
She tilted her head toward Elysia, who stood silently behind her.
"Strong witches, like Elysia behind me. They intervene and sever the shard from Earth’s space before it spreads too far. Then, they anchor the dimension — either into an object, or into a fixed location, like a door or a gateway."
She licked the icing from her finger, then smiled toward him.
"So if you’re thinking, ’Maybe I’ll go wander around and stumble into one of these dimensions,’" she said with mock sympathy, "you can toss that idea right out. You won’t find them that easily."
Noel didn’t comment on her assumptions and just smiled faintly, before saying, "How about we move on from the dimension talk, and shift to the witches?"
"I’m pretty curious about them."
His gaze gleamed as it lingered on Elysia, and Serah immediately narrowed her eyes at the sight.
"So, you really are interested in her!"
Noel shook his head. "You know it’s not her specifically that I’m interested in, right?"
Despite what he said, Serah still seemed dissatisfied.
"Well, either way, the witches aren’t what they used to be. Now, they’re one of the four main factions in the world," she said, her tone firm.
"So don’t do something reckless and get yourself killed. The Cross family, which is barely standing as it is, can’t even dream of facing them."
What kind of reckless thing did she imagine?
Noel sensed something off in her words.
Still, he didn’t dwell on it, and simply said, "I don’t have anything reckless in mind. So, tell me more about them."
Serah stared at him for a moment as he pressed on the witch topic. Then, without a word, she gestured to Elysia to explain, while she herself continued eating.
Elysia nodded silently, her expression unreadable.
She began to explain.
That the witches were all women, first of all. Then, that most of them were gathered under one single faction — and only rarely would a few, like her, remain outside of it.
She went on, detailing how their power was a little different from the rest of the hidden society — the distinction lying in Laws.
Because of that difference, they were able to do things others simply couldn’t.
She didn’t delve much into the Law thing, before finally dropping a piece of information that lit up his eyes.
Which was that witches would do anything for money.
"Then, can you introduce me to one of them?" Noel asked.
But Elysia didn’t reply to his question. Instead, she turned her gaze to Serah — who looked at him playfully, and said, "Well, we’re still not close enough for me to help introduce one of them, right?"
Noel stared at Serah for a few seconds, at her smug expression — then suddenly burst out laughing and didn’t insist any further.
He thought to himself that he should probably look into the situation inside the simulation. It was a direction he could pursue.
But then, Serah suddenly said, "If it’s for dealing with your condition, then don’t bother. Only the Witch Queen might hold a solution for you. No other witch could help."
"And reaching her? Don’t even dream of that~"
At her words, Noel simply smiled while sipping from his drink, undiscouraged.
Seeing that, Serah — who had finally finished her sweets — couldn’t help but raise her eyebrow.
She strangely found herself more and more hooked by the kind of confidence he was displaying.
And so, without quite realizing it, she moved from her seat and sat beside him.
Her eyes, now glowing with intrigue, locked onto his as she suddenly asked,
"Do you like being on top... or on the bottom?"
Now... where was this coming from?
Noel blinked, caught a little off guard.
And Serah, finding his reaction unexpectedly cute — in contrast to the hot and sexy impression he first gave her — had her eyes gleam with something she herself didn’t quite understand.
Her hand moved gently to his cheek, fingers brushing softly against his skin.
"I’ve never done it before," she whispered.
Then, after that sudden and breathless confession, she looked him straight in the eyes and in a voice even more low, she asked, "Do you want to be my first?"
Elysia, still standing on the other side of the table, nearly tripped at what she heard.
And Noel, once again, found himself asking,
’Are you sure you’re really not crazy already?’