Multiversal: The Shop

Now vote everyone! And I’ll consistently update daily, I need more exposure and competition to actually keep me going.

Also, the quality may or may not be the same quality as I usually write with no plans it whatsoever as my writing style is merely a burst of inspiration.

But I do my best to stay consistent with the story, also give me some ideas that I might add if I find it good or interesting and do tell if I forget something along the way.

---

It was a headache trying to explain my situation to Ai, since it was eventually going to be exposed sooner or later. I told her about Gilgamesh.

About my complicated relationship with her, well, not really complicated- more like a fling that went a bit far.

The irony wasn’t lost to me, considering it’s essentially my relationship with Ai before I found out about our children.

Upon knowing that I had another woman pregnant, her reaction was less than pleasant; what was I expecting anyway? Her being happy?

That would be more terrifying than her being angry and disappointed at me; at the very least, she has genuine feelings for me and isn’t indifferent.

Ai didn’t want to look at me right now and wanted some space, which I will give her.

From her perspective, some random woman who appeared out of nowhere suddenly gifted her a nice green hat.

If it were me, it wouldn’t be just my reaction. I would do way worse.

My children naturally heard this, and now they also didn’t want to talk to me. I can’t really blame them, considering both of them are very biased toward their mother.

Compared to me, who just appeared in their lives just a while ago, it’s no surprise that they would favor their mother more than me.

After this, I have no secret to tell, or did I?

Anyway, I will go to the shop to check what’s going on.

And with a snap of my fingers, half of the universe’s population disappeared- just kidding!

I disappeared from the face of the earth and appeared at my shop.

The first thing I witnessed was this witch hat lady with a black and purple theme arguing about something with my staff.

Looking at her, she’s very pretty. I’d argue that her beauty stands within Gil and D, which is a very high standard.

But her boobs...well, they are very pitifully small; they’re even smaller than Mitsuha!

Like a sixth sense, the woman seemed to realize that I was staring at her and looked at me with that proud and arrogant look on her face that essentially says ’I am better than you’.

"Oh? Is this the shop owner you mentioned?" The witch-themed woman said.

Archer nodded and replied, "Yes, so don’t bother me anymore and ask him questions instead. The owner of this shop knows more than me. Now, if you excuse me, I still have work to do."

Then the former counter guardian immediately left the scene as if afraid of being called back by her.

This made the witch woman snort, knowing that he was basically running from her, but she didn’t mind, as there was a better source of information in front of her.

"Since you’re here, I’d appreciate it if you answered my questions." The woman was blunt and straightforward.

"Of course, but first I’d like to know your name. I’ll introduce myself first. My name is Alexander Barthomeloi, the owner of this shop." I said.

Then it was her turn to introduce herself. "The Herta, #83 Of the Genius Society. Although that title means absolutely nothing here."

—

A few hours ago,

Inside the Herta Space Station, in the middle of her fixing and debugging the Simulated Universe, her body suddenly paused as she noticed a door made out of light because of how shiny it was.

A normal person would have been cautious, maybe afraid. However, Herta wasn’t a normal person seeing this anomaly; her first reaction was curiosity.

"What type of curio is this? I refuse to believe that this was a coincidence; this must be intentional." Herta didn’t carelessly touch the door as most guests do; rather, she scanned it using her method and showed absolutely no sign of harmful energy.

But instead, the door radiated a type of energy that she had no record of; it’s an entirely different kind, one that is unique and new.

Her curiosity burned brighter; this was a discovery that no one else had yet to uncover.

And after testing it a few times, double check, triple-checked just to make sure that there was no mistake or odd anomalies surrounding this door.

She could finally take another step. As much as she likes to just study this new type of energy herself, what interests her more is whatever this door leads to.

It was obvious that this door was some sort of gateway to another place, whether it was a planet from another galaxy or somewhere entirely different, like, say, another dimension.

Her gut was telling her that beyond that door were opportunities beyond imagination.

So, she tried having her puppets open the door, but it wouldn’t budge at all, which confirmed her theory that this door was specifically for her to enter.

Standing at the door in front of her, debating whether she should go inside or not.

In the end, she chose to go. As a genius, her curiosity is significantly higher than everyone else in the cosmos; any genius, without a doubt, has the same nature as her.

For it is their curse and strength; they simply could not stop their curiosity, to feel that they need to know even if it means death.

Without hesitation, she opened the door and went inside to see what was beyond it.

And to her surprise, the location wasn’t something she expected. It was some sort of establishment.

Then the next thing she noticed was that she couldn’t use her path; most people in her situation would probably panic, but she wasn’t most people.

From the beginning, she never relied on a pathstrider ability; rather, it was nothing but a reliable tool for mere convenience.

Her greatest asset has always been her intelligence.

Looking more into it, her path didn’t really disappear or get sealed; rather, it was merely suppressed by this very place.

’How intriguing.’

Just like that, her interest spiked to another notch; she wanted to understand how this works so that she could replicate it herself.

Because she’s absolutely confident that she would crack this mechanism in time, to a genius like her, the most important thing is the question itself rather than the answer.

To her it’s a matter of ’when’ and not ’how’.

Then she found a person at what looked to be a counter; she strode closer with confidence, as nothing in this place could threaten her.

"Hey, you there! Are you the owner of this place?" She got closer to the man, only to find out that this person was tall.

But she remained unfazed, kept her eyes on the man, who she admitted had quite a pleasing appearance, but not as good-looking as her, obviously.

Emiya stared at the woman in front of him, and seeing her, he suddenly felt like this woman was quite similar to Rin.

That demanding tone of hers certainly is a trait of Tohsaka.

Herta couldn’t help but feel like she was being compared to someone; normally, this would offend her and have a long conversation about how perfect she is, and no one could compare to her in both beauty and intellect.

But as for now, her interest lies in the building itself and how it functions.

Emiya replied bluntly. "No, I’m merely just a worker for this establishment."

"Tsk, whatever. Say, do you know how this place functions? How could it suppress energies? Can’t it also suppress other kinds of energies, not just the paths but also..." Herta kept asking questions nonstop.

Emiya immediately felt lost at the very start of the conversation; to begin with, he wasn’t smart, and he had literally no idea about half of the questions she asked him.

And Herta seemed to notice this despite the man not changing his expression once, but to someone at her level, a micro change in someone’s face is enough for her to analyze and determine what the other party is thinking.

Seeing that she wouldn’t get an answer from this guy, Herta immediately lost interest in him and wanted to move on to a different topic that could get her answers.

"Where’s the owner of this establishment? I want to meet them right now." Having no patience for people who don’t interest her, she immediately asked him where the owner was.

Emiya finally couldn’t help but compare her to Rin once again. Why is it always those who have a petite body and are intellectual who always have such strong personalities?

Instead of being offended by her blunt attitude, he actually felt more at ease with this, as he was very much familiar with these types.

Herta’s eyes narrowed at him. "Are you comparing me to someone? Let me tell you, no one is as beautiful and perfect as I. Whoever you’re comparing me with, they aren’t a single percent as pretty as I am."

Emiya had the urge to roll his eyes at this woman’s narcissism; even Rin wasn’t this narcissistic with herself.

Sure, she’s confident of her looks, but not to the point of self-love, like this one.

"Yes, yes, you’re correct, milady, but to answer your previous question, the owner isn’t here at the moment. If you really want to meet him, then I’ll call them." If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s not giving a single shit about her claims, sure she’s very beautiful, but she can’t compare to his white moonlight. No matter how beautiful she may be, it simply can’t be compared to his first love.

Herta smirked at the ’compliment’; she’s very aware of the sarcasm, yes, but the thought counts. "That I am, and do call the owner as I have questions, lots of them."

Then at that moment of their conversation, another person arrived and Herta immediately realized that this person must be the owner.

Finally, she could get the answers she wanted.

And back to the present.

—

A/N: Madam Herta is a peerless gem!

Madam Herta is an unrivaled genius!

Madam Herta is an inimitable beauty!