Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~
[March 7th]: Miss Lumina, we've arrived at the space station.
[March 7th]: But this place...
[March 7th]: [Image.jpg]
When Welt and Sunday arrived at the platform of the Herta Space Station, they stared at the pitch-black expanse before them. They exchanged a glance, seeing the confusion and surprise reflected in each other's eyes.
Welt immediately pulled out his phone and sent a message to Lumina.
Fortunately, thanks to Lumina's earlier instructions, Welt and Sunday didn't have to hesitate about whether to venture into the darkened station.
[Lumina]: Oh, that? It's a minor issue. Herta's conducting a rather dangerous experiment, so she cleared everyone out of the station.
[Lumina]: Hmm, of course, "everyone" doesn't include me.
[March 7th]: I see.
[March 7th]: So, Miss Lumina...?
[Lumina]: Just wait for me at the platform. I'm on my way now.
[March 7th]: Understood.
"Hmm... It was Black Swan who directed the Astral Express to Amphoreus. Does that mean she... knows something?"
"Or perhaps, she's hiding something?"
Lumina ended her chat with Welt, put away her phone, and sat up from the sofa, her mind racing.
To be honest, Lumina wasn't the type to judge a beautiful girl's character based on first impressions.
But, to be even more honest, when it came to Black Swan, Lumina made an exception.
Ever since she witnessed Black Swan confidently lift her swan-like neck at the Penacony ball, only to be "hand-shredded" by Acheron, Lumina had slapped various labels on her: "stupid woman," "all talk, no skill," and "unlucky fool."
She couldn't help it. Watching Black Swan stride into the ball with such self-assurance, only to be torn apart and then stumble out trembling... you'd have to be a saint not to laugh. (Thumbs up.jpg)
"Then again, this 'all talk, no skill' attitude probably isn't entirely Black Swan's own fault..." Thinking this, Lumina shifted her gaze to Herta and shook her head with a hint of exasperation.
"It's probably because of the Garden of Recollection's influence."
"Just because they're Memetic Entities, they think they can recklessly pry into anyone's Remembrance. If that's not 'all talk, no skill,' what is?"
Lumina had sensed it long ago: a Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection had secretly infiltrated the mirror, attempting to steal Herta's... no, attempting to steal the memory of Nous, the Erudition, while Herta was having an audience with Them...
Was this Memokeeper genuinely foolish or just pretending? At least Black Swan had been "hand-shredded" by Acheron without knowing her true identity.
This Memokeeper, on the other hand, knew full well Madam Herta's power and that she was trying to steal the Remembrance of an Aeon, yet she still charged in headfirst...
That was more March 7th than March 7th herself. Lumina couldn't help but be impressed...
"Hmm... I should have captured that Memokeeper from the start."
"As a member of the Garden of Recollection, she must know something."
Lumina felt a pang of regret.
But it didn't really matter. Knowing Herta's personality, she would surely capture the Memokeeper and punish her.
When the time comes, if Lumina needs the Memokeeper for anything, she can just ask Herta for her.
Without dwelling on it further, Lumina took one last look at Herta, checked her current state, and, finding no issues, withdrew her gaze.
She stepped forward lightly, opened the door lightly, closed it lightly, and lightly left the room...
"..."
"That girl... Did I ever tell her that the energy released when Nous, the Erudition, casts Their gaze is enough to annihilate some Pathstriders..."
Not long after Lumina's quiet departure, Herta, who had been lying on the floor, opened her eyes. She stared resentfully in the direction Lumina had left.
"Oh well. Luckily, because of that little Memokeeper, I hadn't activated all the procedures yet."
"The losses aren't too great."
"I'll just play the victim later and pin all the blame on Lumina..."
With this thought, Madam Herta slowly rose from the floor, brushed off the non-existent dust from her clothes, tossed her hair, put away the mirror beside her, and strode out of the office...
-
"Miss Lumina, we meet again."
Herta Space Station, Platform
Lumina met with Welt and Sunday.
"Mr. Yang, let's keep this brief. Tell me about March's symptoms," Lumina said, cutting straight to the point, clearly not in the mood for a long-winded explanation.
"Miss Lumina, here's what happened."
"..."
Welt nodded and recounted the entire sequence of events: following Black Swan's advice to head to Amphoreus; March 7th's sudden distress; separating the train cars to allow Stelle, Dan Heng, and Little Swarm to enter Amphoreus; the subsequent loss of contact; March 7th's worsening condition; and finally, her being re-encased in Six-Phase Ice.
"Hmm..." After listening to the whole story, Lumina pondered for a moment before sharing her hypothesis. "Based on the photos and your account, I suspect March is missing either her soul or her memories."
"Without a soul or the maintenance provided by memories, the body would naturally deteriorate like this."
"A missing soul... or memories..." Hearing this, Welt and Sunday both fell into deep thought.
"That's possible." Sunday nodded in agreement with Lumina's hypothesis.
"Miss March's body grew exceptionally weak the moment she came into contact with Amphoreus."
"At first, I thought she was being affected by something similar to the Memoria of the Asdana Star System. But considering our own stable conditions and the severity of Miss March's symptoms, it seems our initial diagnosis was wrong."
Sunday recalled the results of his Harmonization with March 7th and continued, "Miss March was indeed affected by some external factor, but this factor... targeted only her."
"Why? Could it be that March..." Welt's eyes widened as he began to grasp the implication.
"Yes," Lumina nodded, affirming Welt's unspoken thought. "It's likely that March has a connection to Amphoreus—or to someone, something, or some event within it."
"Could Amphoreus be connected to March's background?"
"I can't be sure about that." Lumina shook her head. "We can't rule out the possibility that someone inside is simply interested in March."
"I see... So all the clues point to Amphoreus..." Welt muttered to himself.
Tap... tap... tap...
"Hehehe, just as I thought. There's something very strange about this Amphoreus."
"The Droid Head has gazed upon countless worlds, and every single one is deeply etched in my mind. How could one have slipped through the cracks?"
Just then, footsteps echoed, accompanied by a familiar voice.
"Herta? What are you doing here?"
"Did your Droid Head go missing?"
Surprised, Lumina turned toward the sound.
There stood Herta, wearing her signature pointed witch hat.
"Madam Herta," Welt greeted the newcomer.
"Madam Herta." Following Welt's lead, Sunday also turned and offered a greeting.
"Hmph, I've said it before. The energy released by the Droid Head's gaze is enough to turn everyone on the Space Station to ash."
"And that, of course, includes these two newcomers." Herta crossed her arms and snorted coldly.
Before Lumina could speak, Herta pressed on, seizing the initiative. "Lumina, this time, the problem is yours."
"To ensure their safety, I had to withdraw from a crucial step in my audience with an Aeon."
"Do you have any idea how many materials that process requires?"
To make her performance more convincing, Herta held out a hand, her expression blank as if stating a simple fact.
"..." Lumina stared at Herta for a moment before asking, "Oh? And just how many materials would that be? How many Credit Points did it cost?"
"Er..." Herta's eyes widened as her mind raced.
After a moment, she said, "I wouldn't know. Asta prepared everything. If you want to ask, go ask Asta."
"Heh. Weren't all those materials and Credit Points Asta's? What business is it of yours?"
"Even if I were to compensate someone, it would be Asta. What does this have to do with you, Madam Herta? Not a single damn thing."
Lumina countered Herta with a few sharp words, a smile fixed on her face.
"What do you mean it has nothing to do with me? Isn't my time money?"
"Do you know how many problems I can solve in a single second?"
Though Herta's only role was to write the materials list, leaving Asta to handle the rest, she conveniently ignored that fact. After all, wasn't the time she spent writing the list and conducting experiments still time?
"Heh." Lumina simply smiled and, mirroring Herta's earlier sentence structure, replied, "And I was standing guard for you."
"As you know, my time is far more precious than money."
"Do you know how many planets I can save in a single second?"
Lumina spoke calmly, her smile unwavering. When she mentioned saving lives, she didn't even use "people" as the unit of measurement—she used "planets."
And she wasn't exaggerating.
It was true. When she saved lives, she really did measure her work in planets.
Otherwise, if she measured by individuals, she'd have to count every single person on a planet after saving it. Wouldn't that be completely insane?
"But my presence here, forcing my experiment to halt, is undeniable proof," Herta retorted. "I don't care. You must compensate me."
Since her being there proved she wasn't conducting her experiment, Herta decided to just be shamelessly unreasonable.
"Fine... How about a gold star as compensation?" Seeing Herta's rare display of petulance, Lumina chuckled. She flicked her little finger toward Herta's chest, and another gold star materialized there.
Herta: "..."
Welt and Sunday: "..."
"Er..." Welt and Sunday, standing to the side, watched the exchange between Lumina and Herta. They glanced at each other, their eyes filled with mutual confusion and uncertainty.
Even Sunday, even Welt, had no idea whether they should intervene in a situation like this.
But judging by Herta and Lumina's current demeanor, they probably wouldn't come to blows over it, right?
If they weren't going to fight, then it should be fine, right?
To be honest, after witnessing this private moment between Madam Herta and Miss Lumina, Welt was even a little worried that he and Sunday might be silenced...
But fortunately, the personas they presented to the public were also genuine. Even after seeing how they interacted, neither Herta nor Lumina showed any inclination to kill them to keep the secret.
"Alright, alright, enough of that," Herta said, glancing down at the two ugly gold stars on her chest but making no move to remove them.
Her gaze shifted to Welt and Sunday, her tone returning to its usual flat arrogance. "Now, let's talk about Amphoreus."
"Madam Herta, do you have a lead?" Welt asked immediately.
"I don't, but someone else does." With that, a mirror materialized beside Herta. She reached out, her hand touching the mirror's surface. With a flick of her wrist, she dragged a Memokeeper out from within.
"That's... someone from the Garden of Recollection." Welt adjusted his glasses, instantly recognizing the figure's affiliation.
"Correct. This is a Memokeeper," Herta announced, stating the Memokeeper's "accomplishment." "A brazen one who dared to try and peek into the memories of Nous, the Erudition."
"I really don't know where you people from the Garden of Recollection find such courage," Lumina remarked, shaking her head in disbelief as she looked at the Memokeeper Herta had captured. "You're not even an Emanator, yet you dared to spy on an Aeon's memories."
"Lady... Lady Lumina, save me! Please, save me!" Thrown from the mirror by Herta, the Memokeeper immediately fixed her gaze on Lumina. She began crawling toward her, desperate to cling to her legs and beg for forgiveness.
But...
"Hey, are you confused about something?" Just as the Memokeeper was about to reach Lumina, Herta stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"Madam Herta is the one who caught you, not Lumina."
"What good will begging her do?"
This time, Herta's tone was laced with unmistakable displeasure.
"I... I..." The Memokeeper was clearly terrified speechless, stammering incoherently.
"Heh. Memokeeper, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself," Herta said with a cold smile.
"Tell us everything you remember about Amphoreus..."