Chapter 41: March 7th and Stelle's Mutual Narcissism
"If you want to catch him, you'd better move fast," Herta advised, her tone carrying a rare hint of urgency beneath its usual dry cadence. "He has already made up his mind to board the Astral Express. Once that train makes the jump, tracking his coordinates will be a massive headache."
She gave a slight shrug, her puppet joints clicking faintly in the quiet room. "After all, as you well know, the Express wanders the cosmos. Pinning it down is no simple feat." Herta shot Ruan Mei a look that clearly communicated one thing: act now, or lose your prize entirely.
"I understand," Ruan Mei murmured, her eyes gleaming with a quiet, intense focus. "I will depart immediately."
Meanwhile, lightyears away, the parlor car of the Astral Express was practically bursting with noise. The atmosphere was warm, smelling faintly of roasted coffee beans and interstellar stardust. At Leon's mischievous suggestion, the crew had gathered around the central lounge to play a round of Who is the Undercover.
"This one has a notoriously bad temper," Dan Heng stated. He glanced at the holographic card in his hand—which displayed the word Horse—and delivered his first clue with his usual calm, unbothered tone.
"Oh! I want to ride this and gallop!" Stelle's golden eyes sparkled with excitement. She stared at her own Horse keyword, already daydreaming about the wind whipping through her hair as she charged across an open plain. "It feels like it would be incredibly cool!"
Sitting across from them, March 7th felt her brain completely short-circuit.
'Ride this and gallop?'She peeked down at her own keyword: Pom-Pom.'Riding Pom-Pom and galloping?!'
Pfft!
She slapped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking violently as she fought back a sudden urge to wheeze. The mental image of Stelle saddling up their fluffy, big-eared Conductor and screaming at the top of her lungs was simply too much to handle.
"Then... you are very daring!" March 7th managed to squeak out, her face turning pink from stifling her laughter.
She cleared her throat, desperately trying to compose herself. "I think it's very cute!" She chose her words carefully, trying to make her description fit Pom-Pom without giving away her hand. She already had a sinking suspicion that she was the odd one out.
"This one has incredibly soft fur," Himeko chimed in. She sat gracefully on the velvet sofa, taking a slow, elegant sip of her black coffee, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
"You can't just hop on and ride it casually," Leon mused, rubbing his chin with feigned seriousness. "You have to tame it first. Otherwise, it's definitely going to kick you." As he spoke, his gaze casually drifted over to March 7th, a wicked glint flashing in his eyes.
'Tame it? Tame Pom-Pom?!'March 7th bit the inside of her cheek so hard it stung.'Someone save me, taming Pom-Pom is way too funny.'
"This... doesn't sound quite right..." she protested weakly, her voice trembling with suppressed giggles.
"What's wrong with it? That's perfectly normal," Leon countered, raising a single brow. He had already figured out exactly who the undercover agent was. March's reactions were about as subtle as a supernova.
"It's fine, there's no need to tame it. I actually prefer the fierce ones," Caelus declared, nodding with absolute, deadpan sincerity. "The more it resists, the more excited I get!"
March 7th practically imploded. She clutched her stomach, burying her face in a throw pillow as silent, breathless laughter wracked her frame. Pairing Caelus's unhinged dialogue with the image of a struggling Pom-Pom was a lethal comedic combo.
"This one... runs very fast," Welt offered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a helpless, weary sigh.
"Alright, that's everyone. Let's cast our votes," Leon announced, a lazy smile spreading across his face. "I vote for March 7th." Her performance had been a dead giveaway.
"I also vote for March 7th," Dan Heng agreed without missing a beat.
"Uh... then I vote for Stelle!" March 7th blurted out after a moment of panicked hesitation.
"Let's vote for March 7th," Himeko added, her smile indulgent.
Standing at the head of the table, Pom-Pom crossed its stubby arms. "Undercover March 7th has been eliminated!" the Conductor announced in its high-pitched voice. "Game over!"
"Ah, man. I guessed I was the undercover agent right from the start," March 7th sighed, tossing her holographic card onto the table. "But I didn't dare mention the Conductor directly..."
"What's there to be afraid of?" Stelle asked nonchalantly, crossing her arms. "If I had gotten the Conductor, I'd still say I wanted to ride—"
Smack!
"Pom—!"
A broom flew across the parlor car with deadly precision, clocking Stelle right in the forehead and sending her tumbling backward over the sofa.
"Next round, next round!" Leon laughed, clapping his hands together. "Let Pom-Pom play this time. I'll take over as the referee."
"Great, great! Pom-Pom should definitely play!" Stelle cheered, popping back up from behind the sofa and raising both hands in enthusiastic agreement, completely unbothered by the broom assault.
The rest of the crew nodded their assent.
Soon, a fresh round began, and Leon distributed the new holographic keywords.
March 7th peeked at her card, her pink eyes widening in surprise. Her keyword was... March 7th!
"This person is extremely smart, incredibly beautiful, and highly skilled in martial arts!" March 7th declared, planting her hands on her hips and praising herself without a single shred of modesty.
"You're clearly just listing everything you lack!" Pom-Pom immediately retorted, its long ears twitching in exasperation.
"No way! I think Little March is absolutely right," Stelle fired back, jumping to her defense.
She glanced down at her own keyword—Stelle—and naturally assumed March's glowing praise was directed at her. Stelle proudly puffed out her chest. That was right. She was just that perfect.
"Exactly, exactly!" March 7th nodded emotionally, genuinely touched that Stelle was the first person to stand up for her.
"This person is also very tall, and gives off a pure, mature woman vibe," Stelle continued without missing a beat when it was her turn, shamelessly piling on the self-praise.
"Exactly, exactly!" March 7th nodded repeatedly, her eyes shining. Neither of the two girls realized they were talking about completely different people.
"She is outgoing, and can easily get along with many people," Pom-Pom offered as its clue.
The Conductor's keyword was also March 7th, but Stelle's bizarrely confident reaction had left the fluffy creature feeling somewhat confused. Then again, considering Stelle's deeply abstract personality... it wasn't entirely out of the world of possibility. Pom-Pom decided to wait and see.
"Get along with many people?" March 7th tilted her head, blinking innocently. "Does that mean she loves fighting?"
"What? No! It means having good relationships with others!" Pom-Pom snapped, stomping a foot. The Conductor narrowed its eyes, highly suspecting March 7th was acting dense on purpose. After all, who wouldn't understand what getting along meant?
But looking at March 7th's genuinely confused face... Pom-Pom sighed. Actually, with her, it was entirely possible.
"She can use multiple weapons," Dan Heng stated concisely, his arms crossed.
"This person is very kind, and often goes out of her way to help others," Himeko said, her gentle smile returning.
Internally, Himeko was already highly suspicious of Stelle. She possessed the March 7th keyword as well, but Stelle's reactions and shameless self-descriptions sounded exactly like Stelle describing herself.
Himeko shifted her gaze toward Leon. She noticed the referee was holding up a sleek digital camera, the red recording light blinking steadily. His shoulders were shaking slightly as he bit his lip to hold back his laughter.
Ah, Himeko thought, her smile widening a fraction. It seems we've unintentionally become his personal entertainment once again.
"Don't let this person's usual sloppiness fool you," Caelus said, delivering his clue with deadpan sincerity. "They are actually very reliable when it counts."
"Indeed, indeed," March 7th and Stelle nodded in perfect, oblivious unison.
"This person..." Welt hesitated, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. He tried to phrase his words as tactfully as possible. "...doesn't seem all that smart, does she?"
"Alright, everyone has spoken," Leon announced, finally lowering his camera. "Let's cast our votes."
"I vote for Conductor Pom-Pom!" March 7th declared instantly, pointing an accusatory finger. Although Mr. Yang's comment about her not being all that smart stung a little, overall, Pom-Pom's clue had seemed the most suspicious to her.
"What?!" Pom-Pom stomped its foot in outrage, both of its long, fluffy ears standing straight up. "Aren't I allowed to tell the truth?!"
"I also vote for the Conductor!" Stelle chimed in, immediately siding with her bestie and casting her vote without a second thought.
"I vote for both of you!" Pom-Pom shrieked, spinning around in an angry circle. Obviously, the two of them were acting the most suspicious, yet they had the nerve to gang up on the Conductor!
"The rules state you can only vote for one person, Conductor," Leon reminded smoothly. He was visibly struggling to suppress his laughter, his facial muscles twitching as he tried to maintain a professional, straight face.
"Th-Then I'll vote for March 7th!" Pom-Pom huffed, puffing out its furry cheeks.
"I second that vote. March 7th," Dan Heng agreed briefly. As a man of action, he was never particularly good at analyzing these convoluted social twists and turns. Since the Conductor pointed the finger, he figured he might as well follow suit.
"I vote for Stelle," Caelus said, pointing a thumb at the gray-haired girl sitting right beside him.
"You actually voted for me?!" Stelle gasped, her golden eyes widening in absolute, incredulous betrayal.
"Of course!" Caelus nodded, looking entirely self-righteous.
"Fine! Then I'm not voting for the Conductor anymore," Stelle snapped, glaring at her fellow Trailblazer. "I'm switching my vote to Caelus!"
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]