That expression, those words.
To say there was no sense of immersion at all would be impossible.
"Even so, you still can't put yourself in danger." Thinking that Araya was, in a sense, still just a child, and that she truly shouldn't be too harsh with her, Robin simply corrected her mistaken notion. "We don't need to gamble with our own lives in such a reckless way. This isn't our only path."
If Araya was truly a newborn child,
Then where had she learned these extreme, self-destructive ideas?
Had someone fed her some twisted logic?
Kiana's expression was equally grim. It was clear she hadn't expected Araya to say something like that.
It couldn't have been Kiana. And she would never allow anyone else to instill such flawed ideas in her.
It was true that in life, one might encounter ideals greater than oneself—ideals worth giving everything for.
But this was clearly not that kind of situation.
"She's right." Kiana pressed her lips together, steadying the complex emotions in her heart. "There's no need to do this. We still have other options."
"Isn't it simple?"
Araya looked puzzled. Mother had chosen this method before, and it really was efficient.
Die once, and you can verify the truth.
It wouldn't even take much time.
"That's not how you calculate it!" Robin couldn't help exclaiming. "Your life is more important than the truth. If I put it that way, can you understand what I mean?"
"I understand."
She was more important than Mother and the truth Mother wanted to seek. Therefore, she didn't need to sacrifice herself to speed things up.
"Don't ever say something like that again."
Kiana took a deep breath, looking at Araya with complicated emotions, her voice low.
Araya's eyes were full of confusion. She had learned it by following what Kiana did during the Stigmata trials. Was that wrong?
Life was born to imitate.
As a terminal consciousness born from the core of three cycles of trials, the primary model Araya relied on for imitation was, without a doubt, the person closest to her.
Her own mother.
Why was Mother denying her?
She had clearly learned everything from Mother. She firmly believed Mother would say and do such things.
Robin nodded as well, continuing the lesson. "This is wrong."
How could it possibly be wrong?
Araya frowned. "Mother..."
"This isn't something you should be learning." Kiana lowered her voice further, speaking heavily. "None of these things should ever stand above your life. You need to learn to understand yourself properly, and to understand this world. My original intention in creating you may indeed have been to achieve a certain goal, but your birth was never meant to make you a tool!"
"Araya, you have your own soul and thoughts. You are a real life." Kiana looked at her with utmost seriousness. "You should become the person you want to be, not blindly imitate me—whether it's good or bad."
What did she mean, blindly imitate me—whether it's good or bad?
Hearing Kiana speak as she educated a child, Robin quietly lifted her gaze and glanced at her.
No one had instilled any wrong ideas in Araya.
Those words—Araya had learned them from Kiana herself. She had remembered them, and so she had blurted them out just now?
Robin's heart suddenly tightened.
"I know you're still confused right now. In your eyes, I may be everything—but that's not what I want to see." Kiana gently stroked her head. "I'm sorry. I overlooked the fact that you're still just a young child. We'll handle this matter ourselves. You just need to stay by our side and watch."
"Kiana's right. This is something for us adults to deal with. There's no reason for a child like you to step in and help."
Robin was honestly afraid of the things Araya might say—afraid she'd suddenly declare she wanted to help again and drop another bombshell.
Araya tightened her grip on Kiana's finger, her small face filled with helplessness. "Did I do something wrong, Mother?"
"No, you didn't." Kiana crouched down, placing both hands over hers, her voice gentle. "You've already done very well, Araya. I know you want to help us. You're a good child."
Mother's actions themselves were wrong.
She might choose that path for herself, but she would never want others to learn from her and sacrifice themselves.
"But you're still not mature yet."
"So leave this matter to us. You only need to watch. Even if we gain nothing, that's fine."
"I understand. I'll study seriously."
Araya relaxed. She could feel that Kiana's words came from the heart.
"Such a good girl."
Kiana finally let out a breath of relief. A smile returned to her face. After patting Araya's head, she stood up again.
She looked at Robin and scratched her head awkwardly. "Sorry about that. I caused you trouble."
"There's no need to say that between us." Robin shook her head, then added thoughtfully, "But this child—her appearance is too deceptive. It's easy to forget that she actually doesn't understand this world very well and hasn't formed a proper sense of values yet."
Kiana nodded repeatedly in agreement. If Araya hadn't called her Mother, she probably would have treated Araya the same way she treated Jyahnar.
Speaking of Jyahnar...
Perhaps because Jyahnar had been born while she was asleep, she hadn't noticed the changes in the outside world at all.
Later, she had left Izumo.
The first time she truly met and spoke with Jyahnar face-to-face was much later, after Jyahnar had already established herself in Izumo for many years.
Although Jyahnar had also been somewhat lacking in human sensibilities, her personality and thoughts were far more mature than Araya's.
And Jyahnar would never imitate her.
"We need to guide her properly," Robin said, looking at the silent Araya. "Treat her like an ordinary child."
"But I don't know how to raise a child."
Everything Robin said made perfect sense. Kiana understood it all. But she had absolutely no experience raising a child. The last time she had interacted with children was when she toured various worlds with Robin.
And even then, it had mostly been Robin handling the interactions. Kiana had only needed to stay by Robin's side.
"I do." Robin looked at Kiana earnestly. "Kiana, if you don't mind, I can accompany you in taking care of her."
"Of course I don't mind!" Kiana's eyes lit up with delight. "Actually, having you help is wonderful!"
Araya: "..."
She hesitated, wanting to say something, yet feeling that perhaps it wasn't appropriate.
She wanted to say that it wasn't necessary. Just tell her what was right—what would make Mother happy—and what was wrong—what would make Mother unhappy.
As long as she was told, she could adjust immediately.
She could simulate any personality.
There was plenty of reference material in the database as well. As long as she was told what she should do, that was enough.
But for some reason, being cared for like this by Mother made her heart feel warm. She actually felt happy.
Mother meant for her to watch more and do less.
There must be a reason for that.
She only needed to obediently listen to Mother. That, too, was something Mother wanted her to do.
As for Robin?
Regardless of what she had said, she was genuinely concerned about her. Araya could tell the difference, so her impression of Robin was actually quite good.
The topic, however, had gradually drifted off course.
After a brief pause, Araya finally couldn't help but interject. "Aren't we supposed to investigate the urban legend?"
"Right, right, we almost forgot the important part!" Kiana smacked her forehead and smiled at Araya. "Thanks for the reminder, Araya."
"...I didn't really do anything."
"We really should thank Araya," Robin followed up with praise. "If she hadn't reminded us, Kiana and I might have delayed things for a while longer."
Their praise didn't make Araya smile, but the tension in her small, tightly drawn face softened slightly.
Their words were effective.
The two women exchanged a glance and saw the faint smile in each other's eyes. Kiana thought to herself that raising a child like this didn't seem all that difficult after all.
"Then let's get moving. But first, we need to find a way to slip out of the hunting dogs' sight," Robin said. "We can't confirm whether 'death' is related to the person behind them."
"That's simple," Kiana replied. "We can leave illusions here. That way we can get out of their sight without alerting them."
Araya looked up. "I—"
"I'll handle it." Kiana interrupted what Araya was about to say. "It's not difficult. We'll let our Araya help next time."
"Then I'll provide cover," Robin said. "I'll make sure no one recognizes us. It'll be easier to act that way."
They worked together to leave illusions in place. Under the influence of Harmony's power, their appearances shifted in the eyes of others. Just like that, they openly left the area.
Robin already had a target in mind.
They went to the Dreamweaver Academy's outer district. One of the missing persons she had investigated had been a dream architect working there.
After making inquiries, they learned that the dream architect had indeed not returned to work for several days. However, his colleagues were not surprised at all.
Because before leaving, the missing dream architect had said that he didn't want to do this kind of work for even one more day.
So everyone naturally assumed
He wasn't coming back.
Because he no longer wanted to be a dream architect.
Some people even complained that if he wanted to leave, he should have gone through proper procedures instead of disappearing without a word. His absence had seriously slowed down their work progress.
But when Robin asked about "death," and whether that dream architect might have met with some kind of accident,
Someone simply laughed and told her not to overthink it.
Because there was another person in the project team who had grown up with the missing dream architect. After he disappeared, that friend had returned to reality to look for him over concerns about the project's progress.
Not only had he failed to bring him back, he had even been driven out by his own friend.
"Those are just rumors twisted out of proportion. How could there be death in a dream? My friend is doing just fine. I saw him just yesterday. Ever since he stopped coming to work, his complexion has actually improved."
That was the final conclusion.
The missing dream architect had nothing to do with death. He simply didn't want to work anymore, so he chose to go on strike and stop entering the dream.
"Looks like we were heading in the wrong direction."
After walking to a remote and quiet place where no one would disturb them, Robin let out a soft sigh. The trip had been in vain.
That was how things stood.
She had investigated several so-called disappearance cases, but most of them had been confirmed in reality to be safe and alive.
"Did you notice what he said just now?"
"Which sentence?"
Kiana seemed to have picked up on something, and Robin's spirits lifted slightly. She had almost concluded that this matter had nothing to do with the "death" she was tracking.
"That friend of his seemed dissatisfied with the dream controlled by the Family."
"...Penacony may be a land of dreams, but it has buried too many dreams," Robin fell silent for a moment before speaking. "I understand. People like that gentleman are not rare in Penacony. And I don't think someone who wants to pursue their own dream is wrong."
Kiana looked at her in slight surprise, then said, "Do you think there could be a part of Penacony's dream that isn't under the Family's control?"
"A dream not controlled by the Family?"
Robin froze slightly, considering the possibility Kiana had raised. Before this, she had never thought about such a question.
The Family managed Penacony.
That was practically common knowledge.
But she was not ignorant of Penacony's history either. In the beginning, Penacony had been a prison planet. The Nameless of Trailblaze had arrived here and led the earliest rebels to liberate it.
If there truly existed a dream not controlled by the Family, perhaps it would be related to that era.
Did such a place really exist?
Could it be that the discordant note was because...
No, that shouldn't be it. If that were the case, it would have been a discordant note present from the very beginning.
How could it suddenly affect Penacony's melody at this moment, even causing her to temporarily lose her voice?
"The Watchmaker's legacy?"
If she were to connect the dots, Robin thought of the Watchmaker's legacy—the treasure that had drawn many forces across the galaxy to Penacony in pursuit of it.
Kiana looked at Robin in surprise. She hadn't expected her to be so sharp, to guess so close to the truth so quickly.
She had thought she would need to offer more hints.
Robin lowered her head, replaying in her mind the things Kiana had said earlier.
Yet it still didn't seem directly related.
It was only a bold conjecture.
Or perhaps they were two separate matters altogether?
"The person who sent out the invitation letters must be related to the Watchmaker. If Penacony truly has a dream like the one you speculated about—a dream not controlled by the Family—then it must be connected to the Watchmaker."
The discordant note she was investigating, the traitor within the Family—could it be the Watchmaker who sent the invitations, existing within another hidden dream?
But the Watchmaker...
Robin still felt that something was off. Because during her previous return to Penacony, she hadn't sensed any abnormalities.
Was there an even greater conspiracy hidden behind it all?