After hesitating for a moment, Acheron finally spoke slowly, "To find that inheritance, after staying in Penacony, I visited various dreams and conducted many investigations. During that time, I also came into contact with quite a few guests. In the process, I gradually realized..."
"The secret of Penacony... may be closely related to the former Trailblaze."
"Therefore, I came here to seek your help. I don't have enough evidence, but I want to propose a possibility: the source of all the tragedies may be lurking within the Family. If you're willing to trust me, we can find the facts that can prove it together."
"Mr. Welt, I believe you've already reached the same conclusion."
Mr. Yang looked at Acheron in front of him and did not speak for a long time. Only after several seconds of silence did he nod.
"...That's enough. For now, I'll believe that you have no hostile intentions."
"Share your findings with me. Just the two of us. Before we find definite evidence, I don't want to interfere with the judgment of the others with ambiguous speculation."
"Mm." Acheron nodded.
From this moment on, this Galaxy Ranger and Mr. Yang seemed to have reached some kind of agreement.
"...By the way, would you like something to drink? Before we set out, how about two cups of 'Dreams Recalled'... No, four cups. Because the conversation that follows... will last a long time."
———
[Reality, the Astral Express]
Of the two gazes that had originally pierced deep into the starry sky through the train windows, only one remained.
Fuli was still staring at the enormous astral beast lurking deep within the sea of stars. The terrifying monster that had been pieced together had its eyes tightly shut at this moment, floating quietly in the vacuum. For now, it seemed that this giant beast would not make any further moves.
Thus, Fuli calmed down, its perception continuously extending upward, piercing into memoria, while there were also some other existences that needed its special attention.
———
Dan Heng and Pom-Pom remained on the train. The diligent conductor was cleaning the carriages, while Dan Heng was, as usual, immersed in the Data Bank.
Little Aha stood on the windowsill, squinting as it looked outside the train window. Who knew what it was thinking.
Little Lan and Little Yaoshi were lying on the sofa.
After a short while, Pom-Pom's cleaning work seemed to have come to an end. It walked over, then also jumped onto the sofa to rest for a while, looking at the three very well-behaved cats with satisfaction.
It was so much easier with them being this quiet. If they were jumping around and meowing everywhere like usual, or using their tails to knock on the windows, this cleaning would have taken more effort.
This made Pom-Pom feel that Nero really knew how to raise pets.
After resting for a while, Pom-Pom stood up from the sofa. The little conductor grabbed onto the train window and, like Little Aha, looked outside. Its gaze flew toward Penacony.
It had been some time since the passengers got off the train. Who knew how they were doing now? But Penacony, as the Planet of Festivities, should be quite interesting, right?
'I wonder if there has been any news about those three Nameless who went there before...'
With a little anticipation and worry, Pom-Pom looked outside for a while before withdrawing its gaze and jumping from the sofa onto the floor.
There probably shouldn't be any problems.
The conductor was full of confidence in the passengers. After adjusting its spirits, Pom-Pom continued doing the things it had to do every day.
'Where did I put the spray bottle after using it last time?'
———
Black Swan walked through the Reverie Hotel. The pedestrians around her passed by her side without noticing her at all. She even deliberately made herself pass through other people like a wandering spirit.
Memokeepers had already taken on a mysterious and peculiar form of life. Black Swan was confident that no one had seen her along the way. This was not deliberate concealment, but simply the everyday state of a Memokeeper.
However, this habit caused Miss Memokeeper to fail to notice that when she passed through the lobby, a scorching gaze had once fallen upon her.
It was only after she walked up the stairs and entered the corridor that the gaze seemed to confirm something before moving away from her.
Black Swan had things she wanted to do and secrets she wanted to investigate. At this moment, she was recalling her first meeting with Acheron.
She had been observing Miss Acheron for a long time. The first invitation had been in the hotel's banquet hall.
At that time, Acheron sat in a corner of the crowd without saying a word, simply drinking "Dreams Recalled," one cup, two cups...
Black Swan remembered telling her that this drink was spicy and bitter, not the taste of a sweet dream, and was only suitable for people who had grown tired of SoulGlad.
Yet Acheron had replied, "Is that so? But to me... they make no difference."
The door to the guest room was slowly pushed open. Black Swan walked in, her crisp footsteps echoing through the empty room.
Miss Memokeeper looked around. The guest room in front of her was no different from the rooms the Family provided to everyone else. Compared with her suspected identity as an "Emanator," it seemed somewhat ordinary.
"The guest room in reality is unexpectedly plain... just like your appearance, Miss Acheron." Black Swan murmured softly.
Then she turned her head slightly and looked at the tabletop not far away, smiling slightly. "Found it without any effort. It's this music box, the invitation sent to the Annihilation Gang..."
"Your memories don't belong only to you. I know much, and I foresee further. With a little method, even the dead can speak."
"The Annihilation Gang, those desperadoes who disappeared after encountering you... What exactly did they go through? Let me reveal it."
Black Swan closed her eyes, expanding her perception as she began tracing the memories related to Acheron and the Annihilation Gang. Some voices began to echo in her mind.
She first heard the conversation between the Duke and his offspring, and then learned of the Duke's ambitions.
These were the memories from when the music box had just been sent to the Ever-Flame Mansion and was sailing toward Penacony.
Black Swan knew that the crucial moment was about to arrive. She once again expanded her perception and search, capturing the memories. However, she only captured chaotic, confused noises and buzzing.
"What happened?" Black Swan frowned in confusion.
"The memories afterward... are blank? How is that possible... It is a fact that this music box fell into Acheron's hands and was brought by her to Penacony. It should have been like that, but the process in between... It's as if someone erased it. Who did it...?"
Black Swan looked at the music box on the table, her gaze filled with thought and confusion. But suddenly, she felt a wave of dizziness, as if something had suddenly burrowed into her mind.
First came a sense of vertigo, followed by a sharp pain. Everything instantly enveloped Black Swan's mind like a storm.
Miss Memokeeper's body suddenly trembled, and she almost fell to the floor. She had no choice but to grit her teeth and endure the pain while reaching out to support herself against the table. It felt as though something was fighting in her brain.
But the discomfort quickly faded. Among those fighting, it seemed that one side, the only side, had finally gained possession of her body.
Following that came a damp, cold sensation, as if something with tangible joints slowly curled up, only to scatter into liquid at a certain moment, covering all the pain and dizziness and allowing Black Swan's mind to return to a state of light clarity.
Immediately afterward, she vaguely heard a man's warm voice.
"Beautiful lady, I presume this is the Ever-Flame Mansion. May I ask if Duke Inferno Ifrit is here?"
'Who was this man?'
Black Swan frowned deeply. She soon came to a conclusion. This was a memory from after Acheron obtained the music box.
Among the large amount of deleted blank space, this memory was especially vivid and clear.
Almost instantly, Black Swan concluded that the memories related to this man had not been deliberately preserved by whatever had deleted the memories. Rather, it had been unable to delete this segment of memory.
Just like what she had felt before obtaining this memory, it had been a struggle. And in the end, the memories related to this man had been preserved. It had achieved the final victory.
Just as Black Swan was extremely surprised by this sudden memory, another woman's voice sounded in her mind.
The voice sounded somewhat distorted, like a damaged tape being played.
Then, in the next instant, the voice became clear, "...Who are you?"
"...What is this?" Black Swan's brows furrowed even deeper. The situation had developed somewhat beyond her expectations.
At first, she thought that, like the man's voice, this was also a memory. But she soon rejected that guess, "No... this isn't a memory?"
The voice that had sounded in her mind seemed to hear Black Swan's words.
"Oh... a Memokeeper. Are you a servant of the Garden of Recollection... or a Cremator?"
"My name is Constance. Nice to meet you. We should have met in Penacony and spent some... unforgettable time together."
"But that seems impossible now. The Planet of Festivities does not welcome Dahlia, and I don't need a coming-of-age ceremony... And you, I know what you're looking for..."
"You want her secret? I can give it to you. Then... enjoy that festival in my place."
"May you leave with unforgettable memories."
"However, compared with her, I think you should be more curious about another person. Perhaps you didn't notice at all that the man in that memory had been watching you not long ago."
"..." Black Swan remained silent, but from her suddenly widened eyes, it was not difficult to see her shock. She truly had not noticed that someone had also been watching her.
The voice in her mind gave a soft laugh.
"Hehe... For Memokeepers like you, this should also be an interesting memory worth recording. But that group isn't so easy to touch either."
"I'll give you a hint, Memokeeper. The man in that memory is named Argenti, and he comes from the Knights of Beauty. Did you know that the Knights of Beauty have landed on Penacony?"
Listening to Constance's words, Black Swan frowned slightly, but she quickly found the connection in her mind, and an image emerged.
A white-haired young man dressed rather gallantly, with memoria constantly collapsing into some kind of stable structure around him. He had once slapped "Death" away, and a knight wearing silver armor with fiery red hair was always by his side.
'That kid, could it be...?'
Black Swan seemed to have thought of something. The expression on her face could not help but turn stunned, carrying a trace of disbelief.
Memories were not something just anyone could erase at will. Moreover, at this moment, far too many factors had already piled up together.
Powerful strength, the strange collapse of memoria, the Knights of Beauty regrouping and serving him, and... the inexplicable curiosity, favorable impression, and praise of beauty that had surged up from the bottom of her heart...
It seemed that the Charmony Festival on Penacony this time had invited quite an extraordinary guest.
Ring Ring Ring! Ring Ring Ring! Ring Ring Ring!
While Black Swan was distracted, the telephone ringing from the table not far away pulled her thoughts back to reality.
Miss Memokeeper quickly restrained the shocked expression on her face. The influence Dahlia had brought her seemed far less significant than the possibility she had just thought of.
Looking at the rotary-dial telephone, which had a rather old-fashioned appearance and kept giving an incoming-call notification, Black Swan raised her brows and muttered to herself, "A phone... Should I listen...?"
———
"...Recently, the Interastral Peace Corporation officially announced..."
"Sigonia-IV, under the guidance of the Market Development Department and in accordance with the Interastral Peace Charter, has established an independent and autonomous United Chiefdom, obtaining a legal seat at the Interastral Peace Conference..."
"The establishment of the United Chiefdom holds major historical significance for Sigonia. This has brought an end to the planet's long and bloody history. The shocking 'Katican-Evikin Genocide Case' will become a thing of the distant past..."
"Sigonia-IV is located in the unclaimed region at the intersection of the three major star systems of Dennes, Plu-Khan, and Danube. The planet's surface climate is known for its extreme harshness, and it is constantly threatened by impacts from small celestial bodies..."
"Therefore, the surviving races that have settled on this planet have become few and far between. They have divided into several clans, mostly living as nomads, struggling to survive across the dry and rainless wilderness, and have developed folk beliefs completely independent of the Aeon system..."
In a daze, the Interastral Peace broadcast that had already become history and memory echoed in her mind once again. Then, at a certain moment, this memory suddenly changed. A tired yet gentle, weak and sorrowful woman's voice began to circle in her ears.
"...Sigonia, Sigonia. The eye of a thirsty storm, a land abandoned by the gods..."
"With stones but no water, thunder but no rain, blood but no tears. You beat us with falling stars, temper us with wind and thunder, chew us with cracked earth..."
"You gave us the name of honey (Avgin), yet placed us beneath the bitter blade (Katican). Three-Eyed Earth Mother Goddess (Fenge Biyos), if you can hear me, I beg you to open your eyes and look at this child..."
"When you took away his father, my child was still sleeping in the amniotic fluid. Now I will soon go to where my husband is..."
"I do not ask that my departure be peaceful. I only wish that you could tell me whether the child sleeping in the swaddling clothes... can he dream of his mother's heartbeat, dream of the sound of rain falling upon the earth? Please tell me, is life only a fleeting dream..."
"...Otherwise, why was this child born only to face death...?"
Thunder roared at this moment, rain poured down, and the raindrops struck the earth with crackling sounds...
"...Mama! ...Mama!" A younger, more lively girl's voice came, shouting in surprise, "...Mama... rain! It's raining!"
"Rain? Rain..." The gentle woman's voice hesitated, as if a face had appeared before her eyes just like this.
The pouring rain soaked her hair and body completely. Rainwater ran across her cheeks before she raised her head in a daze and looked toward the sky...
"It's raining! It's real! Those outsiders didn't lie to us. They really brought the rain... Mama... We can leave this place now... We can go home...!"
"Go home... Ah... Three-Eyed Earth Mother Goddess, it was you. You heard me, didn't you? Thank you... Thank you..."
"Baby, listen... this is the sound of rain. On the day you were born, the Mother Goddess also sent down her blessing (rainwater) from the sky like this."
"You are a lucky child, a blessed child... Just like your name, you are the gift She gave to the Avgin... my child..."
"May the Mother Goddess close Her eyes for you three times... May your bloodline beat forever... May your journey always be peaceful... May your schemes never be exposed."
"...Welcome to this sad world, Kakavasha (Child Blessed by the Mother Goddess)."
As that familiar yet unfamiliar prayer sounded in her mind, some other clear and pure voices began to overlap with the gentle woman's voice, "Brother Aventurine, is clasping your hands like this a tradition from your hometown?"
"Mm."
"Hey, you need to wake up, gambler."
Professor Ratio's voice suddenly entered Aventurine's mind. Aventurine slowly opened his eyes, feeling dizzy, while there was also a wave of pain at the back of his head, as if someone had struck him hard.
Immediately afterward, another memory surfaced in Aventurine's mind.
In that memory, Ratio swung the book in his strong, powerful arm and suddenly brought it down hard on his own head, after which he passed out.
The next second, Aventurine immediately raised his head and looked at the professor from the Intelligentsia Guild in the room.
"Ratio, you bastard..."