As the footsteps drew closer, the figure at the entrance came into focus.
A red-and-white coat—its hemline like it had been licked by flame. Beneath it, a deep purple protective suit. Two familiar red ribbons fluttered at the edge of her clothing. In her hand was a wooden staff, sprouting fresh green buds as if spring itself had taken root there.
Her face was youthful, and gentle. She wore a soft smile.
Even though everything here was clearly unfamiliar to her, she didn't show the slightest fear.
"…Hello? Excuse me—this place is…"
She hadn't even finished the question when, the instant she saw what was happening in front of her, confusion flickered across her expression.
A girl who looked almost exactly like her was standing close to a man—hands on his shoulder as if soothing him. Their posture, their distance… it looked almost intimate.
…Was that "me"?
At the very same time Eyjafjalla froze in bewilderment, Eldera's thoughts stalled in a different kind of blankness.
Could one person give rise to two Re-Travelers?
That should be impossible.
And if it was impossible… then who, exactly, was the "her" standing right in front of Eldera?
By the time she regained herself, the newcomer had already walked up to them.
She looked at Eldera with calm warmth, as if she were quietly pleased with what she saw.
For reasons she couldn't explain, Eldera's hands moved on instinct—she greeted the other girl in sign language, light and practiced.
Like a mirror answering a mirror, the other girl naturally responded in sign as well:
Hello.
That alone made one thing painfully clear.
She wasn't fake. She wasn't an illusion.
After finishing the greeting, the girl turned her attention away from Eldera and looked directly at the third person still present—the one anchor in this strange place who gave her the slightest sense of "connection."
By some instinctive resonance she couldn't name, Eyjafjalla could feel it: a link between herself and him, a tether that allowed her to remain here.
If that connection snapped, she might be pulled back to where she had been before—instantly.
Everything was unknown, but after seeing "another her," Eyjafjalla quickly understood that this place wasn't dangerous.
Still… she couldn't help noticing it.
This "me" looked healthy—bright-eyed, steady on her feet. And when she'd approached, she'd even sensed the two of them had been talking.
"Eldera."
"Hm?"
Bai Ling spoke suddenly, and both girls' eyes turned to him at once.
"She's Eyjafjalla—who you were before becoming a Re-Traveler."
Heat bloomed on the back of his hand. A thin, unnamed golden thread unspooled from the mark there, stretching toward Eyjafjalla like a declaration.
Even though everything felt surreal, Bai Ling was certain of one thing:
The moment he had truly come into contact with Eldera… Eyjafjalla had been summoned.
…Did that mean a Re-Traveler could count as a relic?
But was it really that absurd?
Eldera had only rested her hand on him for a brief instant, and his mind had happened to form the wish—
And then the summoning just… happened.
Ridiculous.
Yet the bigger questions still belonged to the one who'd been summoned—the little goat.
From the moment Bai Ling spoke, she kept smiling, her gaze gentle as she looked at the other "herself."
She seemed… satisfied with her.
"So what you're saying is: through some special method, you reconstructed the complete data recorded inside Originium?"
Perlica stared at the two little goats standing side by side—so similar they could pass as twins—her small eyes filled with very large confusion.
Re-Travelers were born from reorganized memory fragments within Originium space. They might lack the lived texture of an entire life, but under the influence of those memories, they usually felt close enough to the original that most people couldn't tell.
That was what Perlica had assumed.
Right up until the moment Eyjafjalla and Eldera were actually standing in front of her.
How to describe it…
Eldera felt like a flawless girl—pure in body, pure in mind. Beautiful and resilient, yes… but there was still something hard to name. A kind of hollowness, not in a cruel way—just… missing a certain weight.
And the instant Perlica laid eyes on Eyjafjalla, she understood what that difference was.
They shared the same memories. The same appearance. The same Originium Arts.
But Eyjafjalla only had to stand there, and Perlica could feel her unmistakable "singularity"—the part of her that couldn't be digitized, the part no file could ever capture.
Eldera was perfectly healthy, physiologically and psychologically—clean, intact.
Eyjafjalla was someone who couldn't hear clearly, whose legs were impaired—someone who had endured genuinely brutal events and yet still could, still wanted to treat the world kindly.
That quiet, inward fragrance—the thing that rose from her core—didn't exist in Eldera.
Eldera inherited the memories, but she couldn't truly empathize with the experience behind them. Sometimes, she even felt confused by it.
Perlica's shock didn't surprise Bai Ling.
He'd already had his share.
"Yeah," he said. "That's about it."
He rubbed the back of his hand where the mark still radiated faint warmth, and a thought settled in:
This trip—this transmigration—was going to produce a lot of stories.
After the initial surprise, Perlica quickly regained her composure, smoothing her appearance and shifting into professional mode.
"If you truly are the 'Eyjafjalla' recorded in Originium space…"
Her words paused. She turned and issued instructions to another Forte operator. The moment the order was given, the operator left without hesitation.
"Your Oripathy is extremely severe. You need an inhibitor immediately."
"…An inhibitor?"
With the help of her hearing device, Eyjafjalla could just barely make out Perlica's words. She took a few small steps closer, trying to hear more clearly.
"Yes. Oripathy still can't be cured—but with inhibitors, we can now suppress symptoms and nearly all adverse reactions to an almost complete degree."
"Really?"
In that instant, Eyjafjalla's eyes widened. Even her pupils seemed to brighten with disbelief—then pure, honest joy.
"That's wonderful… It means so many people can be saved."
"…"
While they spoke, the Forte operator returned, placing a case into Perlica's hands.
"If that's the case…" Eyjafjalla hesitated, then asked, "Is this Rhodes Island?"
"This is the Dijiang," Perlica replied. "Endfield Industries… As for Rhodes Island—yes, it's here… and also not here."
"…"
The two of them continued talking, absorbed in the exchange.
Off to the side, Bai Ling stood with Eldera.
He watched the girl's profile for a long moment before speaking.
"…Sorry."
"Hm? Senior Bai Ling, why are you apologizing?" Eldera turned to him, confusion gentle in her voice.
"…I feel like you're being left out."
"No," Eldera said, slowly, her gaze never leaving Eyjafjalla for even a second. "I always believed I wasn't 'Eyjafjalla.' My memories include 'parents,' but everything about me began on Rhodes Island. It makes it hard for me to believe I'm truly 'Eyjafjalla.'"
"…But you're Eldera now," Bai Ling said.
"Mm." She nodded, then continued, still speaking carefully.
"In the past, because I'm a Re-Traveler, people sometimes gave me special allowances… and I didn't even realize it."
As she said that, Eldera finally turned back. Her gem-bright eyes met Bai Ling's directly. Her tone sank, and the delicate beauty of her face held no smile at all.
"They all believed I must be as outstanding as 'Eyjafjalla'… but…"
If they truly believed that, then why did they need to give her "green lights" at all?
The Re-Traveler memories. The Rhodes Island identity. Her own understanding of herself.
Those three things didn't merge smoothly—not perfectly. She could adapt, yes, but the friction never really disappeared.
Hearing her voice, Bai Ling instinctively reached for his pocket.
Nothing.
In the end he only wiped his left hand, lifted his head, and looked at her.
In those watery jewel eyes was a fragile struggle—softness tangled with something like pain.
Their gazes locked.
Bai Ling didn't look away. He met her eyes and answered with plain sincerity.
"You're absolutely fine—because your name is Eldera. And I've never once thought you were Eyjafjalla. I've always thought of you as Eldera."
At his words, the girl's cheeks flushed. She turned her head away at once, looking back toward Eyjafjalla and Perlica as they continued their conversation, no longer daring to meet Bai Ling's eyes.
-------
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