[System Currency: 24,990.]
Still 5,010 points short of the 30,000 needed to buy the Tiger Talisman.
Caelus couldn't help feeling a little regretful. Although this opponent's character was indeed good, his strength was ultimately lacking, and he was likely on the weaker side of the Third Order. Otherwise, why would he only be worth 5,000?
He would just have to wait for the mission in the next world.
Caelus looked up at the snowflakes drifting down outside. After his own System drove away the System that tried to play the role of the home-wrecker, he stayed in this world. He did not choose to leave immediately, mainly to recover his physical condition and, incidentally, to carefully digest the insights he had gained in that world of infinite light.
["Speaking of snow, do you know why snowmen are afraid of falling in love? Because they're afraid that once they do, they won't be able to hold onto the other person. Hahahaha!"]
Caelus remained silent. He couldn't be bothered to retort. Besides, what was funny about that? Was his humanity still not sufficient enough? Why couldn't he grasp the meaning behind it?
"Partner! In a few days, a very famous idol seems to be holding a concert. Do you want to go see it together?"
Cyrene, having returned from grocery shopping, held up two concert tickets and said with a smile.
Caelus took the tickets she handed him and looked at them. It was a concert for a teenage idol named Miku Izayoi.
"She seems to be a very famous idol singer with a huge reputation online and many fanatic fans," Cyrene said.
"Under normal circumstances, tickets like these should sell out very quickly."
"That's right, but I met this idol singer named Miku Izayoi earlier. She seemed to really like my appearance, so she insisted that I attend this concert and even specially gave me some tickets so I could invite a few friends along."
"Hmm, it wouldn't be a bad experience. After all, neither you nor I seem to have ever been to a live idol concert."
"Sure!"
For Caelus, who had observed countless split parallel worlds from that space, he naturally knew who Miku Izayoi was and understood her character.
However, he did not mind. He could just slightly obscure his presence and watch the show.
"Partner! I'm really pretty, aren't I?" Cyrene said, lifting her head with her hands on her waist, looking proud.
"Yes, you are the most beautiful."
"Partner! When you compliment someone, your tone needs to be more lively! You sound like you're just reading from a script to get it over with!"
Caelus thought for a moment and recited in a slightly modulated tone:
"Pink hair flows like rose-tinted clouds, starry eyes ripple like emerald seas.
One smile makes spring itself pale, and a gentle breeze lingers at her sleeves."
Upon hearing this, Cyrene's face immediately flushed red. She then quickly turned around and ran to the kitchen, saying she was going to cook.
[Host, I am not an AI, please do not use this function.]
"But I really don't know how to write poetry."
[Sigh, then you can say some cheesy pick-up lines! Trust me, a young girl who is completely infatuated with you really can't resist these cheesy lines. For example: "Baby, I got an IV drip today. What kind of drip? A drip of every little bit of you!"]
"...That feels a bit nauseating."
[Hey! It's not that bad! How could you feel nauseated by that?]
The concert began. Caelus and Cyrene watched Miku Izayoi sing and dance on stage, along with the many fanatic fans. It was worth mentioning that these fans were all female.
"Because she was almost sexually coerced in the past, and after refusing, she was blacklisted. After her career plummeted, she began to fear men. After gaining a Spirit's power, she completely detested men and only liked women. The singing voice she projects on stage is entirely the power of her own Spirit, not her original voice."
Listening to those powerful sound waves, Caelus shook his head. There was no emotion, no self-will. It was all just a product of pure power.
It could not compare at all to the pure, emotion-filled singing voice in certain parallel worlds where her heart had been unburdened.
"Let's go, Cyrene."
Caelus had thought there might be something different, but he had not expected it to still be such a forgettable singing voice. Oh well, it was time to leave this world. The story that followed might change significantly, but that had nothing to do with a passerby like him.
Shido's love for the Spirits all stemmed from his desire not to see beautiful things harmed, a pity-filled love. Caelus had long since recorded and experienced this pity-filled love. Although it tasted sweet, beneath that sweetness lay an irrepressible bitterness.
Pity-filled love is not the same as affection. It is a desire to protect weak and fragile things.
This journey through this world could be considered a decent experience.
Caelus and Cyrene walked out of the concert hand in hand, and at the same time, left this world.
Inside the carriage, Caelus glanced at the decorative stand in the distance that had originally been used to store Omacido's notebook. After a moment of thought, a flaming longsword appeared in his hand.
He inserted the flaming longsword into the decorative stand. The stand, which was originally just for storing books, automatically changed size, perfectly accommodating the flaming longsword and maintaining the flames burning within it.
This was to commemorate the first enemy he had encountered on his path.
[System, what kind of world will the next one be?]
[The next world, well, it's Terra.]
"Terra? I wonder if there will be a chance this time to see Catachan, where the plants attack extraterrestrial beings."
Upon hearing that they were going to the world of Terra, Caelus wondered if he could visit the worlds that Omacido had experienced to see whether he could find any traces left behind by this old acquaintance.
[Then, Host, we are departing.]
"Hmm."
The journey through the endless universe began once again.
Caelus and Cyrene read a novel together. When the surrounding light shifted, Caelus knew they were about to reach their destination. He closed the book, and Cyrene, who was sitting beside him, understood the situation and dissolved into memories, merging into her Partner's body.
This was to avoid any accidents when traveling into the world, which could cause their arrival coordinates to shift.
[I've arranged a local identity for you.]
"Hmm? I remember I already have a local identity in Terra. Why do I need another one?"
[I never said this was the Warhammer universe.]
As the System's voice ended, everything around them was once again swallowed by chaos. When the chaos faded, Caelus found himself standing on a vast, snowy plain. The sky above was covered in thick, dark clouds that looked unsettling. Snowflakes kept falling from the sky, and combined with the howling cold wind, this place was certainly not pleasant.
Caelus sorted through his identity in this world and gained a preliminary understanding of it. He realized that he was on a snowy plain in a country called Ursus.
And his identity in this world was...
"A Catastrophe Messenger, a profession responsible for warning people about the arrival of natural disasters? That's a decent experience."
Caelus muttered to himself, then looked up at the dark, heavy clouds. He estimated that it would not be long before a blizzard arrived here.
He decided to walk around and take a look. Since he was already here, he might as well see what this country called Ursus was like.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)