"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! These two are new friends Clockie just met. Like Misha, they can see me."
Clockie jumped in place twice, its tone filled with excitement.
"Really? Hello, you two ladies. I'm Misha, a bellboy at the Dreamscape Hotel." Misha bowed slightly and introduced himself very politely.
Hearing Misha's self-introduction, Stelle—who had been asking Acheron for sword instruction—was slightly stunned. She gave Acheron an apologetic look.
"Misha, I'm Stelle. We've met before. Have you forgotten?"
Stelle scratched her hair and looked strangely at the boy before her. They had clearly met—in the gaps between dreams. Had Misha forgotten?
"Ah? We've met before?"
Misha was stunned, a puzzled look appearing on his face. Although he felt a familiar and intimate aura from the girl before him, he could say with certainty that he really had not seen this girl before.
"Never mind… Maybe I remembered wrong." Seeing that Misha didn't seem to be faking it, Stelle fell silent for a moment, then shook her head, saying she might have remembered incorrectly.
"Hello, Misha. I'm March 7th. Nice to meet you."
Seeing Stelle lost in thought, our Miss March 7th waved at Misha and introduced herself cutely.
Then, the girl shifted her gaze to the purple-haired woman with the tachi at her waist.
"Hello, Big Sister. Thank you for being willing to teach Stelle swordsmanship."
Slightly raising her head and looking at the playful and cute pink-haired girl before her, Acheron closed her eyes and gently shook her head.
"No need. These are nothing more than external things to me. Rather, if these sword techniques can be passed down, it can be considered another continuation of my life."
March 7th only half-understood Acheron's words, but even so, she still pretended to have a "I already understood" expression.
"You two, can you tell me what your identities are? I always feel an intimate aura from you, but I really haven't seen you before."
Looking at the three people chatting in front of him, Misha awkwardly rubbed his nose and asked the question in his heart.
"Intimate aura?"
The boy's words left the two girls slightly stunned. What did that mean? Was he hitting on them? Probably not… He looked like an honest kid and shouldn't have such schemes.
"Ah? Sorry, sorry. It's my fault for causing a misunderstanding. I meant it very innocently—I feel close to the power on your bodies."
Realizing his words had been misunderstood by the two, Misha hurriedly waved his hands, afraid they would overthink it.
"Power? Could it be…"
March 7th and Stelle exchanged a glance. They seemed to think of one possibility. The power they both shared, other than the Path of Preservation, was the blessing of the Path of Trailblaze—the proof of being members of the Astral Express, the ticket representing their passenger qualifications.
In perfect sync, March 7th and Stelle took out their train tickets from their pockets and showed them to Misha.
"This is…!"
The moment he saw the special train ticket, Misha felt as if something had touched his heart. Emotions named longing and yearning surged from deep within him, instantly sweeping through his entire body.
The boy reached out, his hand trembling as he moved to touch the ticket. The instant his fingertips made contact with the ticket, fresh memories rushed into the boy's mind like a tidal wave.
In his sea of consciousness, Misha watched like a movie viewer as a mechanic named Mikhail rose to prominence, boarded the Astral Express, and experienced a joyful Trailblaze journey.
After that, Mikhail and his two good companions resolutely chose to get off at Penacony. They threw themselves wholeheartedly into building this former remote prison, until finally lying on an easy chair, closing his weary eyes, and feeling the sacred light bring tremors to his soul.
"I remember now!"
Misha opened his eyes once more.
— — — —
Dreamscape Hotel… Aventurine's room…
"Speak. What exactly did you call me over in the middle of the night for? If you can't give me a proper reason, I'll turn around and leave."
Dr. Ratio frowned slightly, arms crossed, his eyes revealing clear displeasure.
Toward Dr. Ratio's dissatisfaction, our Mr. Aventurine simply smiled, then helplessly spread his hands.
"Professor, don't be so cold. No matter what, we're comrades right now."
"Friendly reminder: we are only temporary partners. If you really want to play the fool, I will kick you away."
Compared to the grinning Aventurine, our Mr. Ratio was clearly much colder. He stared straight at Aventurine, as if saying: 'If you don't give me a proper reason soon, I really will leave.'
"Hahaha, Professor, don't be so heartless. I'll tell you."
Aventurine laughed heartily and stopped keeping him in suspense.
"Professor, the reason I invited you here this time is that I want you to back me up during tomorrow's negotiations."
Saying this, Aventurine's expression finally became serious. He picked up a golden sheet of paper from the table and handed it to Ratio before him.
"Oh?"
Ratio raised an eyebrow slightly, then took the golden invitation from Aventurine's hand.
"A calling card?"
"Mhm." Aventurine nodded slightly. "I have arranged a meeting with the head of the Oak Family tomorrow."
"So, you want to take this opportunity tomorrow to get the Cornerstone back from him?"
"Get the Cornerstone back? Of course I want to get the Cornerstone back, but that head of the Oak Family won't return it to me."
Hearing this, Aventurine shook his head and continued, "I just want to test this family head's bottom line and see if there's any possibility of negotiating with him."
"If I'm lucky, I can also get that bag of gift money back from him. After all, in this vast Penacony, having no money is absolutely unacceptable."
"Oh? I didn't expect our Lord Aventurine to have a day where he worries about money. How truly congratulatory." Ratio spoke with clear mockery.
For someone as wealthy as Aventurine, that bag of gift money was nothing more than a pile of shiny broken stones. Other than looking good, it had no value in gambling.
As for him having no money… If even Aventurine had no money, then there were no rich people left in the world. Credit points could be directly paid through the Interastral Peace Corporation's payment network.