The Astral Express crew regrouped safely.
When she came back, March 7th was even carrying snacks she'd bought for everyone.
She didn't look like she got kidnapped in the slightest—especially not with that excited grin on her face. She had obviously run into something.
As soon as she got over to them, she started handing out what she'd bought one by one.
"Mr. Yang, this one's yours. Dan Heng, here. And Himeko, this one's for you..."
The way she was going out of her way to please them made it obvious she had something else coming afterward.
"Go on, March. What kind of trouble did you get into this time?"
Himeko sounded concerned.
"What? Himeko, do I really look like the kind of person who goes around causing trouble?"
March 7th blinked at them innocently.
How could a cute girl like her possibly go around causing trouble for no reason?
But Dan Heng was completely unmoved by her act.
After recalling certain past experiences, he gave a small nod and said, "You do. Very much so."
Whether it had been their previous Trailblaze expedition in the Descartes system or the one on Kurtet not long ago, March 7th had definitely made both trips far more exciting than expected.
And every time she caused trouble, she came back to the train wearing exactly that expression, then started acting cute in front of Himeko and Mr. Yang to avoid getting punished.
"Dan Heng, you—so you're really just going to tear me down like that, huh?!"
March 7th was instantly indignant that her good partner had sold her out so completely.
Dan Heng, meanwhile, had already started eating the food she'd brought back.
He hadn't said anything untrue. It was all true, so what did he have to be afraid of?
"Hmph. This cute lady is magnanimous. I'll let you off this once."
March 7th huffed, then declared, "I didn't cause trouble this time. I went and did a good deed!"
"How astonishing. March isn't talking about taking pictures—she's talking about doing a good deed."
Himeko sounded as if she'd just heard some impossible fantasy.
"Could it be she was brainwashed after entering Penacony?"
Welt adjusted his glasses.
For March 7th to do something this out of character was simply unbelievable.
"What exactly do you people think I'm like?!"
March 7th was so indignant her face turned red.
Seeing that, Himeko and Welt exchanged a glance and dropped the teasing.
Joking was fine, but only to a point.
Now that the joking was over, what exactly was it that March 7th had been trying so hard to say?
"So what good deed did our March do?"
Himeko asked curiously.
Hadn't March 7th only ended up together with that Mr. Sora because of the so-called kidnapping?
They couldn't have been apart for long. Had she somehow managed to go and do a good deed on the way back?
March 7th cleared her throat twice, then poured out everything she'd learned in one breath.
She told her companions everything Sora had gone through, everything he'd said, and all of her own guesses, holding nothing back.
And so the Astral Express crew was presented with the first draft of a tragic love story full of angst: Soromeo and Robiniet.
"...As a future top-tier Nameless, how could I possibly just stand by after hearing something like that?!"
March 7th said righteously, "So I took it upon myself to deal with the obstacle standing between those two lovers!"
Dan Heng frowned and deadpanned, "But wasn't part of that story you just told copied from the novel you were reading?"
"That's not important! What matters is whether those two lovers can end up together in the end!"
March 7th immediately scooted right up in front of Dan Heng.
"Didn't we hear a saying back in the Cangyan? Better to tear down ten tombs than break up one marriage!"
Welt said, "March, it's ten temples, not ten tombs..."
But March 7th was already fully fired up. Waving her arms, she proclaimed, "If we just stand there and watch two people be separated across the galaxy, how tragic would that be?! So..."
Her momentum, which had been soaring a moment ago, immediately weakened. She edged over to Himeko and Welt and said, "Mr. Yang, Himeko... you'll help me with this, right?"
There was no way she could handle this alone.
She might be brave, but there was no way she could take on a giant like the Family by herself.
Sure, March 7th firmly believed that once she became a Nameless whose fame shook the galaxy, all she'd have to do was say, "Do me a favor," and something like this would be settled on the spot.
But she wasn't at that level yet, so borrowing the strength of her seniors was only natural.
Himeko and Welt merely smiled.
"We'll think about it."
"Please! If you don't help me, then I'll—"
"All right, all right. Stop trying to butter us up. Let's go back to the train first. I'll give you an answer later."
Hearing that, March 7th let out a cheer and happily left.
It only took her a moment to realize something was off. Why go back to the train? Wouldn't staying here be fine?
But when she turned around, she found Himeko already discussing something with Welt.
And judging by the looks on both their faces, it clearly wasn't anything light.
After thinking for a moment, March 7th didn't force her way into the conversation. Instead, she headed back toward the Astral Express with Dan Heng.
But the Himeko and Welt left behind had both gone thoughtful.
"You're sure?"
"I am. The three people Pom-Pom asked us to deliver the letter to..."
Himeko took out the white sheet of letter paper Pom-Pom had given her again, her expression turning complicated.
That was right. What she had just been discussing with Welt was the matter of the three Nameless Pom-Pom had asked them to find.
Pom-Pom had wanted them to hand this letter over personally.
But after investigating, Himeko had uncovered something extremely secretive.
"The three of them were key figures in Penacony's founding. But after the Family arrived, they suddenly developed ideological differences with them."
For a Penacony that had only just come into being, that kind of split was naturally a major problem.
So in the interest of stability, the newly arrived Family never made the matter public. They dealt with it internally instead.
As for how that disagreement was ultimately resolved, no one knew.
But one thing could be confirmed from the records.
Among the three Nameless, Legwork had been branded with the title of...
"A traitor."
The moment Himeko said those words, even Welt's brow drew together.
"A traitor?"
He repeated the words. Just what had he done to earn a label like that?
Himeko nodded, but quickly added, "All of this comes from the Family's internal records. What really happened may not have matched what was written down."
In this universe, something being recorded did not necessarily mean it was true history.
Setting aside whether the records themselves were even genuine, the History Fictionologists who worship the Enigmata and roam the cosmos were more than capable of writing history outright.
So Himeko couldn't be sure how trustworthy this intelligence was.
Still, if it was true, then they really did need to stay on guard.
"So that's why you told them to go back to the train?"
Welt thought back to what she'd said just now.
"This is the Family's territory. If anything happens, it'll be easier for us to warp out directly from there."
Himeko continued, "For a while, we may need to gather information on these three Nameless."
Welt couldn't help frowning.
"But weren't they branded traitors? If we start openly collecting information on a traitor, won't that be far too obvious?"
But after hearing that, Himeko smiled brightly.
"That's exactly why we should thank March for her help."
She had been worrying over how to go about this.
Who would have thought March 7th would hand her the perfect surprise instead?
Welt froze for a moment, then a sharp light flashed through his eyes.
"You mean use what March wants to do as cover?"
After all, what March 7th wanted to do also involved the Family. That meant any contact the Astral Express crew had with the Family would seem perfectly natural.
No one would ever think that while they were busy running around in secret for the sake of "true love," they were actually collecting information on a traitor.
It was the perfect cover.
"Come on. Back to the train. Let's properly discuss how we're going to handle this."
Himeko started forward.
When it came to a discussion like that, she still preferred to have it in the safest place of all—aboard the Astral Express.
After all, within Penacony itself, who could say whether someone might be watching them from the roadside?
Welt quickly caught up to Himeko, intending to leave by Compass as well.
And after they left, some time later, a crow that had been perched motionless along the roofline spread its wings and flew away.
...
After receiving March 7th's encouragement, Sora had already made up his mind.
And when he quietly returned to where he was staying, he discovered that this might actually be his best chance.
Because he had stood up three people in one go, Sora could clearly sense that the atmosphere where he lived was off the moment he got back.
When he returned to his room, he found a note by the bedside.
[Robin, Mitsutake, and Unkyō are all annoyed with you, so after discussing it, they've decided not to speak to you for a while. Take care of yourself.]
Looks like he really had managed to stir up public outrage this time.
But wasn't this exactly the opening Sora had been hoping for?
Timing, terrain, and public support were all on his side!
If he didn't face it now, then once this chance passed, it would be much harder later!
Strike while the iron was hot!
Sora made up his mind on the spot. He locked the door, drew the curtains, and shut himself alone inside the suite.
Come on, nightmare that's been haunting me for days!
Let me cut you down with my own hands!
With that resolve, Sora pressed the draw button.
But right at that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Wait. Could this whole thing have been arranged by my future self?
Before he could think any further, the emblem sank into his body, and a long, distant whistle pulled him down into an illusion...
Clack-clack... clack-clack...
It felt as though he were sitting on some fast-moving vehicle.
He could hear the sound of rails grinding beneath wheels, and mixed in with it were a number of extremely lively voices—
"Ohhh, finally here!"
"A new guest, a new guest! We've got a new guest on board!"
"Hey, you stinky dragon, quit running around! You stepped on my foot! Keep it up and I'll smack your ass till you cry!"
"Huh?! Cry?! Who's going to cry over my greatness?!"
"My servants, do quiet down a little. He's about to wake up..."
Sora slowly opened his eyes.
And the moment those five faces filled his vision, he nearly jumped out of his skin.
Really—if you woke up and found a huge face shoved right in front of yours, who wouldn't be scared?
Never mind that all five of them looked downright ferocious at first glance.
But once Sora came back to himself, he made out who they really were.
Just as he had expected, the ones he ran into next were the very beings who had given countless predecessors headaches.
And it wasn't just four.
That white, birdlike figure was there too, standing in front of him with both hands clasped behind his back.
The moment he saw them, a single phrase echoed through Sora's mind.
I'm doomed.
Four would have been bad enough. Add one more and that made five.
And when they got together, the result wasn't some simple matter of addition or multiplication. It became something qualitatively different.
No wonder.
No wonder his future self had stopped bothering with an umbrella...
What was falling on him now wasn't rain at all—it was a shower of sharp icicles. If the umbrella got stabbed full of holes, how was he supposed to use it?
Still, whatever.
Luckily, Sora had already prepared himself for this, so no matter how shocking it was, he had expected it.
"Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you for the first time. My name is Sora."
After steadying himself, Sora greeted them.
No matter what, these were the ones he'd be spending the next week with.
Naturally, they answered his greeting with great enthusiasm.
The purple dragon bounced up and down excitedly.
"Yay, yay! Another new friend!"
The blue turtle sidled up next to Sora.
"Yo, I heard the universe on your side is a really vast one. The beauties in there—"
Before he could finish, a red figure booted him aside.
"You perverted turtle not everyone is like you!"
After kicking him away, Momo gave two quick coughs, then came up and slapped Sora on the shoulder.
"I like the way you do things. You're right up my alley. I've got high hopes for you!"
As for the other one?
He currently had his arms folded, looking as aloof as ever.
Unfortunately, if you leaned in closer, you could hear a faint snore.
He had fallen asleep again.
But even with one of them asleep, the whole train car was still lively.
The chatter in Sora's ears never stopped for even a moment.
"Um... could you let me talk to him for a bit?"
The car was noisy, but once that somewhat timid voice sounded, it gradually quieted down.
The noisy figures moved aside one by one, revealing a man who looked considerably more mature, but still somewhat meek.
"H-hello, I'm Ryotaro Nogami..."
He had just tried to stand up and introduce himself properly—when for some reason he suddenly slipped, fell right there in the train car, and broke apart into countless motes of light.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah! I didn't even get to say a proper sentence to him yet..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ryotaro Nogami's figure dissolved into particles and vanished from the train.
"Ah! Ryotaro disappeared!"
Ryutaros exclaimed in amazement.
"That magic trick's amazing!"
At this sudden turn of events, everyone in the car except him covered their faces helplessly.
The corner of Sora's mouth twitched twice at the sight.
That terrible luck really was the genuine article.
"Don't worry. For him, something like this is perfectly normal!"
Right then, a hand suddenly came in from the side and landed on Sora's shoulder.
"So now let me see it..."
Momotaros said excitedly,
"...That amazing world of yours!"
He was already at Climax!
And the moment he said that, the entire train was suddenly wrapped in light...
The next instant, a flood of notification sounds rang out in Sora's mind.
[Congratulations, Host has obtained Ability: Kamen Rider Den-O]
[Congratulations, Host has obtained Special Constitution: Singularity Point (Humans with this constitution are unaffected by fluctuations in time.)]
[Congratulations, Host has obtained Special Item: Time Train — DenLiner (Temporary), a rail-type time machine capable of moving beyond time and space, and freely traversing time and memories.]
It had been a very long time since Sora had heard that many notifications in one go.
And just as expected, that train capable of crossing time at will was now parked neatly inside the system space as well.
But none of that was the point.
The point was...
After the notifications, black mist had actually begun to seep out of his body.
It billowed around Sora, making him look deeply ominous.
But Sora himself felt nothing at all.
And after taking a moment to sense it carefully, he suddenly understood where the mist had come from.
"FINALITY."
That was right. This was what the Aeon of FINALITY had placed inside him back when the two of them reached that agreement.
It had always lain hidden in his body without issue before, but now it seemed that obtaining the nature of a Singularity Point had forcibly driven it out.
Even so, though it had been expelled, it still circled around him as if waiting for a chance to burrow back inside.
"Ohoho, what's this?!"
The energy forms that flew out of the train were startled too when they saw Sora like this.
Sora could only hurriedly explain what had happened.
"So that's from the time that got my blood pumping!"
"I remember there was a huge dragon back then too. I kinda want to go play with him..."
But compared to that, Urataros—who had been watching from the side the whole time—seemed to have noticed something.
After studying it for a while, he took out a ticket and held it in front of the black mist.
Then the black mist gathered together and condensed into a card marked with a time.
"Oh my. So it really works..."
After hearing Sora's explanation just now, Urataros had been wondering whether the two might be connected after all.
After all, both of them touched on the domain of time.
Who would've thought one little test would actually produce a result?
"What, what? Lemme see!"
Momo snatched the card right out of the perv turtle's hand and started looking at it.
But he quickly noticed that the time on the card was steadily counting down.
"What the hell is this?"
Normally, shouldn't something like this show a time from the past?
How was it counting down?
The moment Sora saw that countdown, a thought struck him.
This wasn't a countdown until his future self threw him back into the past again, was it?
After all, the card had formed out of the power his future self had left on him. It was hard not to think in that direction.
"Ohhh, I see!"
He absolutely did not.
Still, Momotaros understood one thing.
When the countdown on that card ended, Sora was going to be sent back into the past again.
But now...
Sora and the others turned their eyes toward the train parked in the system space.
It looked like they might be able to make the trip into the past themselves.
...
A dust-filled breeze tugged at the hem of his clothes, and the sharp jut of his jaw made the grime on his face stand out all the more clearly.
Anyone who saw that face would only think him a scavenger.
But he was no scavenger, because he carried no junk at all.
He was alone, walking step by step across the empty earth.
"Hah... hah..."
His breathing rasped from his mouth and nose like a broken bellows.
The wings behind his ears marked him as Halovian.
Yet compared to the Halovians in Penacony, his wings were dull and lifeless.
The feathers above them were withered too, as though they might fall away at any moment.
The breeze lifted his clothes, revealing a body so thin it seemed little more than skin and bone.
It looked as if most of his vitality had been sucked out of him, leaving him this gaunt.
It was hard to imagine someone like this still being alive in the world.
And yet not only was he alive, he was dragging that body forward across the land.
Step by step, carving out a long, broken trail on the earth.
But a body like this had its limits.
Not to mention that a great deal of his vitality really had been taken from him.
He was weaker now than at any point since the day he was born.
A newborn child was probably stronger than he was now.
For him to have walked this far through the wind and sand without collapsing was already no small feat.
But this was as far as it went.
As another fierce gust swept past, he could no longer withstand the hollowness inside his body.
Like a tree that had been cut through, he toppled onto the barren land.
At the end of a life like this, it seemed he had failed to accomplish anything at all.
The promise to his sister. A land of dreams. A paradise that could hold people...
Those once-held dreams echoed over and over in his mind, then slowly faded away with the blowing sand.
"Dying here doesn't sound so bad..."
The wind and sand would swallow his corpse. Nature would erase every trace he left behind.
No one would know he had died here.
That way, he wouldn't have to worry about his sister showing up in front of him with that bastard of a man.
And yet...
And yet...
How exactly had he gotten out again?
A crushing exhaustion like a mountain pressed his eyelids fully shut.
Shriveled and emaciated, Sunday sank into an unconsciousness he might never wake from again.
He dreamed once more of what he had gone through day after day over the past several days.
Hung upside down from the cross without a shred of dignity, being force-fed food that was impossible to swallow every single day.
Day after day.
The time had been short, and yet the impact it left on him was immeasurable.
His dignity had been trampled underfoot, and his only wish had been to die there.
Unfortunately, he couldn't even manage that.
All he could do was endure the humiliation, endure the draining away of his life...
And then—after that—he seemed to see a figure.
That white hair was as beautiful as his sister's.
Unfortunately, those wings were as hateful as Gopher Wood's.
And yet even so, the feeling that figure gave him was entirely different.
It felt like returning to his mother's embrace.
He clung to that feeling with desperate longing...
After that, he lost many of his memories.
He only knew that he had to keep moving forward.
Why was I moving in this direction...?
Along with that question, Sunday sank completely into sleep.
Until—his mouth was pried open, and warm liquid food slowly trickled down into his stomach.
Only then did he jolt awake.
But this time, the food entering his mouth was not sour and spoiled.
Instead, it carried the faint scent of straw.
And it held some sort of special power too, one that was steadily nourishing his weak body.
After two more mouthfuls, this wrecked body of his finally recovered a tiny bit of strength.
"Cough, cough!"
There was sand mixed in with the coughing. His body's instincts immediately used that thread of strength to expel the foreign matter inside him.
"Oh? Finally awake, are you?"
Seeing Sunday move, a man with a coarse beard laughed and proudly showed off to the person beside him.
"See? I told you he'd live, and you didn't believe me. Look. Look. Isn't he alive enough now?"
Sunday couldn't answer.
All he could do was move his eyes and scan everything around him.
Only then did he realize that everything here was something he had never seen before.
Simple dwellings. Bedding hung out to dry. Warm sunlight...
Where was this place?
Even as Sunday was still trying to understand, he was suddenly force-fed two more gulps of liquid food.
If this had happened before, Sunday would never even have glanced at a feeding method like this.
It was far too rough. It didn't conform to the Family's etiquette in the slightest.
But now, all he wanted was for the man to do it a few more times.
All he wanted was more food.
"Oho, that was close. Almost fed you too much. You're so weak that if I stuffed you to death, that'd be the end of it."
Unfortunately, heaven did not answer his wish.
With those words, Sunday's longing was reduced to ashes.
Still, it was enough.
Compared to the kind of food Gopher Wood had brought him, this rough man's liquid meal was practically a heavenly feast.
After feeding him, the man turned around, wet a towel, and started scrubbing Sunday's face with it.
It hurt badly enough that Sunday felt like his features were being rubbed raw.
But he could also clearly see the towel turning blacker and blacker.
The man did it several times over before the towel finally stopped coming away so filthy.
Only then did he study Sunday's face properly from the front.
"Well now. Once you're cleaned up, you're about as handsome as I was when I was young. No wonder I was the one who ran into you. So that's the kind of fate we've got between us."
"Th... thank you..."
"No need, no need. Just happened to be on the way back."
The rough man waved a hand, telling him not to worry about it.
And from where he lay, Sunday could also see a number of other gazes falling on him from around the room.
A factory dormitory?
Have I already left Penacony?
Sunday was confused.
Penacony was supposed to be a world of sweet dreams, where everyone lived inside beautiful dreams.
How could there be a place like a factory here?
And yet the man who had saved his life, and the place he lived in, looked very much like the factory dormitories Sunday had once visited.
Had he really left Penacony?
And if so, who had taken him away?
Just as Sunday was still full of doubt, his savior suddenly remembered something.
"I've still got a few things to do. Sleep a little more. If you can't sleep, here—this should help pass the time."
He set something down on Sunday's lap and left.
Using what little strength remained in his body, Sunday lifted the thing the man had given him.
But the name printed on it made his eyes widen.
[Guide to Penacony]
[By Mikhail Char Legwork]
He was still in Penacony?!
For a moment, Sunday fell completely into confusion.
...
When March 7th entered Penacony's Synesthesia Dreamscape again this time, she was so full of confidence it practically showed.
"Hmph hmph hmph!"
With her arms folded across her chest, she radiated self-assurance from head to toe.
Because under the unmatched power of her personal charm, every one of her companions on the Astral Express had agreed to help her with Sora's matter.
This would be one small step for March 7th—and one giant leap toward becoming a Nameless whose name shook the universe!
Surely, starting from this matter, her reputation would one day spread through both the Family and the Federation of Hope.
And then, little by little, her influence would expand outward until the whole universe was singing the name of March 7th!
Filled with this confidence, March 7th once again set out for Penacony together with the rest of the Astral Express crew.
Meanwhile, after exchanging a look behind her and silently confirming things, Himeko and Welt began preparing for their own course of action.
Unfortunately, before today's plan had even truly begun, something unexpected seemed to crop up...
"Um... um..."
That timid little voice made the Astral Express crew—who were currently waiting for the Compass—turn toward the side of the bench.
There, a tiny figure had hidden half her body behind the bench and was peeking at them.
"Where'd this kid come from?"
March 7th looked puzzled.
She had glanced around already, and there didn't seem to be anyone else here waiting for the train.
"I smelled a familiar scent on you, and so I wanted to ask..."
The little girl slowly stepped out.
Her eyes fixed on March 7th as she asked shyly,
"...Do you know where my daddy is?"
Those words left the Astral Express crew rooted to the spot for a moment.
They all looked at the little girl in front of them.
White hair. A halo above her head, marking her as Halovian.
But behind her ear was a black wing that didn't match the color of her hair at all.
And even that black wing was unusual—at certain angles, it seemed to shimmer with seven-colored light.
Yet the more distinct those features became, the less they understood what they were looking at.
"March, have you met this little one's father before?"
Himeko asked in confusion.
"No! Lately, aside from getting kidnapped, I haven't met anyone else!"
March 7th hurriedly waved both hands to prove her innocence.
"But I can smell Daddy's scent on you..."
The little girl's words immediately made the Astral Express crew all turn to look at March 7th again.
"Hey, just because you're cute doesn't mean you get to frame innocent people! When have I ever met your daddy?"
March 7th hurriedly protested, then even pulled out her precious camera.
"Yesterday I spent the entire trip snapping pictures everywhere I went. Look—I barely ran into anyone at all!"
She flipped through them one by one, proving that she really hadn't met many people.
But the moment the little girl saw one of the photos, her eyes lit up and she cried out,
"Daddy!"
March 7th froze.
Had she really met this little girl's father after all?
But when she looked at the camera, the corners of her mouth twitched twice.
It was a picture of a man leaning against a wall, catching his breath.
And March 7th knew that man's identity all too well.
His identity was—
Soromeo~
Ahem, no, wrong, wrong.
His real name was—
Hoshigaki Sora!
---
T/N: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? also let me know if translations ARE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!
cliffhang :3
T/N2: heres ur update :3 meeting the quota :3 do u think itd be better to do it earlier in the week to make u guys wait more for the bonus chapters
bonus chaps
200 stones -> 1 chapter
400 stones -> 2 chapters
600 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl