Argenti looked at Stelle with a sincere and passionate gaze.
"Speaking of which, when we met again during the celebration in Belobog, I already gave you a brief introduction to Beauty. I am very curious, do you acknowledge this ideal and believe in Idrila?"
Stelle nodded, then shook her head.
Seeing her reaction, Argenti said with a smile, "I understand. Perhaps out of kindness, you acknowledge my ideals, yet still know little about Beauty in your heart... Such conduct is truly beautiful."
"I respect different beliefs... but now it seems... since you do not know of Beauty's existence, I can only make it appear through a knight's method."
Argenti was still the same Argenti. Without another word, he was about to start another friendship duel with chanting, but...
Stelle frantically shook her head.
"How could I not know Beauty exists? My Nero is made from a fragment of Beauty."
Argenti had not even summoned his spear before freezing on the spot.
Then the knight with fiery red hair slowly turned his head and looked at Nero.
In a somewhat dazed voice, he muttered, "My Idrila... I should have realized it long ago... That faint gaze after leaving Jarilo back then..."
At that point, Argenti came back to himself. He blinked and, without trying to hide anything, openly said to everyone, "My deepest apologies. Please forgive my slip of the tongue. The information I received in that instant truly dealt a heavy blow to my mind."
Floating nearby, Cirrus shivered and moved next to Nero.
"Does he have to talk like that?"
Nero blinked and said to Cirrus, "That is his courtesy and his conviction. Whether we like hearing it or not, whether we are used to it or not, what right do we have to blame him?"
Cirrus narrowed her eyes and spoke in a strange tone.
"That doesn't sound like you. Since when have you been so tolerant toward Heliobi?"
"Aren't you talking to me right now under my tolerance?"
Cirrus, "..."
Right, this felt correct now. This was the familiar feeling of getting choked by a single sentence.
Over here, Argenti continued preaching Beauty to Stelle and March.
He believed that since the two of them got along so well with Nero, who was now the "incarnation" of Idrila, and shared such deep friendship with him, they should be more receptive to the ideals of Beauty.
Though he was a Pure Beauty Knight devoted to Beauty, even after learning that Nero was a fragment of Beauty, Argenti did not become excessively excited or overjoyed.
Only the already blazing light in his eyes became even brighter, making his whole person appear even more magnificent.
Of course, the view that Nero was the incarnation of Idrila was not entirely accurate, because only this body belonged to the fragment of Beauty.
As for the ideals of Beauty, such an abstract concept was even harder to describe.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion."
Welt's voice suddenly cut into their conversation.
"Forgive me for spoiling the mood. But after discussing with Himeko, I believe our current situation may be more urgent than we imagined."
Hearing this, Argenti calmly replied, "My apologies, Mr. Welt. I was too focused on speaking with my old Nameless friends aboard the train."
"Now, it is time to formally explain why I came aboard."
"It is to cooperate in resolving the crisis before us."
"I was originally piloting the Peerless Rarity through the galaxy. During my journey, I happened to find a stranded IPC employee named Vilite, and brought him out of the enormous cave he had accidentally fallen into."
"After rescuing Vilite, I intended to escort him safely to his original destination and changed my route. Unexpectedly, that coincidence brought me close to the train's path."
"You rescued another IPC employee?" Nero blinked.
He recalled Martin, who had come to the snow country with Argenti before. He had heard that the guy had recently gotten promoted and was grinning from ear to ear.
"He is not the first, nor will he be the last. In following your footsteps, I often encounter many people in distress throughout my journey across the universe. The spirit of Beauty moves me to lend them a helping hand."
Argenti softly said, "At this moment, after suffering many frights along the way, Vilite is resting in the carriage."
"Through what he has witnessed during the journey, he has been completely convinced and has sworn to follow the goddess Idrila."
"Ah... please forgive my mistake. Perhaps I should change that form of address."
"It's fine. I'm not her," Nero said. "Just continue following your Beauty. Everyone's pursuit lies in their own heart."
Argenti smiled all over his face.
"You have won my wholehearted admiration."
"So why exactly did you rear-end the train?" March asked from the side.
"We had not been traveling long when a tremor suddenly occurred. At first, I thought some unknown object in space had blocked us, or that the Flames from Beyond the Sky supplying power in the engine room were throwing a tantrum."
"But when I looked outside, I found that the scenery of the starry sky had changed, and all the stars had been covered beneath a crimson night."
"And when I looked out the window, at the moment I was struck by that crimson night... the collision occurred as well."
"Before that, I had not seen the train on the star rail. I suspect the crimson night caused some kind of deviation in the stars' trajectories."
"So after the collision, I brought Vilite aboard the train, hoping to work together with the crew to resolve the current crisis."
"Thank you for coming," Welt said with a friendly smile. "This is the first time the Astral Express crew has worked together with a Pure Beauty Knight."
"So, what should we do now?" Stelle asked.
"Enjoy the present," Argenti answered immediately.
"Huh?" Stelle froze for a moment. "And then?"
"Continue enjoying the present," Argenti replied.
"...That's your solution?" Stelle looked at Argenti suspiciously.
Though she trusted Argenti's character greatly, some of the things he did made that trust crack a little from time to time.
Cirrus laughed so hard she bent forward and backward.
Argenti shook his head.
"You have misunderstood, my friend. Though her incarnation is here, bringing me joy, I know well that I should not lose myself in it."
"I must focus on enjoying the universe's crimson night. Only then can I discover the discordant notes. They share common traits, and once I find them, I shall personally destroy them."
Welt's brows had already knitted tightly together.
To be honest, even he could not quite understand Argenti's explanation or how exactly this method was supposed to work.
Still, he chose to trust him and said, "...Let's hope it doesn't take too long. The situation could worsen at any moment."
After another moment of silence, Welt spoke again to the younger group on the train.
"For now, why don't you go check on Mister Vilite? He seems badly frightened. We should treat our guest well."