The next morning, Clara woke up and found herself lying in bed alone.
Startled, she sprang up and looked around, then saw Paimon still sleeping and Mr. Svarog guarding the door.
Seeing Clara awake, Svarog bent down and walked in.
Clara let out a breath and asked softly, "Mr. Svarog, where are Big Brother Orion, Big Sister Lumine, and Big Sister Skirk?"
Svarog, also afraid of waking Paimon, pointed towards the living room, where a Spatial Rift lay.
"Stelle(Orion) was taken by Miss Skirk for Morning Special Training, and Miss Lumine went out very early, saying she was going to practice an ability called Purple Demon Eyes,. According to her, she has already achieved minor success."
Mr. Svarog's steady voice came from the Amplification Device, and Clara felt much more at ease upon hearing it.
So, she got up from the bed, her clean little feet pattering on the floor. She then put on her red jacket and hurried into the kitchen to get busy.
Soon after, Orion, who hadn't sweat a drop, and Skirk, who was drenched in fragrant perspiration, walked out of the Abyssal Rift one after the other.
"I truly think you and Lumine should learn Martial Arts from me. Right now, you are completely relying on brute force to fight me. This might be suitable in your original form, but since you are currently in human form, lacking the enhancement of Martial Arts is like having one less weapon than your enemy."
"What are you talking about? What is that supposed to mean? Don't I have skill when I follow up a Normal Attack with a basic attack? High stats on the left hand and high stats on the right hand is a mechanism, okay!"
The two bickered as they strolled to the dining room, where they saw a sumptuous breakfast laid out on the table.
"Ah! You're back!"
Clara peeked out from the kitchen, wearing a Small Apron and busy working.
Soon, she brought out a Clay Pot of White Porridge and smiled as she said to the two, "I thought you would be hungry after your special training, so I took the liberty of preparing breakfast for you. I hope... I hope I haven't caused any trouble?"
It appeared! The loli's ultimate move: the Elder-Targeting Skill, where the face is slightly flushed, the head is tilted down forty-five degrees, but the eyes look up at you!
Facing this gaze, even Skirk, whose heart was sealed by Abyssal Power, couldn't bear to say no.
"I'm home!"
Just then, Lumine also pushed the door open and saw Clara setting out the breakfast.
Lumine was very thoughtful. She immediately ran into the kitchen to help carry food that a child might accidentally drop, while Clara ran into the room to wake Paimon.
Thus, everyone, except for Mr. Svarog who sat aside drinking Engine Oil and reading a newspaper, gathered together to eat, truly like a family.
Orion preferred his porridge thin and free of rice grains, because in his view, when drinking something thin, he certainly didn't want to have to chew food.
Paimon liked her porridge to be both thin and thick, but she had to add a few spoons of sugar to it.
Lumine preferred hers a bit thicker; she treated the porridge as a type of rice. This habit likely stemmed from her long travels across various planets, requiring rapid energy replenishment.
Skirk, however, was truly not picky; whatever she was given, she drank.
Clara smiled and served a bowl to everyone before serving herself the rest.
Since Lumine was no longer traveling alone, she naturally didn't need to support herself and Paimon, thus she hadn't officially begun her Heaven-Defying Chef's Journey. The position of chef in the group naturally fell to the clever and skillful Clara.
During the meal, the highly curious Paimon noticed that Clara seemed to know Orion's preferences perfectly, and suddenly asked Orion, "Right, Orion, you seem to have known Clara from the start. How did you two meet?"
Orion, chewing on his fork, thought about how to explain the star rail story to Paimon, then replied, "You can understand it as Clara, some other companions, and I traveled among the stars together.
Just like Lumine and her brother, except we usually went to save worlds."
Paimon interrupted, "But didn't you say your true form is a Cosmic Great Monster?"
"What? A great monster isn't allowed to travel?" Orion retorted, his words' flaw exposed. Clara, beside him, covered her mouth and laughed, perhaps thinking it was hard to say which was stranger: a Stelle or a great monster.
Lumine and Skirk also looked over curiously. They were both Travelers who crossed the stars, but one followed her brother, and the other followed her master and Senior Disciples.
Neither of them had the experience of traveling with unfamiliar companions; it could be said that Orion was their first.
So Orion briefly described the story that happened in Belobog, but only gave an outline, because he couldn't remember many of the details, just as he had forgotten much of the Genshin Impact plot.
Fortunately, Clara was there to fill in the details one by one, recounting them as if they were treasures.
Not only that, but Clara also mentioned that the Astral Express later visited places such as the Xianzhou Luofu, Penacony, Amphoreus, Benzaiten, Xiche Star, and others.
Even Orion was a little surprised by this.
As expected of Clara the Trailblazer—did she even visit Amphoreus in her memory?
Orion and Clara's description of the Sea of Stars gave Lumine and Skirk a feeling of being in another world. Skirk even momentarily wondered, upon hearing the name Interstellar Peace Corporation, "Was it people from this organization who destroyed my hometown?" However, she later dismissed the idea.
Because she felt the Corporation had smarter ways to seize profit than simply killing everyone off.
"Were there many people on your Astral Express?" Skirk asked.
Orion nodded: "There were many people. At every stop, someone might board, and someone might alight. Some didn't persevere, some did, and I happened to persevere."
Lumine also asked Orion curiously, "You always say how powerful and amazing your full strength is. So, during this process of so-called Trailblazing, did you encounter any difficulties?"
Orion laughed upon hearing this.
"The Astral Express doesn't have a Rear-View Mirror!"
Clara:?
Clara put down her spoon and looked over.
Orion's speech didn't stop; he continued to shake his head and say, "Dominicus doesn't have eyes!"
Clara:??
Doesn't the third phase have eyes?
"Also, the languages of different worlds are different!"
Clara:???
Don't we have the Synesthesia Beacon?
"People from countless Star Systems across the entire universe boarded this Astral Express of ours. How did they board?
We laid the Star Rails to different worlds isolated by the Imaginary Tide Belt. How did we manage to smash the Amber Lord's wall?
How did we communicate with the Indigenous People of different worlds?
How did we coordinate with the local leadership, lay the rails, make emergency landings, cause trouble, get arrested, flee, Wrap Dumplings, negotiate with the Interstellar Peace Corporation, and how did we actually accomplish these things?
This experience is priceless."
Clara:... She patted her slightly rising chest. Seeing that the Trailblazer was still so abstract, she somehow felt much more relieved.
After the meal, Orion used the Divine Authority of Creation to pull out an Alien Dishwasher and beautifully washed all the dishes.
Lumine had a mission to do and also needed to supervise Orion, so she made Orion accompany her to accept the mission.
Clara, meanwhile, wanted to explore this magical city, which looked like an ancient city from a Picture Book.
"Big Sister Skirk, c-can you go shopping with me on the street?"
Skirk looked over coldly, but the moment her gaze met those timid eyes, most of the coldness on her face faded.
She turned her head to look out the window, and finally nodded: "Just this once."
And so, Clara walked onto the street holding Skirk's hand, with the invisible Svarog following behind.
Of course, there was no need to worry about Clara's little feet stepping directly on the ground, because Orion had long ago applied a layer of non-dissolving Mucus to them while she was sleeping, which would protect her well from injury.
A true protector of food.
Lumine was also preparing to take Orion to complete a mission.
Orion had a sudden idea. He pulled out a sacrificial sword from his System Backpack: "Lumine, use this new sword for now. Your old one couldn't be Enchanted, right? I'll handle your weapon reserves from now on."
See? When you have money, your words are strong.
Although he could also create weapons using the Divine Authority of Forging, the weapons drawn from the System came with their in-game effects, saving time and effort.
Lumine took the sacrificial sword, examined it, and thanked him, then casually asked, "What about the old one?"
Orion looked at Lumine with a bewildered expression.
What do you mean? Do you use the Gacha Pull too?
Orion suddenly realized that the System he possessed was originally meant for the Traveler. Could it be... could it be that Lumine the Traveler was also a Transmigrator?!
Orion quickly leaned in and whispered into Lumine's ear.
"Odd Changes, Even Doesn't Change."
-
-
-
-