"Traveler, Paimon, let's go see the parade floats," Dunyarzad invited.
Lumine hesitated for a moment before declining.
If she was truly repeating this day, then following the established path was pointless.
So, Lumine bid farewell to Dunyarzad and Dehya, then led Paimon out of Sumeru City.
Along the way, Lumine told Paimon about her discovery, causing Paimon to gasp in shock.
Suddenly, Lumine froze, her eyes scanning the surroundings with suspicion.
Just a moment ago, she thought she'd seen a badminton shuttlecock—no, wait, a figure with a very strong presence.
But when she looked again, the figure had vanished.
Was it just her imagination?
"Traveler, what's wrong?"
Lumine simply shook her head in response to Paimon's question, then began searching more carefully for the figure. Caught in such a bizarre situation, the appearance of this figure had piqued her curiosity.
Suddenly, Lumine sensed something again and spun around.
Behind her and Paimon, a verdant green figure had appeared out of nowhere.
What a giant badminton shuttlecock...
No, wait—when did they get behind us?!
A jolt of shock ran through Lumine, immediately followed by alarm. Her hand instinctively went to the Dull Blade at her waist.
"Wh-Who are you?"
Noticing Lumine's sudden change in demeanor, Paimon turned around as well. She yelped in fright and immediately ducked behind Lumine, only then feeling safe enough to ask the stranger the same question.
"Hello, Traveler, Paimon."
"My name is Nahida, and I've come to ask for your help."
Seeing Lumine's wary expression, the girl quickly waved her hands. "I mean no harm. Please don't be alarmed."
"You know who we are?!" Paimon exclaimed in surprise. They had worn face masks today, yet this person had still recognized them.
If Nahida could read Paimon's mind right now, she'd surely be speechless. What gave you the delusion that wearing a face mask would make you completely unrecognizable?
Of course, Paimon would vehemently retort that they'd achieved the same effect before with half-masks, which covered even less than a face mask!
Seeing that the girl seemed to have no hostile intentions, Lumine relaxed her guard slightly, moving her hand away from the hilt of her Dull Blade. She then looked at the girl with a questioning gaze.
"This isn't the place to talk. Please follow me."
With that, Nahida turned and led the way.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to follow her to see what was happening.
The three of them soon arrived at a more secluded corner and resumed their conversation.
"You must have realized by now that today has repeated many times," Nahida began.
Her opening words immediately made Lumine and Paimon realize they had found the key person.
Before they could respond, Nahida spoke again, her tone now tinged with sorrow.
"I should have met you under more stable circumstances, but the situation has deteriorated to the point where I'm powerless. That's why I have no choice but to seek your help."
"Nahida, what do you know?" Paimon asked.
Nahida nodded. "I will do my best to guide you to the truth as quickly as possible. But first, let's retrieve your own memories."
With that, Nahida produced a Canned Knowledge and instructed Lumine and Paimon to use it.
Just then, the unexpected happened.
Memories of drinking an indescribable medicine more than ten times flooded Lumine's mind in an instant. Her eyes flew wide open, her teeth clenched, and her body began to tremble violently.
"Tra-Traveler?!"
Seeing Lumine's reaction, Paimon forgot about sorting her own memories and rushed to Lumine's side, watching her anxiously.
"My apologies. I forgot to delete that memory for you." Nahida scratched her head sheepishly. She waved her arm toward Lumine, and though Lumine broke out in a cold sweat, the trembling finally stopped.
Lumine couldn't understand. She hadn't sensed any smell or taste from the medicine, yet its effect on her was devastating.
"That's because it's a manifestation of your inner self," Nahida explained briefly. "I can't tell you more specifics, or it might cause severe mental shock. You must find the answer yourselves."
"But you must hurry. There's no time left."
Seeing Nahida's extreme urgency, Paimon couldn't help but ask, "Nahida, what do you mean there's no time left?"
"There have already been many victims!"
Nahida's words struck Lumine and Paimon like a boulder dropped into a still lake, their hearts instantly growing heavy.
"I wanted to save these innocent people, but I failed," Nahida continued, her voice filled with sorrow. "Because only those who realize they're trapped in a time loop can even see me. Before now, I was completely powerless, forced to watch innocent lives vanish before my very eyes."
As she spoke, the grief on Nahida's face deepened. "I did my best to heal everyone, but... I'm just too weak. In the end, I couldn't do anything..."
Tears welled in Nahida's eyes, and the sight immediately sent Lumine and Paimon into a panic.
"Don't cry! The Traveler and I will do everything we can to help you!" Paimon quickly tried to console her.
At the same time, Lumine and Paimon's hearts sank even further. Nahida's reaction meant the situation was far worse than they could have imagined. Yet, from their current perspective, everything still seemed perfectly normal.
"Thank you." Nahida took a deep breath, suppressing her sorrow.
"I'm sorry. I lost control for a moment."
Nahida wiped the tears from her eyes and regained her composure. Her earlier vulnerability vanished so completely it felt like an illusion Lumine and Paimon had merely imagined.
"What exactly is happening, Nahida?" Paimon asked.
Nahida hesitated before letting out a deep sigh. "You now know that everyone is trapped in a repeating time loop. But each cycle isn't without its cost."
"With every loop, the mental strain on everyone grows immense. Some people can no longer withstand the pressure..."
"I can't reveal any more than that. You'll have to find the answers on your own."
"You should... go to the Restricted Zone."
Seeing the grave expression on Nahida's face, Lumine and Paimon knew without needing to be told that something terrible had happened in the Restricted Zone. They quickly bid Nahida farewell.
"Wait."
Nahida called out just as they were about to turn and leave. She seemed to struggle with her words before finally speaking slowly.
"Please... be careful around a man named Edward."
"I... can't read his thoughts."
"Dr. Edward?!"
Lumine and Paimon were dumbfounded, unsure why Dr. Edward was suddenly being brought into this.
"Dr. Edward is just an ordinary person. This incident shouldn't have anything to do with him, right?" Paimon asked, looking at Nahida.
"You've misunderstood me. This matter isn't related to him. I just find him... dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
Lumine and Paimon stared at Nahida in bewilderment. They couldn't fathom how the word "dangerous" could ever be associated with the kind-hearted Dr. Edward.
Seeing their reaction, Nahida knew it would be impossible for them to accept this on short notice. She sighed softly and dropped the subject.
She had given her warning. But she also knew that given their relationship with Dr. Edward, changing their long-held impression of him wouldn't be easy.
In truth, she wouldn't have grown suspicious if she hadn't found herself unable to read Dr. Edward's thoughts.
She had discovered this before Lumine and Paimon arrived in Sumeru. Nahida had hoped to seek Dr. Edward's help.
However, when she tried to contact him, she found that no matter what she did, she couldn't enter his dreams.
Just imagine: an ordinary person with no power whatsoever was even harder for her to read than those with immense power. This in itself was extremely abnormal.
But for now, Dr. Edward hadn't revealed any cracks in his facade, merely leaving Nahida with a faint sense of unease.
After parting ways with Nahida, Lumine and Paimon arrived at the Restricted Zone.
At first glance, the interior of the Restricted Zone seemed no different than usual. But soon, they noticed something strange.
The vast majority of people hurrying past had utterly indifferent expressions on their faces. They completely ignored Lumine and Paimon, who were clearly outsiders.
Everyone moved with urgent purpose. Even when Paimon called out to them, they didn't slow their pace.
Something's wrong!
At some point, Lumine had removed the mask from her face.
Yet even then, the pedestrians continued to ignore her.
She knew that after the last incident, she had become famous. A considerable number of people in the Restricted Zone should have recognized her.
Even if she wasn't close with everyone, it would still be normal for people to at least nod or say hello when they passed.
"Traveler..."
Paimon had clearly noticed it too. She also removed her mask, but the others still showed no reaction.
"What's wrong with them?"
"They feel... weird."
Hearing Paimon's words, Lumine shook her head, though a faint suspicion was already forming in her mind.
Nahida had sent them to the Restricted Zone, which meant the problem must be here.
Before this, the Akademiya and the Restricted Zone had clashed, and the Akademiya had ultimately offered suspiciously generous terms.
Although they had carefully inspected the Akademiya's latest Akasha Terminals and found nothing wrong, this new development made Lumine refuse to believe it was all a coincidence.
At this point, it was almost certain the Akademiya was behind this, and the problem most likely lay with the newly distributed Akasha Terminals.
This led to the conclusion that everyone might be trapped in a dream because of the Akasha Terminals.
No wonder I stopped having those absurd dreams, she thought. It's because I'm already in one.
Lumine felt a wave of exasperation.
She had actually thought her "illness" had been cured. All that excitement had been for nothing.
Shaking her head, Lumine temporarily pushed the thought aside and told Paimon about her discovery.
"So that's what's happening! The Akademiya is despicable!"
"Traveler, we need to tell Dunyarzad and Dehya right away!"
Lumine nodded at Paimon's words, and the two set off to find Dunyarzad and Dehya, who were attending the Sabzeruz Festival.
Given the time, the two should have been at the Grand Bazaar watching Nilou's performance.
But for some reason, Lumine and Paimon searched for a long time without finding any sign of them.
Only later did they discover that Dunyarzad and Dehya had already returned home early.
Arriving at the Homayani residence, Lumine and Paimon froze. They stared at Dehya, whose face was pale as she lay in bed. They had never imagined it would be Dehya who was ill.
"I don't know why, but halfway through the Sabzeruz Festival, I suddenly felt dizzy, and my body grew incredibly heavy."
"To be honest, I'd been feeling mentally drained even before that, but I didn't think much of it."
"Dr. Edward has already examined me. He said it's just mental exhaustion and that I'll be fine after some rest."
"I'm sorry, Miss. Because of me, you couldn't enjoy the entire Sabzeruz Festival," Dehya said to Dunyarzad, her face filled with apology.
"It's alright, Dehya. We can always attend next time. I have plenty of time ahead of me, after all," Dunyarzad replied, shaking her head.
"Didn't Dr. Edward say he's close to finding a complete cure for Eleazar? By the next Sabzeruz Festival, I might be fully recovered!"
Hearing Dunyarzad mention Dr. Edward again, Lumine couldn't help but recall Nahida's warning. She felt torn.
For a moment, Lumine debated whether to tell Dunyarzad and Dehya about Nahida's warning, but she quickly abandoned the idea.
Even she was more inclined to keep trusting Dr. Edward. How could she expect Dunyarzad and Dehya to believe otherwise? After all, Dr. Edward had been their greatest benefactor.
At the same time, Lumine's heart grew heavy. Even the formidable Dehya was starting to falter. What hope did the ordinary people in the [Restricted Zone] have?
I have to solve this quickly and save as many people as possible.
Wait a minute!
Lumine suddenly had a thought and glanced suspiciously at Paimon, who was yawning beside her.
Lumine clearly remembered that Paimon had also switched to the new Akasha Terminal. Yet now, Dehya was bedridden, and even Lumine herself felt slightly fatigued, while Paimon seemed completely unaffected.
Something's wrong. Very wrong!
Lumine scrutinized Paimon, her mind flashing back to a dream she'd had one night. In it, Paimon had transformed into a final boss, relentlessly hunting her down with savage fury!
Could Paimon... actually be involved in this?!