The Planet of Festivities still shone in space with its golden radiance, as if nothing about it had changed in all these long ages.
At that moment, a streak of light shot in from the depths of the galaxy and reached the edge of the planet.
When the glow around it faded, what emerged from within was a train racing through the stars.
And that train was none other than the Astral Express, which had previously set out for Penacony.
After completing its warp jump, it had finally arrived at one of the stops the train had once visited before.
The moment the Express dropped out of warp, March 7th was already pressed eagerly against the window.
"So this is Penacony?"
As the one on the train who kept up with galactic news the most, March 7th had long dreamed of visiting this world famous across the cosmos.
She had wanted for ages to come to Penacony and explore it properly.
And today, that wish was finally about to come true.
She could hardly wait to jump off the train and experience the Planet of Festivities for herself!
Unfortunately, before they could leave, the conductor still had a few things that needed saying.
One was about Penacony's special nature, and the other was about the purpose of their visit.
The Asdana system, where Penacony was located, was saturated with Memoria. Historically, it had once been one of the major breaches through which the Memory Zone spilled out, as famous as Tartaro.
So even after thousands of years, the concentration of Memoria here was still far higher than in most other places.
Which meant that if anyone experienced dizziness, hallucinations, memory disorder, or anything similar, they absolutely must not take it lightly.
"As for the second thing..."
Pom-Pom carefully pulled out a sheet of paper from behind its back.
March 7th's eyes lit up at once. This had to be the bond Himeko had mentioned before, the one Pom-Pom had been keeping hidden away.
With something like that, maybe the Astral Express could finally set foot on the road to true financial freedom.
After all, this was a debt that had crossed thousands of years. Even if only a hundred credits had been lent out back then, by now it had probably snowballed into an astronomical sum.
March 7th was already thinking about how she was going to spend it.
But as Pom-Pom looked at that piece of paper, its gaze was full of emotion and remembrance. In the end, it still steeled itself.
"Pom-Pom has a shameless request to ask of you. If possible, while you're enjoying your vacation, Pom-Pom hopes you can also spare some time to deliver this to a few Nameless."
"Huh?!"
March 7th froze.
What was this supposed to mean? Weren't they here to collect a debt? How had it suddenly turned into delivering something instead?
Himeko didn't bother with March 7th's reaction. Seeing the looks on Dan Heng and Welt's faces, she explained the whole story to them, including Penacony's history and the goal of this visit.
"...The three Nameless are called Tiernan, Legwork, and Razalina."
"Just names and jobs? And those might not even be their real names. Isn't that like looking for a needle in a haystack?"
March 7th's interest immediately dropped. She had thought they were here to collect a debt.
Who would've guessed they were actually here to find someone and hand something over?
"Don't worry, pom. You'll definitely meet them."
Compared to March 7th's lack of enthusiasm, Pom-Pom sounded extremely confident.
Even though it couldn't leave the train itself, it still firmly believed that March 7th and the others would meet those three here.
Since Pom-Pom had said as much, everyone naturally became interested too.
Meeting Nameless who had gotten off the train thousands of years ago was the sort of experience ordinary people could never have.
"Maybe they'll leave us mountains of treasure!"
March 7th's eyes lit up all over again.
It was obvious how much she loved this sort of thing.
And so, carrying their curiosity for this trip to Penacony, they set off.
Pom-Pom kept waving its fluffy little paws, cheering on the current Nameless.
Once they were gone, though, the lively train car quickly fell quiet, leaving behind only a trace of loneliness.
Pom-Pom's mood dimmed. Sitting on the sofa, it gazed at the Planet of Festivities before it...
"How have you all been...?"
Just then, a strange sound seemed to drift into its ears.
Rustle, rustle...
Pom-Pom turned toward where the sound had come from, only to see something that absolutely should not have been there.
Sand.
There shouldn't have been any sand inside the train car.
As the conductor, Pom-Pom cared deeply about keeping the whole train clean. It had practically polished the Express to the point where not a speck of dust could be found.
And yet a small pile of sand had somehow appeared right by the door.
Had it blown in when the door opened just now?
Pom-Pom skillfully hopped down from the sofa and picked up its cleaning tools.
But when it looked over again, the sand had already vanished.
Had it seen wrong?
Curious, Pom-Pom walked over.
And right then, a voice suddenly called out from behind it.
"Pom-Pom...?"
Pom-Pom turned around and found a man standing there, fine sand trickling off his body.
And the moment it saw him, a name rose into its mind on its own.
"Leg...work?"
"Should I say... long time no see?"
...
No one knew what was happening on Pom-Pom's side, because the rest of the Astral Express had already successfully arrived in Penacony.
Standing before them was the incomparably lavish and opulent The Reverie.
The entire building towered into the clouds with imposing grandeur, and the gold ornamentation adorning it only made it look more noble and magnificent.
This iconic structure truly lived up to the name of the Planet of Festivities.
Once inside, the Astral Express crew proceeded with the usual check-in process.
But at that moment, March 7th sidled up to Himeko with a secretive look.
"Himeko, what was written on that note Pom-Pom gave you?"
She still hadn't given up on her dream of becoming rich.
After all, once you became rich, you could sleep until you woke up naturally, eat whatever you wanted, go wherever you wanted...
Who wouldn't want to experience that kind of dream life?
So all her attention had gone to that slip of paper Pom-Pom had given them.
Maybe some kind of secret was hidden inside it.
"Do you want to open it now and see what's in there?"
Himeko had naturally seen right through March 7th's thoughts. Though, to be honest, she was curious about the note Pom-Pom had given them too.
After all, Pom-Pom had been acting secretive the whole time before this, keeping the destination hidden and refusing to say where they were going.
And now that they had finally arrived, all it had given them was a goal and a note.
Anyone would be curious.
"Of course I do, Himeko!"
March 7th immediately stuck herself to Himeko's side and started wheedling.
She was far too curious about this.
And it wasn't just March 7th. Even Welt had fixed his attention on it, and at that moment Dan Heng spoke up as well.
"I found a very effective restoration technique in the Express databank. No one will be able to tell this was ever opened."
Well, it seemed Pom-Pom's earlier behavior had successfully attracted the attention of everyone on the train.
And as the navigator of the Astral Express, when faced with that kind of united front, Himeko's choice was naturally to agree.
She was only human. Of course she was curious too.
Pom-Pom had been serving as the train's conductor since ages past. Himeko had even suspected more than once that Pom-Pom might have witnessed the rise and fall of the universe itself.
And yet despite that, during all the time she had known Pom-Pom, it had never once made a special request like this.
Only this time, with Penacony, had it made an exception.
It would have been stranger if that didn't surprise her.
What exactly was this thing Pom-Pom wanted them to deliver? That was what all of them wanted to know right now.
And since everyone on the Express had already agreed, the operation to open it in advance was naturally put into motion.
So after finishing the hotel check-in procedures, they all headed to Himeko's room.
Before that, the crew thoroughly inspected every corner of the room and made sure there was nothing inside that could violate their privacy. Only then did they gather around it in curiosity.
So then... what exactly was this thing?
Under everyone's eager gaze, the paper Pom-Pom had brought was slowly unfolded.
And the moment it opened, everyone present felt a brief wave of dizziness for no apparent reason.
But it came fast and went even faster, disappearing before anyone could properly notice it.
As if none of them had sensed anything at all, they focused their attention on the paper.
And what appeared before their eyes was only a handful of words.
[I did not fail.]
"Fail? Fail at what?"
March 7th was puzzled. Had Pom-Pom failed at something?
Dan Heng was thinking too, but he couldn't make heads or tails of the meaning either.
Welt, however, noticed something else first.
"This is... sand?"
A question immediately surfaced in his mind.
Could the person who wrote this have been some Nameless in the construction trade, writing to a friend working on Penacony?
Otherwise, it was hard to explain why a letter would have sand in it.
And aside from those few words, there was nothing else unusual recorded on it.
It really did seem like a perfectly ordinary letter.
"Huh. So we're actually moonlighting as mail couriers?"
March 7th was genuinely dejected now.
She had originally been full of confidence, convinced that something big was bound to happen once they got to Penacony.
That was why the heroic March 7th had crossed the galaxy to come all the way here.
And in the end, she had just come here to deliver mail.
"All right, all right, March. At worst, just treat this sudden trip as a vacation."
As Himeko comforted her, she handed the letter over to Dan Heng and had him restore it to a condition where no one would ever be able to tell it had been opened.
Young people that age admired adventure, after all. She could understand that feeling.
But peace was the true prevailing melody of the universe.
So this trip to Penacony could just be treated as a holiday. They should relax and enjoy it.
Since Himeko had said so, March 7th naturally listened.
Even if she hadn't run into the kind of adventure she had imagined, getting to vacation on the Planet of Festivities was still something quite rare.
This time, she was definitely going to have a great time in the dreamscape and make up for her disappointment!
What March 7th hadn't expected, though, was that after entering the dream, the thing waiting in front of her was not the famously wondrous Golden Hour.
Instead...
Beneath the Clockie statue before them, a trash can stood facing the newly arrived Astral Express crew as though paying them solemn respect.
"Welcome to Penacony. I hope all of you..."
The trash can's tone suddenly turned strange.
"...Have a pleasant journey through sweet dreams."
...
Because Robin had already begun to be subtly excluded by the Family, Sora had no idea the Astral Express crew had entered the dream.
If he had known, he definitely would have gone to reunite with those familiar faces.
And if that had happened, he might even have managed to get himself out of the predicament he was in right now.
What predicament, you ask?
"You promised you'd go with me to Paperfold University College and do a guest lecture with me. Don't tell me you forgot."
Robin did not look pleased.
"Nonsense. A few days ago, he clearly promised me he'd go gather material with me."
Mitsutake spoke up from the side.
"Huh? Wasn't it yesterday when you said you'd come with me and help me file a complaint about those dreamscapes they call works of art?"
Seeing the other two like this, Unkyō immediately joined the chaos as well.
"Huh? Something like that happened?"
Hotaru's sudden comment made all three of them turn and look at her.
They were very interested in hearing what else Sora had supposedly done.
But Hotaru only spread her hands helplessly.
"This has nothing to do with me. I'm just curious why he agreed to go out with all three of you on the same day."
For something like this, wouldn't it have been enough to spread it across three separate days?
How had everything ended up piled onto one single day?
Sora wasn't an idiot. Had he really done something like this?
Hotaru was genuinely baffled.
"I..."
What could Sora even say?
Because of course he hadn't done any of this.
These past few days, he had done nothing but fully enjoy the beauty of vacation.
And in his memory, he had never once made any appointments with the three girls standing in front of him.
He had been lazing around in the hotel every day, not wanting to go anywhere. How could he possibly have gone out and made arrangements with the three of them?
And yet the facts seemed completely different from what he remembered.
Because the three of them each produced clear evidence that Sora really had agreed.
"The staff there can testify. You really did agree to go to Paperfold University College with me..."
Robin even called Paperfold College University on the spot and confirmed that the assistant teaching schedule really did bear two signatures.
"My people can confirm it too. Sora said himself that he was going to the park with me to scout material for a vlog."
Mitsutake displayed the strength of her enormous pool of witnesses.
"Yeah, yeah, Sora really was talking things over with Mitsutake-nee back then."
"I still remember what he said!"
"You're inviting me somewhere? Is it because you want to witness just how amazing I am?"
"Right, right, that was exactly it!"
One after another, they filled in the missing parts and pieced together the scene from back then.
That side was clearly backed by plenty of witnesses too.
And so, everyone's gaze finally landed on Unkyō.
The others had already produced witness testimony or physical evidence.
Now it was her turn.
"I... I..."
As Unkyō stammered, her face gradually turned red.
She couldn't help recalling what had happened that day.
Back then, she had seen Sora and gone up to greet him. When he asked what she was going to do, she had simply answered like normal.
But instead of encouraging her like he usually did, he had suddenly said:
"That actually sounds pretty interesting. Mind if I come with you?"
Come with her?!
The moment she heard those words, all kinds of thoroughly inappropriate things had exploded into Unkyō's mind.
And so the two of them had set a time to do it together.
And once that was done, going somewhere else together afterward would only be perfectly natural, right?
That was why she had been so excited for today.
Who could have guessed it would turn into this instead?
And the worst part was that everyone else had already produced witnesses or physical evidence.
She alone had absolutely nothing.
That was honestly a little heartbreaking...
"It's okay. I believe you."
Just when Unkyō's mood had sunk to rock bottom, she suddenly heard a voice by her ear.
Looking up, she found it was Sora.
At that moment, he shone like a beam of light, driving away the gloom in her heart.
"Y-you're willing to believe me?"
Believe me, and then let's go recreate those "art scenes" together. First we need to find a room. My room would be perfect!
"Of course I am. Why would I not believe you?"
Sora reached out and pulled her to her feet.
"So there's something I want your help with..."
With her face flushed, Unkyō asked, "What is it?"
"Please..."
Sora stepped close and whispered into her ear.
"Hold the others behind me back for me!"
"Huh?!"
Before Unkyō could even react, Sora had already bolted down the gap beside her and made his escape.
There was a dead end behind Robin. Behind Mitsutake was a group of Iron Cavalry. Only behind Unkyō was there nothing at all—just the hotel corridor.
If he wanted to run, that was his only way out.
No one had expected Sora to make a break for it, and when it actually happened, it caught all of them completely off guard.
But their reactions were quick. Very quickly, they were shouting as they chased after him.
"Don't run! Explain yourself first!"
"Yeah! What exactly is your plan for today?!"
And just like that, a whole crowd came rushing after Sora straight out of The Reverie.
A scene like that naturally made plenty of people turn their heads.
It was rare to see something like this in Penacony's dreamscape.
The group thundered past in a grand wave, kicking up dust in their wake.
And their commotion also drew the attention of certain people.
"So many people chasing after one person... Did something happen?"
"I remember the man in front. The moment I see him, I get scared."
These were well-trained security officers of the Bloodhound Family, the people responsible for maintaining peace and order in the dreamscape.
How could they possibly feel fear toward an ordinary man?
More importantly, along with that fear came a strange sense of familiarity.
They had barely had any contact with Sora before, and yet the moment they saw him, both familiarity and fear had risen inside them.
That was enough to make them start imagining all kinds of possibilities.
"Something that makes us feel both familiar and afraid... Could he be some wanted criminal who's gone into hiding?!"
As security officers, the thing they dealt with most often was wanted notices.
The moment that thought occurred to them, the Bloodhound Family officers sucked in a sharp breath.
A wanted criminal causing trouble in Penacony?!
That was no small matter!
"Come on, brothers! Let's bring the criminal to justice!"
"Go! For Penacony's peace!"
And just like that, the Bloodhound Family officers joined the tide of pursuit too.
Sora himself had never imagined things would escalate to this point.
Looking at all the people shouting behind him, anyone who didn't know the situation would probably assume he had really done something wrong.
And a procession that massive naturally drew the attention of almost everyone nearby.
For example, a few people who had just gotten off the Compass hadn't even had time to steady themselves before they were startled by the crowd rushing past in front of them.
"My goodness, what's going on?"
March 7th jumped in surprise as she watched the huge group thunder by in front of her.
"Is Penacony holding some kind of sports meet?"
"That would be my guess."
Dan Heng voiced his speculation.
After all, that many people all sprinting forward together did look a lot like some kind of track event.
"Does it?"
Welt felt that something about the atmosphere was a little off.
What kind of sporting event had the runners shouting things like "Catch the guy in front!"?
"Probably? Otherwise why would that many people be running around for no reason?"
Even Himeko couldn't tell what exactly was going on in front of them.
Though just now, she had thought she saw some familiar figures in that crowd.
Had she been mistaken?
For a moment, Himeko thought some of the people in that group looked like those she had met on the Xianzhou Cangyan.
But after thinking it over, that felt a little too unlikely.
The universe was so vast. She didn't actually know them that well, and the odds of two unrelated groups ending up mixed together like that were vanishingly small.
Besides, it wasn't exactly hard to find a few people in the universe who happened to resemble one another.
And so she tossed the matter out of her mind.
"All right, everyone. Since we've made it to Penacony, let's enjoy our vacation properly."
Himeko gave the order to disperse.
After finally making it all the way to Penacony, how could they not make the most of it?
"Yay! Long live Himeko!"
March 7th cheered.
Welt adjusted his glasses and nodded, while Dan Heng said calmly to Himeko, "If you run into trouble, remember to notify us."
With that, the members of the Astral Express crew headed off toward the places that interested them.
Only Himeko still couldn't fully sink into the afterglow of vacation.
Because right now, she needed to go to The Reverie in the dreamscape and search for the whereabouts of the three Nameless Pom-Pom had mentioned.
Since Pom-Pom had said they would be able to meet those people here, then their whereabouts had to be within the Family's grasp.
The fastest way would be to identify herself and ask the Family directly.
Once she had decided where to go, Himeko quickly made her way to The Reverie.
When she asked the front desk to help her look up guests, they naturally weren't willing to agree so easily. Even after she revealed her identity as a Nameless, they still needed approval from a superior.
"I'll need to ask our manager first. Please wait a moment."
Himeko nodded and waited there quietly.
And only then did she realize that compared to the one outside, The Reverie in the dreamscape was even more extravagant and unrestrained.
Though that was only natural. Since it was a building inside a dream, it made perfect sense for it to be a little less scientific than reality.
Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something about the atmosphere here was just a little strange.
It was hard to describe, as though the strangeness were seeping out from somewhere deep inside her own body.
She hadn't felt anything like that in the more town-like parts of Penacony earlier, but here the sensation had emerged.
"Could my senses really change depending on where I am?"
Himeko shook her head and waited quietly for The Reverie's response.
Before long, a man in a suit came over to the front desk, exchanged a few words there, and then approached Himeko.
"I've long heard of the Astral Express by name. I never expected I'd truly have the honor of meeting a Nameless in person."
The manager was very warm, and he quickly addressed her request.
"Since it's a request from the Astral Express, the Family naturally won't refuse lightly."
At that point, an awkward look appeared on his face.
"However, the time period involved in Miss Himeko's inquiry is simply too far in the past. I'm afraid you may have to come with me to the archive room and take a look yourself."
The names and dates Himeko had provided nearly traced all the way back to the era when Penacony had only just come into being.
Very few people ever looked up anything from that long ago.
"The Family being willing to help us at all is already more than enough. Thank you."
Himeko expressed her gratitude and followed him toward The Reverie's archive room.
The archive room wasn't here in the main lobby, but on the very lowest level of The Reverie.
And the path down seemed like it hadn't been cleaned in quite some time, because there were traces of fine sand gathered along the edges.
The hotel manager muttered under his breath when he saw that, saying that afterward he would have to give the hotel staff another round of training.
Cleanliness was part of a hotel's image. Letting a Nameless see something like this was his own failure.
Himeko didn't care about that. She said nothing and simply followed behind him deeper toward the archive room.
This area was almost deserted. Besides the archive room, there was only a single member of the Bloodhound Family standing guard nearby.
"Where is everyone else? Why are you the only one here?"
"They got called away by the others to help catch a wanted criminal. Apparently he runs fast and is a real pain to deal with..."
At that point, there was really nothing more to say.
The archive room was full of records and nothing else. There was no special intelligence here, and nothing much that could be stolen.
That was why this post was also known as the easiest assignment in the Bloodhound Family.
After hearing that, the manager didn't say much. He simply brought Himeko inside the archive room.
He switched on the lights, and what greeted them was a vast array of books filling the room.
After confirming the era with Himeko once more, he waved a hand, and an entire row of shelves glided over in front of her.
"Ms. Himeko, these are the records from that era."
Only a few thin volumes sat on that shelf. Compared to later periods, whose records were so numerous they could nearly fill an entire bookcase, the amount written down from this era was pitifully sparse.
But fewer records also meant Himeko's search would be much simpler.
"Thank you for the Family's help. The Nameless will remember it."
"Oh, not at all, not at all. Being able to help you is an honor for the Family too."
The manager smiled, then went back outside to wait for Himeko to finish.
Himeko took down the records from the shelf and began searching for those three names.
"Tiernan, Legwork, Razalina..."
She searched and searched, then suddenly her eyes lit up.
"Found it!"
What she had found was a record from the period when Penacony was in the War of Independence.
But the contents of that record made her eyes widen slightly.
"How is that possible?"
How could those three Nameless have ended up becoming...?
...
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Sora was in some remote corner, breathing hard.
That long run had really left him a little winded.
Still, it didn't matter. In the end, he had successfully escaped that whole group chasing him.
And honestly... even after going through a sprint like that, his body still felt pretty good.
In fact, compared to the fatigue he had been feeling every morning after waking up these past few days, what he felt now seemed almost light.
Which raised a very important question.
Just what exactly had he been doing in his sleep?
"Huh?! Aren't you the guy they were chasing just now?"
But before he could think any further, the cry from behind him immediately made him tense up again.
He turned around and saw a girl with blue-pink gradient hair holding a camera.
He knew who she was.
The Astral Express's designated goofball, March 7th.
Unfortunately, March 7th clearly didn't know him. Before coming across Sora, she had been planning to come here and take pictures of the scenery.
Who would have guessed she'd run into the very guy who'd just been chased all the way here?
And before she knew it, the finger resting on her camera had already pressed the shutter.
Click!
Together with that crisp shutter sound, a brand-new photo of Sora leaning against the wall was born.
For a moment, the scene went completely still.
Sora and March 7th stared at each other, neither of them saying a word for quite some time.
But from the way her fingers were tightening more and more around the camera, Sora could already sense that things were turning bad.
Those people hadn't gone far yet. If she accidentally called them over...
"Wait, I can explain! I'm not that kind of guy!"
But would Detective March 7th believe him?
Of course not.
As an ally of justice, she was already opening her mouth to expose the wanted criminal's location.
"Over he—mmph! Mmph—!"
Before she could finish, Sora had already covered her mouth.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Please, March, don't do this!"
Couldn't he at least get a little rest first?
And yet after hearing him say that, the force of March 7th's struggling didn't lessen at all.
Fine. If he didn't bring out something she'd actually be afraid of, then he probably wasn't getting any rest at all.
So Sora's eyes shifted, and a flood of information instantly surfaced in his mind.
"Young lady, if I'm not mistaken, your name is March 7th. You love juice, you love taking pictures, your favorite celebrity is Robin, and you've got several good friends on the Express!"
The moment she heard that, March 7th's struggling slowly weakened.
She was in disbelief, with no idea how Sora knew any of that.
Some of it was very personal.
There were probably things in there even Himeko didn't know.
So how did the guy behind her know them?
"Heh heh heh... I am the Imperial Heavenly King, an evil villain who shatters sweet dreams!"
That wasn't exactly wrong.
After all, not long ago, Sora really had shattered ORDER's beautiful dream.
But using that as his credentials to frighten March 7th was admittedly a little pathetic.
Still, it was the best idea he had come up with.
"To me, the memories of every creature inside a dream are open for the taking. I can look through them whenever I please, and I can destroy their projections in the dream just as easily!"
After saying that, Sora fully slipped into character. Leaning close to March 7th's ear, he spoke in an eerie tone.
"March... you wouldn't want your friends to get hurt, would you...?"
---
T/N: woah! =he finally met an express member!!!!!!!!
T/N2: heres ur updates :3 meeting the 4 i mean 2 chaps a week quota :3
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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