Carla tilted her head. "Because Lucy is a Celestial Spirit Mage?"
"Something like that," Rhodes replied. "Do you remember the two from Phantom Wing?"
Lucy blinked. "You mean Ms. Phil and Mr. Doru?"
"Yes. That Mr. Doru is also a Celestial Spirit Mage." Rhodes crossed his arms thoughtfully. "You noticed, right? He was injured far worse than Phil, almost lost his life."
Lucy nodded slowly, remembering.
"Phil even mentioned that the Bees seemed to go berserk attacking Doru for no reason," Rhodes continued. "So my theory is this: those abandoned Star Spirits must hold some sort of grudge against Celestial Spirit Mages."
He paused. "That's the first point."
Lucy frowned, thinking hard. But no matter how she turned it over in her head, she couldn't find any logical reason. The proposal to reclassify constellations hadn't even come from Celestial Spirit Mages, it was from astronomers centuries ago.
She sighed. "Does that 'first point' come with a second and third point too?"
Seeing Rhodes nod, Lucy slumped. "Ugh… there are that many reasons for me to be bait?"
Rhodes chuckled. "The second point comes from Carla's earlier prophecy."
"'Lucy being chased by Bees while Rhodes laughs from the side,'" Carla recited flatly, tail flicking.
"That's right." Rhodes grinned. "I figured since Carla's predictions are usually spot-on, and you, Lucy, are exceptionally talented at attracting weirdness, our odds of success would be pretty high."
Lucy puffed up, outraged. "So while I was being swarmed half to death, you and Wendy were hiding somewhere laughing at me?!"
Rhodes raised both hands quickly. "No, no, no! Not laughing at you, laughing with joy! Because the plan was working perfectly!"
"R-right…" Wendy said uncertainly, glancing between them.
Lucy stared at the guilty Wendy for a moment, then shifted her narrowed eyes back to Rhodes.
Rhodes, feeling the weight of that stare, very smoothly turned to Gemini. "Jamie, Mini, could I trouble you to check the situation of those Star Spirits? We'll stay one more day to confirm everything's resolved before returning."
"Got it!" Jamie saluted.
"Leave it to us!" Mini chirped brightly.
The two of them, seemingly under Rhodes's complete command, vanished in a flash of blue light, without even saying goodbye to Lucy.
Lucy slumped, muttering weakly, "Whose Star Spirits are they, anyway…?"
Before she could brood further, Bacchus and his two teammates, Rocker and Seemes, arrived looking tired but unhurt.
"We nearly got ourselves killed!" Bacchus complained. "What the hell happened here?"
Rhodes shrugged. "The feeling's mutual. The Three-Headed Dog you were supposed to handle decided to crash our party."
After a quick exchange, both sides caught up on the situation.
Bacchus rubbed his temples. "So that's it, huh? Does this count as completed? Star Spirits can't exactly die, right?"
"We're waiting for confirmation from the Star Spirit Realm," Rhodes said. "But after a fight like this, even a normal Spirit would be unable to manifest for a long while. So, it's fair to call it resolved."
He added, "If anything else happens, the Star Spirit Realm will handle it."
"Good enough for me." Bacchus waved a hand lazily. "We'll be heading back then. As agreed, we're not taking any reward."
Carla blinked. "Wait, the bounty for the Hellhound was one-point-five million, wasn't it? You're just giving that up?"
Rhodes smiled faintly. "He's a drunk, but he's also a man of his word."
The team made one last inspection of the battlefield, ensuring nothing unusual remained, before returning to the village.
Rhodes gave a full report to the village chief, explaining that the mission was in its final verification phase and that they would stay one extra day for confirmation.
The chief, far from complaining, was overjoyed at their thoroughness.
That night, the group was treated to warm food and endless gratitude. For the first time in days, the air felt peaceful again.
By the afternoon of the next day, a ripple of starlight appeared before them.
Gemini returned.
Jamie saluted crisply. "The Star Spirit King has just discovered that several abandoned Star Spirits escaped confinement and entered the Human World without authorization."
Mini continued, "Their purpose is still unknown, but the method of their escape is currently under investigation!"
Then Jamie's voice deepened suddenly, echoing with solemn authority, the Star Spirit King's own voice speaking through him:
"My old friend… if you encounter any Star Spirits running rampant in the Human World, please see to it that they are subdued. Those who carry guilt will be punished with utmost severity.
I will not allow their actions to endanger the harmony between the Star Spirit Realm and the Human World!"
Mini raised his small hand, waving casually toward the sky. "That's what the King said."
Lucy's brow furrowed, anxiety creeping into her voice. "Then… are there more abandoned Star Spirits that have come to the Human World?"
Jamie nodded. "Basically, all of the abandoned Star Spirits have already come," Mini finished brightly, as if it were nothing alarming at all.
Lucy froze. "Wait… all of them?!" Her voice trembled slightly. "Then isn't that really bad? If they're all as strong as the ones we just fought."
Jamie interrupted calmly, "Don't worry. Just like ordinary Star Spirits, some are strong, some are weak, and some can't even fight at all."
Mini added, "The Hellhound Zodiac and the Bee Zodiac were among the stronger ones, and they only caused so much trouble because they teamed up with the Quadrans Lyrids."
Wendy, curious but worried, asked, "Miss Lucy, how many abandoned constellations are there in total?"
Lucy frowned thoughtfully. "There are quite a lot. I've never counted carefully, but… maybe over thirty that are widely known, and another thirty or so that are less famous. And if you count the ones only mentioned in old legends, or even those named privately by people over time, then there are simply too many to count."
She turned to the twins. "Gemini, do you know the exact number?"
Jamie shook his head. "Even the Star Spirit King doesn't know how many constellations have appeared throughout all of history."
Mini continued, "Not even Crux might have a complete record."
They spoke in perfect rhythm, alternating lines like two halves of one mind.
"However," Jamie said, "any constellation capable of producing a Star Spirit must have once reflected a real astronomical law at a particular point in history."
Mini followed up, "Only those constellations represent a true reflection of the Star Spirit Realm's state at that time. That's why astronomers recognized them."
Jamie nodded. "If a constellation was simply invented or named on a whim by individuals, it wouldn't align with the Realm's structure, and naturally, no corresponding Star Spirit would exist."
Lucy digested their explanation carefully, recalling her old lessons. "If that's the case… then the number of genuine constellations that could have birthed Star Spirits should only be around sixty or so."
She gasped. "Sixty! That's almost as many as the official ones we already know!"
The number sent a chill down her spine. Something had clearly gone wrong in the Star Spirit Realm, and Lucy couldn't just ignore it. But with more than sixty fugitives scattered across the world, she had no idea where to even begin.
Before she could speak, Rhodes said quietly, "Actually, I've already encountered another abandoned Star Spirit before."
Lucy turned to him sharply. "You have?"
Rhodes nodded. "Our guild might have received similar requests too. It happened on the first of last month, when Mira and I went to Mermaid's Heel for a rescue mission."
He paused for a moment, eyes distant as he recalled the memory.
"The attacker… was a massive ghost ship."
Lucy's expression stiffened. "A ghost ship? You mean… a ship-shaped Star Spirit?"
"Exactly," Rhodes said. "At the time, I didn't think much of it. But now that I look back, when that ship was defeated and faded away, it vanished in the exact same way these three Star Spirits did."
Lucy's eyes widened as realization struck. "Then… that must have been..."
Rhodes nodded. "Yes. The Argo Navis, the Ship Zodiac, one of the abandoned constellations."
The name alone sent shivers down her arms.
Rhodes looked at her meaningfully. "And there's another coincidence. On that ghost ship… the one it attacked was also a Celestial Spirit Mage."
Lucy: "!!!"
...
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