The crimson sunset clouds slowly proclaimed the prelude to nightfall; under the flame-burning canopy of sky, the streets and alleys of Belobog grew especially quiet.
Vendors packing up their stalls, children at play, elderly couples out for a stroll—all halted their steps, standing where they were to gaze at this beautiful sunset they had never before seen in their lives.
After lingering a long while, many would turn to gaze in a certain direction, silently conveying in their hearts sincere respect and gratitude to the Grand Guardian, the prince who had come from beyond the heavens.
In the direction the people gazed—inside the villa courtyard, things were lively.
Sylvia, March 7th, Stelle, Seele, and Pela were playing Haruhikage as the background music for the welcome banquet.
The repertoire also included some classics Stelle had dug out from her 'subconscious,' such as March 7th's character song 'Happy Girl,' 'Little Nezha' rearranged to tease Hook, and 'Monkey Brother' rearranged with herself as the protagonist.
"Star-baby, Star-baby? You're really something?"
"The Stellaron restraint couldn't pin you down, and out pops a Trailblazer?"
...
"Your fair name is spread by ten thousand, your tale told in a thousand homes; the Galaxy Bat forever sparkles, sweeping clean the world's filth?"
The catchy lyrics and the rousing melodic lines were highly memorable and infectious; Hook, who was clapping along with Clara, quickly joined in singing.
Big Seele, Natasha, Miss Haxxor Bunny, and Black Seele—temporarily split off using the Tiger Talisman—sat in a circle, eating the specialty snacks Caelus had bought from Luofu.
Black Seele was extremely unaccustomed to this warm, cozy atmosphere; she hadn't wanted to come out at all, wanting only to watch from within the mental space.
But she couldn't win out against Caelus-Seele, who insisted on making her come out—how could the proud, low-defense Black Seele possibly withstand Seele's cute, coquettish wheedling?
"You are me, and I am you. You hope that Seele and I are happy, and I hope you're happy too; I also want to let 'Seele' make more friends, find happiness, and laugh together with everyone~"
"And besides, I also want to hold hands with you, like feeding you ice cream—I like 'Seele' the best~!"
Caelus-Seele's ultra-direct fastball and confession-like words wiped out Black Seele's toughness bar within a single second; as if her break-state bar had been shattered, Black Seele buried her head on the fairy-tale table of the mental space, unable to rise again.
Black Seele's thoughts churned a hundred times over, 'What on earth is that idiot saying?'
'She can't possibly think words like these would move me?' 'Why is she still going on?' 'Huh? Why'd she stop?'.
She didn't know how much time had passed; in any case, by the time Black Seele recovered her clarity from the Break effect, she was already sitting around the table.
"What are you looking at? Hmph~!"
With a visible blush still lingering on her face, Black Seele feigned anger and snapped at yet another 'Sister Bronya' who was staring at her—the name Bronie was indeed a bit simpler to call.
Although she didn't care about any of this in the slightest, it was only because Seele had asked that she'd grudgingly come out to make friends with these people.
Idiot! Idiot! Idiot Seele!
"Uh..."
Inexplicably snapped at, Miss Haxxor Bunny—who was in some blissful fantasy state thanks to gaining one more Seele—blinked blankly.
If anyone else had spoken to her like that, she'd absolutely make them learn what a black-society heiress crawled up from the slums was—the gold-tier clout of a veteran player from S1's Zuan district and a Sun-Bar yellow-card holder!
But the one who'd said it was Seele.
And a Seele full of bashful blushing at that—her ear tips red enough to drip blood, yet she insisted on tilting her face up to act fierce... how adorable!
Though the three Seeles each had their own distinct personality—the gentle Seele was endearing, the capable Seele got along well with Haxxor Bunny—this tsundere, fierce little Seele was also very cute.
In the center of the lawn, Seele's tender, slender fingers leapt between the black and white keys; smiling, she looked toward Black Seele, who was conversing with Haxxor Bunny in an 'impatient' tone while sneaking glances her way, flustering and looking away the instant their eyes met—and the corners of Seele's mouth curved up even higher.
Quietly trash-talking one little Black Seele—isn't she just being toyed with in the palm of my hand?
Look at me.
"Keys, come~!"
Seele called out softly, leading the others to change the music's rhythm, switching to the character song of Twins of the Other Shore; while Black Seele was in Break state, she was going to land another Super Break!
Next time, when she comes looking for comfort, she'll drag both Seeles along—one body, three souls; the Seeles must advance and retreat together!
Breast Duck, whose core was Little Duck, along with Rand-Duck, Caelus, and Topaz, sat fairly close together. Actually, Little Duck would rather go chat a few words with Black Seele, but she still had to play the role of Silver Wing.
After all, she had once served as Belobog's Grand Guardian for a time; facing the IPC's envoy, she had to help out Rand-Duck. Although Topaz had come as a guest in the capacity of a friend, in order to maintain the Silver Wing persona, she still had to take part in the discussion.
"Were all those just now local Belobog songs?"
Topaz picked up a grilled meat skewer—Caelus said it was venison, but it didn't taste like deer at all: "Truly catchy."
The truth was, it sounded like children's songs.
Bronya took a light sip of fruit wine:
"The pieces Miss Topaz heard just now are not native Belobog folk songs."
"If Miss Topaz is interested in Belobog's song culture, you might pay more attention to the Warm Sun Festival celebration; at that time the court orchestra will perform, sounding out the movement from the Eternal Winter disaster-relief to the revival of new sprouts."
"Sounds wonderful—I'll definitely come to support it then!"
Topaz raised her glass in a toast.
"So, is the Belobog debt project no longer under Miss Topaz's charge now?"
The skewer in Little Duck's hand was snatched away by Caelus; going by her personality she'd definitely snatch it back, but as Silver Wing, she could only show a doting, playful smile.
"Correct."
"And when will the new person in charge take their post?"
"The Market Development Department always moves as swift as a ball rolling downhill. I estimate the new person in charge will arrive tomorrow, the day after at the very latest."
Topaz glanced at Numby, who was being chased around by Hook—actually walking the human cub to help it digest its food.
She'd thought Numby wouldn't be used to Jarilo-VI's food, so Topaz had let it eat customized food in advance; she hadn't expected that among the delicacies Caelus brought out to entertain them, some looked utterly ordinary yet got Numby very excited.
—products from the Universal Synthesizer, with no especially obvious effects, but extremely delicious in taste.
Numby wanted to eat but couldn't fit any more in, on the verge of tears.
"Bronya."
With the connection of Asta—and of Caelus—after joining the Express crew's welcome banquet, Topaz and Bronya's relationship had grown a bit closer, and it was a private occasion, so she didn't add 'Miss.'
"For matters related to the debt, you can just discuss them with the future person in charge. What I want to talk to you about is investment in Jarilo-VI—I wonder if you'd be interested in hearing my investment project?"
"Oh? What project?"
Before Bronya could answer, Caelus, eating the skewer he'd snatched from Little Duck's mouth, spoke up first.
"Hey, this project is absolutely suited to Belobog's current stage—it'll lift the spirits of the people who've made it through the Eternal Winter to a whole new level. Have you heard of Aether Front?"
"Aether Front?"
A flicker of thought and bewilderment flashed through Bronya's eyes.
"It's a game."
Seeing this, Topaz knew the other party had no idea—given Jarilo-VI's situation of not even being able to leave its mother planet, that was perfectly normal.
"A game? What game!"
Stelle, who'd caught the keyword, stopped strumming her four-string guitar and scurried over like a little raccoon.
Pela was the drummer; she'd originally taken over the position of the band's soul bassist, Caelus, but now the band's soul had merely left its body—it didn't affect the remaining 'body' from performing.
"Is it starting?"
Caelus turned serious: "The Nintendo Cease-and-Desist Letter Challenge."
"Huh?"
A whole group cocked their heads in confusion, looking toward Caelus.
Topaz also looked slightly bewildered: "What's that?"
"I will protect this universe from Nintendo's hands!"
Topaz: "..."
Understood. Probably going off the rails again.
Having seen the scene of Stelle and Caelus coming to blows over a trash can, Topaz knew the two's mental state very well.
"It's the Aether Spirit Grand Tournament."
Topaz corrected him: "You're right, but 'Aether Front' is a universe-class blockbuster game jointly created by the IPC, which led the project together with the Interastral Internet and Interastral Peace Pictures."
"Using the IPC's most cutting-edge Aether duplication technology, it records any creature it has seen into an Aether coin, materializing it as an Aether Spirit to spar and battle against other players—centered on collection, dueling, nurturing, leveling up, and earning glory!"
"If Belobog serves as the main event venue and hosts the Interastral Showdown Celebration, then players from all across the Galaxy who join the game will come."
"For Belobog, which has a developmental gap, this is a fine opportunity to increase trade exchanges, drive the economy, and promote communication."
"How about it?"
Topaz looked toward Bronya and Caelus.
This too could be counted as one of the contents of the 'transaction.'
Aether Front was a universe-class IP; countless planetary civilizations vied for the chance to host the Showdown Celebration. Whether it was the economic income brought directly by tourists or the renown brought by the celebration, both would bring many benefits to a planetary civilization.
Normally, such a fat piece of meat wouldn't even fall to the turn of Belobog, which had only just lifted the coffin lid and sat up.
Even at Topaz's level she couldn't decide it alone—she could only exert influence; it was 'Diamond' who made the final call.
The premise for hosting the Interastral Showdown Celebration on Jarilo-VI was that Caelus could help Belobog resolve its debt problem—in other words, fiercely humiliate the Market Development Department!
The Showdown Celebration venue was Diamond's reward to Caelus.
Of course, if Caelus couldn't pull it off and Belobog got mired in debt disputes, it naturally couldn't become the Showdown Celebration's host venue, and then everyone would just go about their own business.
"This... is it really okay?"
Bronya was a bit excited, the fruit wine in the cup in her hand swaying slightly.
As the Grand Guardian, she naturally had this kind of macroscopic vision; she understood very well how much benefit becoming the center of an interastral grand event could bring Belobog—the economy would absolutely recover on a large scale!
But, although Jarilo-VI's current environment could no longer be called terrible, it was definitely not the best choice for the IPC.
Having seen the 'glorious achievements' of the Market Development Department's supervisor, Bronya all the more didn't believe the IPC would do charity and help Belobog for free—unless someone had already paid the price.
Bronya turned her head to look at the gray-haired youth, who said with a smile:
"Mm, of course it's okay."
Sure enough, it was Caelus!
Her heart leapt with a thump; having drunk a bit of fruit wine, Bronya—White Seele's—face was dyed with an alluring pink glow amid the slight tipsiness, her once-clear eyes now somewhat misty, glistening like rippling water.
A faint, barely perceptible impulse, spurred on by the alcohol, made Bronya wrap both arms around Caelus's neck, her soft lips pressing down heavily upon his.
The sudden action startled everyone; as their lips parted, Bronya realized what she'd done.
"No, I, I..."
Her already slightly red cheeks flushed blood-red in an instant; somewhat panicked, she didn't know how to explain.
Caelus blinked blankly.
Feeling the synesthesia transmitted over, Stelle smacked her lips and leapt up cheerfully: "Yay!"
"I'm going to become——"
She took one of the gifts Asta had given her out of her spatial ring—a red-and-white cap—plopped it straight onto her gray hair, and tugged the brim down backward.
"An Aether Spirit Master!"
____
Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 30 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉