"Hmm... Little Sister Castorice, based on what you just described..."
"Were there other living beings who came here before we arrived?"
"Y-Yes!" Hearing Lumina's words, Castorice immediately had a look of sudden realization.
After thinking for just a moment, she drew a conclusion: "Could it be... that the Restless Souls are trapped here because they were tricked by someone?"
When she said this, even the gentle and cute Little Castorice had a hint of anger appear between her brows.
So cute~
Facing Castorice's angry-dumpling look, Lumina's heart was instantly healed.
Although it was extremely unfair to use someone else's anger as a form of healing, there was no other way.
Little Sister Castorice was just too cute. Every smile, every frown, every expression she made only added another layer of cuteness to her already adorable self.
Lumina prided herself on her "strong" self-control, but in the face of Little Sister Castorice's cuteness—and the even greater cuteness that followed—she had no power to resist.
This wasn't Lumina's fault. It was the fault of Castorice being too cute, too perfect!
Yes, of course, this kind of fault is not that kind of fault. With Little Castorice being so cute, whatever she does, she is definitely not in the wrong!
So who is to blame?
Without a doubt, it is Madam Herta!
Herta: ?
It can't be helped; someone has to take the fall.
"Oh my, Princess Homebody, if it was done with good intentions, can it still be called 'deception'?"
Just as Castorice finished speaking, a familiar voice rang in everyone's ears.
"Good intentions? No matter how you look at it, this can't be called... huh?" Hearing this, the anger between Castorice's brows did not fade, and she blurted out a sentence.
But before she could finish, Castorice realized something. The anger between her brows vanished, and the words she was speaking trailed off, cut off in the middle.
"Wait, Lady Cipher?" Castorice turned to face the direction the voice came from. "You actually didn't leave."
The owner of the voice was, naturally, Miss Cipher, who had sent everyone to Styxia.
She suddenly appeared beside everyone, without being sensed by Castorice, Stelle, or Mem.
"Are you dead too?" Seeing Cipher suddenly appear before her, Stelle greeted her with a greeting unique to herself.
"Uh..." Hearing this, Cipher put her hands on her hips and glanced at Stelle with a look of utter speechlessness. "How could I be separated from you by the line between life and death?"
Cipher had heard Stelle's situation clearly from their previous conversation, so in response to Stelle's words, she naturally countered in the manner of a "highly intelligent" person.
"Lady Cipher... So the living person the wandering soul saw before was..." After Cipher appeared, Castorice finally understood the whole story.
The reason the wandering soul lingered here was still a complete mystery, but the living person the wandering soul spoke of must have been Cipher.
"Sigh..." Hearing this, Cipher silently sighed, a momentary sorrow crossing her face. "I just couldn't bear to watch them suffer, so I stole a little from the east and tricked a little from the west. I just hoped that through these actions, I could bring a little more hope to their lives."
"How tragic it would be to spend every day in a daze, repeating the same thing over and over again."
"..." Hearing Cipher's explanation, Castorice, Stelle, and Mem were all speechless.
Herta still maintained her usual expressionless and indifferent posture.
Only Lumina cast an imperceptible, admiring gaze toward Cipher.
Little sister Cipher is right, everything little sister Cipher does is right.
What bad intentions could little sister Cipher possibly have? She just wanted to add a little color to the lives of these wandering souls, so what could be wrong with that?
She is truly so kind-hearted!
Although Lumina thought so in her heart, the others did not.
"It's because of malicious living people like you that we are all being misunderstood by everyone!"
Mem hunched her back, her small hands hanging naturally as she accused Cipher with a look of utter speechlessness.
"What else?" To this, Cipher seemed completely indifferent. "Look at the scene here. All these poor people have been shut out by the Underworld."
"Stuck here, unable to move forward or retreat. If I end up like this after I die, I'd rather never die at all."
"Ugh, Styxia is just too terrifying. After I've died, I definitely won't want to come back here."
Cipher crossed her arms over her shoulders, putting on a weak, pitiful, helpless, and frightened expression.
Seeing this, Castorice said nothing more and stopped dwelling on the matter.
After all, it wasn't as if she had said the scene here... was indeed a bit strange.
Lady Cipher's well-intentioned actions were something Castorice naturally wouldn't criticize.
Moving to the next topic, Castorice asked, "So, didn't Lady Cipher leave? Why have you come back?"
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not here to help you explore," Cipher waved her hand. "I just made a discovery right before leaving and felt I absolutely had to pass a message to you."
"That child who refuses death, I found his traces here."
"Lord Mydei?" Hearing this, Castorice's first reaction was to think of Mydei.
"Oh right, right, right, that's the name." When Mydei's name came up, Cipher nodded, confirming it was him.
"I've delivered the message. As for whether it's useful, I'll leave that for you to decide."
"Well then, goodbye, Princess Homebody, Little Ash." She smiled at Castorice and Stelle.
After speaking, Cipher's gaze fell on Lumina and Herta, and she waved. "Sister Lumina, and you, the beautiful Witch sister with the hat, goodbye."
Although Cipher's attitude toward Castorice and Stelle compared to her attitude toward Lumina and Herta wasn't night and day, the double standard was already faintly apparent.
Fortunately, no one here was the type to care about such things, so no one minded.
Except...
"Ahhh, am I really that invisible?"
"That guy actually completely ignored me when saying goodbye!"
After speaking, Cipher instantly vanished from everyone's sight.
After Cipher completely vanished, Mem crossed her arms and stomped her little foot in the air, looking a bit angry.
Clearly, she was somewhat upset that Cipher had ignored her.
But before Mem could cool down, a "strange" giant hand descended from the sky, snatching her up like the gods seizing blood-food.
"Me... Mem!"
Caught in the giant hand's grasp, Mem could do nothing but let out a miserable cry, cursing the heavens for their injustice.
Until Mem's voice completely faded from this mortal world...
"Hmm~ This feels so good."
Pulling Mem into her arms, Lumina let out a soft, comfortable moan.
Meanwhile, Mem lay in Lumina's embrace, feeling a sense of hopeless resignation while enjoying the incredibly warm and cozy sanctuary.
This drew a wave of envious glances from everyone present.
"Mem..."
Though it was forced, and though she felt a bit lifeless, Mem had to admit.
This really was comfortable, and she wasn't actually losing out by being in this position.
"Hmm~" Feeling Mem's submission in her arms, Lumina's petting became even more vigorous.
At the same time, a wave of joy also welled up in her heart.
Very good, very good, very, very good.
From Mem's behavior, Lumina could see that she had completely succumbed to her gentle sanctuary.
Even though Lumina had forced her, even though she had suddenly pulled her into her arms and given her a vigorous petting while she was completely caught off guard and unaware, she still harbored no resentment.
At this point, Lumina could already declare victory in advance.
If Mem was like this, what would Cyrene be like?
When Mem turned back into Cyrene, Lumina would just pull her close and snuggle up to her.
Once she got used to the warmth of Lumina's sanctuary, Cyrene probably wouldn't refuse much either.
When the time came...
In Lumina's mind, a blissful fantasy immediately began to unfold.
"Elbow!"
But before Lumina could fantasize for much longer, Herta, who was standing nearby, seemed to have sensed her thoughts. She directly raised her elbow and delivered a strike to Lumina's arm, forcibly knocking Lumina back from her own little world.
"Hmph!"
After elbowing Lumina back to reality and witnessing the resentful little look Lumina cast her way for having her pleasant fantasy interrupted, Herta paid it no mind. She crossed her arms, huffed coldly, and turned her head away.
Just like a grumpy little girlfriend, she was adorable.
Lumina loved it.
If only there weren't so many people around, Lumina would have already hugged her and breathed in the scent wafting from Herta's body.
In this state, Herta's scent must be wonderful, right?
But there was nothing she could do now, so she could only rely on Mem's scent to soothe her emotions.
With this thought, Lumina's petting of Mem became even more rapid.
"Mem—!"
At Lumina's action, even though Mem had already given up resisting, she couldn't help but let out a protest.
Lumina didn't care.
She knew exactly how much force to use. It definitely wouldn't be painful.
"Mem..."
Mem, understanding this, sighed softly in her heart and didn't say much more.
Oh well, oh well, anyway, the tender embrace of Lumina, this bad woman, was very comfortable, so she might as well just let her.
In the end, Mem still gave up resisting.
Resisting was useless, and besides, the force of the petting was quite appropriate, so she could just enjoy it.
Just like this, Mem lay in Lumina's arms, completely out of place with her surroundings, allowing Lumina to pet her back and forth like a doll.
Hmm... Mem in this state was actually no different from a doll.
The only difference was that this doll could move, was alive, and in the future, would become a super beautiful young girl because of this...
"Hmm..."
Castorice and the Star General both saw the scene before their eyes, but neither of them said anything.
However, the envy revealed in their eyes still betrayed the thoughts within their hearts.
Whoosh—
Feeling a cold breeze blow past, Castorice quickly became aware of their current surroundings.
She shook her head vigorously and snapped back to her senses.
Immediately after, she continued the topic of Cipher's departure, saying, "Lady Cipher has always acted on a whim. No matter what she does, it always seems... perfectly normal."
"But regardless, Lady Cipher has given us a valuable piece of information."
After saying this, Castorice paused for a moment before continuing, "If Lord Mydei is also on the shallows right now, he will definitely be able to serve as our beacon."
"After all, Lord Mydei is different from other souls. Because of his 'immortality', he can definitely find his way even in the world of the dead."
"So our current mission is to find Mydei first?" Stelle asked in confusion.
"Uh..." Hearing this, Castorice was slightly at a loss for words for a moment, then immediately shook her head, "There's no need to go looking for Lord Mydei specifically."
"Styxia is huge. If we search every single place, we won't have enough time..." Castorice glanced at Stelle with some worry.
"Uh... so we just keep walking forward?" Stelle scratched her head, asking in confusion.
"Um... let's just keep walking forward. It would be best if we could run into Lord Mydei along the way," Castorice nodded, speaking softly.
Hearing this, Stelle nodded, then looked at the surroundings enveloped in black fluid and said, "This dead water... looks a bit dangerous."
Although this dead water appeared very calm, how could things that appeared here truly be calm?
Could this water be Styx Water?
"Yes, this stuff is very dangerous." Following Stelle's gaze, Castorice nodded very seriously, "If we want to keep moving forward, we'll have to borrow the power of Time."
After speaking, Castorice turned her gaze to Mem in Sister Lumina's arms.
"Mem..."
Sensing Castorice and Stelle's gazes, and hearing the context of their words, Mem also knew what they wanted to do.
But this kind of thing, at this moment, did not depend on Mem, but on this bad woman...
If she didn't let her go, Mem definitely wouldn't be able to do anything.
"Heh heh, go on, Mem, you're the chosen one!" Sensing Castorice and Stelle's gazes, Lumina also knew what they wanted to thank her for.
Although she also possessed the power of [Time], she could have simply thrown out a wisp of [Time] power and continued petting Mem.
But after thinking it over, she ultimately dismissed that option.
There was no need, she was too lazy to move...
Driven by this thought, Lumina reluctantly stopped petting Mem, loosened her embrace, and slowly lifted her up so she could stand more steadily in the air.
"Huu..."
Lumina felt reluctant about this, and Mem naturally shared the same feeling.
But how could she possibly say it out loud?
After taking a deep breath, she looked left and right, starting to search.
Then she pointed to a certain device not far away, "Look, there's a [Rune of Reminiscence] of [Oronyx] over there. Use a prayer to make the river here return to the time before it started flooding!"