"Phew~ What a rollercoaster. Now that Mr. Sunday… Sunday gave his personal guarantee, we can finally check in normally, right?" March 7th let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Are all the Family's names that weird?"
"Probably just code names… or something. Don't tell me Miss Robin's real name is [Saturday]?"
Himeko finished her paperwork at the desk first. "I think so too. It must be some Penacony or Family custom."
Exactly—another heart-pounding [Trailblaze] adventure was about to begin!
This time the opening act had no frozen tundra, no overbearing Xianzhou higher-ups… aside from the cryptic men and women spouting riddles left and right, everything looked absolutely perfect!
Come to think of it, no one had ever asked Stelle this question—what kind of travel did she like?
Hmm… Stelle would definitely pick charging straight to the most famous local attraction without hesitation. She was the galaxy's most admirable woman of action!
But on second thought, that would overlap way too much with March 7th's style. In that case, she'd rather hole up in the room with Adrian and sleep the whole day.
"A world inside dreams… They say Penacony turned dreamscapes into a glittering metropolis… I wonder what it'll really be like? So excited~"
"Hey! Teacher Adrian, stop staring at your phone!"
March 7th bounded over and dragged the deep-in-thought HIM into the conversation.
"You barely said a word the whole way. Teacher Adrian, are you worried about Priestess Freesna and the others?"
"Penacony… the decor here is a bit… loud. I was just wondering—is this how the galactic elite live?"
A hint of "longing" flickered in Adrian's eyes. Once upon a time, HE had an entrepreneurial dream too: to make HIS milk tea shop famous across the entire cosmos.
"Looks like even Teacher Adrian had ambitious dreams before becoming a professional slacker."
After that little interlude, Himeko led everyone onto the elevator and up to the [Daydream] Hotel's public lounge.
Stelle and March 7th dropped their luggage in their rooms first. Adrian sipped the famous SoulGlad and listened to the remaining two discuss serious matters.
"Welt, do you still remember the [invitation] the Express received?"
"[Sincerely inviting esteemed guests of the Family to grace Penacony and join the other visitors in a grand banquet.]"
"That's exactly why we're here."
"You remember well… but there was more to that invitation."
Himeko accepted two glasses of SoulGlad from the bartender and continued chatting with Welt.
"[…Behold the impossible within the dream, seek the legacy of Penacony's father—the Clockmaker—and then answer: why does life slumber?]"
"I don't recall any such passage in the invitation… Are you saying there was hidden text?" Welt asked.
"That's the intriguing part. The Family sent an actual music box. Wind the key and it plays harmonious music."
"But the one delivered to me was strange… Among the melody were discordant notes."
"I isolated those noises. They matched the gravitational wave frequency during our jump perfectly. Using the Express engine's spatial curvature as the key—I decrypted the message above."
Welt frowned slightly. "…A distress method commonly used by Nameless."
"We can't be certain yet. Could be the Masked Fools pulling a prank. Technique-wise, Riddlers or the Mourning Actors could manage it too."
Himeko analyzed the situation. Of the three she mentioned, the Mourning Actors were just street-level nobodies—they didn't have the guts of the Masked Fools to toy with the Astral Express.
"No wonder you stepped in earlier. That IPC emissary mentioned the [Clockmaker] too. He probably had similar hidden text in his invitation… and decrypted it the same way."
"There's something else that bothers me. When the invitation came up, that Family representative said: [As the actual administrators of Penacony, the Family is duty-bound to resolve troubles for our guests.]"
"In hindsight, those words carry an extra layer of meaning."
Adrian gazed at the classic SoulGlad in his hand, completely on a different wavelength from Himeko and Welt.
Whether you'd visited Penacony or not, everyone had heard of the [SoulGlad] brand.
Ever since this soda was born, the fizzy waves in its bottles had conquered the cosmic market and captured taste buds across star systems.
Multiple SoulGlad-flavored milk teas… now that might just work?
"You suspect the Family isn't the true sender of the invitations, and… they're hiding something from us?"
"It's not impossible. The Family extending open invitations to other factions is already unusual. Your discovery suggests a third party might be involved… I take back what I said earlier—this [festival] is anything but simple."
Welt felt a wave of exhaustion. A relaxing vacation in Penacony was clearly off the table.
"No worries—with the Galactic Baseballer on the case, everything's under control!"
Stelle suddenly popped up behind them. She and March 7th had rushed back after dropping their bags.
"Huh? What's Teacher Adrian doing? Staring blankly at a bottle of SoulGlad?"
"Looks like he beat us to it and already entered the dream."
Stelle took a swig of SoulGlad. No exaggeration—SoulGlad had released over a hundred flavors, but the [classic] version was forever the bestseller.
"Who sent the invitations, why gather all these factions in Penacony, and why is the Family staying silent despite knowing something… Too many questions. Until we uncover more facts, no reckless moves."
Himeko warned, "Especially you, Stelle—stay cautious."
"For now, just enjoy this [wonderful vacation]. Penacony is a vacation paradise famous across the universe. Plenty of people never get the chance to visit even once."
"Between all the unexpected delays, you must all be exhausted—while Trailblazing, don't forget to relax too."
"Waa, Big Sis Himeko is so gentle~"
Stelle tracked down Welt, who was also deep in thought, ready to sort through the intel they had so far.
"The Family follows [Harmony]. Their deeds of charity and aid are renowned among the stars, and Penacony's stability and prosperity are deeply tied to them."
"Yet some factions remain wary, believing there's hidden meaning behind their gentle words… But given the Family's consistently friendly treatment of visitors, we don't need to worry excessively for now."
"The Penacony inside the dream is divided into twelve separate dreamscapes. I hear first-time dreamers are sent to different destinations depending on the individual."
Welt was personally interested in [The Moment of Sunrise]. How could anyone vacation without doing research?
It was supposedly a viewing dreamscape that preserved Penacony's history and culture.
The Grand Museum of Penacony, the Library of First Awakening, Origami University… any of those places might hold the past they wanted to uncover.
Over on Adrian's side, HE suddenly had a brilliant idea.
Ah, screw it—why not open a milk tea shop right here in Penacony?