"Ah, a familiar ceiling…"
"Of course it's familiar. Your backer just faced the gaze of an Aeon head-on. How could it possibly have any energy left to teleport you? You should know, even if I wanted an audience with Nous, I'd have to evacuate personnel first and then mobilize the entire space station's computational power."
The voice came from beside Lynelle. It was Herta.
"Herta?"
"Yeah, really surprising. I leave you alone for a moment, and you go and pull a stunt this big."
Seeing Lynelle finally awake, Herta's voice carried a hint of relief. Then, she reached out and gently pressed a finger against Lynelle's chest.
Compared to Lynelle's somewhat petite frame, the scale of her chest was decidedly not so petite.
With Herta's action, the girl's soft breast yielded slightly under the pressure, offering a plush sensation back against her finger.
"Mmph, wh-what are you doing…"
"Why the blush? There's not an inch of you I haven't seen before."
Herta gave a light humph, her finger applying a bit more pressure. The imaginary energy of the Path of Erudition swiftly circulated once through Lynelle's body before transmitting the data back to Herta.
"Aside from some mental fatigue and significant energy depletion, there's nothing seriously wrong. It seems your luck held. Nanook might have taken a liking to you, but didn't intend to forcibly turn you into an Emanator."
"Eh? They can do that?"
"Of course. Why do you think I rushed back from The Blue in such a hurry?"
Herta pinched Lynelle's cheeks and pulled them outwards firmly.
"Oww, ow, stop pulling! And besides, nothing happened in the end…"
"Humph. You'd only behave yourself after something happens."
Herta gave another light snort and released Lynelle. "Don't expect me to come rescue you if that day comes."
"Ehehe…"
Watching Lynelle's foolish grin, Herta couldn't help but sigh.
"You've dealt with the Astral Express crew before, right? What did you think of them?"
"I felt… they seemed like good people? Pretty strong too. Overall, it felt comfortable being around them."
"And what if I asked you to join them?"
After posing the question, as if worried Lynelle would misunderstand, Herta quickly added, "Relax, I'm not kicking you out. It's just I feel your abilities are quite compatible with the Path of Trailblaze."
"While besides Trailblaze, Remembrance and Harmony should also suit you fairly well, having two paths as your primary… well, you'd inevitably face some restrictions from the corresponding Aeons. Plus, the Garden of Recollection and The Family aren't exactly… pure in their pursuits."
"The Astral Express is much simpler. Using that Bishop Otto from your dreams as a reference, they're 'good people.' And you're a good-hearted fool. At the very least, you should get along."
"Hmm… If it's about joining the Astral Express, I don't really have any objections."
Lynelle nodded. "But Herta, are you saying that even if I walk the Trailblaze path, I can still try to touch upon the power of those other two paths?"
"Obviously. A person isn't limited to just one Path. As long as you don't foolishly try to tread two mutually exclusive paths simultaneously, it's quite common for someone to walk two or three paths, or even change their primary path. However, in the end, you can only truly delve deep into one path."
Having said that, Herta thought for a moment and added, "Though there are exceptions. For example, the Arbitrators of the Equilibrium path can simultaneously tread more, even conflicting paths, and gain significant power in each. It's just that the Equilibrium path… its side effects are equally absurdly large. And once you choose this road, you're almost forced to act according to the will of [Mutuality]."
"Then I'll pass… I'm not some ardent fan of the Equilibrium." Lynelle quickly shook her head. "The Astral Express suits me better."
"Fine. I'll talk to their navigator later and ask her opinion."
"Eh, wait, Herta! I have one more question."
Seeing Herta about to get up and leave without hesitation, Lynelle quickly grabbed her sleeve.
"Hmm?"
"It's… it's about that…" Lynelle stammered. "I wanted to ask, Herta, do you know about the past of that Mr. Welt on the Astral Express? And… aren't you the least bit strange about this?"
"Strange? Oh… I see what you mean." Seeing Lynelle's expression, Herta immediately understood. She sat back down.
"I originally thought you had a decent grasp of these common sense concepts… Are you familiar with the idea of counterparts?"
"Yeah." Lynelle nodded. "But I feel… this probably isn't a case of counterparts, right?"
"Correct. Most likely not." Herta didn't deny it.
"In fact, I've known the members of the Astral Express for a while. While I'm not deeply familiar with Welt's past, rest assured, my eyesight isn't so poor that I can't recognize a person."
"So, regarding his situation, there are really only two likely possibilities… I didn't mention it before because I felt it wasn't particularly meaningful for you. First, you simply couldn't distinguish between these two possibilities yourself. Second, it's not something you can interfere with anyway."
"But since you're curious… there's no harm in chatting about it."
Watching Lynelle sit on the bed, eyes sparkling, intently 'listening to the lecture,' Herta cleared her throat and casually conjured a projection.
"First, scenario one, also the less likely possibility: You hail from two different, yet identical, worlds."
"The Lynelle from Welt's world on the Express might not have possessed your unique… qualities. Consequently, she might have died, or lived out a peaceful life. So, Welt didn't recognize you—at least, he didn't call out the name 'Lynelle.'"
"However… considering your world also has an 'Entity' like the 'Cocoon,' this possibility isn't exceedingly high."
"Now, scenario two… You should understand that your situation, existing simultaneously in two time periods, is a complete scientific paradox."
"While interfering with time isn't difficult for an Emanator, I suspect… the Emanator backing you possesses authority related to time, correct?"
"Yes, you could say that." Lynelle nodded. "In fact, the flow of time within the solar system itself might be chaotic."
"Good. Then…" Herta showed an 'as I expected' expression. "In this context, perhaps the issue lies not with you, but with Welt."
"Let me put it this way." Herta snapped her fingers. "If I were the existence backing you, before initiating such a plan, even if the probability of encounter was minuscule, I would absolutely implement memory camouflage on individuals like Welt—people from this world you might meet—to prevent this temporal paradox from being noticed."
"This isn't just for your benefit. It's for his protection as well."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.