Rather than worry, Sylvia's mind immediately drifted to a different set of concerns.
"Since it requires two people, the other one would have to be me, wouldn't it? Looks like I'll be stuck here for a few more days, then?"
"That's the case, but if it's just about learning how to manage the process, the operation itself isn't all that complicated."
Robin shook her head, her smile turning increasingly tender. She gazed at Sylvia with an intensity that could almost melt one's heart.
She knew full well that Sylvia wouldn't raise a single objection to putting herself in harm's way—she had never been one to shirk responsibility or push burdens onto others.
"Well, that's not so bad. But I have another question: if we extract the Stellaron, is that thing going to cause any issues?"
Sylvia pointed toward the massive accretion disk visible outside the window. It had remained stable for so many years. According to Robin, the Stellaron's power was the only thing keeping it suppressed; wouldn't pulling the Stellaron out cause everything to collapse?
"No. On the contrary, precisely because of the Stellaron's instability, it shouldn't actually be expanding this rapidly."
On this point, Robin had reached her conclusion by synthesizing research from a woman in Dreamflux Reef known as Miss Science.
Of course, Robin's deduction was based purely on the information provided by the Family; she herself did not have a particularly deep understanding of memoria.
"Alright, it seems you've already figured that out. That leaves the final problem: how to actually deal with the trouble, whether it's getting close to that accretion disk or facing the Family."
Even though they were in a dream, that giant monstrosity outside was nothing to trifle with. If one were truly caught in it and couldn't escape, their consciousness would scatter, and they would perish inside.
But come to think of it... what lay on the other side of the void after being pulled into an accretion disk? Sylvia couldn't help but wonder.
According to the data Robin had accessed, the accretion disk was essentially a phenomenon caused by memoria leaking through a void to the other side.
Yet, the Family hadn't determined what exactly existed on that other side; they had merely placed the Stellaron near the disk without daring to delve too deep.
But the area affected by that thing was growing larger and larger. When the Family first deployed it, they had maintained a safe distance, but that was no longer a guarantee.
Sylvia listened to Robin's concerns, but her mind wandered to Black Swan.
Since this was a problem involving memoria, consulting a Memokeeper would be a solid choice. After all, she only knew one.
"Regarding the problems here, I'll try to consult an Era Historian friend of mine if I get the chance."
As for dealing with the Family, a long-forgotten item suddenly surfaced in Sylvia's memory. She rummaged through her personal space for a long while before finally producing a mask—a Sparkle mask—and setting it down before Robin.
"Here, I haven't seen Sparkle in a few days and almost forgot about this thing."
"This... who do you intend to have wear this?"
Robin looked at the familiar mask, recalling the events of the past few days and what this object represented.
Her first instinct was that Sylvia was planning to have someone wear it to help fend off the Family. But Sylvia shook her head.
"Who said I wanted someone to wear it? I'm planning to sell it! I want the Family to help host an auction in Penacony—for a Masked Fool's blessing!"
"Huh? What?!"
Robin didn't even process the words at first. When her brain finally caught up to the meaning, her expression became even more bewildered.
"Hey, think about it. The Family clearly needs to stabilize their reputation right now, right? If they hold a grand auction before the Charmony Festival, auctioning off an unprecedented artifact from a follower of Elation, wouldn't their prestige skyrocket overnight?"
"Ah? I mean, although..."
It wasn't that Robin couldn't understand Sylvia's logic. But—could you really sell power bestowed by an Aeon right in front of the entire galaxy? Weren't you afraid the Aeon might descend and pay you a visit?
"Besides, we can have Sparkle handle the delivery. We'll claim it's a gesture of responsibility for the Grand Theater explosion, using the auction as a formal apology. That way, they keep both their face and their substance."
"Keep both..."
Sylvia clapped her hands together, already planning to arrange it for Sparkle. They had already been willing to force Sunday to work overtime just to keep him from finding his own sister.
If they were now being handed both face and substance on a silver platter, there was no way the Family would refuse.
They could play the victim a little at the auction, throw in some buzzwords about "misunderstandings," "deep cooperation," and "Harmony," and the whole matter would be swept under the rug.
As for Sparkle... well, she would surely be interested.
It was an auction for power granted by Aha, after all. If she wasn't interested, Sylvia could just have Stelle and March 7th ask Sampo.
Sampo would definitely be happy to take on that auction contract. He was a Masked Fool, too; it didn't strictly have to be Sparkle.
"..."
That wasn't actually what Robin wanted to ask. She wasn't naive; if they really did this, the Family would definitely be more than willing.
Especially that Old Oti—he'd probably jump out on the spot and claim Sylvia was his goddaughter, letting her walk all over Penacony whenever she pleased.
What Robin really cared about was... never mind. Sylvia seemed completely unconcerned, leaving the words stuck in Robin's throat.
"Hm? You look like you have something on your mind. Any thoughts?" Sylvia asked, noticing the hesitation.
"...Are you really going to sell it? If you put it on yourself, you'd be an Emanator, you know?"
"It's an Emanator of Elation, though... to be fair, I think Aha gave me this power just to watch me make a fool of myself." Sylvia spread her hands.
Where did she have anything in common with Elation? The only thing that could possibly catch Aha's eye was the absurd System she carried. So, it was better to give the mask to someone else.
Besides, since Aha hadn't taken it back, it was as good as tacit approval.
"That may be, but... well, forget it. If you think it's fine, then it's fine."
Although Robin felt that if she were suddenly gifted a Masked Fool's mask, she probably wouldn't wear it either—she didn't really understand the philosophy of an Emanator of Elation, nor did she particularly want to oppose them and become a "tragedy"—she decided to ignore that logical hurdle.
It was better to talk about the feasibility of the whole plan.
"So... the most direct question: how do you get the Family to believe the mask is real?"
Even now, Robin only felt the mask was "something special," but she couldn't see anything more to it—certainly not that it was related to an Emanator.
You couldn't just claim it; someone had to believe it.
"The Dreammaster will definitely believe it. With such a huge commotion that day, how could he not know? Besides, the stronger a Pathstrider is, the more sensitive they are to these things. The Dreammaster is no simple character."
Sylvia had always felt the Dreammaster's monitoring of Penacony was extraordinary.
She was increasingly suspicious that the strange phantasmagoria enveloping the entire Asdana system had something to do with him. Since she herself could feel the mask's aura so clearly, the Dreammaster should be able to see through its nature.
"And the other factions?"
"I'll try to invite the IPC and the Xianzhou to arrive early. Oh... or maybe I can ask the acting station master of the Herta Space Station for a favor. Borrowing Herta's name should help."
The Xianzhou didn't need to be mentioned; with the Alliance's jade abacus in hand, a small favor would be easy to ask.
For the IPC, she'd ask Topaz—businesspeople were easy to deal with if money was involved.
As for Station Master Asta, the connection might be a bit distant, but it was worth a shot; perhaps she'd show up. If not, it wouldn't matter.
"It's best to get three major parties involved. Even if that fails, the names of the Xianzhou and the IPC still carry weight. Once we have the Family handle the publicity, even if others don't believe it, they'll at least send someone to take a look."
"With so many people coming to the auction, the Family wouldn't be able to just sit idly by."
Sylvia's logic was impeccable, though Robin couldn't help but feel that the entire plan was built on this person's sheer network of connections.
The Xianzhou? The IPC? To say in one breath that she could invite both to an auction—what else was there to say?
However, there was one premise to all of this.
Robin quietly pondered how she could make the Family believe that she would stop targeting them—or at least, make the Family feel that her existence was no longer a threat to their status.
"Hmm..." Robin was suddenly curious: did the other leaders of the Family really think she alone could affect the entire organization? Reasonably speaking, she shouldn't be a threat to the Family's position.
"It's a method worth trying. But we might need Miss Sparkle's help." Robin mused on how to maneuver within the Family.
Getting them to agree to an auction was easy, but how to seize the Stellaron during the event would require careful execution. And with so many outsiders present, they would need a way to gloss over the Stellaron itself.
They couldn't just openly state that the Family had been tinkering with it.
No... actually, maybe they could. Outsiders didn't know what the Family was doing with the Stellaron.
The Family certainly wouldn't expose themselves. They could simply insist that they were actively suppressing the Stellaron and were now waiting for the Astral Express to help finish the job.
Since Sylvia happened to be a Nameless, that reason sounded perfectly reasonable. As long as she broke the news first, the Family couldn't exactly refute it. With the IPC present, it would force the Family to swallow the loss.
"So, Robin, tell me everything you know."
Although the plan sounded good, there was a vital prerequisite: the process of extracting the Stellaron had to be safely manageable. Sylvia would have to be the one to get near the accretion disk.
Robin had to handle the Family personally, and Sylvia couldn't exactly ask Mei to do this. There was no sense in that. They needed to verify the feasibility first.
Robin nodded upon hearing this. "As it happens, I've already taken notes. You can take a look, and if there's anything incomplete, just ask."
Luckily, she had the habit of taking notes while studying, so she could put them to use immediately. Robin stood up, searched the room, and handed two notebooks to Sylvia.
"Dreamflux Reef doesn't have the conditions to create Memory Bubbles, and we don't have much time, so please make do with these."
"This is more than enough." Sylvia flipped through the pages for a quick scan. Robin's handwriting was elegant and beautiful; it looked like she had practiced specifically. While Sylvia read, Robin asked with sudden anticipation:
"So... how long are you going to stay here, Sylvia?"
"Hmm? Me? It's hard to say... I'll probably keep running back and forth. Honestly, I can't quite rest easy on Separius's side, either."
Whenever this topic came up, Sylvia was reminded of the batches of dragon-born species Ruan Mei had manufactured in just two days.
She felt that if she left for another ten days or half a month, her planet would be completely overrun by those creatures that couldn't even reproduce.
Oh, and she had to ask Dan Heng if he was willing to support Ruan Mei's research. After all, look at it this way—what did the Vidyadhara ban have to do with the exiled Dan Heng, right?
"That planet of yours? I remember hearing that an engineering team was already doing ecological restoration there?" As it involved her property, Robin had heard a little about Sylvia's territory.
She had even planned to go there for a quiet vacation if she had the time.
"I mentioned before, didn't I? Ruan Mei is doing experiments there lately. I'm afraid if I don't go back in a few days, it'll be occupied by some weird species."
"Isn't that fine? Your planet was barren anyway." Robin tilted her head, remembering that she had seen data on the planet's desolation—it was, after all, a recently famous world that had been saved from a Stellaron Disaster.
"You can't say it like that; those organisms... well, they're just a bit special. We'll see when the time comes."
Sylvia's reaction made Robin curious, but she didn't press further. She'd find out when she went to visit.
"And today?" Robin had laid the groundwork for so long, and finally, she asked the most important question. Would she stay the night to keep her company?
Sylvia looked up, meeting Robin's gaze—a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
What else could she say? She was already beautiful, and to be pleaded with in such a pitiful manner... she felt that if she refused, she'd spend the rest of the night scolding herself.
"I'll stay today. Let me finish looking through these notes first. I already told Mei before I came."
"Okay—ahem, I mean, I'll go prepare the bedding."
Robin's mood visibly brightened. She hummed a tune, her steps light as she left the room to prepare a place for Sylvia to rest.
Sylvia watched her back disappear before lowering her head once more to study the notes. Although Robin had called them simple accounts, to Sylvia, they were clearly organized and packed with essential information.
"...In that case, is it actually possible to stuff the Stellaron into a Herrscher Core?"
The Herrscher of Void's core was still empty, after all.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL