[Time Returns To The Present]
"Thanks to you having a friend with such keen insight, I was able to add a complete failure to your career." Sunday glanced at Ratio behind him before looking at Aventurine again.
Aventurine also looked at the professor, as well as the professor's beautiful plaster head. He furrowed his brows as if suppressing his anger, letting out a sound like the low growl of a beast. "Ratio, you bastard..."
The professor remained immersed in the sea of knowledge, as if he hadn't noticed the commotion here, or perhaps he had noticed it and simply had no intention of paying attention.
Sunday's methods were quite clever. To make certain things clear at this moment was also a way of shifting the blame elsewhere, wasn't it?
Unfortunately...
The head of the Oak Family did not understand what it meant for that leading scholar of the Intelligentsia Guild to put on a plaster head.
At this moment, he felt a brief surge of delight at having seen through Aventurine's scheme.
"So your true colors have finally been revealed. By the way, you have only seventeen system hours left to live for now. Treasure this time and savor the aftertaste of failure."
"...Why don't you make yourself clearer?" Aventurine looked at Sunday.
"What I performed on you just now was Harmony's holy baptism. You should have displayed loyalty under Their light, yet you stubbornly went your own way and filled your mouth with lies, turning the baptism into a judgment. I truly have no reason to undo it for you."
Aventurine's lips curled slightly. "So this is what they call Harmony? Built on imprisonment and coercion."
"You misunderstand, Mr. Aventurine," Sunday said. "Punishment is prepared for those who show contempt, but I have seen your unyielding heart, and therefore I will grant you the possibility of a new life."
"For these seventeen system hours, you cannot leave the dreamscape, nor can you communicate with your companions. You have only two paths before you, and it depends on whether you can complete my test within the agreed time."
"If you succeed, you can merge into the harmony of music and be together with countless family members. If you fail, you will endure the wrath of the incarnation of Harmony, and fall into an abyss from which there is no return. That is why I specifically emphasized the word 'temporarily.'"
As Sunday's voice fell, Aventurine suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head and couldn't help covering it. "Damn it... It sounds like either way, my fate is the same."
"I do need a servant to help me find the evil lurking within the Family from the outside. I will purge it from within and capture the true culprit within seventeen system hours."
"When the time comes, we will verify your findings together. If our judgments match, or if you can bring me more... then They can truly grant you compassion and honesty."
"Shameless hypocrite..." Aventurine looked at Sunday and let out a suppressed growl of anger like an injured beast.
"You confiscated everything I own, and now you want me to find the truth for you? That's not fair. In this amusement park full of the stench of money, nothing can be done without money."
"This should be an act of righteousness on your own part. You don't need the Family's assistance," Sunday said condescendingly.
"Your luggage bag is over there. Help yourself. I believe you can use this bag of cheap jewelry to obtain everything you need. That's what gamblers are best at, isn't it?
"Set off, Mr. Aventurine. You are 'free.' I'll wait here for your good news."
"So this meeting wasn't an interrogation, but it wasn't a negotiation either." Aventurine walked silently to the door, then stopped under the gaze of the Nightingale. "It was nothing but outright torture, wasn't it?"
"How could that be, Mr. Aventurine? I genuinely just want to know what a passerby who happened to appear at the scene of her murder could have discovered. That's all.
"By the way, before you leave, I have a more personal question."
"...What now?"
"Do you... really want to destroy this world with your own hands?"
Aventurine fell silent, and some memories surged into his mind.
———
"Kakavasha, where did you go... You're hurt?!" The voice of the young woman, whose face was already almost impossible to make out, was filled with worry.
"I got it back, Sister."
"You went to look for them...? That's too dangerous! It's only a necklace. You can't eat it, and it's not water. We can survive without it."
"But I can't live without you, little brother... Don't go near those Katicans again, okay?"
"Sister, don't be afraid. The Katicans are stupid, but I'm smart. If I play games with them, I'll definitely be the one who wins."
"Wins? What exactly happened? Tell me."
"I made a bet with them. We bet on which would die first, the two little birds in the desert or me. I won.
"They suspected me of cheating, but I didn't... I won fair and square."
"I know you can win... You've always been a lucky child. Your luck is a blessing from the Earth Mother...
"But that's no reason for you to confront the Katicans head-on. They're bloodthirsty, cruel, and insatiably greedy. Don't forget about Mom and Dad..."
The young woman choked up. Only after a moment did she speak again.
"It's only a necklace... But Kakavasha, you're my last family."
"..."
"Sister, I'm sorry... I thought you'd be happy. Because this is the necklace Mom left for you... There won't be another one in the future."
"It is important, but you're more important, my beloved little brother... I won't blame you, but you have to remember what Mom said..."
"Pain and poverty are the Mother Goddess's trials. She has also given us an opportunity, and that is your luck, Kakavasha. Your good fortune is the most precious wealth we... and all Avgins possess."
"You are a child blessed by the Mother Goddess. You can lead the tribe toward happiness. So always remember to protect yourself, and never resent pain and poverty... okay?"
"..."
"Be obedient. Swear to the Mother Goddess."
"...Okay. I swear to the Mother Goddess that I will always protect this wealth..."
"But, Sister... if the Earth Mother with the threefold eyes really is watching over us... then when Dad was swept away by the quicksand, why didn't the Mother Goddess protect him... Dad went back to the place where the Katicans were precisely because he was preparing an offering for her..."
"When Mom slowly grew cold in our arms, where was the Mother Goddess... Until the moment she closed her eyes, Mom was still asking for her forgiveness..."
"Sister, everyone says I'm smart, but I don't understand... If every rain is the Mother Goddess's forgiveness and blessing... then how many mistakes did we make... that we had to be born into this world for the sake of dying...?"
———
Aventurine did not answer Sunday's question.
He left without saying a word.
The professor's gaze passed through his plaster head, watching the other's back until he disappeared from sight. Only then did he say inwardly, "Everything is proceeding according to plan."
"The simpler solution was right beside you, yet you still chose this... You have already become a qualified older brother. You love your family more than you love yourself."
Then Ratio turned his gaze toward Sunday and spoke. "Aren't you afraid that the Company's fleet will surround Penacony if you do this?"
Sunday looked at Ratio. "Professor, if no one leaks the information, how would the news reach the Company? Would you do such a thing?"
Looking at the Oak Family head before him, who was so confident in his methods of Harmony, Ratio shook his head. "I wouldn't."
"Of course. That's good. I know you are an upright person," Sunday said. "Then I will have someone send the research materials to your guest room."
"There's no need to rush that. There are other matters to deal with first."
As Ratio spoke, he raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction.
The next instant, a shrill bird cry rang out, and within the cry seemed to be the overlapping voices of millions of people.
A Nightingale staggered and fell down, then flapped about on the ground. After a moment, it struggled to stand up.
Sunday looked at Ratio. He still maintained his smile, but his tone was no longer as pleasant as before. "Professor, what do you mean by this?"
"What do I mean? Is Mr. Sunday accustomed to having someone secretly spying on him while he talks?" Ratio said arrogantly.
He looked at the Oak Family head before him and the Nightingale on the ground that had been flapping for a long time without being able to fly. "Don't worry, Mr. Sunday."
"I have no intention of holding you accountable. Otherwise, that simple formula just now would not have landed in this bird's brain, but yours."
"I have some things to do and need the Dreammaster's help. Your Family understands Penacony best, so if I want to find someone, naturally I should look for him."
Ratio's gaze slowly shifted from Sunday to the Nightingale.
Before Sunday could speak again, the bird actually opened its mouth first. Its voice seemed to be the overlapping and intertwining voices of countless people.
"Find someone? The boy connected to the Knight of Beauty, and he is also connected to the Intelligentsia Guild?"
"Of course," Ratio said. "On certain subjects, that child and I have a relationship that is both teacher and friend."
Having said this, the learned professor paused. Looking at the person and bird before him, a smile suddenly appeared beneath his plaster head.
"Oh, you may not know this yet. As Miss Robin's elder brother, Mr. Sunday is also one of those in the know, while I need the Dreammaster's help finding someone, so I'll give you two some extra information."
"The one who will cause the Company's fleet to attack Penacony isn't Aventurine, but that missing child. The Knight of Beauty and the Xianzhou alone have already put you under considerable pressure, yet you don't seem to understand how many forces are actually involved with him."
"The Astral Express, the Xianzhou Alliance, and the Knights of Beauty are forces you already know about, so I won't mention them. You also already know my opinion of him. So listen carefully, you two..."
"He has a very close cooperation with the Interastral Peace Corporation. Do you know about the Aha-something Rift Factory that has recently become famous throughout the universe? That's an asset under his name."
"Besides that, he is also in a cooperative relationship with Miss Herta of the Genius Society, and he has a very good relationship with another genius, Screwllum."
"And during my conversation with Mr. Screwllum, I also learned some new information that he had learned from Herta."
"Aha has a close relationship with him. I'm referring to the Aeon of Elation, not the Masked Fools. Lan, the Hunt without end, has also cast Their gaze upon him."
"Besides that, he has also received a gift from Yaoshi, although that gift was stolen by Aha. He uses that sword, forged from a Stellaron. I don't think I need to tell you what kind of disaster a Stellaron that has lost control can cause."
"In short, you two, this is not the time to toss the ball back and forth with the Knights of Beauty."
"I really want to know what the Family will do when faced with the pressure of so many forces: the Stellaron, the Astral Express, the Xianzhou Alliance, the Knights of Beauty, the Intelligentsia Guild, the Interastral Peace Corporation, the Genius Society, the Tavern, and even the two Aeons Aha and Lan."
"Although this is only a prediction, its probability is already infinitely close to one hundred percent. If the Family does not find him as soon as possible, then whether it is Penacony or the Family currently controlling Penacony, perhaps both will cease to exist."
As Ratio spoke without haste and without any emotion, every word that fell from the learned professor's stern voice seemed to turn into a heavy hammer striking the hearts of the Dreammaster and Sunday.
Before they knew it, cold sweat had begun to pour down their backs.
Even the Dreammaster, who had already become an incarnation, felt drenched in sweat. The result of his panic was naturally that many people throughout Penacony suddenly fell into fear.
As the leading scholar of the Intelligentsia Guild named each force one by one, the Dreammaster and Sunday suddenly realized that the consequences of Nero's disappearance seemed far more serious than they had imagined.
They had originally thought that making the Astral Express, the Knights of Beauty, and the several Xianzhou visitors this nervous was already the limit of that boy's influence. But now it seemed their imagination had been far too limited.
How could one person have ties to so many terrifying forces? What exactly was going on with this boy?
Even someone as composed as Sunday found it difficult to maintain his composure at this moment. Yes, this news was simply too shocking.
Even his face had begun to turn pale, and the calm and unhurried appearance he had shown when confronting Aventurine was nowhere to be seen.
Ratio watched this scene, shrugged, then said nothing more and turned to leave.
He did not think there was anything strange about this. Whether because of an emotional attachment or some other reason, Aventurine had chosen to push Nero into the spotlight and put himself into the game instead, and Ratio could feel the most genuine emotion in Aventurine's choice.
Based on his understanding of Nero, if this child had witnessed what happened just now, he would definitely have done something similar.
Moreover, his words were not entirely alarmist. If that child really could not be found for a long time, all of this would become reality one by one.
After realizing that the child might be the current incarnation of the Aeon of Beauty, Ratio could completely imagine how important that child was to the various major forces that had good relations with Nero.
Moreover, Nero really was likable. If it were only his looks and the influence of Beauty, that alone would not have been enough for Ratio to develop such a favorable impression of him.
The professor greatly admired this child's personality, his ability to think independently, and his talent for lecturing others.
At the same time, Nero, completely unaware that he had caused a disturbance among the Family's upper ranks, was sitting in the sea of sand, listening to the answer from the crystalline ice person before him, who clearly did not look human at all, with cold air bursting from his crown.