Chapter 124: Can You Guys Make Some Caviar?
"Did you call us out for something?"
"Um… there's no water here."
Four mermaids materialized within the Astral Express, taking shape as shimmering Memory Spirits. After all, today Rekka was on the Path of Memory; manifesting the denizens of his inner world into tangible forms was a simple enough feat.
The Narcissus Mermaid glanced around the Parlor Car, her gaze sweeping from the sea of stars outside the window to the dry floor beneath her tail. Her expression was one of utter bewilderment.
"Can you make cavi—"
"No. Stop talking about that stuff, will you?"
Rekka's fist landed on Stelle's head with a sharp thwack.
Stelle crouched down, clutching her head and muttering, "I was just asking. It's not like I was actually going to..."
"Asking isn't okay either," Rekka said, withdrawing his fist with an irritable sigh. "I just summoned them. They don't even know where they are yet, and the first thing you ask is if they can make caviar? Where are your manners?"
The Narcissus Mermaid's gaze toward Stelle had become complicated, her expression now laced with a distinct hint of terror. 'What in the world does she want to do to us?'
"Not surprising," Dan Heng commented from the sofa, turning a page in his book without looking up.
Stelle, undeterred, turned her attention back to Rekka. "So, can you also manifest all those dogs from the World of Fear?"
"Theoretically, I can manifest anything from my inner world except for the emotional facets themselves. They are me, so I can't summon them as separate entities. At most, I can transform into their appearance."
The moment the words left his mouth, Stelle's eyes lit up. Seeing her practically vibrating with eagerness, Rekka knew this wasn't over.
"You can transform? Can you? Transform into one for me to see, please!" Her interest was fully captured. She grabbed Rekka's arm, shaking it insistently. "Just one, just transform into one! I promise I won't touch it randomly. I'll just look."
"...I can, but you have to promise me something first—no riding," Rekka stated, his face a mask of weary resignation. "You got addicted to riding Little Blue Light last time. Don't think I don't know what you're planning. You terrified the poor thing; it's the Conductor's exclusive mount."
Stelle's gaze darted away guiltily. "I didn't..."
"Your eyes just betrayed you. Besides, I can guess exactly what you're thinking by asking me to transform."
A blurry outline rapidly coalesced beside him, solidifying into an upright, winged werewolf standing nearly 1.4 meters tall. Its entire coat looked like solidified shadow. It was the very same wolf March 7th and the others had first encountered in the World of Fear. The creature submissively lowered its head, nuzzling against Rekka's palm.
He's even taller than a certain lofty Conductor... cough, cough, cough (was the sound of someone being choked by said lofty Conductor).
"It's Acrophobia," Rekka explained.
"Wow. Your Acrophobia is actually kind of cute," Stelle observed.
"It's only submissive in my hands," he warned. "It's vicious when it actually bites someone."
"Ooh! Is there also an Aichmophobia, a Trypophobia, and an Astraphobia?"
"Look at you, answering before I even ask."
Stelle began counting on her fingers. "So there's also Thalassophobia, Claustrophobia, Social Anxiety..."
"Alright, alright, stop reciting the menu." Rekka waved his hand, and the shadow-wolf dissolved, returning to his inner world.
"Hmm? When did so many guests arrive on the Express, pom?"
Pom-Pom came cruising into the carriage, riding proudly on Little Blue Light's back. Its short paws gripped the steering-wheel-like horns as it patrolled its territory with the majesty of a grand emperor. Its tour came to a halt when it spotted the four small, seemingly weak mermaids in the Parlor Car.
Wait, are they weak?
Not weak.
Not at all.
"That's Rekka!" Stelle announced, raising her hand and pointing.
"...'s emotions!" Rekka shot back, exasperated. "Don't just stop halfway through! Don't take things out of context, hey!"
The Conductor blinked, the gears in its fluffy head turning. "Oh! This situation isn't without precedent on the Astral Express. In short, just follow the Express's rules, pom."
Having seen much of the galaxy, Pom-Pom was not easily surprised.
'Pom-Pom, you're so unflappable.'
"So, these mermaids are actually you," March 7th mused. She gently rubbed Mello's cheeks, her eyes tracing the features and finding a vague resemblance to Rekka. "Look, they all have one head, two eyes, one nose, and one mouth—they're so similar!"
Mello's cheeks turned a bright red from the rubbing, but she didn't pull away. She just tilted her head back, looking up at March 7th with eyes identical to Rekka's, and whispered, "Actually... I don't look that much like him, do I?"
"Very similar," March 7th insisted, letting go to study her face with renewed seriousness. "Especially the eyes. They're exactly the same."
Mello's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson.
"March, you're making her shy," Stelle chimed in from the side, clearly not minding if things got more chaotic.
"I am not!"
"Mello is shy, so does that mean Rekka is also shy?" Stelle stroked her chin, arriving at a miraculous conclusion. "They're all a part of Rekka. You pinching their cheeks is, rounding up, the same as you pinching Rekka's cheeks. March, did you actually think that far ahead?"
"I just thought she was cute and wanted to pinch her—"
"But when you were pinching, your eyes were staring at Rekka the whole time," Stelle pressed on, relentless. "Didn't you notice it yourself? You pinch Mello, look at Rekka, pinch again, look again. If that's not a guilty conscience, what is?"
March 7th's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. The blush on her face spread from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears.
Stelle, meanwhile, looked righteous and confident in her deduction.
Little Mello, her face still flushed, leaned closer to March 7th, as if to offer silent support.
"Whoa… so much protective instinct!" March 7th felt her heart melt into a puddle.
'March 7th and Stelle… they're not entirely heartless, after all.'
"Liliya, look, there are a few more fish on the Express."
"Rozaliya, I see them."
The pink and blue-haired twins peeked through the doorway, their eyes wide with curiosity.
"I want to eat grilled fish today," Rozaliya declared.
Stelle, remembering her original purpose, conveniently started a livestream on her phone. "Say, why don't you guys try performing an act?"
"Performing... an act?" one of the mermaids asked.
"Yeah, like a tragedy. The kind with a particularly miserable ending."
"Oh, oh, I know this one!" Stelle held up a finger. "Rom-ow and Zhu Ganglie, right?"
March 7th stared blankly. 'What is this girl even talking about?'
"The Little Mermaid," Rekka corrected, sighing. "Let's do The Little Mermaid."
"Any new viewers in the chat!" Stelle called out to her stream. "The kind with deep pockets, preferably!" She patted her chest with a confident grin.
And so, the performance began.
Siren, with her ethereal and slightly sorrowful voice, slowly narrated the start of the story. The Little Mermaid and the Mello Mermaid swam gracefully through the air, acting out the tale.
A few comments had already started trickling into Stelle's livestream chat. Although high-quality streams were not lacking on the interstellar network, this particular brand of live, mermaid-led theater was certainly not very common.
Mello played the Prince.
The Little Mermaid played, well, the Little Mermaid.
"Captain, who are they?"
Rozaliya and Liliya flanked Rekka on the sofa, one on each side.
"They are my emotional incarnations," he explained. "You can think of them as a part of me."
"Oh, I see," Rozaliya said, her tone mischievous. "We thought the Captain went out specifically to find girls with big chests because he disliked our flat ones."
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