The Dreamweaver looked like an automaton, but he was in a state of utter dejection, looking nothing like someone who could create genuinely joyous dreams for guests.
"Honestly, I think the tools these Dreamweavers use are more fun than anything else in Penacony. It's a shame the Family doesn't let anyone touch them. The Dreamweavers have the authority to get closer to a 'beautiful dream,' don't they?"
As she spoke, Stelle walked right up to the nameless Dreamweaver and gave him a sharp bonk on the head.
Thunk!
A sound like someone knocking on hollow wood echoed through the area.
The Dreamweaver showed no sign of being hurt. He just kept clutching his head, muttering, "That's not right... where did it go wrong? How could I have no inspiration today of all days?"
He was like a fool, thinking that a city designed with such realistic specifications could have anything to do with "inspiration."
An expression of disbelief crossed Stelle's face. "Inspiration?" she scoffed. "Don't tell me you've actually managed to produce any inspiration worth mentioning?!"
The Dreamweaver instantly flew into a rage. He looked up at Stelle and shouted, "What's that supposed to mean?! Who are you people?! What tourists are you? Stop bothering me! You don't know the first thing about it!"
Stelle was speechless.
She retorted, "Are you saying the only thing you can design is this stupid city layout? I get urban planning, but you're in a dream! Why can you only make something so realistic? If I wanted to see a bustling city, why would I come to Penacony? I came here to see things I can't see anywhere else in the universe!"
She grabbed the man by his collar and pointed toward the distant city. "Look at that! It doesn't matter what city it is or what colors it has, it's exactly the same as reality. I'm in a dream, for crying out loud! Can't you design a world that's a little more chaotic and interesting?"
"I'd even settle for you designing Hogwarts' magical staircases! Your imagination is worse than a special effects director's, and your color design is inferior to some video games. What in the world are you Dreamweavers even designing?!"
Firefly looked a little puzzled. "What are Hogwarts' magical staircases?" she asked Acheron.
Acheron looked back, just as baffled. "Maybe... it's from some movie?"
Robin grew even more worried. She watched as Stelle took out her baseball bat and started tapping the Dreamweaver's wooden head with it, bonk, bonk, as if trying to knock some sense into him.
"Don't do that! Please, don't! His mental state is very fragile right now. His spirit is incredibly unstable. There's no need to provoke him with such drastic measures. Just a moment, I'll handle this..."
Robin was at a complete loss, trying to step forward and stop Stelle.
But who would have known that Stelle's words would be the thing that truly set the Dreamweaver off?
"What do you know?! What do you know?! Do you think this is what I want to do? Do you think I want to make this?!" he shrieked. "I have so many ideas, so many designs, and not a single one has ever been approved! The work they assign me, the deliverables they demand—it's all this! I can't even design the overall structure of a single room!"
"Do you have any idea how much pain I'm in? They're like idiots, insisting on designing such a square, boring building. What can I do? Am I supposed to just ignore everything, snap my fingers, and do whatever I want?"
"Who's going to pay me at the end of the day? Who's going to feed me? You?! What do you tourists know?! All you have to do is spend your money and enjoy yourselves here! And me? I can only carve out details in this pre-designed city of rooms. I can't even add a single flash of my own creative inspiration!"
"And whether my ideas are creative or not—you think I get to decide that?! It's all decided by those people from the Family! The people from SoulGlad, the people from the cartels, the Family itself! They're all designing for their own needs! What does it have to do with me? Are those the needs I want to fulfill?"
"Go to hell!" Stelle suddenly roared, furious. "You dare curse me?! I'll show you a thing or two!"
Anger surged through her. She immediately took the Emo Gears she had collected from the street and shoved them into him—cramming several Sadness gears in at once.
It shattered his defenses in an instant.
"Waaah... sniffle... waaaaaah..."
It was a mystery how the wooden head managed to produce tears, but he looked absolutely heartbroken.
"I didn't want to... I didn't want to lose my inspiration. But nobody wants my ideas! Nobody wants them! We're in a dream! We're designing a dream! Why are there so many rules? Why are so many people making my life difficult?"
"I'm just a junior Dreamweaver! I don't even have the right to design the overall framework! What can I possibly do? I'm just a worker drone..."
He collapsed to the ground, wailing, his cries so devastating they could make the sky grow dark. Everyone who heard it felt their hearts ache, their eyes welling with tears.
"That's so... he's so pitiful..."
Robin felt that letting this go on wouldn't solve anything. She stepped forward and activated her own power, trying to let what little joy she had left seep into the Dreamweaver.
Then, to Firefly's astonishment, the Dreamweaver returned to a state of calm.
At first, Firefly had only felt a slight twinge of sympathy. After all, there were plenty of suffering people in the universe, and the Dreamweaver's pain was just one among many; it wasn't enough to shake her resolve.
But after Stelle and Robin had both pumped him full of their Harmony powers, the poor Dreamweaver was treated like a puppet, manipulated and controlled.
It was a truly tragic sight.
A man with a respectable job like a Dreamweaver, when faced with powerful external forces, couldn't even control his own emotions. He could only submit, becoming a plaything swung back and forth between the two of them.
A moment ago, Firefly hadn't thought the Dreamweaver was all that pitiful; breakdowns like his were common in the workplace.
But after seeing him controlled by Stelle and Robin, she finally understood where the real pity lay.
Is this how you're supposed to use the power of Harmony? You two are truly twisted!
"My sincerest apologies. I can't believe I embarrassed myself like this in front of a guest... Sigh... I don't really have any special solution. Inspiration isn't something that just appears on command, especially in a dreamscape forged from Memoria. Trying to create something that meets the requirements under these extreme limitations... it's too difficult..."
The Dreamweaver let out a long sigh. "My mind is a complete mess. I can't think of anything. You... huh?"
He finally recognized Robin. "You're Lady Robin of the Oak Family," he asked, confused. "What brings you here?"