"Hehehe, hahahahahahaha."
A burst of laughter suddenly rang out, drawing everyone's attention.
Aglaea: "..."
Hearing this familiar laughter, Aglaea crossed her arms and said nothing.
"Um... Professor Anaxa?"
Castorice, acting as the conversation starter, turned her gaze to Anaxa and asked softly.
Without a doubt, that laughter had just come from Professor Anaxa's mouth.
Castorice didn't seem to mind the laughter.
She was simply used to it.
Back when they were studying in The Grove, Professor Anaxa would always let out this kind of laughter whenever he made an academic breakthrough.
Whether it was Castorice, Phainon, or Hyacine, they were all used to Professor Anaxa being like this.
Lumina and Herta, however, showed no reaction.
A little laughter is good for the body, no problem.
Only Stelle.
Hearing the laughter from Anaxa's mouth, she didn't know what went wrong in her head.
She actually put her hands on her hips and then, imitating Anaxa's laughter, burst out laughing on the spot.
"Hehehe, hahahahahahaha..."
Everyone: "..."
Hearing Stelle's laughter, everyone's attention was drawn to her.
Then everyone discovered that she was not only imitating Professor Anaxa's laughter.
She had even expanded upon it.
For example, putting her hands on her hips, and throwing her head back in laughter... and so on.
In short, Stelle's laughter was more powerful and more "hilarious" than Professor Anaxa's.
"Stelle, partner, what are you doing!"
Seeing her partner suddenly acting up, Mem felt a sudden headache.
It's one thing to act up normally, but why do it in a situation like this?
Can't you look at the occasion a little when you act up?
Is this occasion a suitable one to act up?!
An impulse suddenly surfaced in Mem's heart, wanting to give her partner a punch.
Fortunately, she held back in the end.
"Stelle's laughter is so full of energy, so spirited." Compared to Mem's "unpromising tough guy" look, Lumina's reaction to Stelle's loud laughter was much more normal.
She smiled, and instead of criticizing Stelle's inappropriate laughter, she offered sincere and heartfelt praise.
What else was she supposed to do? Stelle was a genuine beauty, after all. If Lumina didn't praise her, was she supposed to scold her instead?
That was absolutely impossible.
When it came to beautiful girls, Lumina had only one option: praise. There were no other choices.
Well... if she really had to say, there was also the option to "tease" or "play with" them.
Like some of the options she had for Herta.
"You call this 'energetic'? You call this 'spirited'?" Hearing Lumina's words, Mem knew exactly who was to blame for Stelle turning out this way.
Without a doubt, the culprit was Lumina, who unconditionally spoiled Stelle and all beautiful girls!
It was because of her unconditional spoiling, because she never corrected Stelle's mistakes, that Stelle had ultimately become like this.
Mem could say with complete confidence that Lumina was responsible for most of the reason why Stelle would occasionally go berserk!
She could even be bolder.
Lumina was responsible for the entire reason!
Because of this, Mem's fondness for Lumina decreased by 0 points!
It dropped from 100% to 100%!
Well... okay.
It wasn't actually as low as 100%.
-
Amphoreus, Vortex of Genesis.
With the exception of Mem, none of the people present paid much attention to Stelle's sudden smile.
Meanwhile, Anaxa looked at Stelle with a gaze full of admiration.
It was unclear why he would admire Stelle for such a bizarre action.
"Hahaha, now that Castorice has returned her Coreflame, it's my turn next." Anaxa covered one eye with his hand and continued to laugh.
His expression appeared exceptionally calm, as if his Coreflame returning ceremony would be as simple as Castorice's had been.
"Professor Anaxa, your body..." Hearing this, Castorice seemed to realize something, and worry was written all over her face.
If... if Castorice remembered correctly, Professor Anaxa was currently clinging to life solely by means of his Coreflame.
If the Coreflame were to be returned, wouldn't that mean Professor Anaxa would...
"Sister Lumina..." Castorice pressed her lips together and looked to Sister Lumina for help.
Although Castorice was constantly troubling Sister Lumina, this made her feel very uncomfortable as well as... very self-reproachful.
She couldn't help but hate herself in her heart for being so useless.
Why did she have to trouble Sister Lumina every time something happened?
Ever since Sister Lumina arrived in Okhema and they became good friends... well, she should be considered Sister Lumina's friend now, right?
As she pondered this, Castorice suddenly realized the problem.
She should be, right?
Without dwelling on the matter further, Castorice's heart was still filled with self-reproach.
She didn't want to trouble Sister Lumina for everything. She wanted to show Sister Lumina that she was strong and capable of handling things on her own.
Just like a child desperate for their mother's approval.
But because of this, whenever she encountered a problem, she would become flustered and at a loss, eventually turning her pleading gaze back to her mother once again.
She hoped her omnipotent mother could help her solve this problem.
She desperately wanted to be self-reliant, but in her mother's eyes, she was still just that same child...
"..." Seeing Castorice's pitiful little expression, Lumina, in her role as "mother," did not say a word.
Instead, she winked with one eye, using her actions to express her most sincere thoughts.
Lumina gestured for Castorice to put her mind completely at ease.
Since Anaxa was Castorice's teacher, matters involving Anaxa were effectively matters involving Castorice.
And with further calculations, one could conclude...
Castorice's matters were the matters of a beautiful girl.
And a beautiful girl's matters were, of course, Lumina's matters.
So, how could Lumina ignore a matter related to herself?
"Thank you, Sister Lumina..." Although Lumina had said nothing, this single gesture, in Castorice's eyes, spoke louder than a thousand words.
But at the same time, a wave of guilt surged in her heart.
Being pampered by Sister Lumina was, without a doubt, an incredibly comfortable feeling.
But... the more times Sister Lumina pampered her, the heavier the weight of the return gift Castorice felt she needed to give became...
Under the repeated pampering, the weight of the return gift she felt she owed left Castorice feeling somewhat at a loss.
Because she found that no matter what return gift she prepared... it never seemed to balance the scales at all.
Even though Sister Lumina didn't care in the slightest, Castorice had to care.
Friends... friends absolutely cannot have one person making a unilateral effort!
If only one person makes a unilateral effort, then this friendship will absolutely be unable to last for too long!
Only when both sides give to each other, moving toward one another, can this bond become lasting, becoming more enduring than any object or thing in this world.
Ever since Castorice met Lumina, this truth had been engraved in her heart.
The so-called repayment was not because she wanted to clear her debt for every single one of Sister Lumina's helps.
But it was to prolong the friendship between the two!
B-But everything Lumina had done for Castorice added up, leaving Castorice completely unsure of what she could use to repay her.
Otherwise... g-giving herself to Sister Lumina?
Such a thought suddenly surfaced in Castorice's mind.
But very quickly, this thought faded away.
Because Castorice found that even if she gave herself to Sister Lumina, she still couldn't keep the scales balanced...
Castorice kept thinking about what she could do to keep the scales balanced, but she still couldn't think of anything.
In the end, she could only temporarily bury this thought deep in her heart, gradually perfecting it as time passed.
An eternal and indelible imprint was etched into Castorice's heart: no matter what the final perfected method turned out to be.
In this, and even in the future, whatever Sister Lumina ever asks of her, whether it be excessive or not, Castorice must, must agree!
Of course, this naturally included some... some, some of those things that had happened back in Sister Lumina's room between Castorice and Hyacine...
-
"...I won't stop you. Go ahead and do what you need to do."
The minor disturbance just now had no effect on Anaxa or Aglaea.
She knew what Anaxa needed to do next, and she also knew what Castorice was whispering to Lumina at this moment.
Aglaea would not try to stop Anaxa from leaving, nor would she ask Lumina for any favors.
As a Chrysos Heir, she considered Lumina a guest from Beyond the Sky, who naturally had no obligation to concern herself with the affairs of Amphoreus.
As a friend... well, Aglaea felt that she and Lumina weren't even that close, let alone friends, so there was even less reason to ask Lumina for help.
This matter could only be entrusted to Castorice. Aglaea had no other choice.
If Castorice could persuade Lumina to help Anaxa overcome this life-and-death crisis, Aglaea would be extremely grateful.
She would also give all the gifts she could offer to Castorice, who would then present them to Lumina.
But if Castorice failed to persuade Lumina and Anaxa had to embrace his own divine decree, Aglaea would say nothing.
Lumina had already helped Okhema so much. Even if she chose to remain a mere onlooker from now on, Aglaea would still treat her with the utmost courtesy.
Aglaea glanced faintly at Castorice, who was standing close to Lumina and conversing with her, then calmly withdrew her gaze.
In a corner that Aglaea herself had not even noticed, a flicker of "loneliness" and "envy" flashed through her multi-colored eyes.
Ever since Lumina did that thing for Aglaea, her humanity had been gradually filling up.
At this point, Aglaea's state was completely different from before; she was practically a different person.
Aglaea had always wanted to thank Lumina in person.
Though it might have been just a single sentence, a casual matter for Lumina, the impact it had on Aglaea was immense.
Aglaea could not possibly ignore it.
But because of the Flame Reaver, Anaxa, Castorice, and all sorts of other matters, Aglaea simply had no time to spare, causing this matter to be delayed until now.
"After this is over, I will properly go and thank Sister Lumina," Aglaea resolved in her heart.
After the Coreflames of [Death] and [Reason] were returned, only the [Sky] Coreflame remained.
However, they couldn't rush to obtain this Coreflame; they needed to prepare thoroughly before launching the subjugation.
During this time, Aglaea would also have a brief respite.
She could take advantage of this time to properly thank Sister Lumina...
"Teacher, you..." Like Castorice, Phainon knew what Anaxa wanted to do, and his face showed unrestrained worry.
"What's with that expression? Aren't you here too?" Seeing the look on Phainon's face, Anaxa gave him a brief scolding.
"Alright, let's complete the execution as quickly as possible." Anaxa did not want to waste too much time, as if the act he was about to perform in the next second was merely a simple assignment.
"Lest Okhema's Sacred Law be brought to shame, and my creation of a New World be delayed."
"Execution...?" Hearing the words Anaxa spoke, Castorice blinked her small eyes, unable to react for a moment.
Because she had just left Okhema for a period of time, Castorice was unaware of the events that had transpired during this interval, and even less so did she understand why Teacher Anaxa would use the word "execution" to describe what he was about to do.
But in any case, whenever the word "execution" appeared, it was definitely not a good thing...
"Don't worry, Little Sister Castorice." As if sensing the worry emanating from Castorice's body, Lumina smiled gently and spoke a few comforting words.
"Mm-hmm, Sister Lumina, thank you." Hearing Lumina's caring words, Castorice felt a sudden warmth in her heart and thanked Lumina once again.
When you don't know what to say, just thank Sister Lumina~
"Don't be so polite, Little Sister Castorice~ For an older sister to help her younger sister is only natural." Lumina responded to Castorice's thanks with a smile.
The smile reflected in Castorice's eyes, leaving a deep imprint on her heart.
"Ugh..."
Without a doubt, gazing directly at Lumina's smile, Castorice couldn't help but lower her small head, her face turning bright red, her whole body practically writing the words "shy" and "embarrassed."
"Ugh..." Polyxia watched the interaction between Castorice and Lumina and immediately fell into a deep thought.
She had always felt that Castorice and Lumina's relationship was very, very good, but at that time she hadn't thought much of it.
But now, Polyxia suddenly discovered.
The good relationship between Castorice and Lumina seemed a little like... like that kind of good relationship between a man and a woman?
Like,
the kind lovers have?
Lumina being good to Castorice, Polyxia couldn't tell.
But Castorice being good to Lumina, Polyxia could still see it.
Based on Polyxia's estimation, the probability of this possibility was probably as high as ninety percent...