March 7th seemed to have a hard time connecting the idea of a psychological counselor with someone who looked like Bailu.
"You're really that good? Aren't counselors usually supposed to be older-looking men and women? You know, the kind who look reliable at a glance?"
"...Everyone on the Xianzhou is long-lived. Even people who're hundreds of years old still look young. Where am I supposed to find these middle-aged people you're talking about?" Bailu shot March 7th an exasperated glare.
Even Foxians, who had the shortest lifespan among them, could stay young and vigorous for more than two centuries, never mind Xianzhou natives and the Vidyadhara.
Anyone who actually looked old was usually close to the end of their life. How were they supposed to treat patients like that?
"Uh... I guess you've got a point."
"Hmph~ I'll be staying on the Express for a while anyway. Miss March, if you've ever got something weighing on your mind, you can come talk to me." Bailu planted her hands on her hips and casually advertised her services.
She was a temporary passenger, after all. Looking after the health of the Express crew was well within her ability. She couldn't exactly freeload the whole time.
The wording sounded a little odd, but Bailu didn't care. She stepped forward until she was standing in front of Sleepie and confidently asked it a couple of questions.
Then she froze.
Sylvia was just starting to wonder what had happened when Bailu turned toward her with a miserable expression.
"Why isn't the Synesthesia Beacon working? Do you know what it's saying?"
Bailu had assumed the Synesthesia Beacon would work. Sleepie had even called Gallagher's name before. Yet apart from the word "Gallagher," nothing else it said could be translated.
Talk about awkward.
"..."
Sylvia sighed. She could've said that sooner. Sylvia had thought Bailu actually understood it.
She stepped forward and rubbed Bailu's head.
"All right. Guess I've still got to do this myself."
"Hehe, please and thank you~ As long as we can communicate, everything else'll be easy."
Under the gazes of the other three, Sylvia tried using Memoria to communicate with [Dormancy]. With the power of the Mask of the Fool, it proved surprisingly easy.
Sylvia looked down at Bailu.
"What do you want to ask?"
"How intelligent is it?"
"About as intelligent as an ordinary ten-year-old human."
"That's good enough. Let's start by talking about something else first. We shouldn't jump straight to the main issue..."
With Sylvia acting as an interpreter, Bailu quickly settled into her role. Sleepie's symptoms weren't uncommon across the universe, and there were plenty of ways to treat them.
The problem was that Sleepie was a Memory Zone Meme. Medicine and treatments meant for carbon-based lifeforms probably wouldn't do much for a memetic entity. Fortunately, Bailu didn't need to completely cure it through talk therapy right now.
She only needed to offer some counseling and stop Sleepie from becoming so agitated whenever it remembered Gallagher.
That wasn't especially difficult for Bailu.
After a short conversation, Sleepie's mood had clearly settled down. It still muttered Gallagher's name from time to time, but at least it didn't get nearly as worked up as before.
"That went more smoothly than I expected."
Bailu wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead. She'd sounded incredibly confident in front of March 7th and the others, but this was actually her first time treating a patient's psychological problems.
If she'd failed, she'd never have lived down the embarrassment.
Thankfully, the real thing had gone well. Sleepie had a simple mind and was easier to comfort than she'd expected.
"All right, now we can slowly start getting to the real issue. But... Ms. Sylvia, can I borrow that Light Cone for a while?"
Whether it helped distract Sleepie or soothe its emotions, any extra support would be useful. Bailu looked eagerly at Sylvia.
"Sure, sure. If it'll help, take it."
"Great~"
Grinning, Bailu carried the Light Cone over to Sleepie. After only a few exchanges, Sylvia could sense Sleepie's memories becoming active. Its memories of Gallagher in particular were growing clearer.
Bailu looked at Sylvia expectantly.
"Well?"
"It's working. Keep talking. I'll try extracting them."
Sylvia nodded for Bailu to continue. She raised one hand, and the mask above her head took on the mysterious air of a Memokeeper.
Then Sylvia exerted a little force.
In the next instant, with Sleepie at the center, the Memoria throughout Penacony began flowing in an unnatural pattern. First came Sleepie's own memories, followed by every memory across Penacony connected to it, with Sleepie itself serving as the anchor.
Streams of Memoria carrying memories of Gallagher surged in from every direction and gathered in Sylvia's palm. In that instant, she'd pulled together most of the memories Dormancy had left across this land over the past few decades.
Anything much older was beyond what a half-baked Memokeeper like Sylvia could gather with one hand.
Even though the Memoria had suddenly become restless, Sylvia forcibly suppressed it before it could disturb the stability of the synesthesia dreamscape. Aside from the Memokeepers present and the few people standing beside Sylvia, no one even noticed the brief disturbance.
Sylvia might not have been a true Memokeeper, but the power of an Emanator of Elation wasn't something to underestimate. In fact, an ordinary Memokeeper probably couldn't have managed an extraction on this scale at all.
The mixed Memoria gathered in Sylvia's hand, but not every one of Sleepie's memories had anything to do with Gallagher. She still needed to remove the irrelevant parts and condense the memories connected to Gallagher into a single Memory Bubble.
Then, right in front of Sleepie, Sylvia effortlessly opened the Light Cone.
The faint Memory Bubble inside was swallowed by the new one. The image on the Light Cone gradually changed from Gallagher's back to a clear view of his face, while the entire scene sharpened into focus.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, the opened Light Cone sealed itself again as though it'd never been touched.
"—"
Curious, Sleepie leaned its eye closer.
Seeing that, Sylvia placed the Gallagher Light Cone into Sleepie's embrace.
"These are the memories Gallagher left behind in Penacony over the past few decades. They're yours now."
"—!"
Sleepie carefully lifted the Light Cone as though it were holding Gallagher himself.
"Whoa. Looks like it really worked," March 7th whispered as she watched.
Stelle didn't waste any time either. It was her turn to perform!
Once again, Stelle struck an absurdly flashy pose before using the newly altered Light Cone to pry open Sleepie's heart.
As for who'd be going inside...
Sylvia remembered the ridiculous mazes she'd seen in the game and quickly decided against it.
"You take them. I'll stay out here and keep watch."
Bailu was fascinated by Clockwork, so she eagerly nodded and went along. March 7th, however, seemed to remember something unpleasant. Her expression turned strange, and she shook her head before hiding behind Sylvia.
"Uh... I'll pass. I went inside once the day before yesterday. Everything shook so much I got dizzy and almost threw up."
"All right."
Stelle shrugged. What a shame. Apparently March 7th got motion sickness even in dream spaces like this.
Stelle and Bailu vanished from the spot, while Sleepie's body stiffened and went completely still.
"I know it's technically just an extension of the power of Trailblaze, but it still feels ridiculous," March 7th said, staring at the motionless Sleepie.
After learning about the Watchmaker's Legacy, they'd discovered that Stelle's so-called Clockwork was fundamentally another expression of the power of Trailblaze. Knowing that was one thing, though. March 7th had tried it several times and still couldn't figure out how it worked.
"Isn't this basically mind control?!"
"Well... when you get down to it, you're only changing someone's emotions. Besides, Stelle's at least been using it for something useful."
Sylvia didn't mention that she could use Clockwork too.
She'd just never bothered.
March 7th didn't dwell on the subject and quickly brought up something else.
"Hey, hey, Himeko told me something. Is the Express about to become filthy rich?"
"Hmm... that's not exactly wrong. The Astral Express will nominally take part in Penacony's administration, and we'll receive a certain share of its profits."
Technically, Sylvia had made the investment under her own name, while the Astral Express would take part in management. The Express wouldn't officially hold any shares, but under the negotiated arrangement, it'd receive a portion of the credits.
Himeko had personally suggested the arrangement. Both The Family and the IPC had welcomed it with open arms, so Sylvia naturally had no objections.
Compared with Penacony's overall profits, the amount going to the Astral Express wasn't enormous. But divided among the members of the Express, it was still a staggering fortune.
The kind of fortune that could fund a Star-Destroyer on a whim.
"Wahoo~! Doesn't that mean I can go on a massive shopping spree here?!"
"...If you're not afraid of Himeko yelling at you, sure. With my name and the Astral Express behind you, you could even buy things on credit in Penacony now."
They were a faction entitled to a share of the profits, after all. The bill could simply be sent to the Alfalfa Family and deducted from their payout later.
"Uh—"
March 7th's expression froze.
Himeko was basically the parent of the Astral Express crew. For March 7th in particular, that parental role was absolute.
When March 7th had first been rescued by the Astral Express, she'd lost all her memories. Himeko had been the only woman in the crew back then, so she'd been the one who mostly took care of March.
From buying daily necessities to helping her settle into everyday life, Himeko had handled almost everything. Calling her half a mother to March 7th wouldn't have been much of an exaggeration.
"Isn't your allowance already enough? Himeko's never been stingy when she hands out travel funds."
After Sylvia joined the Express crew, she'd learned about their travel budget from Himeko. Money should've been one of the last things they needed to worry about.
"Come on, Penacony just has way too much cool stuff! There's so much I want to buy."
March 7th stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.
"Sylviaaa~ Rich lady~ Sponsor me—ow!"
Before she could finish, Sylvia flicked her squarely on the forehead.
"One flick and suddenly you remember how to behave."
They hadn't been talking for long when Bailu and Stelle finished solving the maze and returned to Sylvia's side.
After Stelle and Bailu's use of Clockwork, most of the restless agitation around Sleepie had visibly faded. Its usual lively energy was gradually returning.
"Done!" Bailu clapped her hands together and put on a look that practically said, 'Wow, I worked so hard.' "Hehe, that's amazing. You can actually enter a patient's heart directly. If the Alchemy Commission had technology like this, just think how many cases of mara we'd be able to treat."
It could break complicated psychological problems into tangible obstacles, then let someone enter another person's heart and help them overcome barriers they couldn't cross alone.
The whole experience had opened Bailu's eyes.
As a doctor, she genuinely wanted an ability like this.
"Thanks for the hard work."
Sylvia patted Sleepie on the head. Naturally, the Gallagher Light Cone now belonged to Sleepie.
"We're not done yet. That was the treatment. Now we still have to tell it what happened to Gallagher."
Bailu grabbed Sylvia's hand before she could declare the matter finished.
Sylvia looked between the two of them in confusion.
"You didn't tell it while you were in there?"
"Uh, things got kind of complicated. Anyway, no. We didn't get the chance."
Stelle scratched her head and gave an embarrassed smile.
Sylvia pursed her lips.
"...Fine, fine."
With Bailu beside her, Sylvia began speaking to the now-calm Sleepie again.
Truth be told, Sylvia had no idea whether Sleepie could even understand the concept of a History Fictionologist. She could only explain it through simple comparisons.
Even after she barely got the idea across, Sylvia still didn't know whether she should say Gallagher was dead or that the person behind Gallagher had vanished without a trace.
Her hesitation, however, seemed to tell Sleepie enough.
It began waving its sharp limbs in agitation, demanding an answer.
Sylvia hesitated, exchanged a glance with Bailu, then finally nodded.
"You probably won't be able to see Gallagher again. At most, you might someday find the person who played the role of Gallagher."
"..."
After receiving Sylvia's confirmation, Sleepie fell silent. Its once-powerful limbs drooped, all its energy draining away.
At least it didn't go berserk like before.
Bailu sighed at the sight. It wasn't nearly as agitated anymore, so the treatment had accomplished something.
With that thought, Bailu tilted her head up toward Sylvia.
"Can we take it away from here? A change of scenery might help. Staying here forever might not be good for it."
Stelle thought back to the information she'd read and gave Sylvia a curious look.
"Memory Zone Memes can't just leave Penacony, can they?"
A memetic entity depended on Memoria to exist. A place where Memoria was thin would be like dry land to a fish.
Sylvia nodded, confirming Stelle's suspicion.
Bailu folded her arms and frowned.
"Ah... then that's a problem..."
They'd managed to calm Sleepie down, but that Gallagher Light Cone could only serve as temporary pain relief. If they simply left it here, those emotions would eventually build up again.
After hearing their conversation, Sylvia lifted a hand and patted one of Sleepie's limbs.
"All right. If you want, you can go live in the Memory Zone. It's better suited to you. And from now on, don't make such a huge scene whenever you come to Penacony."
"..."
"Or you can leave with me. You can see the vast sea of stars in Gallagher's place, since he never had the chance to leave. Maybe that's something Gallagher would've wanted too."
With Sylvia's current abilities, she could imitate the Memokeepers and create a small Memory Zone inside herself. Carrying a few memetic entities around wouldn't be a problem.
The Swarm was another matter. There were simply far too many of them for her to take along, so she'd have to leave them settled in Penacony.
At Sylvia's words, Bailu grumbled and slapped Sylvia lightly on the stomach.
Why hadn't she just said that from the start?
She'd made Bailu worry for nothing.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL