After they finished talking about the Family and the IPC, Sylvia chatted with Himeko and the others about a few less important things.
It wasn't until then that Sylvia finally learned the truth about Gallagher.
That guy was actually an identity created by a History Fictionologist. After Himeko and the others reached Dreamflux Reef and found the Watchmaker's Legacy, Gallagher revealed what he really was, then vanished without a trace.
The fictional person known as "Gallagher" simply disappeared.
As for who the History Fictionologist behind Gallagher really was, the Astral Express crew still had no idea.
"Gallagher was a History Fictionologist?!"
Sylvia genuinely hadn't expected that. From what Himeko said, this History Fictionologist had even known the Watchmaker for a very long time. He'd stayed at Dreamflux Reef all those years, waiting until the Astral Express returned to Penacony before finally setting everything in motion.
Even those invitations with hidden messages had apparently been Gallagher's handiwork.
"Sylvia... you didn't know?"
Himeko looked just as surprised. She'd assumed Sylvia knew, especially since Sylvia had been the one who led them to Dreamflux Reef in the first place.
Himeko had thought Sylvia knew everything and was simply guiding them along.
"Of course I didn't! A freaking History Fictionologist... I just thought he was really close to the Watchmaker."
Only then did something click in Sylvia's mind.
No wonder the clue Black Swan had given her at the start had shown Gallagher.
That guy really had known everything.
A faint smile appeared on Himeko's face as she watched Sylvia's shocked expression. It suddenly struck her that, if they were only talking about age, Sylvia was still a girl much younger than she was.
She wasn't some omniscient, all-powerful being.
"It's still kind of a shame, though. He left without even saying goodbye. Who knows if we'll ever get another chance to meet him?"
Sylvia didn't know who the person behind Gallagher was, or how long they could live. Maybe, like the Watchmaker, they'd left their consciousness inside the shared dreamscape. Or maybe their physical body still existed somewhere.
In truth, Sylvia and the others knew very little about Gallagher.
He'd seemed like a pretty decent guy.
"The galaxy is vast. Maybe you'll meet again someday," Himeko said with a smile.
She hadn't spent much time with Gallagher herself. Once Sylvia brought them to Dreamflux Reef, Gallagher had explained most of the situation to the Astral Express crew.
Still, judging from Sylvia's expression, she'd clearly thought well of him.
Sylvia had been about to drop the subject when something suddenly occurred to her.
"Hm? Hold on. What about Sleepie? Didn't Gallagher make it?"
"Sleepie? You mean that Memory Zone Meme?"
Himeko shook her head.
"Before Gallagher disappeared, he left a letter for the Astral Express. He asked us to release [Dormancy] back into the Memory Zone. Stelle and March 7th took care of that."
"I see."
Sylvia couldn't help feeling a little concerned.
This time, Sleepie hadn't stabbed Firefly in front of everyone like it'd done in the game.
It might've looked a little scary, but Sylvia's first impression of it had actually been pretty good.
"If you're worried, go ask March. Knowing those two... they probably haven't finished yet."
"Fair point. I'll go check."
--+--
After leaving Himeko, Sylvia returned to her guest room and entered the dreamscape.
Maybe it was thanks to the mouthful of Memoria her mask had absorbed before she became an Emanator, but Sylvia could clearly sense that the shared dreamscape had changed slightly compared with how it'd felt before the Stellaron was sealed.
As for the dreamscape's security, Sylvia figured she could leave that to the Swarm.
There were plenty of them, and they were strong enough.
They wouldn't even need to do much. If the whole Swarm gathered around the shared dreamscape and set up camp, their sheer numbers alone would improve its security in a very literal sense.
Maybe that was the advantage of having so many people around.
It'd also give Sylvia a perfectly legitimate excuse to have the Swarm keep watch over Penacony.
With that thought in mind, Sylvia was just about to look for March 7th and Stelle when Bailu came running over.
"Hey! Teacher Sylvia! Over here!"
"Coming."
The Xianzhou Luofu still had a group stationed on Penacony, but Yunli, who Bailu could usually play with, had gone back to the Luofu. Tingyun, another person she knew well, wasn't around either.
Practicing healing arts alone at the encampment was painfully boring, so Bailu had come looking for Sylvia.
She'd also decided that, starting today, she'd tag along with Sylvia.
At least she'd have someone to talk to.
Sylvia and Bailu met beneath the Clockie statue.
"What made you come looking for me today?"
"Well, being alone is boring! And I can't treat patients here like I do back on the Luofu."
Most of Bailu's daily life involved studying medicine and treating patients.
Ever since arriving on Penacony, she'd had almost nothing to do apart from handling a few minor problems for the Luofu delegation.
When she saw Sylvia, Bailu still looked a little embarrassed. She shuffled her feet awkwardly, probably because she hadn't fully recovered from the humiliation of what'd happened the other day.
Sylvia smiled and patted Bailu on the head.
"Then come with me. I was just about to find March 7th and Stelle."
She motioned for Bailu to follow and started down a nearby path.
"What're you looking for them for?"
"Hmm... that's a long story. Has anyone told you what happened on Penacony lately?"
Sylvia opened her mouth, planning to explain what was going on with Sleepie, but that would've led straight into Gallagher.
And Gallagher's disappearance was tied to the conflict between the Watchmaker and the Family.
If she really wanted to explain everything, she'd have to go through almost the whole incident from the beginning.
"Nope."
Bailu shook her head.
She knew something big had happened on Penacony. She'd heard that one of the Family's heads had caused trouble, and that Zephyro had been stirring things up as well.
Beyond that, nobody had told her the details.
Only Huaiyan and Yukong probably knew the full story.
Sylvia nodded slightly.
Fine, then.
"I'll tell you on the way."
"Okay, okay! Teacher Sylvia, I want ice cream. I can eat while I listen."
"..."
Sylvia gave the little shop beside the road a helpless look.
Stores like this were everywhere on Penacony. You could buy most of the planet's signature snacks and drinks from these little stands.
Calling them Penacony's version of a convenience-store chain wouldn't even be much of an exaggeration.
"Fine, fine. Go buy some."
"Woohoo!"
Bailu grabbed Sylvia's hand, delighted.
Her earlier boredom vanished in an instant.
--+--
Sylvia found Sleepie at Clockie Studios Theme Park.
March 7th and Stelle were there too.
Apparently, after realizing Gallagher was gone, Sleepie had panicked and started racing all over Penacony. It'd frightened plenty of people and had nearly been captured by the Family.
Luckily, March 7th and Stelle arrived just in time and stepped in to protect it.
"So... is it sad?"
Sylvia listened as Sleepie repeated Gallagher's name in its clumsy, distorted voice.
She could more or less sense what it was feeling.
"Probably. It looks so pitiful. Sylvia, hurry up and think of something to cheer it up."
March 7th frowned and tugged on Sylvia's sleeve.
She had no idea what to do.
Gallagher's true background was still a mystery. They didn't know what species the person behind him belonged to, or even when they'd first become involved with Penacony.
After exposing their own lie, nobody knew whether they were even still alive.
March 7th, being the optimist she was, had initially assumed that only the identity called "Gallagher" had disappeared. But after she saw the letter Gallagher had left on the Astral Express, she couldn't shake the feeling that it read far too much like a final farewell.
That was why she'd suggested coming with Stelle to find Sleepie.
Neither of them had expected to arrive and hear that Sleepie had been wreaking havoc throughout the dreamscape.
They'd gone through a lot of trouble just getting it to calm down. But now that they'd made it this far, March 7th had no idea what to do next.
That was when Stelle put away her bat.
With a grand sweep of her hand, she struck a ridiculously dramatic pose and pulled out the hat the Watchmaker had left her.
"Heh-heh. Now it's my turn to show off!"
"Ugh... that's so lame. Do you actually have a plan?"
March 7th immediately gave her a look of disgust.
Stelle remained completely unfazed. She even shot Sylvia a wink.
"Hey, check out my Clockwork trick! Open sesame—!"
Stelle raised one finger high into the air, then jabbed it dramatically toward Sleepie.
"—?"
Silence filled the air.
Sleepie merely tilted its head and let out a confused sound.
"..."
March 7th covered her face.
This was unbearable. Stelle's skin was way too thick.
Just watching from the side made March feel like she could dig an entire three-bedroom apartment out of Memoria with her toes.
"Uh..."
Stelle scratched her head and tried again.
Eventually, she realized that Sleepie's inner world was stuck because it was missing one key item.
There wasn't much mystery about what that item had to be. It was almost certainly something connected to Gallagher.
But...
Gallagher himself had been fictional.
Every trait that made up the identity of "Gallagher" had been borrowed from dozens of different Family members.
Now that the man himself was gone, how were they supposed to find a key item belonging to him?
Once she reached that conclusion, Stelle quietly put the hat away.
Then she turned around and stared pitifully at Sylvia.
"Wifey Sylvia~"
Her voice was so syrupy that it sounded as though Sylvia obviously had the perfect solution tucked away somewhere.
"Eww!"
March 7th shuddered and instinctively took several steps away from Stelle, her face full of disgust.
How could someone make that kind of childish voice while wearing that face?
Sylvia scratched her head.
"Uh... tell me what you actually need first."
Thanks to her improved ability to manipulate Memoria, Sylvia could technically communicate with Sleepie directly.
But given Sleepie's level of intelligence, she wasn't even sure it'd understand the concepts she wanted to explain.
After all, Sleepie probably hadn't left Penacony once since the moment it'd been born.
There was no chance it knew what a Pathstrider was, much less a History Fictionologist.
That was why Sylvia wanted to see whether anyone else had a better idea first.
Stelle dropped the strange tone and explained the problem with Clockwork.
That left everyone stumped.
How could a fictional person have a key item of their own?
March 7th scratched her head, unable to think of anything.
"Then what're we supposed to do? We can't just release it into the Memory Zone like this. What if it comes right back?"
Sylvia thought for a moment.
Then inspiration struck.
She rummaged through her pocket and pulled the Light Cone Black Swan had given her from her personal storage.
"Is that... a Light Cone? Gallagher's?"
Stelle suddenly popped her head over Sylvia's shoulder and stared at it with curiosity.
"Yeah."
Sylvia nodded, then looked at Stelle.
"Would this work?"
"A Light Cone? Maybe... I'm not sure."
Sylvia handed it over.
Stelle held the blurry Light Cone and tried activating Clockwork again.
Unfortunately—
"It moved a little, but I still can't unlock it. Maybe there isn't enough memory inside?"
Stelle came to a conclusion.
The Light Cone contained only a single image. Even compared with an ordinary Light Cone, the amount of memory inside it was tiny.
Sylvia thought for a moment before speaking.
"I can extract memories now, but... Penacony's huge. Without some kind of anchor, where am I supposed to find Gallagher's memories on short notice?"
"I could extract them from Sleepie, but I'm not a professional Memokeeper. Someone would need to talk to it and draw those memories out first. And I'm worried it might go berserk."
Sylvia could use the Fool's Mask to manipulate Memoria and imitate some of a Memokeeper's abilities.
But she couldn't do delicate work like touching someone and instantly reading their memories, or searching through the vast memories of an entire planet to find traces of one specific person.
She wasn't a follower of the Path of Remembrance, after all.
To do something similar, she'd need some kind of medium and a few keywords to narrow down the search.
The problem was...
Talking to Sleepie about Gallagher right now?
Wouldn't that just be pouring fuel on the fire?
Stelle planted her hands on her hips and was about to step forward to declare that talking people through their problems was her specialty.
March 7th immediately covered her mouth and dragged her backward.
"Oh, no. You should stay out of this one."
March knew exactly what Stelle's mouth was like.
Every now and then, she'd lose all sense of restraint, and every few days she'd say something completely outrageous.
Even Dan Heng was better at talking to people than she was.
Bailu, who'd been quiet the entire time, finally spoke after listening to their discussion.
She puffed out her chest and slapped a hand against it.
"Looks like it's finally time for this Alchemy Commission physician to step in!"
"Lady Bailu, you can treat Memory Zone Memes too? The Xianzhou actually teaches that?"
March 7th lowered her gaze toward Bailu.
She might've looked like a child, but she was still the Luofu's famed Healer Lady.
March had accidentally offended her when they'd first met, so she was much more careful with her tone this time.
"What kind of question is that? Of course I can't!"
"Uh..."
March 7th's expression became rather complicated.
Bailu waved a tiny hand.
"But that's beside the point. An illness of the heart is still an illness! From what you've told me, what you need right now is someone who can talk through emotional problems."
Bailu planted her hands on her hips, full of confidence.
March 7th and Stelle exchanged looks.
It wasn't that they doubted Bailu's medical skills.
They just hadn't expected her to know anything about this.
Seeing the disbelief on March's face, Bailu gave a cute little huff.
"Psychological problems can also trigger mara in Xianzhou natives. Counseling is an important part of the Alchemy Commission's work too, so I've studied a bit of it."
"Seriously?"
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL