Sylvia didn't accept Giovanni's offer right away. She took Bailu aboard the train and helped get her room ready first. Only then did she sit down with Giovanni to pick up their talk.
"What would you do if I said no?"
Sylvia was curious. A merchant like Giovanni had to have a backup plan.
"Take the riskier option, of course. Work with the Family."
Giovanni brought up that option again, yet he didn't seem all that worried about the Harmony warping his mind. When he saw Sylvia's curious look, he gave her a frank answer.
"What matters most to us is putting our own vision of Elation into practice. If there's no other choice, it's worth taking a few risks."
"Well... you really are a Masked Fool."
Sylvia pursed her lips. She could see where he was coming from. Sampo and Sparkle were the same sort of people, but sadly, she wasn't.
She liked doing things that made her happy, but she'd never drawn them together into some grand personal philosophy. To put it bluntly, Sylvia wasn't all that devoted to Elation.
--+--
Her response seemed to surprise Giovanni. He hadn't known Sylvia before coming to Penacony. All he'd heard were a few comments from the Express crew back on Jarilo.
From the moment they'd met, he'd felt that Sylvia lacked the air of a Masked Fool. At first, he'd thought she might belong to the Mourning Actors. Yet after their brief chat, her traits didn't seem to fit that group either.
That left him curious. Why had Aha chosen Sylvia as an Emanator of Elation?
The Aeon might act on a whim, but past Emanators of Elation had either embraced Elation or stood against it with all their hearts. Even a worm that had dropped dead right away had at least offered a bit of cruel humor. Sylvia, though, didn't fit his image of an Emanator at all.
Her nature was too ordinary. So ordinary that she hardly seemed like a Pathstrider.
It wasn't that she lacked a personality. Rather, none of her traits stood out in that bold, clear way that almost every Pathstrider seemed to have.
That only made Giovanni more curious. He'd come here in the first place because he wanted to meet this new Emanator. Now that he'd seen her, he didn't feel the slightest urge to say, 'Of course she's an Emanator.'
Instead, he wondered why she'd become an Emanator of Elation at all.
"Forgive the personal question, but I'm curious. Why did you become an Emanator of Elation?"
The words could've sounded like a challenge. Yet somehow, when Giovanni said them, Sylvia couldn't sense any ill will. He seemed to mean exactly what he'd said: he was curious.
Sylvia let out a long sigh.
"Yeah. Why, indeed? I'm still looking for the answer myself."
"Hmm..."
Her face gave him no reason to think she was lying, and Giovanni fell silent. It seemed this really was just another whim of that Aeon of Elation.
He shook his head. In that case, there was no need to tell this new Emanator where to find the Tavern. He set aside his plan to bring her there.
No wonder neither Sparkle nor Sampo had told Sylvia about the Tavern, despite having met her long ago. So that was why...
Giovanni suspected that any Fools who'd come to meet the new Emanator would reach the same conclusion once they saw her. They wouldn't want to bring someone like her to the Tavern. She just didn't seem amusing enough.
Unless, of course, they could work out what fun the Aeon of Elation had found in her.
"Now, back to the game."
Giovanni reined in his wandering thoughts and cleared his throat. Sylvia blinked, then smiled at his attempt to return to the topic.
"I haven't agreed yet."
"I know. But before you decide, could you hear out my request, as one Masked Fool to another?"
All Giovanni needed was a little help. He'd never meant to draw Sylvia too deep into his personal pursuit of Elation. His vision was his own, and he ought to bring it to life himself.
The problem was that Sparkle had gone too far this time. In one fell swoop, she'd blown the scale up to hundreds of millions of people. Giovanni just needed some power to support the whole thing.
And power was the one thing an Emanator had to spare.
--+--
Once Sylvia had heard him out, it did sound like a small favor. Giovanni would handle both the prep work and the cleanup. All she had to do was lend him a little power so he could extend the "rules of the game" to every player who held a mask.
"Sounds simple enough. But I'll come and see it for myself when the time comes."
"I'd be honored."
Sylvia had learned a bit about Giovanni through the game, but that had only given her a shallow view of him. She still had to judge the man for herself. Besides, a Celestial Jade tournament sounded fun.
She planned to use the mask Sparkle had given her to slip into the event and play a few rounds. It'd been a while since she'd gone back to the Xianzhou for a game. She missed it more than she'd expected.
With his goal met, Giovanni didn't plan to linger. He still had to oversee both the game's development and the plans for a huge in-person event. He had plenty to do.
As for Qingque, now that he'd secured the rules of Celestial Jade, he didn't need her to keep an eye on things. He left her a mask to serve as her tournament pass, then went on his way without her.
Once Giovanni had left, Qingque turned the mask over in her hands.
"Why are the rumors about these masks so wild? People are saying you can become an Emanator, and so many of them actually believe it."
"Because that rumor's true, of course."
"Huh?!"
Qingque jumped and nearly tossed the mask away. Sylvia chuckled and patted her head.
"Have you paid any attention to what's been going on in Penacony lately?"
"Uh, not much. I just heard that a Lord Ravager caused trouble, then the new Emanator of Elation teamed up with the Family and took them out."
Qingque drew the edge of her hand across her throat.
"More or less. You can ask around Penacony if you want the details. But yeah, the thing with the masks is real. That's why everyone's so worked up."
"Whoa. Girl, do you think I've got a shot? If I pull it off, I can quit my job with my head held high!"
Sylvia gave the eager Qingque an odd look. This girl was a skilled player, and she'd spent ages honing those skills on the Luofu. If she set her mind to crushing a bunch of beginners, who could stop her?
'Yikes... If Qingque really wins that mask, is Fu Xuan going to come after me?'
Sylvia couldn't help but wonder. Qingque, meanwhile, had no plans to head home just yet. She swept out one hand, and the tile table she carried with her appeared in the carriage.
"Come on, come on! It's been ages. Let your master see if you've lost your touch!"
"...Do you start twitching if you go a day without playing?"
Sylvia sighed, then pointed out the obvious.
"How are we supposed to play with just two people?"
"What do you mean? We've got the Dragon Lady right here."
Qingque turned and pointed. Bailu, who'd been talking to Pom-Pom about where to set up the train's infirmary, gave a start.
"W-What?"
"Dragon Lady, come play Celestial Jade with us."
"Huh?"
"Oh, come on! And this... Nameless over here should join us too!"
"Hmm?"
Mei had just stepped out of her room to find Sylvia, only to get roped in as well. Qingque clearly had the itch now. If she couldn't fill this table today, she might lose sleep over it for days.
"It's not like we've got anything else to do, right? Come on, I'll explain the rules."
Qingque reached out and tugged Bailu over, then pushed the floating table lower and sat on the floor. She didn't even seem to care whether it was cold.
Sylvia laughed at the sight. Then she took Mei's hand and led her over to the table.
"Come on, Mei. You don't have anything to do either, right? You've spent most of the last two days resting in your room."
"All right..."
Mei gave her a helpless smile and accepted the offer. It was true that she hadn't been staying as close to Sylvia as she used to.
For one thing, Sylvia was now strong enough to keep herself safe out in the cosmos. For another, all their recent travels had left Mei with little time to delve deeper into the power of Nihility. That was what she'd been doing alone in her room these past two days.
Still, she didn't need to explain all that to Sylvia. Nor did she need to spoil the fun.
--+--
Their game went on for five or six system hours. If Pom-Pom hadn't kept track of mealtime, they might've stayed at that table until the next day.
"Mmm... Whew, that was one fierce battle."
Qingque straightened up and stretched. She'd won some and lost some over the past several hours, but she'd ended up with more losses than wins.
Sylvia and Miss Acheron worked together so well at the table that Qingque had started to wonder if they were showing each other their tiles. Yet no matter how closely she watched, she couldn't spot any sign of cheating. Even a quick divination had given her nothing.
If Qingque hadn't been so skilled, and if Miss Acheron hadn't played with so little aggression, she might've suffered a crushing defeat today. The Dragon Lady's play, by contrast, was much more plain. Bailu clearly didn't play often, and both her skill and her luck were average.
Luckily, Sylvia went easy on her now and then, so she didn't lose too badly. The real battle had been between Sylvia and Qingque.
"It's been ages since I last played. I really should put a table on the train."
Sylvia recalled the custom table she owned. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made to keep it here. There were plenty of people aboard, and a game now and then would be nice.
"Passengers, please come and eat! The food's going to get cold!"
Pom-Pom came over to hurry them to dinner on Himeko's train. Both trains had a Pom-Pom, but there were only so many people in the Express crew. Pom-Pom didn't want to cook two full spreads.
That would be far too much work.
"Oh, I'll pass. I've still got a room at The Reverie, and I was hoping to try more of Penacony's food."
Now that Qingque had played to her heart's content, she didn't feel the need to stay for a free meal. Sylvia watched her pack up the table in no time and made one last offer.
"You sure? It's just one more place at the table. It's no trouble."
"Really, it's fine! I'll have plenty of chances to eat with you guys. But who knows if I'll ever come back to Penacony?"
Qingque had heard about the Wardance lately. She figured the Express crew would get an invite, so they'd have another chance to meet. Penacony was another matter.
If Giovanni hadn't paid for her room, she'd never have spent that much on a vacation here herself.
"All right, then. Stay safe on your own, okay? If you run into trouble, come find me."
"Oh, come on. Didn't they say all the trouble in Penacony's been dealt with? What danger could there be?"
Qingque took it as a polite send-off. If Giovanni's invite had arrived before the Lord Ravager's visit, nothing could've made her come here in person.
She grinned, waved, and hopped out of the carriage. Sylvia and the others headed to the train next door.
Sylvia still had to introduce Bailu to Himeko and the rest. She'd be traveling with them for a while, after all. A temporary passenger was still a passenger.
While she was at it, Sylvia took out her finely crafted tile table and set it up in the carriage.
"What's this?"
"Celestial Jade."
March 7th and Stelle looked curious, while Welt's face held a trace of fond memory. Sylvia smiled and went on.
"Here's the latest inside scoop: this is how they'll decide the second round of the mask contest. So if you two really want to take part, you'd better get some practice over the next couple of days."
"Seriously? Where'd you hear that?"
March 7th gave Sylvia a puzzled look.
"You remember Giovanni, right? You took part in Aetherium Wars, didn't you? I ran into him today."
"That Masked Fool who makes games? Sheesh, haven't we had a few too many Masked Fools around us lately?"
March 7th couldn't help but complain. From Jarilo to Penacony, how many times had they run into Masked Fools by now?
"You'd better get used to it. You'll be spending every day with one from now on."
Sylvia smiled and ruffled March 7th's hair. Then she glanced at Stelle, who'd already sat down at the table and looked eager to start.
"Anyway, you two should give it a try. Mr. Yang, want to join us?"
"Count me in. I've wanted to bring a table aboard for a while."
Welt pushed up his glasses, a sharp gleam flashing across the lenses. The pride of everyone on Earth was at stake. He couldn't lose at mahjong to a bunch of total beginners!
As for Himeko, she was interested too. But with the table full, she picked up her coffee and decided to watch for now.
--+--
As for Dan Heng, he and Bailu were staring at each other. He still hadn't come to terms with the fact that the current High Elder had run away. When he learned that Bailu had fled to the train at Jing Yuan's request, he fell even more silent.
Those Preceptors had actually let her go? What on earth had Jing Yuan done to them?
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL