"Ugh~ What is with this day? Why do things like this always happen! Great, now we're going to get lectured by the boss again when we get back..."
Back at the bar, Croissant rubbed her eyes, which were still aching from Exusiai's blinding light, and collapsed onto the sofa. The fact that her long-awaited day off had been spent at the L.G.D. left her feeling incredibly depressed.
"Ahaha, sorry about that!"
Exusiai scratched her head and laughed sheepishly from the side. She hadn't expected to fall asleep while driving either. Otherwise, there was no way they would have been caught by Madam Ch'en.
"Oh! My dear employees, while it is heartening to see you all so lively, could you perhaps pick up a few fewer traffic tickets? Your fines are starting to exceed your commissions."
At the bar counter, a penguin held a wine glass in an incomprehensible posture, savoring fine wine. No one could figure out how he held the glass so steadily without fingers.
"Boss, don't worry about those things. It was an accident on the road... you won't dock our pay because of this, will you?"
Croissant hurriedly explained, worried that her wages for this job would be cut. She was still waiting to pay off the remaining balance on the items she'd pre-ordered.
"I wouldn't go that far. However, could you tell me what happened that allowed the L.G.D. to catch you? With the car I provided, you should have been able to lose that officer."
The Emperor adjusted his sunglasses. It seemed he was more interested in the situation they encountered than the numbers on the tickets.
Texas, who had been silent, skillfully recounted the events. It appeared she had experience explaining such mishaps.
"Falling asleep suddenly? The halo on her head becoming brighter? No other issues found... even I haven't heard of something like this before..."
The Emperor listened to Texas's narration and realized he had never seen such a case. Despite having lived for a very long time, he had never heard of a Sankta's "fluorescent light tube" becoming even brighter.
"Exusiai, did you have any strange sensations?"
At the Emperor's inquiry, Exusiai, who was heartlessly munching on an apple pie, tilted her head. One look at her was enough to tell she was perfectly fine.
"Not really! If I had to say anything strange... I feel much more energetic since waking up. It feels like staying awake for days and nights would be no big deal... the only problem is that the halo on my head is brighter. I'm worried an eye mask won't even work at night."
Exusiai looked at the light tube above her head with some distress. It was at least twice as bright as before! She was worried that when she slept at night, her eye mask would be useless.
"Then how exactly did you fall asleep? You couldn't have just been so tired your eyes closed on their own, right?"
Texas asked. She remembered clearly that just minutes before it happened, Exusiai was happily chatting with them, and the next moment, there was no movement. If she hadn't checked her and found no traces of Originium Arts, Texas would never have believed it was an accident. And even now, she didn't believe it was a coincidence.
"Hmm... I just felt like someone was calling out to me, and then I entered a realm of light... it felt as though I had returned to my true hometown."
Exusiai recalled the scene. It was a warmth she had never experienced before, a place that felt like where the Sankta truly belonged.
"I think I also saw many of my kinsmen. We were standing together in a very orderly fashion. I heard the people around me singing hymns... I could feel the holy light radiating from the heavens... and beneath our feet was a vast white tundra and forest..."
"Anyway, it can't be a bad thing! It must have something to do with our religious beliefs, but it definitely wasn't a bad person! As a believer, I can be certain of that much."
Hearing Exusiai's words, the others stopped worrying about her. This sort of thing seemed tied to Laterano's religion—something they couldn't understand the deeper meaning of. Since Exusiai's condition and check-up revealed no problems, they could only wait and see for the time being.
However, the Emperor seemed to know something. The penguin's head remained turned toward the light tube atop Exusiai's head; that thing had already begun showing signs of shifting toward the color of an incandescent bulb.
Deep into the night, after the other employees had returned to the dorms to rest, the Emperor sat alone at the bar swirling his glass, appearing as though he were deep in thought.
At that moment, the bar door opened again. Entering was a Fallen Angel possessing the racial traits of both Sankta and Sarkaz. She greeted the Emperor with a smile.
"Long time no see, Boss. It seems the company is the same as ever."
"I truly didn't expect you to rush back to Lungmen so quickly. I thought the earliest you'd return was tomorrow. It really has been a while, Mostima."
The Emperor looked at the smiling Fallen Angel before him. She was also an employee of Penguin Logistics—a Sankta from Laterano, and the very person Exusiai had chased from Laterano all the way to Lungmen.
"How is Exusiai?"
Mostima didn't waste time on small talk, immediately asking about Exusiai's condition. She had also felt that calling voice at that time—a summons originating from the very Source. However, unlike Exusiai, she had chosen not to respond and instead rejected the call. After the incident, she hadn't delayed and came straight back to Lungmen to confirm Exusiai's status.
Hearing the Emperor's account, Mostima felt slightly more at ease. According to the Emperor, this matter was inextricably linked to the religion the Sankta practiced and that "God."
"But although we believe in a Deity, unlike Kjerag, we have never truly witnessed the existence of a God... so whether that was truly the God we believe in, I am not certain, but the possibility is high."
Mostima recalled the feeling she had when she heard the call. It was like a lost child seeing the gate to their home right there; that surge of excitement welled up from the bottom of her heart. In fact, the emotions Mostima had lost for certain reasons miraculously returned to her in that instant.
Mostima's state seemed to have returned to how it was when she rested in Laterano... could a condition that even the Emperor had expressed helplessness over be restored so easily...?
At that moment, Mostima remembered the Emperor's relay of Exusiai's memory: beneath their feet was a vast tundra...
Presumably, the answer to all these problems existed there. But which tundra? The enclosed snow realm of Kjerag, or that frozen expanse of Ursus?
It seemed she would have to pay attention to intelligence regarding the snowy plains lately. She wondered if the Messenger network had any clues.