“Quit complaining.
It’s my first time doing something like this too.
Wearing a paper bag over my head means that if I really mess this up, at least I won’t die of embarrassment.”
Xian Ling tugged at the paper bag on her head and spoke awkwardly.
“Hard to say.
Considering all the things you used to do while running around Lady Herta’s Space Station, you’ve probably committed plenty of acts equivalent to robbing a bank…
And given how Lady Ruan Mei frequently borrows Lady Herta’s Curios in the same way, I’m inclined to believe this is hereditary.”
“Cut the nonsense.
Hurry up and search for Cyrene’s coordinates.
I’m heading out.”
Xian Ling’s body gradually faded until it became nearly transparent.
As a Memetic Lifeform similar to the Memokeepers, accomplishing something like this wasn’t difficult for her.
If she weren’t worried about causing too much chaos and damaging her favorability with Cyrene, the priests in this Divine Temple would probably already be losing consciousness in waves.
“Miss Cyrene is very talented.
She seems to be considered an outstanding assistant priest here, so her location is deep within the Divine Temple.”
Fourth Mirror paused before adding,
“Oh, right.
Miss, remember to be careful.
In this world, Oronyx seems to use a power similar to Remembrance.
So watch out for some of the senior priests in the temple.
They might be able to detect your presence.”
“Oh no, I’m terrified of senior priests.”
Xian Ling’s voice echoed through the air.
“But it shouldn’t be a problem.
Even among the Memokeepers, my abilities belong to the more unconventional category.
They’re especially effective during a first encounter…
Just stay here and be ready to receive Cyrene and me at any moment.”
As she spoke, Xian Ling’s figure completely disappeared.
Meanwhile, inside the Janus Temple, a pink-haired girl was jogging briskly along while hugging her Ritual Sword.
“There’s still so much work to do today.
I can’t rest yet…
Later I still have to practice the Oronis Prayer a hundred more times.
Um, is that really so difficult?
Why do all the other priest trainees look at me so strangely?”
“Cyrene~”
“Huh?”
The pink-haired girl stopped in her tracks and turned around in confusion.
“Just now…
did someone call my name?”
“Cy~rene~”
“The voice again…
But there’s clearly nobody around me…” Cyrene looked around before subconsciously hugging her Ritual Sword even tighter.
“C-Could it be a spirit thief?
Or one of the ghosts mentioned in the rituals?
B-But what ghost would dare cause trouble inside the temple?”
“Eek!
I-It seems to be coming from over there?”
After hearing the voice call her three times, Cyrene finally located its source.
She looked toward a bench not far away.
Yet, just as before, there was clearly nobody sitting there.
No, more accurately, there hadn’t been anyone there a moment ago.
The instant Cyrene’s gaze landed on the bench, a figure with a paper bag over her head gradually materialized upon it as though a ghost had appeared in broad daylight.
Then, under Cyrene’s increasingly horrified stare, the figure waved at her.
“Eep!”
Cyrene immediately shuddered from fright and let out an adorable yelp.
Then she turned around and prepared to leave at once.
Given her status within the temple, finding several elderly priests would be easy.
Thus, Cyrene decisively chose to call for reinforcements.
“Don’t bother.
It’s useless.
They can’t see me at all…”
The transparent figure sounded rather helpless.
“Because I don’t exist in reality.
I exist inside your memories.
Think carefully—did you just see me, or did you merely recall the memory of me appearing on that bench a few milliseconds ago?”
The petite pink-haired girl remained silent and simply kept running.
“Alright, alright…
Then go ahead and try.
But let’s make a deal.
Once you discover they can’t do anything about me, come talk to me, okay?”
And so, under Xian Ling’s amused gaze, the temple spent an entire morning in complete chaos.
In the end, the helpless chief priest concluded that Cyrene had simply “prayed too much” and arranged for her to rest in a lounge within the temple.
“See?
I told you they couldn’t see me…
Though the chief priest’s judgment wasn’t wrong either.
Other apprentices use the prayer at most ten or so times a day.
Yet you recite it a hundred times.
No wonder some priests think you’ve prayed yourself into hallucinations.”
Under Cyrene’s somewhat trembling gaze, the strange person with a paper bag over her head sat leisurely atop a table in the lounge.
Her slender legs, wrapped in white stockings, swung gently back and forth, making it difficult to decide whether one should look at the white-stockinged ice cream first or the bizarre head covering.
“So…
who exactly are you?”
“A savior.”
Xian Ling answered in a deliberately profound tone.
“What kind of savior dresses like this?!”
“Ahem.
Fine, I don’t think I’m qualified to be a savior either.
After all, I don’t have any power.”
Xian Ling spread her hands and hopped down from the table.
“And you call this having no power?”
Cyrene stared at the girl who claimed to exist only within her memories.
“I’ve been in this temple for a whole year and I’ve never seen anyone as incredible as you, okay…”
“Just a few trivial tricks.
Oh right, take a look at this.”
Xian Ling spread her hands.
Seeing that Cyrene’s face still held traces of caution, she took out a golden spoon.
“My entrance may have been a little strange, but that’s only because I didn’t want to use more violent methods.
I really do have something important to discuss with you.
This should be enough to prove I’m not a bad person.”
“After all…
a bad person couldn’t possibly enter the Lost Wonderland, much less earn Village Chief Dolimem’s approval.
Don’t you agree?”
“Th-This really is the fairies’ spoon…
N-No, that’s not right!”
Cyrene suddenly shook her head vigorously.
“You said you’re someone who only exists in my memories.
Then this spoon was taken from my memories too, right?
If you can invade my memories, obtaining information from them shouldn’t be difficult either—”
“So…”
Cyrene revealed an expression of ‘the truth has been exposed.’
“This spoon is fake!”
“You…
oh, come on!
You silly girl, this spoon is a real object!
Just touch it and you’ll know!”
Xian Ling grabbed Cyrene’s small hand, which was hidden inside her oversized sleeve, and stuffed the golden spoon into it.
Then, before Cyrene could respond, she directly lifted the pink-haired girl into a princess carry, drawing a startled cry from her.
“Y-You can touch me?
What are you trying to do?”
“I’m taking you back to the Lost Wonderland.
Then you’ll know whether I’m telling the truth.”
Xian Ling adjusted her hold on the pink-haired girl, who was still trying to struggle in her arms.
She had to admit that little Cyrene was remarkably light.
Unlike—
Ahem.
“W-Wait!
Isn’t this kidnapping?
The entire Janus Temple will put a bounty on your head!”
“Don’t worry.
I learned this from a medium-cup mama in a neighboring game’s setting.
At times like this, all you need to do is kidnap people from the temple often enough, and eventually they’ll get used to it!”
As her words fell, Xian Ling’s figure instantly vanished.
Then she began rapidly infiltrating outward through Cyrene’s memories until she returned to the place she had originally arranged to meet Fourth Mirror.