Once Himeko’s back disappeared into the distance, Welt leaned toward Lingzhou and lowered his voice.
“Remember to warn March.”
“She should be careful with Himeko’s coffee tomorrow…”
As for Dan Heng—
He could drink the entire thing with an expressionless face.
No need to worry about him.
“Probably no need to warn her.”
“We’re heading to the next destination tomorrow anyway.”
Lingzhou lifted his coffee and took a sip.
He experienced that wonderfully “authentic” flavor.
This batch had considerable destructive power too.
Without changing expression, he quietly stored the coffee inside the System space.
Himeko possessed two supreme achievements in the field of coffee.
First:
The flavor could be exceptional.
Her technique was unquestionably at master level.
Second:
It could become lethal-tier dark cuisine.
There was even an incident recorded in the history of the Astral Express.
March 7th once drank one of Himeko’s newly developed coffees.
Within two hours, she had visited the sacred place of grain reincarnation more than ten times.
Of course—
Himeko had never learned about that incident.
Nobody had the heart to crush her enthusiasm or her hobby.
“That’s true.”
Noticing Lingzhou’s little maneuver, Welt skillfully created a miniature black hole and discreetly disposed of his own dark beverage.
The two men looked at each other.
Their eyes were filled with the tacit understanding shared only by adults.
“By the way.”
“Where’s Stelle?”
Welt suddenly remembered that the Express had welcomed a new passenger today.
“She’s probably exploring some part of the—”
“WAAAAAH! HELP!”
Before Lingzhou could finish, a familiar muffled voice faintly echoed from somewhere.
“March!”
“It sounds like it came from the Party Car.”
“I’ll go take a look.”
Lingzhou flashed toward the upper carriage and followed the sound.
The Party Car was empty.
Only the drink-making robot that loved telling terrible jokes remained.
Very soon—
Lingzhou raised his head.
His gaze landed on the ventilation duct.
March’s voice came from inside again.
He spread his wings and flew up to the vent entrance, staring directly into the darkness.
“March?”
“Stelle?”
“Save us, Lingzhou!”
“I’m getting crushed to death in here!”
So they were stuck.
Lingzhou barely held back his laughter.
“…I can’t fit inside the vent.”
“So we’ll have to use the stupid method.”
“I’ll blow air through from the other end and push you two out.”
He looked slim while dressed.
But his shoulders were wider than the duct.
There was absolutely no chance he could crawl inside.
Without hesitation, Lingzhou flew to the rear opening of the ventilation system.
He gathered a strong current of wind and blasted it through.
In an instant—
A certain pink-haired beauty trapped inside experienced a pushing force normally found only outdoors.
The only difference was…
But in the next second, that thought vanished.
The airflow grew increasingly powerful.
Pressure built.
The two girls were forced forward.
“Owwww!”
March 7th’s head slammed into Stelle’s skull.
She cried out in pain as spirals appeared in her eyes.
Hearing the commotion from inside, Lingzhou maintained the wind for a little longer.
Then he flew back to the original opening and waited.
One hand each—
He caught the gray-haired one and pink-haired one as they slid out.
Then placed both onto the sofa.
Tsk.
They were covered in dust.
“Thank you, Lingzhou…”
Stelle weakly held her head and grimaced while glancing at March.
“I thought you passed out too.”
Lingzhou suppressed the laughter gathering in his eyes.
Stelle proudly slapped her chest.
“My skull is made of iron.”
“How could I pass out that easily?”
Lingzhou finally laughed.
Then he pressed several acupoints on March.
“Lingzhou…”
“Stelle…”
“Why are there so many of you?”
Still dizzy?
Lingzhou thought briefly, then turned toward Shut Up and fetched an icy drink.
He pressed it against March’s neck.
“KYAAAA!”
March shot straight up from the sofa.
Her entire body instantly awakened.
“You use Six-Phased Ice.”
“And you’re still that afraid of cold?”
Stelle looked speechless.
“That’s not ice!”
“It’s a type of solid-state cry—crystal!”
March explained gloomily.
Her voice grew quieter toward the end.
Her little face turned red from embarrassment.
After several awkward seconds, she suddenly punched Stelle with a little pink fist.
“This is all your fault!”
“How can you blame me?”
“You’re the one who followed me because you wanted to—”
“DON’T SAY IT!”
“Okay.”
“I’ll shut up.”
Stelle shrugged.
She deliberately wore the mature expression of an adult refusing to argue with a child.
Lingzhou nearly laughed aloud again.
“You two should go shower and change clothes first.”
“You look like a pair of little dirty cats.”
“Once you’re done, come to the Parlor Car.”
“We’re having a short meeting.”
With that, Lingzhou turned and walked downstairs.
The two girls were left staring at each other.
“I’m curious.”
“How exactly did both of you get stuck?”
Lingzhou looked thoughtful.
The moment he asked—
March instinctively covered her butt.
Stelle noticed the tiny movement.
“I got stuck because when I look down, I can’t see my toes.”
“That’s different from March.”
“What do you mean you can’t see your—HEY!”
March finally realized what Stelle meant.
She glared at her.
She had plenty of assets too, okay?!
Welt shook his head helplessly and asked:
“So why did the two of you crawl into the ventilation system?”
“I-I heard noises inside…”
March poked her index fingers together, clearly embarrassed.
“I thought something strange might be hidden in there.”
“So I climbed in to investigate the truth.”
“And then…”
“I got stuck…”
“Heh.”
“So did you find anything strange?”
Himeko laughed softly.
“I did.”
“Stelle was stuck in there too.”
Five gazes simultaneously turned toward Stelle.
Stelle declared with complete confidence:
“I was exploring.”
“Excellent.”
“You have the makings of a true Trailblazer.”
Himeko’s smile deepened.
Young people were supposed to get into a little trouble.
“Alright, alright.”
“Today is a good day.”
“No lectures or criticism, pom.”
“I gathered everyone because this Conductor has an announcement, pom.”
Pom-Pom cleared its throat.
“Allowing Passenger Stelle to remain on the Express without a permanent residence is this Conductor’s failure, pom.”
“But she seems to be enjoying herself,” March teased.
After some laughter, Pom-Pom returned to business and formally asked whether Stelle wished to become a Nameless.
“Of course.”
Stelle answered without hesitation.
Then she recited the Trailblaze creed Lingzhou had taught her earlier.
Even as Paths rise and decline, Trailblazers must hold to their own convictions.
Even before raging storms and towering waves, the Express crew must move in one direction.
Even when survival hangs in the balance, we must stand against injustice.
Even if the world forgets us, we need not weigh future reward against present sacrifice.
Even if twilight falls across the galaxy, we must illuminate the endless night.
Even if chaos obscures all order, we must look forward and crush through confusion.
Once she finished—
Stelle discovered several surprised gazes staring at her.
“Um.”
“Did I miss some dirt on my face when I washed?”
“Not that.”
March looked genuinely impressed.
“I just didn’t expect you to solemnly recite the entire Trailblaze creed in front of everyone.”
“When I did it back then…”
“I felt super awkward before and after.”
“Passenger Stelle did very well, pom!”
“This is an old Trailblazer tradition.”
“Passenger March 7th should learn from her, pom.”
Pom-Pom praised her happily.
“Next!”
“Passenger March 7th, come with me and show Passenger Stelle her future room!”
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