Chapter 99: An Eternal Page

Meanwhile

“What!? He’s visiting today!?!” Phainon exclaims in shock as he looks at Mydei, holding a rough sketch of yellow and purple clothes. Mydei does his best not to react violently after witnessing such a monstrosity, and he feels pity for the young worker hired by Lady Aglaea, who’s politely refused Phainon’s requests since the beginning.

Aglaea had specifically requested never to accept any of Phainon’s requests if it involved the combination of purple and yellow. It’s not that the color combination is completely bad and Lady Aglaea is skilled enough to make it work very well, but whenever Phainon tries to wear it, everyone feels like their eyes are about to be ripped apart. It’s like nature consistently refuses the boy using that specific combination and makes it a complete eyesore for everyone.

If other people requested Lady Aglaea with such a combination, she would try her best to make it work. But every time Phainon requested it, it triggered the horrid image that had burned into Lady Aglaea’s retina, and she would unconsciously recoil and reject the request instinctively.

“Indeed, while you’re busy harassing the poor man, Caelus had arrived at the Eternal Page along with his guest,” Mydei responded, earning a pout from Phainon.

“I wasn’t harassing anyone,” Phainon muttered as he put his sketches away, causing the man behind him to sigh in relief.

“You are, so stop wasting more time and go see him,” Mydei said in an annoyed tone before Phainon left in a hurry. The Kremnoan shook his head before looking at the young man, who was bowing to him.

“Thank you, sir…” The man said sincerely, causing Mydei to sweat drop. Just how long did that fool harass the poor worker with his monstrosity? Mydei merely nodded before leaving the place, hoping he could catch up with Phainon. Along the way, they met up with Anaxagoras teaching the children, with Trailblazer Jr. standing next to him.

Judging from how enthusiastic he looks, it’s easy to say that today’s lesson is about Dromas.

“Prof. Anaxa!” Phainon calls, waving at the scholar. Anaxa merely let out an exasperated sigh before glancing at his former student.

“How many times do I have to repeat myself? Call me Anaxagoras. A. Na. Xa. Go. Ras. Is it too hard to follow?” Anaxa asks in annoyance, earning a sheepish grin from Phainon.

“Hehe, sorry about that, Professor Anaxa.” This earns another exasperated groan from the scholar before he looks at his former student.

“What is it this time, Phainon? If you can’t tell, I am busy parting new knowledge towards the next generation,” Anaxa says while gesturing at the children in front of them.

“Sorry, I just want to tell you that Caelus is here!” As he said that, Trailblazer Jr. perks up and immediately rushes off, leaving everyone in the dust. The men stare at the little Droma rushing into the distance in silence before Anaxa stares at Phainon judgingly.

“I was hoping Junior would stay so I could teach the students more about the beauty of Dromas,” Anaxa mutters shakily before glaring at Phainon, who starts sweating like crazy and looks at Mydei with a pleading expression. Unfortunately, Mydei didn’t seem to care as he pretended not to notice him. This causes Phainon to comically shed a tear as Anaxa pulls out his magic shotgun.

——————————————————————————————————————–

With Caelus

“You have quite an adventure since your last visit, Caelus,” Aglaea says as she and Caelus sit on the table, both holding a cup of Ambrosia.

“Yeah, the world is quite chaotic.” Caelus lets out a sigh before taking a sip of the Ambrosia. He can’t help but flinch at how sweet it is, feeling like he could get diabetes if he consumed more. Aglaea lets out a chuckle before taking a sip herself.

“Is it too sweet for you? Even simply a drop is enough to add its rich fragrance and sweet taste to anything,” Aglaea says as she gracefully places the cup down. If Caelus could read her mind, he would know Aglaea secretly agreed with him. “I had asked Hyselins to make one easily consumable for any guests, but it seems that being a Siren herself allows her to drink this in such quantity.”

“That explains so much,” Caelus says before grimacing at Tribios and Cipher continuing to rub his furry tail, earning an amused giggle from Aglaea.

“You could take off the mask anytime, you know,” Aglaea says as Caelus merely nods. “Why continue playing along?”

“…I honestly feel a bit at ease knowing that despite forgetting my former name and being in a completely new body, I am still me,” Caelus admits. “Fool’s Mask displays either my desired appearance or my true self amongst many masks I have. I had no desire to be a furry or in this world, Thiren (not that I have an issue; I just think it’s troublesome to take care of the furs), so I can safely say the mask displays my true self…this is a first appearance where I am not looking like someone else, or at least anyone I know of…”

“…I see, it seems that taking his identity is truly affecting you,” Aglaea says with a solemn expression.

“You have no idea. Thankfully, no one knows who Caelus is because I would be in a completely different mental state right now,” Caelus sighs. “The only grace I have is that I still maintain my personality…except for one time when the System forced me to embrace my identity as a trash panda.”

“Heh, I don’t think that suits you at all,” Aglaea comments as Hyacine approaches Caelus and pulls him into a hug.

“It must be rough for you, Grayie,” Hyacine says sadly.

“A bit…but it’s not as bad as how I feel when I first arrived here,” Caelus admits. “After being here for a while and getting stronger, I don’t have to be as worried as before regarding the future danger, since I have the strength to defend myself. And I don’t have to worry about anyone calling me an imposter and all that.”

“Geez, you really have it rough, don’t you, Gray Mystery?” Cipher asks.

“Not as rough as you guys…” Caelus says before Hyacine gives him a disapproving stare.

“Don’t say it like that. It sounds like you dismiss your suffering because someone had it rougher than you,” Hyacine comments. “Grayie, promise me to never say something like that. I had to deal with Lord Phainon dismissing his own suffering because of his guilt; I don’t need another one joining him, albeit for a different reason.”

“Okay, okay…” Caelus sweatdrops as Hyacine points her magic wand a bit too close to his face. The Physician blinks before realizing what she has done, pulls her wand back, and gives Caelus a sheepish smile.

“It seems that Phainon has been constantly blaming himself a lot of times…” Aglaea muses as Hyacine nods.

“Yeah, hearing him degrade himself as nothing but a murderer in his sleep is not fun at all…” Caelus can’t help but be concerned after hearing this.

“How long has this been going on?” Caelus asks in concern.

“Since we first appeared after Mem gazed at you,” Hyacine says. “He has gotten better since your visit, but there are times when he unconsciously blames himself till I snap him out of it.”

“Oh…” Caelus mutters, feeling unsure how to react before he realizes something. Hyacine seems to notice what he’s thinking.

“Little Bun-Bun is now resting comfortably. Lady Tribbie has gone to keep an eye on him in the recovery room, and if anything happens, she will summon the Century Gate to get here. You don’t have to worry about your friend; he’s in good hands,” Hyacine says, calming Caelus down.

“That’s good to know. I hope Tribios didn’t-!” Before he could finish his sentence, a purple blur crashed into him and sent him into the ground. Before Caelus could even groan in pain, he felt something nuzzling against his furry cheeks.

“Grumph! (Papa!)” Caelus blinked before he looked at the creature that crashed onto him before chuckling lightly.

“Hey, kiddo. Good to see you again,” Caelus says as he gently rubs Trailblazer Jr.’s cheeks. “Hope you’ve been taking care of yourself.”

“Grumph! (I did!)” Trailblazer Jr. exclaims happily before he starts nuzzling Caelus again. “Grumph… (Papa feels so soft…).”

“Hehehe, they look adorable,” Hyacine says as Aglaea merely smiles in amusement. Before she takes another sip, she hears a familiar voice from a distance and grimaces a bit before looking at the men approaching them. Aglaea blinks when she notices something is wrong, as she witnesses Anaxagoras constantly trying to shoot Phainon, while Mydei is chasing after them.

She watches in stunned silence at the bizarre scene and tries to rationalize what she has witnessed. Aglaea looks at the others, and it seems that they all look as shocked as she is.

“Pfft! Bahahaha!!!” It didn’t take long for Cipher to recover from her shock and start laughing her ass off, clutching her stomach and smacking the tree. Hyacine also snaps out of her shock before she looks a bit concerned for Phainon, while Caelus scratches his head in confusion, wondering what is going on.

Meanwhile, Castorice, Polyxia, and Mem can be seen discussing Caelus’ adventures. Mem uses the Path of Remembrance to physically show every adventure like a holographic display. Castorice looks completely immersed as she writes everything in her book at rapid speed while Polyxia chuckles at her sister’s amusing antics.

They had to stop what they were doing as they noticed Phainon was being chased by Prof. Anaxa. The girls look visibly confused before Mem looks amused and decides to record everything into her pile of memories, while Castorice joins in, earning another amused chuckle from Polyxia.

“It seems things have been quite amusing since Caelus came here,” Polyxia comments. “I would never witness your teacher chasing after your fellow student, Castorice.”

“I have never seen Professor be this agitated towards a student, so much that he draws out his gun,” Castorice says with a slight chuckle. “I had thought he was too smart and sophisticated to ever need to pull out his weapon. To think I would see this side of him…”

“Even now, Professor Anaxagoras is also human. Well, as human as a demigod-data-turned-living-memoria can be,” Mem says with a giggle. “I think he may also watch enough of Caelus’ adventure that it influenced him.”

“Wait, watch? How did he do that?” Polyxia asks in surprise.

“Well, he uses quite a complicated alchemy that I’ve never seen him do before, and creates a physical window that connects to the System itself and watches through it,” Mem muses. “I honestly had no idea how it works, but he managed to pull another crazy feat.”

“After hacking the simulated world created by a part of the First Genius, I think doing this is easy enough for a professor.” Castorice comments, earning a nod from Polyxia and Mem.

“Say, where are the others? I was expecting them to be with you guys,” Mem asks curiously.

“Lady Cerydra has been busy governing the area, dealing with some citizens’ issues while Lady Hyselins stays by her side. Terravox is talking with Gnaeus and Cerces; not really sure what they’re talking about since I left before they started their conversation…” Polyxia muses as Mem merely nods. Polyxia glances at the group before noticing something.

“Huh, is it me or has Lady Tribios gone missing?” Polyxia asks in confusion, getting Castorice’s attention as she tries to look around and see no sign of Tribios.

“Oh, she went to the recovery room to keep an eye on Phil. But, knowing her, I bet she’s having the time of her life playing with her new plush,” Mem says with a teasing smile, causing the sisters to look at each other and decide to leave, not wanting Tribios to have all the fun. Mem chuckles as she watches them leave while writing in her book.

To be Continued.