Chapter 564 – Returning Home
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Arrived at Zephia.
I’ve been looking at the night view of Selby all the time… It’s been a while since I saw the gorgeous cityscape combined with the blue sky, and it gave me an awkward yet fresh feeling.
First, we headed to Zephia Academy.
This is because the education supervisor, Gabia, requested it. Of course, the request was harsh enough to be close to a threat.
Arms crossed tightly, as if dissatisfied with something.
Tightly closed lips.
Gabia, who is waiting for us, doesn’t look very good. It felt like the glasses with jagged ends were expressing her discomfort even more prominently.
Sunni has already run away.
We went to Selby to participate in club activities, and Suni was not a member who started with us in the first place.
She thought that Sunni was a little jealous of her.
The sight of Gabia waiting outside her, radiating her fierce spirit, makes her not feel like getting out of the car.
At that time, Veronica handed me a large doll.
It appeared to be a doll made by characterizing insects. The doll with a cute face had a soft glow on its antennae and tail.
“It’s Selvi’s specialty product. It’s a character doll called ‘Pav’ that can only be purchased at Selvi. It was originally a gift for Umar, but… I can’t help it.”
“Umar? Who is that…”
“Have you already forgotten? I am a member of our mystery club in charge of chores. I am a member who could not join us due to threats… No… I am sick.”
It was only then that I remembered Chaos’ explanation.
Veronica, she even brought a gift for such an insignificant guy… She was kinder than I thought.
Wouldn’t it be better to use it for something much more valuable than giving it to Umar?
I quickly received a specialty doll from Veronica.
Veronica originally had two dolls.
Maybe the other one… She’s probably going to take it to her own mom.
“Mr. Bark, is there another big business to attend to? It looks like your constipation is serious… I could introduce you to a skilled specialist, right?”
Seeing us procrastinating, a single sound eventually came out of Gabia’s mouth.
Although it was messy, it was one of the many excuses that Chaos and Veronica made when I was away.
I can’t be stuck in the car anymore.
We got off our butts and got out of the car one by one.
Gabia’s gaze is sharp as he sees us getting out of the camping car.
Her eyes were exactly fixed on me.
Chaos and Suni move to a place a little further away, keeping an eye on Gabia’s view.
A slightly awkward silence flows between Gabia and me.
“… Mr. Bark. Do you have anything to say to me?”
I quietly handed over the doll, a specialty of Selby, that I had received from Veronica.
Gabia, who suddenly received her doll, frowned and said.
“… Do you think this will relieve my anger?”
‘… Is it a success?’
Her words were cold, but I felt Gabia’s expression soften a little.
However, the next words that came out of Gabia’s mouth were beyond my expectations.
“Mr. Bark, you will have to complete the training program to be a proper guardian starting next week.”
What… Education program? I felt like it would be as much of a hassle as reserve force mobilization training.
“Hmm… I buy food from a good place.”
“Bribery doesn’t work.”
“… Isn’t it enough if we bring the children back safely? Aren’t we being too picky?”
“Is this a red flag? There is no sign of reflection. This is not an invitation.”
“Fine… Pay the fine. I’ll pay as much money as I can!”
“Do you think it will be solved with money?”
“Why not?”
“No.”
“My fine could save countless starving people. People’s lives are at stake. Rather than such strange education.”
“What are you talking about? No one starves to death in Zephiria.”
It was a needlessly peaceful world.
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When I returned home, Suni welcomed me warmly.
“Are you very angry?”
“Well, they told me to get training to be a guardian…”
Surprisingly, I wasn’t fired as a club instructor.
Instead, it seems that Gabia’s trust has been significantly broken.
Gabia seemed to think that I had left her children in a hotel room and had a nice tour of Selby on her own.
It is said to be a city of the night, and there has been significant cultural development there as well… But it is unfair to be misunderstood like this without being able to enjoy it.
I could have used the power of deception, but I didn’t.
Gabia’s attitude was so strong that it was an awkward situation to write about. It was best to refrain from using ‘deception’ too much against one’s will.
You never know where the butterfly effect will appear.
And even if it wasn’t the power of deception, there was another way.
That is proxy attendance.
“What about Celestia?”
“… Celestia?”
Suni’s gaze is directed towards the sofa in the living room.
The head of the family came and saw Celestia eating something like popcorn and watching TV without even looking at him.
Celestia could feel the force of a mature unemployed person.
I took a quick look to see what I was watching, and it looked like a drama or movie.
It is also ambiguous to say that Celestia is playing. Even at this very moment, she is spreading her incarnations all over Zephyria and moving them around.
She knew that she had already sent her incarnation to Trancon, a prime candidate for Rudel.
It was a somewhat enviable ability for her to have multiple bodies.
“Celestia, can you create my alter ego?”
She asked, sitting down casually next to Celestia.
She was wearing dolphin pants.
Her eyes naturally fell on her smooth legs, but she didn’t seem to care at all.
“It’s not difficult if you’re at the level of a doll without any abilities.”
What Celestia is talking about is a doll that just moves and has no fighting ability.
The alter ego I left behind in the Great Devil Castle for camouflage was also Celestia’s work.
Celestia’s magic, which flowed like her smoke, created a doll in front of me that looked exactly like me.
I was thinking of sending this doll to the troublesome education instead.
The downside of this doll is that it is controlled by Celestia, so anyone who knows me could not help but feel awkward.
Should I say that I am fortunate because I have limited interpersonal relationships?
“…”
For some reason, seeing people who look like me doesn’t feel very good.
“… Put them in an empty room.”
“Okay.”
The doll with my face opened the door and entered the warehouse room with an expressionless face.
As for the issue of attending educational programs, I think I can just use that doll to attend on my behalf…
“Celestia, how is your search for Rudel?”
“I still don’t know. When I look at the scenery of the past, it seems right… But now it’s so different that I’m confused.”
Finding Rudel was not as easy as I thought.
They say that even rivers and mountains change in 10 years… At best, it happened over 8,000 years ago.
Veronica and Chaos researched the old place names and the city’s past scenery as much as possible to find a place that was as similar to Celestia’s memories as possible, but they had no idea what kind of redevelopment would have gone into it.
I guess the clues and all were buried in the ground.
There is no possibility.
Helena probably didn’t know that Celestia would find her so late.
Should I go to Trancon too?
Chaos, I only found Helena when I was looking for her, but Veronica was quite sincere.
For some reason, I feel like I’ll get upset if I don’t take him with me.
Can we take Veronica and Chaos to Trancon?
If you ask Celestia to make dolls for them, I think you can take them…
-Tiring.
A text message arrived at the smartphone.
「1014 There is an important meeting in Lili. Please set aside about a week. We will send you the detailed schedule on the day.”
This is Rebellion’s mission call.
Rebellion has been suspending her activities for some time.
Not long after Selby was blocked, I received a full text message saying that there was no mission for Rebellion for a while.
Looking at the overlap between Selby’s blockade and release and Rebellion’s activities… Is there something to do with it?
Or is it a coincidence?
In any case, it seemed like Rebellion was planning to resume activities again.
1014… If the date is not wrong, the mission was almost… A month from now. And sending a text message in advance meant giving me enough time to catch up.
‘… Should we continue our relationship with Rebellion like this? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Rebellion… Should I just withdraw?’
When I joined Rebellion, I told Claire and Kaura that I was looking for Helena.
The answer they returned at that time was a bit ambiguous. At the time, there was no way to find Helena, so I signed up.
‘Let’s ask Kaura for sure. If I don’t think so, I should think about cutting it off.’
When I think about breaking up with Rebellion, the faces of the Mongoose team members come to mind.
It didn’t seem difficult to maintain a good relationship with Joanna even if I left Rebellion.
What about Lynette and Alcyone?
We’ve done quite a few missions together in the meantime…(Most of them failed)… But shouldn’t we at least say goodbye one last time?
‘Hmm… One last mission?’
It seems a bit harsh to break up like this without saying anything.
