Rover felt somewhat helpless. She genuinely cared for Abby, the little creature who had always resided within her Tacet Mark.
Thus, she pinched Lucian's cheeks fiercely and said, "Once this matter is settled, if I find another woman by your side, you're in for it!"
Lucian, crossing his arms with a resolute expression, declared, "Rover, my journey has been defined by one words: loyalty!"
"That word has nothing to do with you—absolutely unrelated," Rover retorted reluctantly as she followed Shorekeeper toward the greenhouse.
After the two left, Camellya noticed Lucian looking at her. She immediately stretched casually, displaying her graceful figure to perfection.
"Well then, I won't disturb you, oh busy one," she said.
Lucian, observing her demeanor, remarked, "Why do I feel like you're always so idle?"
"Even when the Black Shores were polluted earlier, it seemed like only Aalto was running around helping…"
Camellya chuckled lightly, "The finest flower need only unfurl its petals quietly in a serene place…"
"Though I came to the Black Shores by chance and don't feel much attachment to it."
"I'm quite content with my current role and have diligently fulfilled my duties, even if no one notices."
Lucian shrugged, "Looks like I misjudged you?"
Camellya yawned, "No matter. Being misunderstood is the norm."
With that, Camellya took the lead and walked away. Lucian glanced at her retreating figure, sighed, and muttered to himself:
"I never expected that coming to the Black Shores would mean not having a moment's rest…"
With that, he headed toward the Error Cell.
What he didn't notice was that Camellya, who had walked some distance away, suddenly changed direction and stealthily followed him.
…
Error Cell
Beatrice, with her yellow twin ponytails, turned around upon hearing footsteps.
"Honored Guest, you're here."
Lucian: "…"
He was still getting used to this title.
Beatrice said somewhat shyly, "Sorry for troubling you again!"
"You just helped Shorekeeper resolve such a major issue, and now we're asking for your assistance again."
Lucian shook his head slowly, "I'm also a member of the Black Shores. It's my duty to contribute. What exactly happened?"
Beatrice nodded with a smile, "You're as reliable as expected."
"Let me explain the situation. Do you remember the purpose of the Error Cell?"
Lucian recalled, remembering how Rover's Speaker had scanned the Error Cell and explained it thoroughly.
"The Error Cell analyzes anomalies in the star charts and attempts to strip abnormal code with a special probe device… Is that correct?"
Beatrice nodded, "Completely correct. You're very attentive."
"This incident was caused by a 'prisoner' who broke free from its restraints and escaped."
"We'd like your help to capture it to prevent a more serious incident."
"Your strength is well-known, so you're the best choice for this."
Lucian pondered, "A prisoner? What exactly needs to be done?"
Could it be related to the Lady Flora that Shorekeeper mentioned?
Beatrice explained, "This 'prisoner' has hidden itself, but we can use remnants related to its internal data to track it."
"During my investigation, I found that a few years ago, another Honored Guest accessed this data."
"She was on an external mission recently but has just returned to the Black Shores. You can ask her for details."
Lucian nodded slightly, "Alright, I'll contact you if there's any progress."
Beatrice: "Thank you! I look forward to good news."
…
Lucian headed toward the coordinates Beatrice provided, suddenly sensing someone following him.
However, he remained composed, continuing forward without showing any sign of awareness.
The person trailing him was equally cautious. Even if he turned around, he wouldn't see anything, and it might alert her instead.
"Hello, you're Lucian, right? Beatrice just messaged me."
"Regarding the star chart I accessed back then… it was because I found this little guy in the wild by chance."
Lucian followed the Honored Guest's gesture and saw a small robot quietly stationed by her feet.
The robot wore a straw hat and looked somewhat old and damaged.
The Honored Guest continued, "When I found it, it had been offline for a long time."
"I did my best to repair it, with limited success, but I managed to retrieve this damaged recording."
The robot emitted a voice: "…Archival record, May. Due to a Tacet Discord invasion, most buildings in Petalfall Village have been destroyed, with heavy casualties. A few survivors have been relocated…"
"Tethys System assessment: Extremely high danger level. …Proceeding to…"
"…Village ruins have been heavily overtaken by mutated plants. In-depth search and rescue are challenging and will take time…"
"A super-frequency Resonator, 'Lady Flora,' was found deep in an underground cave and brought back to the Black Shores. Data pending entry…"
"…Labell detection method results indicate the waveform is highly prone to entering an overload frequency… temporarily stabilized…"
The recording ended there, and Lucian fell into thought.
As expected, just as Shorekeeper mentioned, this matter was related to Lady Flora.
From the memories in Shorekeeper's crystal, he knew he played poker with Lady Flora five hundred years ago.
This meant Lady Flora had been with the Black Shores for at least five hundred years.
The Honored Guest continued, "The recording stops there."
"I looked into 'Lady Flora' mentioned in the recording."
"The reason I accessed that star chart was because the system flagged it as containing that term."
"But… I found nothing. The data had been deliberately erased, and even the remaining fragments were beyond my clearance level."
Lucian mused, "Someone deleted Lady Flora's information?"
The Honored Guest nodded, "Not only that, accessing the information required a very high clearance level, but I don't think it's directly related to Lady Flora…"
Lucian asked, "Why not?"
The Honored Guest rubbed her chin, recalling, "I was curious back then and wanted to know why."
"So, I asked a senior Bloom Bearer from the Black Shores and begged for a long time before getting a bit of information—"
"At that time, the Black Shores' leader was busy traveling to address the effects of The Lament, and 'Lady Flora' was brought back by a member the leader trusted…"
The Black Shores' leader? That must be someone Rover trusted…
Shorekeeper had mentioned that Rover trusted him deeply back then. Could it be that he brought Lady Flora to the Black Shores?
It wasn't unreasonable for Lucian to think this way, as there were no other leads, and asking Rover wouldn't help since she didn't remember past events either.
Seeing Lucian's thoughtful expression, the Honored Guest continued, "Unfortunately, that Bloom Bearer has been missing for nearly twenty years…"
"But don't worry. I'm still junior and don't have high clearance."
"But you're not an ordinary Honored Guest—you're one Shorekeeper holds in high regard!"
"Everyone knows you saved Shorekeeper."
"The Foreign Affairs Hall stores a vast amount of Black Shores personnel data. If you ask, you might find Lady Flora's remnants."