Later
"....huh!?!" The Cunning Hare Trio looks at Caelus in sheer disbelief, trying to process what they had just heard. Caelus could understand their reactions, who would believe there are cosmic gods who embodies philosophical path that could even grant powers to any of their followers.
"Yeah, I know it's hard to believe, but Mem here is a living proof of it," Caelus says as he gestures at the floating Mem, who simply places her paws on her hips and nods smugly.
"I...need a minute," Nicole mutters as she places her hand on her forehead and pauses for a moment. "...can you tell me which cosmic gods could grant infinite wealth to their followers?"
"Really, Nicole?" Anby mutters in disbelief.
"What? It's a valid question!" Nicole exclaims defensively.
"Well, I ain't sure which Path it is..." Caelus ponders. "But whatever the Path is, it creates this object called the Stellaron, and it could grant wishes for anyone."
"Oh, tell me more," Nicole looks very interested.
"In exchange for a planet-level disaster that is worse than the Hollow," Caelus says bluntly, causing Nicole to freeze and sit silently.
"You know what, maybe this Stellaron isn't worth the risk of using it," Nicole says meekly.
"I'm surprised you guys take the information very well," Caelus says honestly.
"Well, with how weird things around you are, it does somewhat make sense," Nicole says before sweatdropping. "...okay, saying it make senses was a complete stretch. It was outright ridiculous."
"...I am not processing this information very well," Anby says blankly before pointing her thumb at Billy. "Billy got his 'robot brain' short-circuited with all the information."
"Huh? What? Where am I? Who am I?" Billy stutters as he glances around, sparks coming out of his head.
"..." Caelus didn't say a word before pressing the center of Billy's chest, and it opened up to display Billy's internal circuit and a monitor. Anby and Nicole look shocked at how Caelus easily accesses Billy's internal circuit. They were too shocked to react as Caelus casually did something to Billy before closing his exposed circuit.
"E-eh? What happened?" Billy asks in genuine confusion, then looks at Caelus. "...oh, right. Paths, Aeons, Pathstrider, Emanator, Imaginary Tree, got it."
"...what did you do to Billy?" Anby asks cautiously, covering her forehead.
"Thanks to the Eyes of Nous, I could see any technology and gather information as fast as I could. I rebooted his 'brain' and inserted all the information manually." Caelus says as Nicole gapes.
"...can you give us a discount whenever we ask you to fix Billy?" Nicole begs Caelus. Every time she went to Hollow, there are chances of Billy getting his body damaged, and she had to drag him to the black market just to fix him. The fee was so expensive that her debt kept increasing. It didn't help that she still had to pay wages for Billy and Anby every month, plus bills and the donations.
"...I have a better business proposition," Caelus suggests as Nicole looks curious, while Anby pokes Billy's chest as she hopes she could reopen Billy's chest like Caelus, but for some reason, it didn't work.
"I remember you guys did some odd jobs besides Hollow raiding, right?" Caelus asks as Nicole nods. He then pulls out something from his Inventory, a familiar-looking book, which makes Mem perk up as he places it on the table.
[Book: As I've Written]
[Obtained from: Watching the whole 'As I've Written' memory file.]
"I plan on publishing a novel, and I have yet to find a trustworthy publisher to help me with it," Caelus says as Nicole raises her eyebrow. "I want you to help me with publishing this book with any method, making sure everyone reads this. You can sell it to the official market, or even the black market, and we split the money we earn 70 30, with the 70 being yours."
"...I don't know. Making a lot of physical copies requires a lot of money, and I am not sure if your book will sell well," Nicole mutters hesitantly. She may like Caelus and wishes him to be part of the Cunning Hare, but his business idea is not something she could agree to easily. If no one wants the book, then she wasted all the resources just to publish an unpopular work.
"Well, how about you try reading it first and give me an honest review?" Caelus asks as Nicole shrugs before she gives it a chance. Honestly, she didn't think too much about Caelus' works. No offense to him, but he doesn't look like a writer.
She only read for a few chapters, and she starts comically burst into tears, but she chose to continue reading the book without stopping. It wasn't until halfway that she took a rest by crying her heart out.
"Wah!!! Cipher, Phainon, Cyrene!!! Why!!!" Nicole wails, much to Billy's and Anby's shock and disbelief. They never saw their boss crying like this, especially over a character from a book.
'Of course she cries Cipher's name first before Phainon and Cyrene,' Caelus sweatdrops.
"Okay, I can't help but be curious about what's in this story!" Billy exclaims before he start fast-read the book, but he halts midway and oil starts leaking out of his eyes like tears. "WAHH!!! This is too sad!!! Caelus, you're evil! Why did you make my beloved Phainon and Mydei suffer like that!??? WHY!!!!!"
'He even calls me by my actual name!' Caelus was honestly taken aback by Billy's reaction, especially when he just called him by his name instead of calling him 'Manager's Twin'.
"..." Anby takes the book away from Billy's hands and starts reading it herself. She didn't overreact like Nicole or Billy, but the tears won't stop streaming down her face. It takes a while before she closes her book and stares at Caelus with a serious look.
"I'm going to kick your ass." Caelus was so taken aback by this that he didn't get the chance to react as Anby pulled him by the collar and started shaking him like crazy.
"What do you mean Cyrene had to return to the past and experience the whole loop again!?!" Anby demands with a glare.
"W-what!? HUh?! Which part did you read?!" Nicole exclaims as she pulls Anby by her sleeves. "Did you just casually spoil us with the future chapters!!?! I haven't read that far yet!!! Damn it, Anby!! Why did you have to spoil something I am completely interested in!?!"
"Damn it, Caelus!" Billy exclaims as he joins Anby. "Change some of the story, this is just too depressing!!!"
"I...can't," Caelus gasps as his face slowly turns blue due to Anby and Billy.
"Why not!?!" The trio asks in unison.
"Because the story is based on real life," Caelus admits, causing the trio to blink. Mem floats right in front of them and nods.
"Mem mi, mem mem memi!" Mem tries to explain, but it only confuses Billy and Nicole while Anby looks at her before widening her eyes.
"...you're Cyrene?" Anby mutters in disbelief, causing Nicole and Billy to snap their heads towards Anby before staring at Mem in disbelief.
"...Huh!?!" The duo asks in disbelief.
"You have to read the rest to understand what I mean," Anby says as Nicole grabs Anby by the collar this time.
"You don't get to tell me that after casually spoil shits!" Nicole exclaims as Billy stares at Mem before hugging her.
"Wah!!! Cyrene, my baby girl! You must have suffered a lot!!! Wah!!!" Billy wails as Mem squishes out from Billy's hugs. "D-don't go yet! Let me hug you even longer!!!!"
'...I wasn't expecting this meeting to end up becoming this chaotic...' Caelus sweatdrops as he watches Nicole shaking Anby for spoilers while Billy chases after Mem to hug her. Meanwhile, Nekomiya can be seen trying her hardest to get away from Seth, but Seth is proven to be as agile as she is, since he was able to keep up with her.
For context: Nekomiya had gotten herself in trouble as she attempted to recruit Eugene's handler once again after Eugene tried to escape his grasp to go after Caelus. Seth believed Nekomiya tried to get one of the officers to join her to do crime, tried to stop her, but she ran away.
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Meanwhile
"..." Phil sits on the bench while blankly staring at his bullies getting dragged into ambulances while holding a paper in his paws, his body trembles slightly as he looks like he's holding his tears from escaping his eyes.
Seed could only sit next to him with a sympathetic expression, patting his back gently while looking unsure of what to do. The reason behind their somber expression? Apparently, the dean of the university had seen Phil surrounded by unconscious students with bloodied faces, and without letting him explain, decided to unjustly expel the poor bunny.
Seed believes that it wasn't fair for Phil to get kicked out for trying to protect a potential new student, but the dean refused to listen and was adamant about his decision. Phil, being a smart kid, knows the dean kicks him out because the bullies have influential families, being TOPS members and all. He wanted the money funded by those families, and seeing some random broke ass kid hurting their kids, it was an easy decision for the dean.
It doesn't make things less hurtful. Phil isn't sure what he should do now. He doubted other universities would accept him after this incident. They didn't want the risk of losing support from the TOPS members.
"This isn't fair..." Seed mutters. She had tried to contact the higher-ups in the Defense Force, but neither of them would be willing to do anything to Phil, despite they try to scout him as one of the potential members.
"...Flora..." Phil mutters, getting Seed's attention. "I...need some time alone. You can go back first..."
"A-are you sure?" Seed asks in concern as Phil simply looks at her with a blank stare. "O-okay..." With that, Phil walks away as Seed watches him getting further away, ignoring Seed looking at him with a worried glance, and never takes her eyes off of him.
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Later
"Don't worry, manager. I'll make sure everyone pays for this book and cries their hearts out!" Caelus sweatdrops as the Cunning Hares walk away. He glances at the 'As I've Written' book in his hands before glancing at Mem.
"Do you think I did the right thing?" Caelus asks as Mem ponders a bit before nodding in approval.
"Memi mem!" She gives Caelus a thumbs-up. To her, the Cunning Hares are eccentric but good people. She believed letting them publish the book and let everyone read it would be a good idea, and she also took pity on them after hearing about their mountain of debts. The money earned from the books might help them a lot.
"Yeah, you're right," Caelus says with a smile before petting her head. "Sorry you didn't get to explore much despite the promise."
"Memi..." Mem shakes her head before gesturing something, causing Caelus to chuckle.
"You're right, to Trailblaze is to connect..." Caelus says with a smile before he receives a call. He pulls out his phone and blinks upon noticing that Seed is the one who called him. He was a bit confused but he decided to pick up the call.
"Seed? What's going on?"
"Caelus! Phil's gone missing!"
To be Continued