Administrative District, Neverwinter Workshop.
Staring at the unexpected silver-haired elf, Adrian's mind raced with confusion, while the other three stood puzzled.
A miscalculation. Yesterday at the Mechanical Settlement, when Adrian saw two black meteors streak across the night sky, he understood everything.
It seemed she had detected his location and rushed to Jarilo-VI without delay. Adrian had assumed Freesna would stick with Blake, not hide out in Neverwinter Workshop.
It had been a thousand years since they last met, and he felt a pang of nostalgia.
"Huh… why's everyone so quiet? Where's Serval?" March 7th, not spotting Serval, asked in confusion.
"I don't know. Maybe this scene isn't right for me to speak," Stelle said, shaking her head. With an unfamiliar elf in the mix, she figured it was safer to avoid saying anything too cryptic.
"What? She's not one of your companions?" Seele, still clueless, had assumed Freesna was part of Adrian's crew upon seeing her.
"Companion? Well, you've got a point. Just looking at this elf lady's appearance, she's got serious Trailblazer potential," March 7th remarked.
"March, judging by looks isn't cool," Stelle advised. Then, in front of everyone, she pulled out her phone with a bright smile. "It's my first time seeing an elf! Miss, can I take a selfie with you?"
"Ugh, feels like our roles got swapped…" March 7th muttered. She was supposed to be the one snapping selfies, but Stelle stole her script.
"Billions of stars converge here; the coordinates of another dimension have been locked by ME! This is the synchronization of soul wavelengths, hahaha…" Freesna clutched her clothes, her gaze suddenly locking onto Adrian, ignoring everyone else's chatter.
"Huh?" March 7th and Stelle, who had been debating whether Freesna should join the Astral Express, froze.
"What did she just say?" March 7th rubbed her ears.
"Billions of stars… I get it! This beautiful elf lady isn't just good-looking—she's an astronomer who's studied Belobog's starry skies!" Stelle, already convincing herself, nodded confidently.
"Wow, that makes so much sense," March 7th agreed.
"Or maybe you're both overthinking it?" Seele, baffled, wondered if she was always this out of the loop.
"Ahem!" Adrian coughed abruptly. "Miss receptionist, do you know where the shop's owner, Serval, went?"
"Don't know," Freesna replied curtly.
Adrian: ???
"Haha… the receptionist's got jokes," Adrian said, his mouth twitching as he tried to continue. But Freesna cut him off:
"I sense it… a fellow pathstrider of [Eternity]… no, precisely, an [Emanator]." Her tone was grave, showing no trace of acting.
"Is she talking about Teacher Adrian?" March 7th whispered.
Adrian nodded, satisfied. Her chuunibyou antics weren't a bad thing after all—no risk of blowing his cover.
"So alike… it's as if Lord Ite THEMSELF is here!" Freesna's pointed ears twitched slightly, and the phosphorescent dust from her hair formed tiny light swirls in the beams. Her emerald pupils contracted into slits, reflecting Adrian's figure. Though her deity stood before her, with outsiders present, she fought to suppress her excitement.
"Haha… can I take that as a compliment?" Adrian responded gently.
"I got that one! She's saying Teacher Adrian is like the Aeon of [Eternity]!" March 7th raised her hand eagerly. Freesna let out a soft hum:
"Lost travelers, I know your purpose here. Alas, I have no goblet in hand, or I'd raise a toast to you in praise of [Eternity]!"
"Eternity… wait, what's this weird feeling?" Stelle caught the keyword, feeling a strong resonance with the elf girl.
Whoosh!
Her mimetic baseball bat flew out of her pocket, heading straight for Freesna.
"No, my bat!"
The famed Galactic Baseballer had just lost her precious bat—a tragedy.
"Long time no see," Freesna said, catching the bat and reexamining the trio, excluding Adrian.
"You… have the qualifications to join [Paradise]."
Unlike Blake's approachable demeanor, Freesna, as a founder of the Church, had standards for recruits. They couldn't let just any riffraff in (especially [Destruction] followers). This gray-haired girl, however—Freesna sensed both [Destruction] and [Eternity] in her. Such a rare case was perfect for the Church of Eternity!
"Ah!" March 7th yelped. "I remember now—you're the silver-haired elf from the broadcast!"
"Miss March, your reaction time's a bit slow," Stelle teased.
"Hahahahaha…" Freesna covered her face with one hand, her pupils glowing faintly red. "Indeed, I am the [Emanator] of [Eternity], the original founder of the Church of Eternity—Saintess Freesna!"
"It's Priestess," Adrian corrected.
"No, Saintess."
Freesna was dead serious. "Priestess" was too embarrassing.
"So many titles… so the Church had a hidden High Priestess all along?!" March 7th exclaimed.
"No, Saintess."
…
Iron Guard Restricted Zone.
Gepard Landau, battle-hardened, stood bewildered by the incomprehensible scene before him.
The man claiming to be the High Priest was holding a bar of soap… facing off against two others: Sampo Koski, the black-market dealer Gepard had been chasing, and Dan Heng, the otherworldly visitor to Belobog.
"Long time no see, friends… old friends," Blake said, standing beside Gepard. Not long ago, he had arrived at the front lines, where Fragmentum creatures were most abundant.
After a night of reflection, Blake reconsidered his actions. Wiping out Fragmentum creatures without a word… from their perspective, it wasn't exactly friendly. So, he tried to communicate, preaching the Eight Virtues of the Aeon of Eternity. Sadly, it failed—Fragmentum creatures truly didn't speak human.
Soon after, the dragonborn he'd met once before showed up with a Masked Fool.
"Fate, truly wondrous," Blake mused.
Unfortunately, they seemed to harbor great hostility toward him, which saddened Blake.
"Sigh… why can't you two accept the Church's gift?" He gestured with the soap.
"Soap…" Dan Heng eyed the pristine bar warily, while Sampo cowered behind him.
"Brother Dan Heng, that thing in his hand is a star-destroying bomb. Be careful!" Sampo warned, the memory of being blasted by soap still vivid. He never wanted to experience that again.
"Fool, why so panicked? Recalling old times?" Blake's lips curved upward.
Gepard and the Silvermane Guards stood dumbfounded. Couldn't these three speak plainly? They couldn't understand a thing!
Riddle-slingers, get out of Belobog!