"So our earlier speculation—that the other party wanted to stop us from reaching the royal capital—was actually wrong? Then how did the person who controlled you yesterday know what was happening over there? And if it really was No. 18 Cyra, what was she trying to accomplish?"
After the call ended, Adrian immediately sank back into deep thought. All of the earlier reasoning now seemed a bit shaky. With no new breakthrough in sight, he had no choice but to start over and analyze everything again from the beginning.
According to everyone's descriptions, I really did seem to have been having a great time yesterday. Halfway through, I even proposed taking a deliberate detour, and we flew to several famous tourist attractions in the nearby empire one after another. From start to finish, it looked like I was simply sightseeing and enjoying the scenery.
"Just now you mentioned that the mysterious No. 18 Cyra actually denied—personally—that she was 'Cyra.' So could that be true, rather than her just talking nonsense?"
Cyrae suddenly remembered a detail off to the side. To be honest, this was something I had been puzzled about for a long time as well. But if she wasn't a Cyra from another parallel world, then who exactly was she in reality?
After all, there were far too many people who looked exactly like Cyra. First there were Michelle and Cyrae, and then there was the earth angel Galadra whom I had seen when, in a soul state, I was pulled into the Cycle of Rebirth. Of course, Galadra's case was somewhat special, because she had long since shed her physical body and spoke to me directly through soul-to-soul communication. In that state, whatever you "see" can be altered at will by the other party, so it can't really be taken as reliable evidence.
"I also remember you were always bothered by it back then. She was supposedly a Cyra from another world, yet she possessed water-element control that was not inferior to No. 14 Feliciana's. So could she also be you from some other world—only she ultimately grew into Cyra's appearance?"
Having seen countless visitors from parallel worlds firsthand, Adrian suddenly had a flash of insight and finally thought of something everyone had been overlooking.
After all, the appearance of a newborn angel produced by the Angel Descent Array should, in theory, be essentially random. With differences between worlds, it wasn't impossible that, during the crossing, Feliciana and Cyra from the eighteenth parallel world somehow swapped appearances.
"…"
I couldn't find any reason to refute it. This new explanation almost perfectly accounted for why No. 18 Cyra had followed me into this world all the way, always using "we're very similar" as her reason.
But for no apparent reason, I still felt it couldn't be that simple. Besides, some other mysteries were not resolved by this either—for example, why did the "me" from that other world end up like that, to the point where she couldn't even remember her own name?
"If that's the case, then at least we can relax, because she probably doesn't have any serious ill intent. Maybe controlling you was simply for fun. Don't forget—this isn't the world she originally knew. It's completely understandable that she'd be curious!"
Even though there were still many suspicious points, Cyrae didn't want to keep obsessing over questions that couldn't be confirmed. She could only accept Adrian's explanation for now. Of course, to be safe, it was still necessary to reach Norvale as soon as possible and meet up with Elara.
In the time that followed, we continued rushing forward without pause. But during the flight, aside from chatting, there wasn't really any way for the few of us to pass the time—other than occasionally landing on the ground to rest briefly.
Before I knew it, I realized that if it weren't for urgent business, traveling the way we did yesterday—playing and sightseeing along the route—might actually have been a pretty good option.
When evening arrived, we finally crossed the border between the Astralrealm Kingdom and the Ilandra Dominion. If all went well, we would reach the royal capital in about half a day.
"This should be not too far from where my home is. If you don't mind, we could go to my place, sit for a while, and rest a little more…"
Perhaps because the surrounding terrain looked very familiar, Adrian spent a long time looking down from the sky. Then, a little embarrassed, he extended the invitation to Cyrae and me.
I vaguely remembered that Adrian's hometown really was near the border between the kingdom and the empire. Back then, his father had fled to this area to avoid the turmoil within Parristol's royal family. No one expected that the entire country would later be annexed by the Astralrealm Kingdom—but at least it left Adrian as the sole heir to the Loren Family bloodline.
"Your home is nearby?"
Cyrae couldn't help looking down in surprise as well. Then, as if she suddenly understood, she flashed a knowing smile and nudged me.
"Oh… I get it! So you want to bring your girlfriend home to meet the parents. Why be so coy—hiding it so deep? It's bound to happen sooner or later anyway. Feliciana definitely won't have the heart to refuse!"
"Who said that? At a time like this, who has the time for that? Aren't we in a rush? Let's reach Norvale and finish the official business first. My stamina is more than enough to support flying all the way there. We can come again next time when we're free—it won't be too late."
But I couldn't help backing down. To be honest, Adrian and I had long since gotten used to being together, but when it came to meeting a parent, I still couldn't avoid feeling shy. Besides, throughout this entire trip, I had never mentally prepared for it to develop into "meeting his family."
"What are you scared of? There's no day like today. If we get everything settled now, isn't that great? And my stamina as a six-winged angel isn't as tough as yours. We've been flying all day—this is the perfect chance to rest. It won't delay us for long. It's decided!"
As if she could see right through me, Cyrae grabbed me and pulled me straight down toward the ground without giving me any chance to argue, and then urged Adrian to hurry up and lead the way.
Adrian hadn't been mistaken. His hometown, Dasang Village, was located beside a mountain lake not far away. We didn't search long before we found the village. But by then it was already night, and among the several dozen households, there were hardly any lights visible from afar, which seemed a little strange. Still, considering that people in rural areas usually went to bed early, it was understandable.
Even so, having two angels descend from the sky into a border village at night would be far too shocking and conspicuous. So, to keep a low profile, we landed in a patch of woods nearby, folded away our wings, and then walked over on foot. Yet all along the way, I still couldn't fully relax, and I asked again, unable to help myself:
"Adrian… is your mother's temper not very good?"
Although his father had long since passed away, his mother was still alive. Mainly because of my own family situation, I couldn't completely shake certain old psychological shadows.
"Don't worry—she's very easy to talk to. She definitely won't make things hard for you! If anything, I'm wondering whether I should tell her about your angel identity right away, because I'm afraid it might scare her…"
Unfortunately, Adrian's concern didn't seem to be focused on what I was worried about at all. According to him, his mother was originally a local. His father, as an outsider, had lived here for many years before marrying her—his first wife, and also his only one.
Because she had spent almost her entire life in the mountains, even though she was Parristol's "royal kin," she still hadn't seen much of the wider world. In a small place like this, aside from common wild beasts in the mountains, people hardly ever even encountered monsters.
"Something's not right!"
The moment we stepped into Dasang Village, we immediately felt that something was off. Earlier, when we saw the village pitch-black from the sky, we assumed people had simply gone to bed early. But after entering, we found various miscellaneous tools scattered along both sides of the road. Almost every house had its door standing wide open, yet there wasn't a single person in sight. Only then did we finally realize that something had likely happened.
"This way!"
The one most shaken by the sudden change was undoubtedly Adrian. Without another word, he led us in a frantic sprint forward, until we finally stopped in front of an unremarkable house at the very end of the village road.
Thinking back on what Adrian had told before: at the beginning, when his father fled Parristol, he brought a considerable amount of wealth with him, so their household was fairly well-off. But later, after Parristol fell, his father—being the only surviving member of the Loren Family royal line—was, under the rallying of other rebels, forced to shoulder the responsibility of leading an underground resistance organization. He began secretly opposing the Astralrealm Kingdom.
In order not to implicate his household—and Adrian, who had already been born by then—almost all of their family assets were spent on building bases elsewhere and funding operations. After all, no one would imagine that the family of Parristol's resistance leader was hiding entirely within the kingdom's borders. And it was precisely because of this that his father gradually grew estranged from the family. For most of his childhood, Adrian could only remain in his hometown, depending on his mother to survive together.
Even if he could understand his father's wish to restore the country, as Adrian grew up, he still developed intense dissatisfaction with his father's long absences and neglect of his mother. He even came to believe it was an impossible, illusory dream. With teenage rebellion at work, not long after hearing that his father had ultimately died full of regret, he left his hometown with companions to make his way in the royal capital. He even deliberately joined a mercenary organization under the Astralrealm Kingdom, in order to signal a complete break from his father's former faction.
As for how, later on, various factors still forced him to become entangled in Parristol's struggles—that could only be described as fate. But there was no denying that even when he was elsewhere on the continent, Adrian still deeply missed his mother. His suggestion to return home for a visit this time was precisely because of that.
"No one! My mother isn't in the house either. Without a doubt, something happened to her—but I don't see any bodies…"
No matter how clever and resourceful Adrian usually was, this time he completely panicked. The world could change without warning—after only a year away, Dasang Village had suffered such a drastic upheaval. He rushed into the house alone, and not long after, he rushed back out alone, his face blank with confusion, shouting at Cyrae and me:
"What do we do? What are we supposed to do? Where did everyone in the village go?"