Stelle still agreed to help resolve Clockie's crisis, which was the trouble Misha was in.
Truthfully, from Stelle's perspective, it didn't seem like much of a crisis, because no one else could even see Misha.
[This person... looks a bit familiar...]
Noldrei saw the situation through Stelle's eyes. Appearing before her was none other than the woman from that other dream layer—Acheron.
"Acheron? Why..."
Stelle was confused as to why she was encountering this trouble.
"Tick-tock! Please, gray-haired friend, help Misha."
"Tick-tock, tick-tock! The situation has gotten so chaotic, and it's all Boss Stone's fault!"
"Boss Stone is the baddest of the bad in Dreamville—he's a greedy guts who wants to drive away all the townsfolk of Dreamville and monopolize the precious stone materials..."
"So, he ordered his subordinates to disrupt the dreamscape and suck away everyone's good emotions! Dreamville has since been filled with anxiety and strife, and we're no longer one big family!"
[He says it like they were all one big family. Stelle, do you think Sunday and Robin are one big family with those patrolling Family members? It's just a clique clinging to the family name.]
'*You're being too cynical. Even if I'm the president and you're the street sweeper, we're both contributing to the prosperity of Penacony!*'
[You learn fast!]
"But as the guardian of Dreamville, Clockie can't just stand by—as long as we use the 'Clockwork Trick' to return the good emotions flowing in the dreamscape back to people's hearts, everyone will surely make up!"
"Come on, gray-haired friend! I have a feeling you'll definitely be able to learn the Clockwork Trick. After all, you're special enough to see me!"
Stelle found the whole development absurdly ridiculous. She didn't even understand what the Clockwork Trick was.
She subconsciously looked at Firefly. "Firefly, have you seen the Clockie cartoon? Do you know what the Clockwork Trick is?"
Firefly froze for a moment, not reacting. She stammered, "I-I already told you where I'm from, so I don't know about the cartoon."
"Aigh..." Stelle sighed and looked at Clockie. "Alright, how do I learn the Clockwork Trick? And why don't you use it yourself?"
Clockie explained, "I can't use the Clockwork Trick by myself, because they can't see me! So please, close your eyes—"
Stelle had no choice but to close her eyes.
The moment she did, she unexpectedly sensed a strange power sweep over her body. The sensation felt vaguely familiar.
[It's Harmony. The unique feel of Harmony's power. It's the same as when we entered the dream.]
Noldrei identified the source of the power.
Stelle suddenly felt as if she had gained some new ability, something that could help her manipulate others' sensory systems.
Just like...
[Just like how I'm currently feeling inside your body.]
'*Oh?! What a strange ability!*'
"Tick-tock!" Clockie said cheerfully. "Now we are of one mind! Can you feel the power flowing through your body?!"
Stelle was a little speechless. Including her own, shouldn't it be three minds?
"Come on," Clockie urged. "Now go find that angry gang boss—unleash the Clockwork Trick, pump all the good emotions into him, and bang, mission accomplished!"
"You must remember: absolutely do not use the Clockwork Trick for bad things—we are the guardians of Dreamville, tick-tock!"
Clockie gave a very solemn warning.
'*Strange. Something about this situation feels off.*'
[Of course it's off. Because this Clockie is doing the same job as me.]
'*I see!*'
Stelle had a sudden realization. Wasn't this Clockie in the exact same state as her personal mentor spirit cheat—visible only to her?
"Are you okay?"
Firefly looked at Stelle with concern, afraid she was about to start pulling out her Lance and killing people again.
After all, this method was too inefficient. It would be better for her to just transform and join in.
"I'm fine. I know how to use this Clockwork Trick now."
Stelle looked at the person the gang boss was surrounding in the middle of the scene.
One was Acheron, the other was Misha. But the gang boss clearly couldn't see Misha. Even when he spoke, he was only staring at Acheron.
Misha tried to intervene several times from the side, but no one listened.
[Why doesn't he just do it? No one can see him anyway, so he might as well just deal with it directly.]
'*It's probably also possible... that he can't even touch them?*'
Stelle wasn't sure. She decided to go test her newfound ability on the gang boss first.
She discovered she could use some kind of special ability to vaguely see a person's emotional values and guide them to the emotional state she wanted.
"Interesting. This ability is really interesting!"
Stelle's eyes lit up, and she immediately had the idea to practice it. She figured that if she used this ability well, she could go on a killing spree in Penacony!
As Stelle approached the gang boss, a strange clock face suddenly appeared before her eyes.
On the clock face were very clear numbers and hands.
'*Do I adjust the hands on this clock face? It looks like it only has an hour hand.*'
The hand was currently pointing somewhere between two and three o'clock. Stelle didn't think much of it and moved the hand to the seven or eight o'clock position.
The gang boss's expression suddenly changed.
"W-what's happening?"
The gang boss felt waves of sadness wash over him. His mother, far away in another star system, suddenly appeared in his mind. Tears streamed uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes.
His surrounding underlings were shocked, having no idea what had happened to their boss.
"MAMA—!"
The gang boss burst into tears, snot and tears streaming down his face. The sight was so startling that even Acheron couldn't help but take a step back.
Acheron glanced at Stelle, who was also looking completely baffled, with no idea what was going on.
"W-what happened?!" Clockie exclaimed, completely taken aback. He hadn't expected the Clockwork Trick to have this effect.
'*Isn't this the ability you taught me? And you're asking me what happened?*'
Stelle carefully backed away a couple of steps, standing in front of Misha and cautiously observing the gang boss's emotional state.
Firefly was also thrown by the scene, ready at any moment to go all out and slaughter this group of Hound Family members.
"It's the guest! That's great!" Misha sighed in relief upon seeing Stelle.
"His crying is so heartbreaking," Clockie said, clueless as to what went wrong.
Stelle shook her head, went over to talk to the Hound Family members, and sent them on their way.