The returning memories gradually filled the emptiness in his mind.
Hastur sat alone in the Hall of Stars, receiving fragmented memories while gazing at Sharron and Ariella nestled against each other. The strange feeling in his heart grew increasingly intense.
The memories that were gradually becoming complete were clearly so vivid, yet they also felt unfamiliar to him.
Were memories that had been recovered still the same memories as before? Could the same memory evoke the exact same feelings twice?
Probably not. It was like watching a movie. One was a memory you had personally experienced, while the other was merely a scene being played on a movie screen.
Even if the memory and the scene being shown were identical, the feelings they brought would be completely different.
Not unfamiliar, but very calm. That was how Hastur felt at this moment as he faced those gradually resurfacing memories.
By comparison, watching Sharron and Ariella right now stirred him much more deeply, because what he was experiencing at this very moment was an entirely new memory, a memory that belonged to his present self.
Even though, in their memories, he had no place at this moment.
"Perhaps I should go and take a look."
After watching for a long time, the thought of going down and experiencing it personally arose in Hastur's mind. He wanted to try touching those memories of the past.
He raised his gaze and swept it across the stars. The scenery was no different from usual.
No matter how beautiful such scenery was, anyone would eventually grow bored after staring at it for thousands upon thousands of years.
He lowered his gaze again and looked toward the house that was missing his presence. With a thought, he borrowed the power of the Hall of Stars and suddenly descended there.
He stood behind Sharron, looking at her as she silently stared out the window like a puppet.
Simply watching her quietly like this caused his restless heart to gradually calm down.
His arrival was so sudden that even Sharron failed to react immediately. It was Ariella who suddenly pricked up her ears, straightened her body, and meowed.
"Meow?"
Ariella took two steps toward Hastur, her mouth slightly open. Then she raised a front paw and vigorously rubbed her eyes, thinking that this had to be a dream.
Startled by the commotion, Sharron finally turned around.
Looking at the person who had suddenly appeared before her, her body stiffened slightly. Her eyes lost focus as countless emotions surged through her heart. She opened her mouth, but in the end, she only said, "You're back."
"Sharron..." Hastur spoke the name that should have been extremely familiar to him with some difficulty. Then he lowered his gaze toward the little black cat that had already reached his feet and was obediently looking up at him. "Ariella..."
"Meow!"
That familiar voice finally convinced Ariella that the person before her truly was the master she had been waiting for.
She suddenly leaped up, intending to jump into Hastur's arms just as she had in the past.
But Hastur did not open his arms to catch her. He merely watched her movements curiously, and Ariella landed back on the floor.
Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
She moved closer and carefully sniffed him, but she couldn't smell the scent of any other kittens.
Then why did Master feel a little unfamiliar today?
Hastur paid no attention to Ariella's complicated emotions. His gaze shifted toward Sharron, the young woman with pale golden hair arranged in a long bun and azure, blue eyes.
The emotions in her eyes were far too complicated for him to completely understand at a glance.
In the end, joy overwhelmed all her other feelings.
Sharron looked at Hastur once more, nodded slightly, and calmly said, "This is good."
After saying that, she turned around. Her somewhat slender figure once again faced the window.
Yet the faint trembling of her body revealed that her emotions were nowhere near as calm as she had just made them appear.
Hastur simply watched her quietly without making any other movement, even though his heart had also been stirred.
"Meow?"Ariella looked at her master with obvious disdain.
Was this really the time to remain silent? Even a cat like her knew that the most important thing right now was to properly comfort Miss Sharron!
Ideally, he should act like lovers reunited after a long separation in a stage play, embrace Miss Sharron from behind, wrap his arms around her waist, press close to her, and whisper about how much they had missed each other during their time apart.
But in the end, Ariella was disappointed.
The master who had returned today was even more wooden than the puppet-like Miss Sharron.
He simply stood there quietly, staring at Miss Sharron's back as if trying to remember something.
Just as Ariella could no longer stand watching and was about to remind him, her master suddenly vanished from sight.
Her eyes widened as she hurriedly looked around, but she couldn't find any trace of him.
His arrival today had been like a bubble, appearing quickly and disappearing just as quickly.
"Meow?"
Ariella let out a confused and sorrowful meow.
She felt that her master was becoming more and more unfamiliar.
Sharron, who had been trying hard to suppress the myriad emotions in her heart, calmly looked back toward the place where Hastur had disappeared.
She stared blankly for a long moment before returning to normal, suppressing all her emotions and falling into deep thought.
"Meow."
Ariella walked over and rubbed herself against Sharron's black court dress. She raised her head and meowed at her several times.
The general meaning was that she was comforting Miss Sharron while also pleading on behalf of her master who had suddenly left.
Sharron listened for a while, then crouched down and picked Ariella up. Stroking the little cat's head, she turned her gaze toward the window once again.
A faint sorrow flowed through her azure-blue eyes.
Hastur had not gone far.
Just now, he had merely stepped from inside the room to outside the house, only to have Madam Lisa block his path.
"Lord Divine Envoy, you've finally returned." Madam Lisa's cloudy eyes seemed to notice that something was wrong with Hastur. She continued, "Has Lord Divine Envoy lost something? Is this a side effect of successfully advancing?"
"A believer of the King in Yellow."
Hastur merely spoke those words indifferently. With a single step, his entire figure passed beyond Madam Lisa and disappeared into the distance.
"The Apprentice Beyonder pathway... a Traveler's ability?"
Madam Lisa stared at Hastur's departing figure, unable to stop herself from speculating.
The Beyonder pathway Lord Divine Envoy had originally followed was clearly the Black Emperor pathway.
Could it be that at the crucial moment of advancing to Sequence 4, he had forcibly switched to the non-adjacent Apprentice pathway?
The result of doing something like that should have been either madness or loss of control.
Yet Lord Divine Envoy did not appear to be suffering from either. He seemed more like someone who had lost something and was now trying to find it again.
After thinking for a while, Madam Lisa summoned Caius and instructed him to have people closely watch Lord Divine Envoy's every move, lest something unexpected happen while he was in this abnormal state.
Although Caius was shocked by the news of Hastur's return, he quickly suppressed the strange emotions in his heart and began dispatching people to handle the matter.
The streets of Puning Harbor were extraordinarily lively with the New Year approaching. All kinds of shops had hung up banners advertising discounts to attract visitors.Hastur wandered aimlessly through the streets, experiencing the bustle that was so different from the Hall of Stars.
At the same time, as one person after another addressed him as "Lord Count," fragments of his memories gradually returned.
This harbor had become prosperous and lively because of his arrival.
He was like a ghost separate from this world, walking through crowded streets and past dazzling arrays of shops.
It was only when someone called his name that he finally stopped.
It was a lady wearing a beige dress with a ruffled stand, up collar. Her brown hair was slightly curled.
Miss Salted Fish.
That was the first title that surfaced in Hastur's mind.
Only afterward did the name Miss Fors appear.
"Mr. Hastur, it really is you!"
Fors put the item in her hand back onto the stall and shouted excitedly. Then she called toward a nearby shop selling Puning Harbor specialties, "Miss Audrey, I found Mr. Hastur!"
Her voice was quite loud, drawing the attention of nearby people.
When they saw Hastur, they tacitly bowed respectfully from a distance before withdrawing their gazes and leaving.
Earl Hastur Campbell was the savior of Puning Harbor. This was something universally acknowledged by the residents of Puning Harbor.
Following Fors's shout, a large golden retriever rushed out of the shop first. Then came a blonde, green, eyed young lady lifting the hem of her light green dress slightly, her steps noticeably quicker than usual.
Looking at the combination of one person and one dog appearing before him, another phrase popped into Hastur's mind:
Susie, the Dog of Imagination, and her owner, Miss Audrey.
"Mr. Hastur!" Audrey's face blossomed with a radiant smile, like an exquisitely carved gemstone sparkling beneath the sunlight, making it difficult for anyone to look away from her.
"Woof!" The loud and powerful bark carried the unmistakable majesty of the Dog of Imagination.
Fors, who had been the first to discover Hastur, naturally yielded the main position in the conversation to Miss Audrey, who had hurried over so quickly that a faint sheen of sweat had appeared on her forehead.
"Mr. Hastur, it's wonderful to see you here." Audrey's undisguised happiness and delight somehow caused Hastur's mood to improve considerably as well.
"Audrey, Susie, Fors." Hastur looked at the two people and one dog in front of him in turn and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Then he took a step forward. His entire figure passed beyond them and disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.
Fors's eyes widened.
Why did that Beyonder ability just now seem somewhat familiar? Could Mr. Hastur be on the same Beyonder pathway as her?
"Mr. Hastur..." Audrey's jubilant mood rapidly faded. In the end, she furrowed her brows slightly and waved her little fist.
"Something is wrong with Mr. Hastur. Susie, it's our turn to save Mr. Hastur!"
"Woof!" Susie nodded very seriously in agreement.
"Miss Audrey, did you notice something?" Fors asked curiously.
She hadn't sensed that much was wrong.
"An empty mind, confused emotions, a lost lamb," Audrey summarized.
"...All right." Fors didn't really understand what those words meant, but seeing Miss Audrey's solemn expression, she found herself convinced anyway.
"Being able to see Mr. Hastur so quickly is already a very good start." The corners of Audrey's lips curved upward slightly.
She brought Susie back into the shop they had visited earlier and purchased some local specialties to send back to Backlund. That way, Earl Hall wouldn't worry too much about her safety.
As for Mr. Hastur's situation, as long as he was still alive, there would always be a way to solve the problem.
Besides, Mr. Hastur looked perfectly healthy. There was just a little problem with his mind.