[The young man smiled with rare gentleness, attempting to comfort the girl, but as she looked at him, her expression only grew more sorrowful. "..."
"Kosma, do you know?
Every time you try to hide something from me and go off alone to do something, you always wear this expression."
"But I don't want this. I don't want to be protected by everyone, don't want to be left behind alone. I want to be like everyone else too... to have my own color..."
"So... tell me, okay? Kosma... what are you planning to do...?"]
[March 7th]: "Even little Griseo wants to face danger together with her companions."
[Elysia]: "After all, our little Griseo is also one of the Flame-Chasers♪"
[Honkai Rail - Welt]: "No matter which version of Griseo, she's always equally strong-willed."
[Kosma]: "Griseo from outside... how is she doing?"
[Honkai Rail - Welt]: "Griseo has grown up. After defeating the Honkai, she continues painting, and also... missing deadlines?"
[Kosma]: "...Is that so? That's good then."
[The scene shifts to Mei and Vill-V.
After locating a faded monster, they had been tracking its progress through the Elysian Realm, but quite remarkably;
This monster managed to evade their pursuit, displaying intelligence far beyond other monsters, almost as if being controlled by someone.
Mei once again suspected the Flame-Chasers, but eliminated them one by one - they had no motive. Regarding this, Vill-V chuckled: "I must say, following Miss Mei's reasoning, the mastermind behind this is already quite obvious."
"Time that had stagnated in fifty thousand years of silence, only recently beginning to slowly flow again."
"Sleeping stories were excavated, conflicts reignited, every Flame-Chaser in the Elysian Realm has been involved to some extent."
"And the variable that changed everything was the arrival of a special successor - a Herrscher!"
"It was she who brought the opportunity for change! It was she who caught the attention of the Flame-Chasers! It was she who brought transformation to the Elysian Realm!" "How about that? Isn't that convincing enough?"
"Are you suspecting me?"
Vill-V pretended to be wronged: "Ah, of course, I trust Miss Mei one hundred percent, I'm just kindly pointing out where your reasoning leads."
But Vill-V knew Mei didn't have the capability to do this, and she had already proven all Flame-Chasers' innocence. So Mei pointed out that now there was only one possibility - an intruder from outside. But soon this possibility was also denied by Vill-V, because the Elysian Realm was built by Vill-V herself, and the barrier system could block all intruders. Only those authorized by Kevin could enter this place.]
[Fu Hua]: "Vill-V might have already discovered the Corruption's existence.
In what she said to Mei, the conditions fit not just Mei, but also the Corruption hiding in the shadows!"
[Raiden Mei]: "Indeed... the emphasis isn't on 'Raiden Mei' the person, but 'a Herrscher'."
[March 7th]: "Is this supposed to be information? I can't see it, are you overinterpreting things?"
[Dan Heng]: "Sigh, Vill-V also abandoned the idea of pursuing external intruders. She's still too confident in herself."
[Silver Wolf]: "Vill-V's barrier isn't exactly broken, right? I remember Mei went out midway, and after that, Aponia predicted the Elysian Realm's destruction?"
[Silver Wolf]: 'As a data virus, the Corruption literally hid within Mei when she entered - it was right out in the open!'
[The investigation reached another dead end here, but the most important thing now was still resolving the current conflicts within the Elysian Realm. So they prepared to find Fairy Elysia to see if she had any clues now.
However, at this moment, Mei keenly noticed she was being followed - by a cat. Seeing she had been discovered, Pardofelis came to join their investigation into the Elysian Realm's abnormalities. But Mei expressed skepticism toward her. With such a reasonable excuse, why follow them secretly from behind? Regarding this, Pardo's answer was utterly matter-of-fact: "Well... I was worried you'd reject me. After all, you know better than anyone how weak I am, Sister Mei."
"Knowing my limitations is one of my strengths! But even if I can't help in combat, I can definitely be useful in other areas."
But Mei's look at the cat remained strange, and Pardo had some realization: "Wait wait wait, Sister Mei, you don't suspect me, do you?"
Mei remained silent, still pondering something. Pardo hurriedly explained: "Sister Mei, that's no joking matter. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare do anything to Boss Kevin."
But under Mei's rather pressured gaze, Pardo still confessed what she really wanted to do: "If I really had that capability, I'd first get my hands on Sister Eden's Golden Courtyard, then have Boss Kevin and Brother Kalpas deliver goods for me. Oh right, having Sister Elysia and Sister Hua watch my shop would be nice too..."
Hearing this, even Vill-V couldn't help but laugh: "I can vouch for her. This sounds exactly like something little Pardo would do."
And so, Pardo successfully joined Mei's detective team!]
[Herrscher of Sentience]: 'Hahaha, Kevin and Kalpas delivering goods, Elysia and old timer Hua watching the shop - that's so like Pardo, hahaha...'
[March 7th]: "Pardo is like a joy bringer. No matter when she appears, the atmosphere instantly becomes happier."
[Stelle]: "The Corruption shouldn't be able to hide much longer. I don't believe in Pardo's strength, but I believe in Pardo's luck. She might stumble upon the Corruption's hideout by accident."
[Pardofelis]: "Sister Mei, Sister Vill-V, if we really encounter the Herrscher of Corruption, you have to protect me! I'm really weak!"
[Raiden Mei]: "Of course, I promise!"
[Afterward, the group returned to the amusement park from earlier, but strangely, Fairy Elysia had also disappeared, with the entire amusement park gone without a trace.
Now the investigation had hit another bottleneck. Vill-V suggested changing direction - she produced her magical device, a hat-shaped consciousness collector. This hat could directly view others' memories, thus proving their innocence. Vill-V seemed quite excited about using this magic prop, even willing to try it herself to prove her innocence! But Mei directly refused - even after investigating together all this way, she still didn't fully trust Vill-V. However, Pardo volunteered to have her memories viewed first, to prove Mei's innocence. Seeing Pardo trust her so much, Mei was deeply moved, and thus used the consciousness collector on her.]