["The universe, the Astral Express, the Aeons... What kind of sci-fi movie have I been dragged into? And this thing inside my body called a Stellaron..."]
[Outside the window, the scattered starlight seemed to coalesce into a giant golden whale, swimming through the cosmos alongside the train as Stelle murmured to herself. Mesmerized by the dazzling view outside, Stelle unconsciously reached her hand toward the window.]
["Are you trying to catch stars?"]
[The adorable March 7th suddenly peeked in, causing Stelle to lurch forward in surprise—their faces nearly touching, as if sharing an intimate whisper like schoolgirls at neighboring desks. Stelle could smell a sweet, dreamy macaron-like fragrance emanating from March, floating between their breaths, momentarily leaving her dazed.]
[March smiled gently, her rainbow-colored eyes brimming with childlike curiosity.]
At this moment, the men outside the Celestial Screen who were struck by March's close-up beauty all sighed in admiration—they'd fallen in love... Such a cute girl must have been an angel in her past life, right?
A lively, cheerful, and energetic girl like this was always a straight man's kryptonite.
"Does this kind of girl really exist?"
Inside the Sacred Flame Arena, a certain shaman from the Masters of the Night-Wind stole a glance at the drunken Citlali behind him—her cheeks flushed red as she clumsily held a wine glass—and muttered under his breath: "She's also pink-haired and looks youthful, so why is the difference so huge?"
Unfortunately, the moment he finished speaking, he was startled by the sound of a hand slamming the table behind him.
"Y-You... What did you say?!" Citlali, who had been barely conscious just moments ago, suddenly appeared behind him.
"Oh, you've got some nerve, daring to gossip about Granny Itztli, huh? I, I... think you've got a death wish... hic."
"Seems like you've forgotten Granny's methods. Just you wait, I'll... I'll... urp..." Citlali had just raised her hand when an intense wave of nausea surged up her throat. She instinctively covered her mouth... but in the end, she couldn't hold back and vomited all over the poor Masters of the Night-Wind shaman.
In the end, it was Lumine who pulled Citlali away and helped her rest elsewhere.
"Traveler..."
After vomiting her guts out, Citlali finally regained some clarity, her voice soft. Seeing Lumine about to leave, she couldn't help but grab the hem of her skirt.
Citlali turned her gaze to the Celestial Screen, her lake-blue eyes reflecting March 7th's flower-like smile. Then, cautiously, she withdrew her gaze and looked back at the Traveler... Her evasive eyes seemed to hide a frightened fawn, wary and cautious, making one instinctively want to protect her.
Just moments ago, she had been overwhelmingly domineering in front of others, but now she no longer seemed like the terrifying Grand Shaman of the Masters of the Night-Wind—instead, she was like a bashful, lovestruck maiden, carefully testing the waters.
"Traveler..." Just as Citlali was about to speak, a slender finger pressed against her lips.
Lumine didn't say a word, only offering her a gentle smile. Her gaze was clear, like morning dew dripping from blades of grass, making one want to catch it.
——She could hear Lumine's thoughts.
And also her own "thump-thump" heartbeat.
In that instant, the old woman's adorable cheeks flushed red.
"Hmph, I... I already knew that, those damn blind fools."
Citlali crossed her arms, turning her head away with tsundere energy so thick it could float 300 meters against the wind. "Well... I'll let it slide this time. But if he dares to gossip about me again while I'm drunk, I'll make sure he remembers the terror of being under Granny Itztli's thumb."
["Hehe, I've done that too—" March chuckled softly, sitting down beside Stelle. "Though, I wasn't trying to catch stars—just a lamp."]
["When I first woke up from the ice, the first thing I saw was a cluster of starlight—so I instinctively reached out, only to realize it was just the train's ceiling light."]
["The whole crew was watching me at the time. It was so embarrassing~"]
[As she spoke, Stelle noticed a hint of loneliness in March's expression. Though she tried her best to hide it, the emotions in her eyes betrayed her.]
[Stelle leaned in slightly: "Everyone was watching you?"]
["Yeah! Like I was some weird alien specimen—but I don't blame them. After all, none of them knew where I came from."]
["Can you imagine? Before the Express found me, I was frozen in a block of ice, drifting through space." Mentioning her past, March was uncharacteristically somber, her tone tinged with melancholy.]
["Do you remember anything before being frozen?" Stelle asked.]
["Who knows? I don't remember anything from before. Who I was, what my original name was, where I came from... I've forgotten all of it. Even the name [March 7th] was just given to mark the day I was awakened."]
["So I stuck around on the Express, following it from stop to stop. Hoping that one day, I might find my past..."]
[Though March tried her best to keep her tone cheerful, the atmosphere remained heavy.]
"I thought March 7th was just a happy-go-lucky girl with a perfect family. Didn't expect her to have such a backstory too." Sein's expression was full of pity. "But her optimism and resilience are truly rare."
"Without some kind of special background, you wouldn't even get to board the Astral Express, would you?"
Frieren analyzed calmly: "Currently, out of the five crew members besides Pom-Pom, three have amnesia; no one talks about Himeko's identity, and that Mr. Welt can suppress a Stellaron with ease—especially that cane of his, it's completely unfathomable. What I'm saying is... not a single person on the Express has a simple identity."
"Speaking of March 7th, I have a theory." Stark raised his hand. "Don't you think her ice seems familiar? Like a certain Aeon's..."
Before he could finish, Fern suddenly realized: "The Aeon of Remembrance!"
"Not bad, pretty sharp observation." Frieren gave Stark an approving look.
The Aeon of Remembrance seemed to be entirely composed of solid ice, appearing both noble and mysterious—perfectly aligning with March's ice attributes. Moreover, she herself had lost her memories, while the Aeon of Remembrance governed the memories of all beings in the universe...
It was hard not to draw connections.
[In the Celestial Screen, the Express was about to begin its warp jump. After finishing her conversation with March, Stelle approached Himeko to inquire about their next destination.]
[Himeko sat on her chair, resting her cheek on one hand as her beautiful eyes lingered on the dazzling starscape outside the window. She spoke softly: "Our next stop is a small planet, designated as [Jarilo-VI]."]