On the Astral Express.
"Mikhail… you all…"
Pom-Pom had learned from Koji that the three of them were already gone. A grief he couldn't hide surfaced on his face.
The dead were dead. Not even a chance to see them one last time—there was nothing more painful than that feeling.
"Egg Yolk Teacher" stood there, not knowing how to comfort Pom-Pom. To Pom-Pom, those three senior Nameless were once family… yet now they had all passed away.
No wonder there had been no news. So that was why.
Those three senior Nameless really were incredible. They deserved everyone's respect.
"Thank you for telling me all this, Pa. They were heroes… and they were idiots too, Pa."
Pom-Pom lifted his head. He still couldn't let it go, but there was also nothing he could change.
"Mikhail once placed his consciousness into a dream bubble. As the Watchmaker's legacy, he appeared in Penacony in the form of a boy named Misha," Koji added.
"The Watchmaker… that's his style, Pa." Pom-Pom nodded. Mikhail must have wanted Penacony to reach a good ending.
"Is there a way to bring that senior onto the Express?" Dan Heng asked.
If it was possible, he wanted Pom-Pom and Senior Mikhail to have a proper farewell.
Hearing that, Pom-Pom looked at Koji with eager eyes. He really did want to see Mikhail.
"Easy. Wait a moment!"
Koji vanished. Not long after, he returned to the Astral Express with Misha in tow. Pom-Pom recognized him at a glance—this was Mikhail. Excitement surged across Pom-Pom's fluffy, adorable face.
"It's you, Pa—Passenger Mikhail!" Pom-Pom cried, trembling with emotion.
Hearing that familiar voice, Misha's eyes went blank with confusion for an instant. Then clarity returned. The childish softness faded, replaced by a weathered depth—like someone who had lived through too much.
Clearly, he remembered Pom-Pom.
Normally, Misha would need to return to that blank dream bubble to fully recover. But given Mikhail and Pom-Pom's bond, just coming to the Express and seeing Pom-Pom was enough to bring it all back.
"Conductor… long time no see. Have you been well all these years?" Misha said softly, nostalgia filling his tone.
He hadn't expected that even after death, he would have a day when he could return to the Express.
The familiar decor—this was his second home.
It must have been over a thousand years by now…
"I'm doing fine, Pa! The Astral Express did crash for a while, but thanks to Passenger Himeko, she fixed it! The Express set off again across the galaxy—oh, and you didn't know, Pa, Passenger Himeko is the Express's navigator now!" Pom-Pom said excitedly.
"Sounds like the Express went through a lot after the three of us got off." Misha nodded.
The Trailblaze never stopped. Even if you ran into hardship and peril, you would set out again—until you reached the stars.
"And this is the Astral Express's current passenger, right?" Misha looked at Dan Heng. He seemed like someone very learned.
"Hello, Senior Mikhail. My name is Dan Heng. I'm the current guard of the Express, and also the administrator of the archives," Dan Heng introduced himself.
"A guard? Like Tierenan, then. Looks like Passenger Dan Heng is quite skilled too." Misha smiled.
"Right—do you know what happened to Tierenan? Back then, he ran into the swarm, and after that he never returned to Penacony."
Pom-Pom and Dan Heng's expressions both shifted.
If they told the truth… Misha would probably be heartbroken.
Misha read the answer from their faces and said sadly, "Then he's left this world too."
"Misha, did you know Tierenan was turned away by the Family countless times—so many times he brushed past Penacony, his hometown, without ever being allowed to step inside?" Koji asked.
"The Family…" Misha let out a long breath.
So it was them. Then it wasn't surprising. What the Family wanted was to bring Penacony completely under their control. People of the Trailblaze like them were never going to be welcomed.
"Then Tierenan's deeds after leaving Penacony must have been remarkable," Misha said.
"He took part in the campaign to encircle and suppress the Lord Ravager Zulo, and he survived to the end."
With just those few words, Misha could already picture how brutal that level of battle must have been. But it also would have been magnificent—an experience most people could never have, even if it cost you your life.
"This is Senior Tierenan's keepsake."
Acheron produced a single bullet. Misha shook his head and smiled.
"Give it to the person it ought to be given to. Then have that person fire it."
That bullet carried the aura of the Hunt. Even if you gave it to him, he couldn't use it.
It was a bullet only a Galaxy Ranger could fire—and it should be fired by a Galaxy Ranger.
"A Galaxy Ranger?" Dan Heng thought of Boothill from before. The Acheron Boothill had been searching for… should be this very Acheron, the overwhelmingly strong one.
"Do you know where the Galaxy Ranger is?" Acheron asked.
A universe-class slippery drifter like that was simply hard to find. She had come to Penacony not only because it was Tierenan's home, but also because there were so many people there—maybe she would run into one.
"I do. I'll contact him," Dan Heng said, nodding.
Dan Heng sent Boothill a message telling him to come to the Express. Boothill was currently in the Reverie Hotel.
Not long after, Boothill arrived—along with that bizarre way he had of talking.
"Darn it all, Dan Heng, brother—are you sure Acheron's on… huh? You're her?"
The instant Boothill saw Acheron, he drew his revolver and aimed it at her—the one he believed was impersonating a Galaxy Ranger.
"Put your weapon away. It won't work." Acheron's voice was calm, and she didn't get angry.
Boothill wasn't even an Emanator. He was no match for her.
Galaxy Rangers taking down a Lord Ravager—those were operations done under the right timing and conditions. Otherwise, the gap between an Emanator and a Pathstrider wasn't something numbers could easily bridge.
"So arrogant?" Boothill wasn't surprised. Anyone bold enough to impersonate a Galaxy Ranger had to have some real ability.
"A Nihility Emanator. Of course she's arrogant." Koji chuckled. Boothill really was interesting.
"Darn it—so it's true?!" Boothill had heard rumors about Acheron being an Emanator that shouldn't exist, but he'd never gotten confirmation.
An Emanator on the Path of Nihility? Would IX, Aeon of Nihility, actually cast its gaze?
Even Dan Heng and Misha were shocked. "Nihility shouldn't have Emanators"—that was something everyone accepted as fact.
"I used the Galaxy Ranger identity to draw out a Galaxy Ranger. Now the goal's been achieved." Acheron held out Tierenan's keepsake. "This is for you."
"Darn it… this is…"
Boothill's expression turned to disbelief.
As a Galaxy Ranger, he knew exactly what that bullet represented. His shock hardened into solemnity.
In that moment, whatever issues he had with Acheron vanished. Galaxy Rangers weren't unreasonable people—if there was a reason, they could understand. All that was needed was for the reason to be stated plainly.
(End of Chapter)
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