"Why are you all with a wanted criminal?"
Clara's gaze landed on Sampo, her tone carrying the sharp edge of an interrogation as she addressed the members of the Astral Express.
"A… wanted criminal?" March 7th and the others turned their eyes toward Sampo upon hearing Clara's words.
"Wrongfully accused, I'm not—"
Sampo tried to explain, but before he could finish a complete sentence, he felt as if something was blocking his mouth, rendering him completely unable to speak.
There was nothing he could do about it.
Though he could struggle free, Sampo dared not imagine the consequences of doing so…
And so, Sampo could only force an awkward, strained smile toward Clara.
Begging her to show a little mercy…
"Sampo Koski, Belobog's most wanted criminal. Arson, murder, robbery, publicly harassing young women—these are all crimes he frequently commits."
"And now we can add jailbreak to the list."
Ignoring the plea in Sampo's eyes, Clara let out a cold laugh and listed off his various misdeeds.
Hearing Clara's words, March 7th and the others instinctively surrounded Sampo, blocking any chance of escape.
As for why they trusted Clara's words so readily—first, because Clara's appearance looked utterly innocent, not at all like someone who would lie.
And second, because Sampo hadn't uttered a word to explain himself while Clara was listing the charges.
If what Clara said was false, Sampo, as the wronged party, would surely have spoken up to refute it. Since he didn't…
That meant everything Clara said was true. Sampo was the deeply sinful wanted criminal Miss Clara described.
Sampo: Seriously, man?
It's not that I don't want to argue—I literally can't argue at all.
"Hmph, I knew you were no good, but I never imagined you'd be such a notorious criminal." March 7th planted herself in front of Sampo, hands on her hips, and snorted.
"Meeting us is your bad luck!"
Sampo: …
"Hmm?" Watching how March 7th and the others were treating Sampo, Clara let out a sound of confusion.
"So you're not his accomplices after all."
"Of course not! How could we possibly be accomplices of a wanted criminal?" Hearing Clara, March 7th turned around with a cheerful grin.
"Um… little miss, what's your name?"
Hearing this, Clara wasn't in a hurry to answer. Instead, she swept her gaze over everyone present with feigned curiosity before replying in a calm tone:
"I'm Clara, and this is Firefly."
Clara helped Firefly, who had recovered somewhat, to her feet, then put on a slightly puzzled expression.
"Judging by your appearance, you don't seem to be from Belobog, do you?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're not even from this planet!" March 7th, taken by Clara's adorable look, blurted it out without a second thought.
Dan Heng, Welt, Stelle: …
Watching March 7th's behavior, the other three felt a wave of speechlessness but didn't say anything.
After all, based on Clara and Firefly's appearances alone, they didn't seem like bad people.
But…
"Clara…" When Welt and Dan Heng heard the name earlier, a ripple of doubt stirred within them.
They felt like they'd heard that name somewhere before, yet had no clear memory of it…
"Strange…"
Dan Heng and Welt muttered to themselves but didn't dwell on it. They figured they must have met someone with the same name during their past journeys along the Path of Trailblaze, which was why it felt vaguely familiar.
"Not… from this planet?" Clara's expression grew even more perplexed.
"Hehe." Seeing Clara's reaction, March 7th felt a surge of excitement. She pulled a photo from her pocket and handed it to Clara.
"Look, look—this is your planet."
Clara put on a show of carefully taking the photo and examining it.
Hmm… a complete wasteland.
"This is our… planet…"
Though Clara held a deep disdain for Jarilo-VI, she had to play her part fully.
"Yeah, yeah! What do you think?"
"What do I think…" Clara fell silent for a moment before shaking her head.
"I don't really have any thoughts."
"Huh?" March 7th blinked in confusion at that.
It was surprising to her that someone could see the full view of the planet their ancestors had lived on and have no reaction at all.
"Then… aren't you at all curious about who we are?"
"No." To March 7th's surprise, Clara shook her head again.
"A very, very long time ago, many visitors from other stars came to our planet."
"It's recorded in books, and many people believe it really happened."
"I see…" March 7th felt a bit disappointed that Clara wasn't buzzing around her, asking curious questions.
"And these two are…?" Clara handed the photo back to March 7th, then turned her gaze to Dan Heng and Welt.
"Hello, I'm Dan Heng."
"Welt."
Feeling Clara's gaze, Dan Heng and Welt gave simple introductions.
"Mm." Clara nodded, then continued, "So, what is your purpose in coming to our planet?"
"It's like this…" March 7th quickly began to explain.
She didn't go into unnecessary detail, simply telling Clara that they were here to help Jarilo-VI resolve the Stellaron crisis.
"Stellaron?" Clara tilted her head, indicating she didn't understand what March 7th meant by "Stellaron."
Sampo: …
Sampo, watching Clara's performance from the side, was utterly stunned.
Is this the acting skill of a top-tier Masked Fool? Not a single flaw to be found.
'Obviously—if there were even a hint of a flaw, Clara would quietly alter it using the power of Remembrance. So of course there wouldn't be any trace of one.'
"It's…"
"Never mind, explaining it to me is pointless. I'm just a civilian, after all."
Just as March 7th was about to explain what a Stellaron was and the danger it posed to Jarilo-VI, Clara cut her off.
"If what you're saying is true, then it's not something I can decide."
"Only the Supreme Guardian of Belobog can make that call."
Clara shook her head, steadied Firefly, then withdrew her supporting hand and looked up at the sky.
"It's getting late. We should hurry."
"Let's take this wanted criminal and return to Belobog."
"I'll bring you to meet the Supreme Guardian."
Clara cast a faint glance at Sampo, a silent warning not to think about running, then walked ahead to lead the way.
…
I have completed the author to TL pipeline, 2 chapters per day. Advanced chapters available on patreon.
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Give power stones please I survive solely off of number go up.