"Hey, why are you leaving already?"
March 7, trailing closely behind, was a bit confused.
"Because there isn't much more to talk about."
"What he wants to see, he can witness with his own eyes. As for the rest, a man like him won't be swayed by mere words," the gray-haired girl raised her hand, speaking casually.
"Oh, is that so..."
March 7 scratched her cheek, nodding as if she understood.
"You don't actually get it at all, do you."
"Hey, why'd you have to call me out!" she puffed her cheeks, glaring at [Stelle].
"It's probably because of this body," [Stelle] said with a smile, touching her chest with a slender index finger. "It just makes me want to tease you."
"One character with that role is more than enough!"
"Alright, let's go."
"Where to?"
"He has his own business to attend to. But for you, for the Nameless... and especially for you, March, isn't recording memories what's most important?" The girl's face was close, so familiar... well, the real Stelle hadn't been on the Express for that long, but this proximity was enough to make the pink-haired girl, who could faintly feel her body heat, blush bright red. She instinctively took a step back.
"W-Why are you so close to me..."
"It's nothing, just using your eyes as a mirror." [Stelle] gave a dazzling smile, her every move exuding a charm completely different from that of a certain Stellaron Hunter.
Indeed, compared to a certain "goofy beauty," one had to admit that this body was being handled much more gracefully in the hands of a certain Mr. Jiang.
"Alright, don't just stand there dazed. I'll show you around."
"Although Penacony has its flaws, as a temporary stop, it still has many brilliant sights."
The girl's voice echoed in her ears, and March finally snapped back to reality, muttering with a red face:
"Who uses someone's eyes as a mirror... You're clearly just messing with me..."
She pouted, a little displeased, but didn't reject the suggestion.
After all, it was just as [Stelle] had said.
Capturing beautiful things as memories, especially preserving them with her camera—that was probably the most important thing for her right now, wasn't it?
She didn't know why, but it was just what she wanted to do.
And so, the two of them left their footprints all over the Golden Hour, this city of indulgent dreams.
"Penacony is so beautiful... but even though it's pretty, I feel like something is still missing..."
"The Oak Roll Cake is delicious, and the SoulGlad is great... the pinball machine is fun too, and that car goes super fast..."
"But I don't know why, I just feel... these aren't the memories I want to keep the most."
Scratching her cheek, March 7 looked at the scenes captured in her camera with a hint of regret.
"In that case, let me take you somewhere."
"Huh? Where?"
"Just follow me. It's a very hidden place, but I promise you won't be disappointed."
"Alright then."
Following the gray-haired girl's lead, the two arrived at the Dream's Edge.
"Isn't this an area that's still under construction?"
"There's probably not much to see here."
"You'll know when you follow me."
Following the path from memory, he led the girl to that rooftop. March hesitated for a moment before stepping onto it, and then... she saw Penacony bathed in the morning light, with the Grand Theater standing tall in the sky.
It was quiet, and the surrounding facilities were completely outmatched by the Golden Hour due to being unfinished, but... the sight at this moment was exceptionally captivating to March 7.
She excitedly raised her camera, the shutter clicking away.
"...It still feels like something is missing."
As she was snapping pictures, March 7 muttered to herself.
"Then... give me the camera."
"Oh, be careful, don't break it!"
"Hey—"
In the next moment, the world spun. After a brief blur, the gray-haired figure leaned in close and pressed the shutter, capturing the surprised March, herself, and the dawn all in one frame.
"What are you doing..."
March complained with puffed cheeks, but when she saw the photo in the camera that he handed her, her resentment instantly vanished. In its place, she hugged the camera as if it were a precious treasure, rubbing it affectionately. "Yes! This is the feeling!"
"I knew something was missing~"
Far away in Glamoth, Firefly, who was diligently handling government affairs, suddenly sneezed.
For some reason, her mood suddenly turned sour. She felt... offended? No, it was more like the feeling of watching someone she cared about offend someone else while also being offended by them!
"Memories made with companions are the best memories."
"Let's go find Stelle!"
Having understood what was missing, March suggested they find their companion who had gone off on her own.
After leaving Sunday, the Astral Express crew had split up.
Not everyone likes the same things, so it was normal for them to separate and find things that interested them.
But now, she wanted to use her camera to create some... beautiful memories with her companions in Penacony.
Of course, what she found was definitely not what she would call a "beautiful memory":
"Origami bird, tweet tweet, little tweet-"
After finding Stelle, the first thing they saw was the notoriously goofy Stellaron Hunter engaged in some bizarre behavior. March, who had been excitedly coming to find her with [Stelle], saw her expression immediately droop. "…You know what, maybe we should just go?" she suggested, completely disheartened.
Somehow, she felt that being with this goofball wouldn't create beautiful memories, but rather embarrassing, terrible ones.
She pursed her lips and subconsciously glanced at [Stelle] beside her.
How could there be such a huge gap between the original and the temporary user!
"..."
[Stelle] didn't say anything, his expression just a little strange.
How should he put it?
It's not that he cared about this sort of thing.
But... lending out a body while borrowing another... whether it was Elysia or anyone else, he never had to worry. Until he met this Stellaron Hunter. Miss Stelle was fully embracing her inner lunatic.
"March, you're here."
"Uh... what's with that look on your faces?"
"We saw everything."
"Saw what?"
"..." March 7's expression grew even more disdainful.
"Forget it... I'll take you somewhere," [Stelle] sighed.
"The place from before?" March asked.
"No, another place. It's somewhere you must go now that you're in Penacony."
"So mysterious? I'm getting a little excited!"
"Call Himeko and Dan Heng. All Nameless have a reason to witness it."
"Okay, I've already sent the message."
A short while later.
"This is... Penacony?!"
Looking at the dilapidated buildings, March 7 was astonished. "Did we end up somewhere else?"
"This place is a part of Penacony," [Stelle] said.
"...It seems that, just as Mr. Sunday said, not all of Penacony is as glamorous as it appears on the surface," Himeko mused, resting her chin on her hand.
"You folks are quick. I was about to go greet you after learning of your arrival, but I didn't expect you to visit this little place first."
"You are..."
"Just an old dog. You can call me Gallagher."
A mustached uncle dressed like a bartender approached, greeting them.
[Stelle] cut in. "No need for pleasantries... They're with me. You can explain everything here to them."
"After that, go and fulfill your mission."
The girl spoke with a calm demeanor that made Gallagher do a double-take.
"Haha, I'm rather curious how much you actually know."
"Not much, but most of what I should know."
"The Astral Express has a fine newcomer, I see..." he remarked with feeling.
At this, Stelle, in Jiang Qiao's body, puffed out her chest proudly.
But March shot down her delusion without mercy:
"He was complimenting him. What are you so proud of!"
"But that's my body!"
"You still have the nerve to say that..." March buried her face in her hands.
In his hands, she's an ice queen goddess. In your hands, she's a goofy goddess... Even as a companion, it was hard for her to comment.
If she were in that situation, Miss March 7 felt she would have already buried her head in her quilt. Don't ask why not in the ground—it was just too stuffy!
"So, what is this so-called 'mission'?" Dan Heng asked.
"It's nothing too grand," [Stelle] began.
"It's merely passing on a will."
"A will?"
"Do you know about Penacony's past and present?"
"It was originally a prison planet owned by the IPC. Later, several Nameless led the prisoners to overthrow the Corporation's rule. After gaining independence, the Family arrived, and it became the Penacony of today," Himeko recounted.
"Then, here's the question: what happened to those Nameless?"
"Given the timeline, if we exclude any life-extending means, they should be dead by now... According to the Express's records, none of those passengers were long-life species," Dan Heng added.
Himeko continued, "Speaking of which, I did try to look for information on those seniors in Penacony. But regrettably, their names seem to have become just... a piece of history here."
"Do you know about Clockie?" [Stelle] asked.
"Penacony's mascot?" March replied.
"Have you heard of the Clockmaker's Legacy?"
"What's that? It sounds valuable," Stelle chimed in.
"Well, that depends on the person," [Stelle] said.
"For those who await it, this legacy is truly a priceless treasure. But for those who cannot measure its worth, this legacy is utterly worthless."
As he spoke, he saw Gallagher, who was leading the way, stop. The gray-haired girl looked at the wheelchair up ahead, and the blue-haired boy waiting beside it, and spoke slowly—
"You think so too, don't you? Misha."
"The Clockmaker, Laghrough Charles Mikhail."