"...I know something is suspicious about you, but this is completely out of my prediction," Qingyi admits as he and Mem help restore Qingyi's memory realm to normal. After learning how Qingyi's mind calculates possibilities of her companions' fates, they decided to filter them out and leave the actual memories intact.
"With how crazy my powers are, you would simply be concerned about me and send me to a mental hospital," Caelus shrugs before he rips the fake scenarios disguised as memories out of the realm. Qingyi chuckles lightly at Caelus' words; she definitely would do that if she heard him admitting that.
"I'm honestly shocked that you came here with Meilian and my juniors," Qingyi admits, glancing at Zhu Yuan and Seth apologizing to Meilian for leaving her earlier.
"To be fair, I find myself guilty for accusing your fellow officer of being a possible traitor after hearing my baseball bat almost got stolen." Caelus admits. "So, this is more of a token of apology from me."
"Don't apologize," Qingyi shakes her head. "I don't blame you for accusing someone after something that was given to your father almost got stolen. But now that my mind is much clearer than before, your accusation might be on the nose."
"..." Caelus remains silent as he looks at Qingyi.
"...you're apologizing for accusing, but never let go of your suspicions," Qingyi calls him out.
"...yeah," Caelus responds with a guilty smile.
"You don't have to look guilty, not when you're right," Qingyi responds. "Your intuition is quite scary for a human. First the Canvas Street, now the possible traitor. Do your superpowers also grant you insane intuition?"
"Not the one I have yet unlocked," Caelus admits.
"...then pray the fools never become your prey," Qingyi mutters.
"Funnily enough, there's a path called the Hunt," Caelus says as Qingyi blinks.
"...do people simply become a hunter to get that power?" Qingyi asks as Caelus chuckles.
"It's more like an extreme obsession towards a certain goal, but most of the Pathstriders' obsessions come from their desire for revenge," Caelus explains as Qingyi hums.
"That makes sense; revenge comes from an extreme obsession towards a target for feeling wronged." Qingyi nods as Caelus smiles.
"It seems Ms. 'Human Emotions Are Complicated' slowly understands humans even more," Caelus teases as Qingyi huffs and lightly punches him.
"Don't remind me," Caelus merely laughs before getting rid of the last false memories. "That should be the last."
"Really? I thought it'd be more." Qingyi blinks.
"It was," Caelus says before pointing upward. Qingyi glances up and widens her eyes. A huge pack of Fairies can be seen ripping every false memory out of Qingyi's memory realm, with Mem, in her Fairy form, leading the team.
"...when did my mind get infested with rats?" Qingyi asks in disbelief.
"MEM!!!" Every Fairy, including Mem, yells indignantly, feeling insulted to be compared with rats of all animals. Caelus bursts out laughing, causing the Fairies to yell at him as well. The rest of the group watches the scene and wonders what just happened.
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In Qingyi's Room
"Eh-nah...? (When will they come out...?)," Slyboo mutters as his entire body except for his head is now stuck in ice. Not long ago, the ice stopped spreading, which is a good thing since it'll be a complete disaster if the ice ever spread out of the building.
His yelling didn't get any attention from the PubSec officers, and he was very sure he had screamed loud enough for anyone to hear him. But alas, no officers came to rescue this poor little wabbit.
Slyboo pauses for a moment before realizing something important. If his hands were not stuck on ice, he would be slapping his forehead so hard it would crack. He has a distress signal built inside him! It was an emergency tool installed inside all Bangboos in case of emergency. How could he forget it exists!?!
Before he could start activating the distress signal, he heard a sound from the door and a light shone into him. He glanced at the source and widened his eyes. The mystical portal from before had returned, with Caelus and the others walking out of the portal.
"Finally, we're out of that realm..." Seth groans as everyone silently agrees before noticing Slyboo with his entire body, sans his head, stuck in an ice.
"Eh-nah!!! (Help!!!)" Slyboo cries, and without a word, Caelus casually pulls him out of the ice. Everyone blinks as Seth looks even more confused. He was sure the ice was caused by the overflow of Path Energy is rock-hard. He and Zhu Yuan had attempted to break it but to no avail, so how is Caelus able to pull it off?
Did dealing with the issue severely weaken the ice? Seth gets close to the chunk of ice and pulls his sword to smash the ice, only for the sword to completely snap.
"...that thing is worth almost 2 months of your paycheck," Zhu Yuan says, causing Seth to pale. Mem giggles at the scene.
"Once again, sorry for causing all the trouble." Everyone turns to look at Qingyi pushing away the ice that covers her, shattering it with ease.
"...how did you guys manage to do that?" Seth mutters in disbelief.
"This ice is a frozen memoria; only those who walk in Path of Remembrance could deal with this ice," Mem explains. Seth and Zhu Yuan widen their eyes upon realizing what Mem is implying.
"Wait, you mean senior is-!?!" Seth points at Qingyi, who seems prideful as she shatters another chunk of ice on her charging pot by simply pushing them away.
"Anyways, I really should call the White Star Institute to help me deal with all of this," Qingyi exclaims as she looks around. The ice that was on the wall has fallen over; her table is destroyed by the ice; some of the icicle spikes went through the ceiling. "This is gonna cost a lot; I think my savings will take a huge dent for all the repairs. But what can I do?"
"Indeed. Money can be earned anytime, but life is much more precious," Meilian responded. "But if you truly need funds, I could help."
"No need. I have troubled all of you enough," Qingyi waved her off. "Well, now all we have to do is ask the officers who are outside the building to leave. And maybe either cut their paychecks or fire them for slacking on the job."
"...how did you know that?" Zhu Yuan had realized she had forgotten to inform her senior about the officers outside the building. And yet, her senior knows about them and even knows they have slacked off.
"One thing I know about you two is that you took the job seriously, so I am confident you all did everything to block anyone from entering," Qingyi answered. "As for those officers slacking off, I accidentally read your memories."
"...we seriously need to talk about this breach of privacy, senior."
"Hey, I said it was an accident!"
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Later
"Well, I say today's a job well done," Caelus says as he, Mem, Slyboo, Meilian, and Qingyi all sit on the bench watching Zhu Yuan and Seth ordering officers to get rid of the ice shards. Qingyi is eating the food Meilian had brought over while Mem is writing something in her book. "And it's mostly thanks to Ms. Meilian."
"Child, you are the one who made sure it was possible to save Qingyi. Give yourself more credit," Meilian says as Caelus smiles at her.
"Ms. Meilian, I may have the power to enter her consciousness, but getting her out of it is not something I am confident I can pull off," Caelus explains. "Qingyi needs guidance to deal with the overwhelming memories that lead to her being unable to deal with her emotions, and you, a wise old lady, are the key to our successful mission."
"Yeah," Qingyi agrees. "I doubt Caelus could pull me out. He was too emotionally unstable to do that."
"Oi, no need for the slander," Caelus responds in disbelief. "Also, is that how you treat the one who saved you?"
"Oh, now you claim you're the one saving me instead of Meilian? So much for acting humble earlier," Qingyi says with a smirk.
"...are you always like this? Or the emotions you got had turned you into this?" Caelus grumbles.
"I always like this," Qingyi says smugly before she continues eating her food.
"...press F for doubt," Caelus says blankly. Mem, Slyboo, and Meilian could only giggle at their banter. It didn't take long for the officers to finish cleaning up as Zhu Yuan and Seth approached the group.
"You guys sure are quick taking care of the mess," Caelus commented.
"If those slackers required further instruction for this simple task, then clearly they aren't qualified to do this job," Qingyi commented.
"You're a bit harsh there, senior," Zhu Yuan sweatdrops.
"If Meilian of all people could sneak on them, then clearly the PubSec has truly fallen. No offense, Meilian," Qingyi quickly adds the last part as Meilian laughs.
"Don't be. I know I am not good at sneaking in. These old bones won't stop making noises whenever I move," Meilian responds, earning laughs from everyone. Zhu Yuan looks at Caelus with a smile.
"Caelus, I owe you one," Zhu Yuan says as Caelus waves it off.
"Don't think too much about it. I owe you guys, especially with the legal troubles I caused," Caelus responds.
"Still, thank you," Zhu Yuan says before leaning closer. "For my repayment, perhaps a recommendation-."
"Sorry, but no. Being a PubSec is too restrictive for me," Caelus says. "I've read the laws and regulations you guys gave me back then, and let me tell you, I don't like how the laws seem to be made against the PubSecs."
"You do realize being a member of H.A.N.D. also has the same amount of restriction, if not more, right?" Zhu Yuan asks, earning Qingyi's attention.
"How did you, of all people, gain the H.A.N.D.'s attention?" Qingyi asks.
"100 Ether Aptitude, and Canvas Street incident." That's all Caelus said, and everyone understood.
"...if H.A.N.D. didn't work for you, I'll save a spot for you," Zhu Yuan says.
"...Zhu Yuan, I'm not the only Remembrance Pathstrider here," Caelus deadpans, subtly pointing at Qingyi. Zhu Yuan blinks before she looks slightly flustered and faces Qingyi.
"For ignoring me, I'll make sure to keep everything I found during the investigation for myself," Qingyi says dryly, earning a pitiful whine from Zhu Yuan, causing everyone to laugh. After another small talk, Caelus, along with Mem, Slyboo, and Meilian, leaves the area.
Seth decided to help the rest of the officers with the clean-up, leaving Qingyi and Zhu Yuan alone. Zhu Yuan seemed to plan to say something, but Qingyi decided to cut her off.
"Sorry, Zhu Yuan, but there's something you should know. I've been keeping a secret," Qingyi says, causing Zhu Yuan to blink. "Ever since Caelus reported to us about a suspicious figure who spoke like a cult leader, I've been finding clues popping up left and right in the PubSec that I believe will devastate you. Apparently, it was wrong of me to keep this from you, since you are my most trusted junior..."
"W-what are you talking about, senior?" Zhu Yuan feels a pit forming in her stomach as Caelus's words start ringing in her head loudly.
"Zhu Yuan, I suspected a traitor amongst our ranks."
To be continued