'I forgot.'
Those words kept echoing in Levi's mind. When he came back to his senses, he looked at Guinaifen, who was embarrassed to the extreme.
"Forgot?"
Guinaifen nodded.
Levi sucked in a cold breath.
He thought it would be some kind of excuse, but it really was just a simple case of forgetting.
After a long silence, he silently gave the second-dimensional Sword Bro a thumbs-up. "You're something else."
Not long after, the staff member from the Ten-Lords Commission who handled the heliobi arrived after Levi contacted them.
As expected, it was none other than the Foxian girl Huohuo, whose tail had been eaten by a heliobus.
"This will do."
Amid 'Stelle's' mocking voice directed at Levi, Huohuo stuck a talisman paper onto Stelle's back.
She stepped back two paces and looked at Stelle examining her own hands before asking softly, "Miss Stelle, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
Stelle shook her head, then suddenly frowned. "It seems there is something uncomfortable after all."
She felt that the back of her head was a little cold...
Hearing this, Huohuo's eyes unconsciously moved toward her back.
At this moment.
The sound of a bow being drawn came from behind. Stelle's eyes widened, and she turned her stiff neck around.
March 7th, who had originally been watching the show with Guinaifen nearby, had somehow appeared behind her. With a stern expression, she drew back a longbow, an arrow formed from ice resting against the bowstring.
Now Stelle finally understood why the back of her head had felt a little cold...
"Do you have anything else to say?"
A cold voice, as if it did not belong to March 7th, sounded from behind. Stelle's throat bobbed, and her eyes became determined.
"Master Levi! She's not March 7th!"
"She was possessed by a heliobus!"
Would March 7th really speak with this kind of mature-woman feeling?
No matter how he thought about it, that was impossible.
Unfortunately, Levi showed no reaction to her words. With his arms folded across his chest, he watched her with interest.
Hearing Stelle, Huohuo took out a talisman paper, hesitating.
"If you're going to do it, then do it. Don't make such a pathetic display."
Lord Tails' voice rang out. Huohuo took a deep breath and stuck the talisman paper onto March 7th, who was radiating coldness from head to toe.
There was no change whatsoever.
Clearly, March 7th had not been possessed by a heliobus.
"Pay me back."
"Sure, sure. Just put the bow down first..."
Stelle still wanted to struggle a little.
The next second, March 7th released the hand drawing the bowstring. The arrow struck Stelle, and the force within it instantly turned her into a block of ice.
Stelle, trapped inside, looked terrified.
The heliobus possessing Stelle had been restrained. What remained was a private matter for the Astral Express crew, so it was inconvenient for Levi to get involved.
[Stelle: Master!]
[Levi: Scram, I'm not your master.]
Stelle still wanted to get Levi's help, but Levi immediately drew a clear line between them.
[Levi: From today onward, I'm not your master, and you're not my disciple...]
After saying that, he swiftly left the Exalting Sanctum.
When he got home, he opened the chat group and learned that Stelle had already resolved the matter.
At the critical moment when March 7th dug her out of the ice, she remembered the rich lady far away at Herta Space Station, Asta.
She immediately contacted her in the group. Soon after, the payment from Asta arrived in her account.
A rich lady was a rich lady. Stelle had named the amount, and Asta did not even bother to confirm it before sending it straight over.
Stelle was incredibly envious.
It made sense.
The amount of Credits she had borrowed from March 7th might just be a single meal for someone from a wealthy family.
Treating a friend to one meal was nothing to them.
Seeing the Credits she had lent out arrive in her account, March 7th's expression softened considerably. She put away her longbow and returned to how she had been before.
"Look at how careless you are." After brushing off the remaining ice chips on Stelle, March 7th turned around and called out to her, "Let's go. Uncle Yang is still waiting for you to come back."
During the time Stelle had disappeared, March 7th was not the only one worried about her safety.
Not long after the two of them left, Sushang arrived here.
"What were you doing last night? I tried contacting you, but you didn't answer either."
"Ha~" Sushang rubbed her sleepy eyes. "I was suddenly called to Cloudford to stand watch last night. I also forgot to charge my jade abacus. Sorry for making you worry."
"Miss Sushang, did you remember incorrectly?"
Huohuo spoke up from the side.
"Cloudford stopped needing Cloud Knights on watch several days ago."
That place belonged to the Sky-Faring Commission. If anyone needed to stand watch, it would be the Sky-Faring Commission's staff.
How could they make the Cloud Knights stay up in the middle of the night to stand watch at Cloudford?
Seeing Sushang's bleary eyes, Huohuo thought she had not woken up yet and had remembered incorrectly with a foggy head.
"Really?" Sushang scratched her head in confusion. After thinking for a while, she shook her head.
"Anyway, I really was called to stand watch, but where... I can't quite remember."
The group did not talk much about this issue.
Afterward, Guinaifen requested to record some material in the Exalting Sanctum. Huohuo contacted Hanya and Xueyi to ask the two of them for permission.
In the end, at Hanya's suggestion, they agreed to Guinaifen's request, but in return, they also needed to make use of her influence online.
They would gather traces of heliobi scattered throughout the Luofu and, together with Huohuo, capture them and bring them back into the Crucible of Creation.
"I, I have to do it alone?"
Huohuo's voice trembled slightly.
Just coming to the Exalting Sanctum had already used up all her courage. Now they wanted her to go capture heliobi by herself. What was someone who was already timid supposed to do?
"What? Scared already?"
Lord Tails took the opportunity to tempt her. "It's simple. You remove the seal, and this great master will help you capture those heliobi and bring them back. How about it? A fair trade."
Hearing Lord Tails' voice coming from the jade abacus, Xueyi comforted Huohuo without changing her expression. "With your knowledge, you are more than capable of dealing with those escaped heliobi."
Right after that, Hanya also spoke. "Besides, you're not alone. There's also that... streamer, as well as her companions, going with you."
"Okay, okay. I'll give it a try."
"Tch~"
Lord Tails clicked his tongue in displeasure. Seeing Guinaifen beside him holding a jade abacus and taking pictures of him, he pounced at her like a hungry tiger.
"Ahhh!" Guinaifen screamed while flailing her arms. "Help me! Sushang! Help me!"
"I can't help! I can't help!!!"
Seeing Guinaifen running toward her with a vicious thing clinging to her arm, Sushang picked up her greatsword... And turned around and ran.
She screamed as she ran.
"The Cloud Knight Swordsmanship cannot cut something without form! Ah!!!"
"Miss Guinaifen, Miss Sushang, please calm down. Tails is only playing around."
"Tch~ With this much courage, you two still dare secretly photograph this great master. Even together, you're not as good as Huohuo."
Lord Tails mocked them at just the right moment.
———
[Meanwhile]
After returning home, Levi saw that no one was there. After watching the Foxian girl for a while on his jade abacus, he opened the chat group, preparing to see whether Stelle and the other troublemaker, Lumine, had gotten up to anything while he was offline.
At the same time, far away at St. Freya Academy, Kiana was standing in front of Theresa with her head lowered.
"I'm sorry."
Looking at Kiana before her, Theresa rubbed her temples, her eyes filled with worry.
She felt that she might be incompatible with Kiana.
As soon as she came to St. Freya, something was bound to happen to St. Freya.
"Considering your good attitude about admitting your mistake this time, I won't punish you."
After saying that, she pushed open the door to the infirmary behind her.