Looking at everything before him, Tail clicked his tongue.
"For an employee of this so-called Land of Dreams, her heart is way too empty. And this place is so tiny, cramped as hell."
Cirrus nodded beside him.
"Even the Creation Furnace is more spacious than this."
"Let's check outside first. There's something off about this curtain of water." Tail said.
Cirrus had no objections. The two Heliobi stopped wandering around and came to the edge of the water curtain. They looked left and right but couldn't find anything unusual.
Mr. Tail decided to head out directly. He reached toward the water curtain with his tail.
The moment he touched it, he realized something was wrong and cursed, "It looks like water, but it's hard as a rock. This is a barrier. It drained everything inside, then sealed off the outside."
"Whatever emotions came afterward just kept piling up. No wonder that little girl's become like this. Who the hell did something so rotten?"
"Mr. Tail, let's break this barrier first and see what's been sealed away inside this girl's heart." Remembering Nero's request, Cirrus said.
Tail had no objections.
For the two Heliobi, this was completely within their expertise, so breaking the barrier wasn't difficult.
As flames rose and burned across the water curtain, it slowly melted like a transparent wall.
Behind the water curtain was the deep sea.
The moment it broke apart, the surging seawater rushed in almost instantly, sweeping the two Heliobi together and swallowing them.
At that moment, Tail and Cirrus finally felt the emotions that had been sealed away inside Kokona.
Sadness.
Like the seawater itself, it was silent, deep, mysterious, heavy, and soundless, carrying the despair of drowning.
———
Less than a second passed before the four of them saw two balls of flame fly out of Kokona's body.
Cirrus flew over to Nero.
"We figured some things out."
Tail also flew back to Huohuo and immediately cursed, "I don't know who did it, but it's downright rotten. They drained all the sadness out of this little girl and sealed it away."
"Those emotions just kept piling up without any way to be released. How could her body not end up with problems?"
Almost at the same moment, tears streamed down Kokona's face.
"..."
She couldn't even pay attention to the four people in front of her. Her sorrow swelled like a flood and engulfed her in an instant. Kokona broke down crying uncontrollably.
"So... this is the kind of life I've been living..."
"It's so meaningless... it has no value at all..."
Seeing Kokona suddenly burst into loud sobs, Huohuo asked anxiously, "M... Miss Shopkeeper, are you alright?"
As she wiped away her tears, Kokona shook her head. Even though her sobbing hadn't eased, she thought to herself that she was already an adult. How could she act like this in front of children?
There were three children standing before her.
"I... I'm fine..."
Kokona forced herself to say. She tried her best to suppress her sobs, clutched her clothes tightly, and trembled without stopping.
Argenti frowned as he watched Kokona's condition.
"My lady, can you hear me?"
But Kokona didn't respond. It was as though she had fallen into delirium, constantly murmuring to herself.
"Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath, Kokona. It's work time now. You have to pull yourself together... Once you wake up... once you wake up, it'll be alright... Just like before."
"Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath. Don't cry... As long as you get through this... it'll be alright... Wait until the light appears on the horizon... Wait until..."
"Although we've released Miss Kokona's sadness, things seem to have gotten out of hand." Yanqing frowned. "Let's go find a caregiver."
No one objected.
All four of them were very quick to act. Even Huohuo wouldn't always hesitate in one place, though her timidity wasn't something she could fix.
After taking note of the shop where Kokona worked, the four quickly left.
———
After Stelle followed Firefly out through the manhole cover, they seemed to arrive on the rooftop of a building. There were people here too, but compared to the Golden Hour shopping district, there were very few.
Stelle observed the expressions of the people here. They seemed much more relaxed and at ease, with less of a sense of purpose than most people in the Land of Dreams.
Firefly was still waiting ahead, so Stelle didn't linger and quickly caught up.
In the end, Firefly brought Stelle to a small park. It seemed to have been built on the rooftop of a building, with a large flower bed in the center.
Firefly told Stelle they were almost there, but this still didn't seem to be their final destination.
The two stopped by the railing and looked down at the skyscrapers rising all around them.
"Look," Firefly said. "It's beautiful here, isn't it?"
She turned around to look at Stelle.
"Normally, tourists aren't allowed to come here, so we have to be careful not to let anyone discover us."
After hearing Firefly's words and looking around at the people nearby, Stelle finally nodded with her usual clear and innocent expression.
"Don't worry," Firefly smiled. "This isn't a dangerous area."
She thought Stelle was worried that she'd brought her somewhere unsafe, so she quickly explained, "You can think of this place as the border of Golden Hour. The dreams farther out are still under construction and renovation by the Family."
Stelle nodded thoughtfully.
Firefly smiled, then looked into the distance again.
"My secret base is inside. Let's sneak in."
Stelle said nothing and simply gave a thumbs-up.
She was familiar with this sort of thing.
Nero had taken Pom-Pom's train pot. Did that mean Stelle had never done anything herself?
Late at night, it was only natural to want a midnight snack.
The only difference was that Pom-Pom never scolded Nero, while if she got caught, she'd probably end up cleaning the train cars.
However, this time, they were stopped before they even got started.
A Bloodhound guard with blue-purple hair stood at the entrance leading farther in. His arms were crossed, and he had a lazy posture. His tone wasn't exactly bad, but it wasn't friendly either. It carried the feeling that he couldn't be bothered to say much.
"You two, excuse me. This is a construction site ahead. No unauthorized entry."
Firefly looked a little embarrassed.
"Ah... We got caught right away."
"Could you make an exception?" Stelle asked.
Firefly also pleaded, "Please... make an exception for us. We won't cause any trouble."
The Bloodhound looked at Stelle, then at Firefly.
Two beautiful girls.
He then thought of Miss Robin and the child she had personally brought to Penacony.
'Why did beautiful people always like hanging out together?'
'When would someone...'
'┭┮﹏┭┮'
Thinking of something depressing, he still shook his head.
"No. Those are the rules. Anyone who's not a member of the Dreambuilder team is forbidden from entering."
"He's so stubborn..." Firefly muttered as she gripped the corner of her skirt.
The little Stellaron baby thought for a moment. Whenever Nero asked someone for help, they always agreed, so she decided to copy him.
The little raccoon clasped her hands together pleadingly.
"Please, please..."
But the Bloodhound still wouldn't budge.
"Lots of people beg me every day. Am I supposed to make an exception for all of them? And don't bother trying any other tricks. Please go back. It'll be better for both you and me."
Firefly looked a little disappointed and turned to Stelle.
"Mm, looks like we can't persuade him... Let's think of another way."
Stelle narrowed her eyes, remembering the gang boss she'd turned into a complete goofball. She patted Firefly on the shoulder.
"I'll handle it."
Without another word, Stelle pulled Firefly back a few steps, then walked over to the Bloodhound alone and used Clockie Trick.