Chapter 120: A Strange Letter and a Naughty "Pet"
A pre-battle tranquility settled over the Astral Express. It was their last day of rest before the crew set a course for the world of Amphoreus.
Stelle's so-called "preparation," true to her signature style, was what most people would equate to "doing absolutely nothing."
She was comfortably sprawled across the sofa in the Parlor Car, sipping a custom-ordered "Sparkling Starlight Bubble Soda" while blissfully enjoying a precious recording of "Pom-Pom's Purr" on her phone.
Preparation? What was that? She was Stelle, after all.
From the moment she'd woken up on the Herta Space Station, she was the one who charged head-on into the Antimatter Legion with a baseball bat. The Fragmentum monsters of Jarilo-VI, the Abominations of Abundance on the Xianzhou Luofu, the Dreamjolt Troupe of Penacony… when had she ever been anything but swift and decisive?
To her, "preparation" simply meant maintaining optimal condition—always ready to swing her bat, always ready to rummage through trash cans, and always ready to handle whatever chaos the universe threw at her.
Her bout of idleness soon gave way to her "routine patrol" of the Astral Express—which was, in essence, just aimless wandering.
She drifted from the Parlor Car to the passenger cabins, ambled over to the data room to press an ear against the door and listen for any sign of Dan Heng, then shuffled to March 7th's room to see if her friend was diligently practicing her archery.
Just as she was listlessly pacing back toward the Parlor Car, ready to order another special drink, her gaze inadvertently swept across the bar. Something was there that hadn't been before.
An ancient-looking letter lay quietly on the polished countertop, as if it had materialized out of thin air.
"Hm?" Stelle's curiosity was instantly snagged.
She walked over and picked it up. The envelope bore no name, but the parchment felt strangely familiar to the touch, carrying the faint, blended scent of cheap wine and strong tobacco.
"This smell…" Stelle mumbled, tearing open the seal.
The handwriting inside was messy yet forceful, bearing the unique style of that decadent, world-weary bartender. Beyond the usual thanks and well-wishes for the Nameless of the Astral Express, the letter specifically entrusted Stelle with a "big task"—to take care of Miemie.
After reading the letter, Stelle's brow first furrowed in thought, then suddenly relaxed. Her gray eyes lit up with a flash of realization.
"That's right! Miemie!" She slapped her forehead, a memory surfacing. She recalled the poor creature that had been captured by its handler and forcibly modified into the final boss during that troublesome "Hot Sand Holiday" incident.
Gallagher was right. It was just a mischievous "pet" that had been trapped.
'And it doesn't like being lonely!' Stelle vividly remembered the pain and confusion the creature had shown when its captor tried to forcibly control it in that dream.
"Since Gallagher has entrusted this to me so solemnly…" Stelle stroked her chin, a strange sense of responsibility welling up in her chest.
Gallagher, that so-called thirteen-year-old "old timer" who had helped them in Penacony and shared drinks with them (though Stelle hadn't partaken, being underage), was formally asking for a favor for the first time. And it was to take care of his "pet"…
She absolutely had to come through for him.
Stelle's eyes sparkled with the unmistakable glow of a plan coming together. "Then I, Stelle, will reluctantly accept the important mission of caring for this 'large pet'!"
However, the question of how to care for it was a problem.
She couldn't just stuff it into the luggage compartment, could she? And with Miemie's sheer size, ordinary methods definitely wouldn't work.
Just then, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning. When it came to pets, there was only one solution she could think of—the Master Ball! That red-and-white spherical device March 7th had gotten from a ten-pull a while back.
"That's it!" Stelle snapped her fingers, her excitement evident.
"The Master Ball! Didn't the description say it could capture non-humanoid intelligent creatures? Miemie definitely fits the 'non-humanoid intelligent creature' standard!"
"And to Gallagher, it's just a 'mischievous pet'! The size of the pet doesn't matter; what matters is its essence!"
"Perfect!" Stelle slapped her thigh, giving herself a mental thumbs-up for her brilliant idea.
No sooner said than done. She was Stelle, a woman of swift and decisive action who never procrastinated. She immediately put the letter away and rushed toward March 7th's room in the passenger car.
"March! Open up! It's urgent!" Stelle knocked loudly on the door.
The door slid open to reveal March 7th holding her phone, striking a pose in front of a glowing light board. She was clearly in the middle of a photoshoot for her new companion, Sode no Shirayuki.
"What is it, Stelle? Can't you see I'm busy documenting my beautiful new friend?" March pouted, clearly displeased by the interruption.
"It's an emergency! It concerns the happy future of a 'pet'!" Stelle declared, handing Gallagher's letter over with a grave expression.
She then launched into a rapid-fire explanation. "...So that's the situation! Gallagher entrusted Miemie to us!"
"But with Miemie's condition, just talking won't work! So, I need your Master Ball! To 'invite' it onto the Astral Express and 'take good care' of it!"
March 7th took the letter and quickly scanned Gallagher's message. Her eyes lingered on the descriptions of "afraid of loneliness" and "mischievous pet," then her mind conjured an image of Miemie's twisted, terrifying, death-wreathed form…
'As a pet owner, isn't Gallagher's personal filter a little… outrageous?!' The contrast was just too immense.
"…" After listening to Stelle's plan, March's expression shifted from initial confusion to shock, and finally… to a state of utter speechlessness.
She looked at Stelle's sparkling eyes, which were practically screaming 'praise me for my cleverness,' and then thought back to Miemie's actual appearance.
"Stelle…" March's mouth twitched as she tried to find the right words.
"I get that you want to help, and Gallagher's letter is very touching. And maybe, to Gallagher, Miemie really is like a 'pet'."
"But! But! Its appearance… Ugh, isn't it a bit… too terrifying? Are you sure 'capturing' it to keep by our side is a good idea? Can the Master Ball even hold it? Won't it just burst?"
"And most," March's concerns were entirely reasonable, "Miemie is a Meme from the Dreamscape. Is it really appropriate for it to follow us around? Didn't Gallagher's letter imply you should put it in an environment like the Dreamscape where it belongs?"
March paused, then offered a more sensible suggestion. "I think… Miemie might be better suited to staying in the Dreamscape. Even if it's a bit lonely, that's its 'home,' isn't it?"
Stelle puffed out her chest, her tone unusually firm. "First of all, I don't think Miemie is that scary! It just looks… well… quite distinctive!"
"Secondly, Gallagher said it's afraid of loneliness! After we saved it, just letting it wander alone in that big, dark Dreamscape? How pathetic is that!"
"The Astral Express is so lively! Maybe one day we'll even meet someone who can truly understand it and communicate with it? That's a million times better than it aimlessly wandering alone in the dark, right?!"
Stelle's words were resounding, her eyes filled with a rare earnestness and a stubborn persistence.
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