The night wind from the kicked-open door still clung to her cheeks. Penacony's night never sleeps. The golden hour's neon lights blurred orange and purple in the distance. The four of them had just stepped outside, and everyone's breathing was still ragged. Black Swan steadied her breath with one hand against the wall. Silver Wolf's silver hair was slick with sweat. Only Kafka looked ahead with eyes already calculating the next move, absently pushing back his disheveled black hair. Then the terminal alert sounded. Silver Wolf glanced at the screen and muttered quietly. "[serious]A Family executive is coming directly. With an escort unit in tow" Penacony Family——the upper echelon of the oligarchy that governed this planet through five noble houses, their direct subordinates. They were in a different league from the Somniguard security forces. Sangatsu Nanoka looked at Silver Wolf's screen from the side. The text [[URGENT: Family Executive Lane, leading all escort units to the scene. Maximum alert directive in effect]] glowed red. The moment they turned the corner past the hotel's service exit, their escape route was cut off. In the dark alley, a formation lined up in perfect order. Over a dozen armed escorts with guns raised. And in their center, standing with her spine perfectly straight and utterly composed, was a woman. Probably in her forties, wearing a white suit with thin gold trim. Her face was expressionless—only her eyes calculating the four of them. "[cold]Confirmed four individuals on wanted list. Surrender is advised. Resistance will be met with force" Lane. The Family executive's voice was so quiet it was all the more terrifying. There wasn't a shred of willingness to negotiate in it. Kafka slowly stepped forward. Sangatsu Nanoka glanced at Kafka's profile for just a moment. That was enough to understand. She didn't even know when it had happened. But now she could read what Kafka was thinking. They'd moved together too many times, thrown to the ground again and again in training. The way Kafka communicated with just a glance, the timing, the weight distribution——her body remembered it all. Sangatsu Nanoka slowly opened her fingertips. Cold air seeped from her palms. Different from the cold when she'd gone berserk in the dream's depths. That had been a cold meant to destroy. This was a cold meant to protect. Kafka stopped three meters before Lane. "[gentle]Well then, shall we talk?" A smile of composure. Silver eyes quietly fixed on Lane. The next instant, Kafka's mental manipulation flowed into Lane. Lane's eyes lost focus for just a moment. One or two seconds——that gap before the escorts could notice their commander's change. Sangatsu Nanoka's cold swept across the stone pavement. Without a sound, thin ice raced along the ground. The moment it reached Lane's feet, the ice bloomed like a flower. Precise, careful——from ankle to knee, a transparent ice cage pinned Lane in place. By the time Lane regained consciousness, she couldn't move. "[surprised]——What is this" The escort unit moved as one. In that instant, Silver Wolf's fingers flew across the terminal like a storm. "[excited]Escort communication system completely rewritten! Sending retreat order!!" A false retreat command flowed through the escorts' comms. The formation collapsed. Confused voices rose. Someone was shouting "Verify the order," but the communication system was already in Silver Wolf's hands. There was no one to verify with. Kafka spoke without turning around. "[serious]Let's go" The four of them ran. Around corners, through the outer corridor—— It was during this. Black Swan, running, suddenly grabbed the Memento crystal with one hand. Her pure white hair swayed. Her red eyes narrowed as they caught the crystal's light. "[surprised]……It's flowing in" "[serious]What is?" "[serious]Memory data. What automatically surfaced from the dream's depths due to Sangatsu Nanoka's awakening——it's entering the Memento" While running, Black Swan analyzed the crystal. Her breathing was ragged, but her eyes remained cold and clear. "[serious]A fragment of prophecy that Elio had hidden in Penacony's dream" Elio——the name of someone said to be the leader of the Stellaron Hunters, someone with the power to see the future. "[serious]When Sangatsu Nanoka's memories fully awaken, the fate of the galaxy will branch——that's what it says" Her running feet felt heavy for just a moment. The fate of the galaxy. Silver Wolf opened his mouth while running with long strides. "[sarcastic]I mean, the fate of the galaxy? That's way too much pressure. Honestly, my stomach hurts" "[cold]Be quiet and run" "Roger that" Sangatsu Nanoka kept running. She asked herself: was she afraid? ——No. Something had changed since she'd screamed at her other self in the dream's depths. The version of herself that had been able to shout "even if I'm fake, it's fine" wouldn't break no matter what was said. Even if told the galaxy's fate would branch, her feet wouldn't stop running in this moment. Right now, she could only think of moving forward. That was enough. Kafka glanced at Sangatsu Nanoka's profile for just a moment. She noticed his gaze. But she couldn't read Kafka's expression. ——They returned to the Luvia Grand Hotel lobby three minutes after they started running. A forty-meter-high atrium displayed an artificial starfield. The lobby was already in chaos. Evacuated guests moved back and forth with their luggage. Some Somniguard were still sealing off the building, but the emergency route Silver Wolf had hacked was still active. "[serious]Emergency exit, number three. We can get outside through this route" The four of them tried to move. That's when—— Sangatsu Nanoka's feet stopped. Something appeared beyond the large window. Penacony's dawn was beginning. The edge of the sky where orange and purple mixed was turning slightly white. In that white sky, the silhouette of a docked ship was visible. The Astral Express—— A three-hundred-meter-long space train sat in Penacony's orbit. Through the window, the silhouette was visible. Everyone was there. Yanqing, Herta, Pom-Pom——the place she'd been separated from for two weeks. Something in her chest moved with a heavy thud. She could go back. There was a place to go back to. The feeling she'd kept submerged at the bottom of her heart since leaving the Vagrants on Yarilo-VI surged up all at once. The window glass against her palm was cold. Her fingertips were white. When she stared at the train's silhouette, it seemed to shimmer slightly. Kafka came to her side. Without a sound. She just realized he was there. Kafka looked out the window once, the same way. Then he looked up at the artificial starfield and spoke to Sangatsu Nanoka. "[gentle]Go. The train is there" His voice carried its usual composure. But Sangatsu Nanoka understood. The tired face of Kafka sleeping on the sofa the night before the dream——that exhausted expression and his voice now overlapped just slightly. Sangatsu Nanoka turned to face Kafka. Two weeks of everything flowed through her mind. Kafka's back reflected in the small shuttle's window. The single nod he'd given her so many times during training. His hand silently placing a cup at breakfast. The meaning of "if that child were like this too"——she still didn't understand it. But it was all real. Sangatsu Nanoka gripped Kafka's hand with both of hers. Then with her other hand——the camera she'd been holding all this time, she pressed into Kafka's hand. "[serious]I'll come back to see you. All the photos are in here——I'd be in trouble if I didn't get it back" Kafka's eyes widened slightly. Even though he always wore a mask of composure, that one moment of surprise that only appeared when something unexpected happened. Then——Kafka smiled. It was a smile she'd never seen before. No calculation, no pose of composure, nothing. Just soft. A face without a mask. "[gentle]……You're cruel" That was all he said. Silver Wolf, who'd been watching without restraint, opened his mouth awkwardly. "[sarcastic]Hey, I'm totally not paying attention or anything. Go ahead" Black Swan looked away and began confirming the direction to the emergency exit. Her pure white hair swayed. The moon tattoo below her left eye floated in the lobby's light. It was their way of being considerate. Sangatsu Nanoka ran without looking back. If she looked back, she felt like she'd stop. As she ran, something wet traced down her cheeks. She wiped it with her hand. It was wet. She didn't even understand why she was crying. Was it sadness, joy, or was it all mixed together——without understanding, only her feet moved forward. She exited through the emergency door. The dawn air was cold. She ran in a straight line to the Astral Express's boarding ramp. The boarding ramp door opened. "Sangatsu Nanoka!!" Voices. Multiple voices. Familiar voices. Sangatsu Nanoka jumped into the boarding ramp and stopped. Her comrades were there. Everyone was there. The warmth of her real home after two weeks crashed over her entire body. "[crying]I'm home" That was all she could say, her face a mixture of tears and smiles. Surrounded by her comrades, Sangatsu Nanoka searched the Penacony sky through the window. She searched for the black and purple silhouette of the Vagrants. But it was no longer visible. Was Kafka now holding the camera to his chest in front of the lobby's large window? Beyond the lobby window, Kafka held the camera in both hands, watching Sangatsu Nanoka's back disappear from view. Only after her footsteps completely faded did his lips move silently. A voiceless whisper dissolved beneath the lobby's artificial starfield. That child was different. That was good. ——Inside the train, surrounded by her comrades, Sangatsu Nanoka touched her forehead. A faint pattern of ice remained. As Black Swan had said, the seal hadn't completely returned. The next time she entered the dream, or when some trigger was pulled——no one knew what would happen. Sangatsu Nanoka herself knew this too. But right now, she wasn't afraid. The camera's folder contained everything from the first photo in the small shuttle through all two weeks. Kafka's tired sleeping face, the moment she was thrown to the ground in training, the one frame where Black Swan yawned——all of it. The camera returning meant——there was a reason to go see them again. That was enough.