Two people flew through the skies of Feng-Lang, casting transient shadows on the ground below. Gaius and Isabelle had gone through the other tourist sites in Mi-Zu, but a few of them were closed due to a myriad of reasons.

For instance, the museum that recorded how the Demigod Xie Baole carved out Feng-Lang from Mi-Zu had gone bankrupt last year, due to an upsurge in the costs of operations. Another one, The History of Weapons in the East, had closed down three years ago, due to most of its exhibits being fake.

Oh, and there was one, whose owner fled the East after his wife from Feng-Lang met his girlfriend in Mi-Zu.

All in all, Seireiden’s tourist sites weren’t exactly the definition of operating well — not to mention that Gaius himself had a hand in making Takamagahara inaccessible. It was still inaccessible, when they went to check up on it.

“Shouldn’t you at least compensate Kishi Gakuen for essentially destroying Takamagahara?” Isabelle asked.

“But that’s not my fault,” Gaius replied. “And how did you know I was thinking about these attractions?”

“It’s written all over your face,” Isabelle replied.

“Is that how it works?” Gaius rubbed his face. “But I didn’t do anything to destroy it, though.”

“Other than pressing your hand down on a glowing red print, Master Gaius,” said a voice from his backpack, “you were absolutely innocent.”

Gaius smacked his backpack, and a small ‘ow’ floated out from it. “Aren’t you supposed to be playing with La-Ti and Nakama? Why are you here?”

“Excuse me? It’s like six in the morning at the North,” Nexus replied. “They’re fast asleep on Xanadu’s bed.”

“You’re telling me that they didn’t stay up all night to work on artefacts while we’re gone?” Gaius asked. “Why, I haven’t forgotten you telling me that Nakama was—”

“Stop talking—oh. Too late.” Nexus’s presence faded, just as Isabelle leaned in close to Gaius. This time, however, she wasn’t trying to hug him or anything; but rather, she was staring at the backpack.

“Nexus,” began Isabelle. “I know you can hear me. If you don’t, I’ll start taking a leaf out of Gaius’ book and subject you to cartwheels and everything.”

The backpack quivered, and Nexus popped his head out. “Please don’t do that.”

“Then talk,” Isabelle replied.

“Um.” The sculpture hesitated. “Promise not to let Nakama know that I told you, and I’ll talk.”

“You have my word,” said Isabelle, before turning to look at Gaius, who shivered immediately. “So? What did Nakama do?”

“She’s been ditching sleep to dismantle and rebuild artefacts,” Nexus replied. “Regularly.”

“Regularly?” Isabelle asked, reaching over to pick up the intelligent artefact. “What happened to her sleep? Didn’t you try to convince her?”

Gaius had a feeling that these words were particularly familiar, for some reason. After mulling on that feeling for a few moments fruitlessly, he returned his attention to Nexus, who was now in Isabelle’s grip.

“Y-yeah…about that.” The sculpture quivered.

“Go on,” said Isabelle.

Rolling his eyes, Gaius said, “He was abused by Nakama when he tried to dissuade her. She threw you into the ceiling for what, a hundred times?”

Nexus nodded. “To her credit, she didn’t do it with a lot of strength, but it’s quite the harrowing experience.”

Isabelle flinched at those words. “That’s…”

“Like I said, children can be oddly cruel at times.” Nexus hung his head and sighed. He stared into the air blankly, before wheedling his body out of Isabelle’s grip. It didn’t take long for him to retreat into the safety of Gaius’ backpack, and the little fellow retreated to one of his other sculptures.

“We should get Nakama to apologise to Nexus when we come back,” said Isabelle.

“I’m beginning to think that too. It just slipped my mind after all this,” Gaius replied. “I’m a failure as a brother and as a Master of the Library.”

“There, there.” Isabelle rubbed his head. “We should make sure that she gets enough sleep, though. She’s a growing child.”

“It’s probably due to my absence,” said Gaius, letting a small sigh. “And it’s just going to go downhill in the next few years.”

“We’ll keep trying to think of something,” said Isabelle. “There has to be something we can do for you, right?”

Gaius looked her in the eye, and then let out a tired sigh. “Let’s not think about that for a moment. Anyway, we’re almost at Feng-Lang. See that little town?”

“I remember watching a news report about it,” Isabelle replied. “What’s so special about it?”

“It’s the one I spent a night in, when I first came to Eo-Seu,” Gaius replied. “Let’s just go down and get some lunch there, shall we?”

“What do they have?” Isabelle asked.

“Roasted meat seems to be their specialty,” Gaius replied.

“I’ll just make do with a drink, then. I think I’ve been eating too much roasted food for the past few days,” said Isabelle.

“They probably sell food that’s not roasted too,” said Gaius. “Let’s check it out before we make any calls, okay? And besides, starving is bad for you.”

“But—”

“No buts,” said Gaius. “If you aren’t eating, I won’t eat either. We’re supposed to share joy and sorrow together, right? How am I supposed to that if I’m the only one eating?”

“…Just one bite.”

“We should get something small, then.” Gaius nodded to himself. “Besides, I also think we’ve been eating too much oily food. A change of palate would be good too. Would you prefer soup-based dishes? Or steamed ones?”

“Soup?” Isabelle asked.

“Aright, we’ll go with that, then.” Gaius grinned as they continued to draw close to Feng-Lang, before pulling her into a hug.

“Are you planning on landing like this again?”

He let out a small laugh. “Isn’t it thrilling?”

Isabelle held her head. “Where did you pick up all these bad habits from? Did you get them from the Pinnacle?”

“Who knows?”

The noon sun continued to shine down on them as they began to descend, drawing eyes from everyone inside the small town as they landed. Chuffed, Gaius pulled Isabelle over to the inn, which was somewhat packed, and the two found a seat.

His eyes fell upon a tall board, where lots of newspaper clippings had been pinned on it. One of them in particular caught his eye.

“What’s wrong?” Isabelle asked.

Gaius glanced at an eye-catching headline. “’Conrah’s subordinates abandon Eo-Seu and head south.’ It’s quite a new article too, from the looks of it. Just a week ago. Not long after the Human God died.”

“You think it’s related?”

“Maybe.” Gaius shrugged. “Who’s to say?”