Nerys said she won't be joining us in looking for Elegy and Hats. Now that she had a way to communicate with everyone, she said she was gonna go meet up with Sab so they can go look for them together.

"So we all agree they're just gonna spend their time goofing off, right?" Sheep asked.

"Definitely." I chuckled.

"Which isn't in any way bad, mind you." Pry chimed in, "In fact, they say you only ever find the thing you're looking for when you're not actively searching for it."

I think that kind of rule only applies to stuff like keys and spare change, not two full grown angels. In any case, they seem to be hitting it off well, so who are we to intervene? Having more Eyes on the lookout is always welcome. As for our group, we've got our work cut out for us.

"How do we even start searching for them if we don't have a single lead to work off of?" Energy sighed.

"Maybe I could fly you around while you scan for them?" Sheep replied, "It's not the most optimized route, but we should eventually find them that way."

"Hrm..." The Gods looked somewhat worried, "That won't work."

"How can you be sure?" I tilted my head.

"Elegy... He learns from others most." Pry explained, "Copying the skills of others and mastering it for yourself is the cornerstone of being a Wildcard, and he's one of the best in that regard."

"Indeed, and regrettably, the last thing he learned was that it is possible to dig through Heaven 2.0's stone layer."

Oh no, they're not insinuating that Hats and Elegy made another pickaxe and dug through the ground again? If that's the case, we can kiss any chances of finding them goodbye, especially since we learned the ground regenerates itself after a while.

"Then we should hurry!" Sheep panicked, "If they dig through into the Living World again, we won't be able to save them a second time!"

"Elegy wouldn't risk the fate the Gods warned him about, he won't dig through the bottom." Energy calmed him down, "But now there's no doubt. If there's any place he could hide from the Gods and an entire archangel without ever being caught, it's beneath us."

Well, that sucks. It'd be difficult for them to attain a spare wing from someone to craft into a pick like Nerys did, but I have no doubt in Elegy's abilities. On the other hand, where could we find a spare wing to...

"Hm?" Sheep simply smiled back at me, "Is there something on my face?"

"Yes, feathers." Energy donned a similarly serious tone to my own.

"Golden feathers, to be exact." I added, "Just the kind we need."

I felt bad, but it's not like he'd ever notice the difference anyways. Sheep has at least a million wings circling around his core, so taking one out wouldn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. He whined, cried, begged for us not to go through with it, but after he saw even the Gods were siding with us, he had no choice but to comply.

"Ow." He pouted after I yanked the heavy wing out.

"Shut up, archangels don't feel pain." Selz glared at him.

"It's emotional pain!" He shot back.

"You can't feel that either!" Pry shut him up, "You're doing us a huge favor with this, so have some pride!"

Hearing genuine praise, albeit in this roundabout way, really did lighten his mood. I've noticed this before, but Sheep's really easy to flatter. If he isn't careful, he might run into the wrong company. The kind that would use him as nothing but a tool and nothing else. Thankfully, he has us.

"Nerys, come in. Can you hear me?" I talked into the walkie-talkie.

Nothing but static.

"Nerys, remember to press the button if you want us to hear you." Energy added.

"...eah, sowry." She finally replied, "Wotcha' need?"

"How'd you turn your wing into a pick?"

"Hau?" She sounded confused, "Loike a parrot, jus' pluck tha' feathels."

"What then?" I cocked my head back.

"Steck it onna' steck."

Oh, I see. Pluck tha' feathels, then steck it onna' steck. Sounds simple enough... Not! To begin with, how are you gonna pluck gold out of gold!? And the stick, it's surprisingly pretty difficult to find a sturdy piece lying around in Heaven that fits the correct shape. Ugh, but this is just me speaking. For people like Elegy and Nerys, this must have been a piece of cake.

"Eh?" I jolted as I saw the two Gods plucking the damned thing like a turkey, "How are you doing that!?"

"Much like the wings themselves, the feathers aren't actually physically connected to the 'bone'." Selz explained, "They merely float picometers above it, like magnets. As Nerys explained, plucking the feathers out is extremely easy and requires next to no effort."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Oh..." I looked down, "Then, the stick...?"

"We'll use the wing's sharpness to our advantage and carve a stick out from a larger plank." Pry added, "We can just use one from Nerys' shipwreck."

Huh? Will that really be okay? It's her house, after all... But then again, if it were up to me, I'd just grab a random floorboard from someone's house anyways, so they're not wrong either. Eh, could it be? Is crafting a pickaxe capable of mining through the very foundation of Heaven actually super simple? You'd think it'd take more effort, given the power it holds, but I guess I was overestimating the process.

"Huh..." I touched the pointy tip of the wing-turned-pick, "Ow!"

"You pricked yourself?" Pry asked, "Be careful, it's a tool capable of ripping through Heavenly stone, so angelic skin is nothing to it."

"I'm actually bleeding outside of the Shrine..." I inspected the wound as it closed back up in seconds, "Guess I'm not as invincible as I thought."

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***

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"Oye, laddie!" Nerys addressed Sab through the line, "Where ye' at?"

"Exactly where I told you, I'm in front of the big Red house." He groaned back, "Where are you?"

"Oi'm derr' 'swell!" She pouted, "Nex' ta' the Green 'aus, roight?"

"Gree-? Wait, there's no Green house anywhere near here!" He paused, "Nerys, are you Colorblind?"

"...Am Oi'?"

Though the conversation was somewhat a solo talk between her and Sab, this last question seemed to be more aimed at everyone currently with a talkie on them. I shrugged when Sheep turned to me, leaving the Gods to answer it in our stead.

"Sigh, your Eyes are flawless, as is the rest of your body." Selz replied sluggishly, "There is no visual impairment to be had."

"So hau...?"

"You just suck at navigating." Pry explained.

"Euwe lil'-!" Her heart sank suddenly, "O-Oi, wot's ye' doin', fellas...?"

Crap, she heard us breaking off a plank of wood from her ship. We shouldn't have kept the line open.

"What was that? We're walking through a crowd now, so the signal might be a bit... (make some noise!)" I switched between talking to her and the gang, "Sorry, Nerys, what's the issue?"

"Ye' be takin' moi 'aus planks, ey!?" She sussed it out anyways.

How!? How'd she figure it out so soon!? We even told them we'd be leaving for Elegy soon as well, so how'd she figure out it was her house specifically!?

"Mates, ye' cannae fool a fool." She said with a smug tone, "Wen Oi' maed me oun pick, Oi' took me own planks aswell. Oi' mem'ris'd tha' sound, s'Oi'd kno'."

"Congratulations, Ace Detective." Sab saved our butts with the surprise assist, "Now get your ass over here, I'm standing around in front of someone's house like an idiot waiting for you!"

"Gah! Sowry!" She quickly hung up.

"...Phew." Sheep breathed a sigh of relief, "That was scary."

"Was it?" Energy didn't seem too bothered by it, "Even if she did get angry at us, it's not like she was anywhere near here anyway."

"Indeed, she could do nothing about it." Selz nodded, shaping the thick plank into a more handle-like stick shape, "Migu, don't just stand there."

Eh? What do you want me to do? I'm no woodcarver!

"Hold the damned plank." He rolled his Eyes, "I'll try and slice it in half."

"Hold up, you're gonna swing at me!?" I stepped back, "Nuh uh, no way! Pry, you do it!"

"I would, but I've come to learn that humans regenerate far slower than angels." He grinned proudly, "You can do it, I believe in you!"

"W-Wait, but isn't Selz's hand busted up from that elbow slam he did on Sab earlier?" I raised a panicky point, "S-So, why don't we switch? I'll swing, and you hold it!"

"You're forgetting that I am a human too now..." Selz explained.

Huh, I totally forgot. For Pry it's a lot more noticeable because he's more friendly and approachable, but Selz really leans heavily on the whole "God you don't wanna mess with" you'd hear all about in the legends. I suppose there's no other way around it. It's gonna be difficult, but I'll have to just suck it up and do it.

"Sheep." I handed him the plank, "You do it."

"What!? No wa-!"

"Hyah!" Selz swung at him full force with his Eyes shut firmly.

Thank goodness I handed the plank of wood to Sheep, otherwise it'd be my brain that just got impaled, and not his wings. Man, did Selz even try to aim beforehand? And why shut your Eyes? He really isn't cut out to become a lumberjack...

"Your comments are unnecessary!" He shouted at me, "Oi, Shopkeeper! Hand me back the pickaxe!"

"I would, but you sort of lodged it into me." He replied with a calm yet eerie tone, "Rather, how about someone else does the slicing? AND the holding?"

"I volunteer to slice!" Pry eagerly raised his hand.

"What? No, I'm slicing!" I contested him.

I think it was already made clear that I won't be holding the plank steady, so how come he gets a pass!? Nuh uh, absolutely not!

"He called first dibs, Migu." Sheep figured, "And someone has to hold it."

"Well I won't!"

"Neither will I!"

"Hmph, me neither."

"Ugh, you goddamned crybabies!" Energy suddenly piped up, "Fine, I'll hold it!"

"...Hm? You?" I looked into the bag, "But you're just a brain."

"Just place me on the ground before it." He instructed.

Figuring he had some kind of idea in mind, we positioned everything just as he had told us to. First it was him, then the plank a meter in front of him, then Prylos stood in front of the plank with his pickaxe edge. It was only then when we all collectively facepalmed at the realization that someone holding the plank up really wasn't even necessary, as we could just cut it from the ground like this.

"You lot wouldn't survive a day out in the wilderness, regardless of the Rotted roaming around." He mocked us, "So now that you've figured it out finally—you can put me back in the bag again, Migu."

"...I could." An impish grin grew on my face as the idea crossed my mind, "But you did say you wanted to be there to hold the plank steady."

"H-Huh? No, Migu, I don't physically have the body to-"

"No need to worry." Sheep chuckled deviously as well, "I'm sure Pry's aim is way better than Selz's. Ain't that right, Pry?"

"Totally!" Pry replied with a hearty nod, his Eyes already firmly shut before he even lifted the damned thing.

Needless to say, Energy got to taste the pointed tip of the golden pickaxe head point blank. The poor guy even bled like crazy, but thankfully due to his Heavenly Body's healing factor, he was quickly back to normal.

"Whuh...?" Energy seemed disoriented after the hit, "Wherr am I? Tia...?"

"Is he gonna be okay?" I turned to ask the Gods worriedly.

"Oh yeah, he'll be back to his usual self soon, just give him a minute." Pry reassured us.

"Get in the wagonnn~" Energy kept muttering more nonsense.

"We're slowly getting better at swinging." Selz reasoned, "Few more of those and we might just hit the plank next time. Me next."

It took them 26 swings until they eventually struck the plank. I had to yank it away from them before they hurt anybody else after that, and then I swung once and cut it clean in half. I'm not sure if this has happened before, but I think I might have just become the first person to earnestly get admired by the Gods because of this. By the way, Energy quickly recovered as well, so no harm done.