There was something worrying Arcturus. He gradually noticed as he left the stationery store, but the longer he walked and took in the scenery, the more silent Souhait became. While he was fine with not having Souhait interrupting his thoughts or comment on them, it did feel unusual for him to be so quiet.

Are you okay? This had been the third time he had asked this question to Souhait, but he received zero responses.

“Are you alright?” Murphy asked as he looked at Arcturus with concern. “Why the long face?”

“I’m fine. I was…in deep thought.”

“About Jennifer? Ignore her words. She’s a bit eccentric. She likes riling up people and trying to break them down mentally.”

“She’s certainly quite a character…” Perhaps, the abrupt conversation could be a great transition for him to talk about something else that has been on his mind. He asked Murphy, “Who is Ri?”

Murphy was the perfect person to ask as he had been close to the mayor in the past and was even there when Nova had arrived two decades ago. He needed to know why Souhait didn’t know who she was, but why Murphy did.

“Ri is…” Murphy pondered for a bit before resuming, “She’s like her right-hand woman?”

“Right-hand?”

“Other than the Lady Mayor herself, there are two other important people of power that control the city’s government. One of them is Ri Kuma, the woman you heard on the radio. She’s an anomaly of sorts. We don’t know where she came from. She just happened to come to this land one day and the previous mayor, Mebsuta took her in. I remember she got along with Bellatrix when the current mayor was a young girl at the time. She’s camera-shy, so she doesn’t really make much public appearances and prefers to use radio as a form of communication. Bellatrix is rather fond of her, hence why she gave her a lot of power.”

“How mysterious…”

It was then Souhait finally spoke up, startling Arcturus. Ask him what she looks like.

You finally spoke! Are you okay?

Just ask him what she looks like.

Arcturus gave in to his demand as he asked Murphy if he remembered what she looked like. “You worked for the family in the past, right? Do you remember what she looked like?”

Murphy stopped walking as he became deep in thought. A troubled look came to him. “What did she look like? I do recall her being a petite woman, but there are also some instances where she looked like she was taller than Bellatrix. What was her hair color? Red? Pink? Orange? Her eye color? Blue? Green?” He clutched his head. “Excuse me. I think my age is affecting my memory. I’m 61, after all.”

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I feel like his answer is vague. It can’t be helped given his age…

Actually, his answer is perfect.

How so?

Arcturus, I apologize for saying this, but I need to disconnect from your consciousness for a while. I need to return to Nova; there may be a chance that I may or may not return to you.

Why all of a sudden? Arcturus became worried.

There is something I want to confirm and I need to return to Nova in order to do so. I want you to enjoy the rest of your outing with Murphy without me interfering.

It was abrupt, but Arcturus felt like he had no right to interfere. Could you tell me what’s going on later? I’d like to know what has been bothering you.

I will explain later. I promise.

Alright.

Before I leave, can you stick your hand inside your satchel? There are two things I want you to keep with you just in case.

Sure… He did as Souhait requested; he did glance over at Murphy who looked at him with confusion. Arcturus felt something coming out of his hand; it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. When Souhait told him to take his hand out now, Arcturus immediately looked inside to see two familiar items in his bag: the bat Cobot and the purple earring.

I gave you the bat Cobot for payment to fix your bangle and the purple earring is something I hope you will ask Hilbert about as he seems to be an expert in technology.

He felt his heart fluttering. He didn’t want to let Souhait down, so he complied with his new request. He then placed a hand to his heart, which then caused Souhait to disconnect. He called out to him in his mind to confirm he was no longer there. It was just Arcturus’s sole consciousness within himself now.

“Are you really okay? You’ve been zoning out for a while now…” Murphy looked very concerned.

“I’m fine! I was just fighting off the urge to hiccup. They can be pretty bad if you let them be.” While lying wasn’t something Arcturus liked, he had to do it to not bring more concern to Murphy.

“That is true. Hiccuping at my age is pretty bad, especially since my lungs are getting weaker now.”

They both chuckled and then resumed walking towards their destination. On his way, he noticed a young man around his age accompanying an elderly man needing to walk with a stroller. While admiring the man’s kindness, it reminded him of his grandfather back home. His own grandfather was getting older–he recalled he turned 70 in the middle of summer. Suddenly, he stopped walking as he recalled something about his own grandfather.

Grandpa is 70, but his memory is still perfect as all Laminans have a good memory–it only deteriorates once they reach their seventies… Murphy is a Laminan and is 61 years old. How can he not recall what Ri looks like? Unless…

A chill ran down his spine as a rather unsettling assumption came to him. As Murphy called for him, he rushed towards him while understanding why Souhait was behaving strangely now.