At that moment, Cocolia, who was carrying out her plan, and Serval, who was frantically comforting her little brother, both sneezed at the same time.
Gepard, who had come to report and was being comforted by his sister: "Supreme Guardian, Sister, are you all right?"
Cocolia and Serval: "We're fine. Someone's probably talking about us again."
Things other than Geomarrow might be difficult to find in the underground mines, and it might take a long time to dig up even a small amount of Geomarrow, but there were plenty of wandering automatons and vagrants looking to fish in troubled waters.
If the Underworld Fire had not maintained order, the miners would have been unable to survive long ago.
Looking at the automaton before them, named Beetle—of course, many people might not recognize that name. But if one mentioned Traffic Light, or the complete form of the Preservation Aeon, everyone should know what it meant.
"How is it, Kiana? Did it work?"
Seeing Kiana begin a series of incomprehensible operations, March 7th hurried over after standing up.
"The intrusion succeeded. Unfortunately, my idea was still too naive. I don't know if Traffic Light's level is too low, but there's no sign of it connecting to any network or terminal."
"All right."
"But..."
Hearing the turn in her words, everyone looked at Kiana once again.
A video began playing on the phone Kiana had taken out. It was extremely old-fashioned, and the picture was unclear.
In the video, the weather was bright and beautiful. Various small animals played happily among a sea of flowers, while tourists dressed in all kinds of clothing strolled through the town.
Then the scene changed. The sea of flowers, the crowds, and the previously bustling streets turned into a sea of flames. Even after people tried to put out the fire, they still could not stop the disaster from descending.
In the next moment, the flames were frozen by ice and snow, along with the streets. Finally, under the erosion of a blizzard, nothing remained except a field of white.
A figure and a mysterious object glowing with yellow light flashed past.
"Is that the First Supreme Guardian?"
Bronya immediately recognized the figure. As the next Supreme Guardian and the current acting Supreme Guardian, she was Cocolia's daughter.
Bronya's education included the experiences and appearances of every Supreme Guardian.
Even after seven hundred years, when many records could have deviated, one thing would never change: the records passed down from one Supreme Guardian to the next.
However, what she knew did not match this. Judging from the video, its contents were completely different from what she had learned.
"Impossible. Could the First Supreme Guardian have been the true culprit who activated the Stellaron and caused everything to be destroyed?"
"Heh. Supreme Guardians really are no good, whether the first or the current one."
Faced with Seele's words, Bronya still could not refute her. At this point, she even began to wonder whether the records concerning the First Supreme Guardian, Arisaland, also contained discrepancies.
"Stop watching. It's obvious this recording is fake."
Seeing this, Kiana felt that it held no value and directly turned off the projection.
Faced with Seele's questioning gaze, Kiana decided to explain so that Seele would not resent her and mock her later.
"If information about the Stellaron could be recorded by an ordinary automaton and preserved for seven hundred years, it would have been purged long ago. How could it possibly have appeared in the underground mines?"
"Why not? What if every generation of Supreme Guardians simply thought they had left no gaps?"
"Let's assume what you said is possible. But with this kind of perspective, endless heavenly fire had already descended, followed by frost. How could a tiny automaton survive at the scene..."
Kiana did not continue, but her meaning was obvious. Jokes aside, Traffic Light was not actually the Preservation Aeon. How could the recording have survived until now?
"Oh my, I've been found out? Those guys really aren't reliable. They said they were people capable of destroying the universe, but judging from this, their technology is still too poor."
A graceful figure hiding in the distance glanced at Kiana before disappearing from the spot.
In her hand, she still held a bill for contacting the Fictional Historian to fabricate the video recording.
Are You Cosmos Too?
"By the way, why are we here to find Svarog?"
March 7th stepped through the snow. Near the Mechanical Settlement, quite a few vagrants and automatons were looking at them, making her shiver.
"Stelle, hurry up and persuade Kiana too."
"Stelle!"
March 7th realized that Stelle had not responded after she had spoken for so long. Thinking that Stelle had gotten lost, she turned around, only to find Stelle crouching near a trash can, trying to take it away.
Fortunately, there were many vagrants nearby, along with automatons on guard, so Stelle did not succeed.
Still, Stelle's actions had achieved something. At the very least, they drew away quite a bit of attention and bought time for the others.
"Forget it. We'll ignore Stelle. But it seems we need permission to enter. Kiana, you're up."
Kiana rolled her eyes at March 7th. She did not know when it had begun, but she seemed to have taken on the role of some blue, pudgy fellow.
"Fine, I'll do it. Hopefully Svarog won't go berserk later."
Hearing Kiana's words, which were clearly only a casual complaint, March 7th nevertheless felt a chill run down her spine.
March 7th wanted to take back what she had just said, but unfortunately, it was already too late.
High above where they stood, someone had just been about to act to save time and see whether Kiana could bring her some new amusement. But after noticing that Kiana intended to make a move, she put away the bomb she had just taken out.
Kiana gathered her strength, then pulled out a loudspeaker.
"Svarog! Can you hear me? A blue-haired guy secretly photographed Clara and is planning to sell the pictures!"
After saying that, Kiana put away the loudspeaker.
The response she received was everyone's strange gaze.
Especially since they all knew who the blue-haired guy Kiana was referring to, their expressions became even more peculiar.
"Kiana, by the way, do you have some grudge against Sampo?"
"She tricked us earlier."
"No wonder. He deserved it."
In Rock Town, Sampo could not help sneezing.
"Achoo! Who's thinking about me again?"
But after sneezing, Sampo became sad, because when she got up, she discovered that a huge expense had appeared in her account. The other party had used a virtual account, so there was no way to find out who had done it.
After a rumbling sound, the tightly locked gate suddenly opened. Svarog arrived at the entrance to the Mechanical Settlement with scarlet eyes, seemingly scanning the area for any sign of a blue-haired figure.
"Yo!"
"Outsiders, state the reason for your arrival."
"Well, it's like this..."
Kiana had wanted to speak for herself, but March 7th pulled her behind them and had Bronya stand at the front of the group to explain their purpose to Svarog.
"March 7th, what are you doing?"
"Shh, don't talk. What if you really provoke Svarog into going berserk? Wouldn't we be in serious trouble?"
"In serious trouble? What are you talking about? Is that iron shell planning to treat us to a meal?"
The moment Svarog appeared, the vagrants who had been lingering at the entrance scattered. Clara was Svarog's weak point, and the instant they heard Kiana's words, the vagrants sensed that something was wrong and fled.
Stelle also got her wish and claimed the trash can she had discovered. This time, however, she went even further and tried to pack it up and take it away.
"Stelle, put down the trash can. If you really can't let it go, I'll buy you a new one when we return to the train, all right?"
"No!"
While the three of them argued over Stelle's actions, Svarog, because of the Stellaron, classified them all as uncertain factors.
To prevent the calculated future from becoming even worse, Svarog chose to repel them and make them abandon their further investigation completely.
"Mr. Svarog, don't!"
"Clara."
The red light in Svarog's hand faded. By the time the two little ones arrived from a distance and came to his feet, he had stopped attacking.
"Mr. Svarog, they're good people. They brought a lot of supplies to the Lower District. Everyone in Rock Town likes the big sisters who just arrived. The big sisters are good people."
"According to my calculations, their arrival..."
"Mr. Svarog..."
Looking at Clara's tear-filled eyes and expression that seemed to say she would cry if he continued, Svarog chose Clara's smile over the future of the planet.
"I understand. I won't attack. However, to prove that you are truly prepared to face everything, you must defeat the three automatons under my command."
"No problem."
Since things had already reached this point, Clara had no intention of stopping them any further.
Hook ran over from the side toward Stelle and Kiana.
"Hmph, hmph! The favor you asked this honorary mole member to do is complete! Hurry up and thank Hook the Great!"
"Hook the Great is amazing."
Stelle rubbed Hook's head, then glanced at Kiana, who had offered advice from the side.
Kiana also took out some snacks and pastries from her space and handed them to Hook.
"Hook, thank you for your help. These snacks and pastries are for you. Go eat them with Clara."
"Okay, kind white-haired big sister."
Svarog glanced at Clara's friend and reminded Clara:
"Clara, remember to clean your mouth after eating. These foods contain excessive amounts of sugar. Be careful of cavities."
Seeing Seele and Bronya already fighting the surrounding automatons together, Kiana did not go over to help. Instead, she stared at Clara's feet.
"Kiana, what are you doing now?"
Faced with March 7th's question, Kiana pulled March 7th over without the slightest attempt to avoid anyone else, then spoke in a solemn tone as if discussing philosophy.
"Tell me, Clara walks barefoot through the snow every day. Doesn't she feel cold? And if the soles of her feet are frozen like this every day, won't she catch a chill and suffer frostbite?"
"She's a Pathstrider, and the temperature here isn't as cold as the snowy wilderness outside the city. Wait, what are you thinking about? Seele and Bronya are fighting. Aren't we going to help?"
"No, we can fight anytime. Aren't you curious why Clara is valued so highly by Svarog, yet has no shoes?"
"Why?"
March 7th had originally intended to drag Kiana over to help, but after hearing that question, her curiosity was piqued as well. She followed Kiana's gaze.
As a result, after hearing the answer, March 7th's gaze toward Svarog became strange.
"An acquaintance once told me—well, she was a little girl like Clara. She said Cosmos liked little girls under twelve. Oh, not necessarily girls. She also said he liked them like this."
"Eh!"
March 7th drew out the sound, and her gaze toward Svarog gradually became peculiar. She felt that the little girl Kiana had mentioned looked a lot like Clara.
Svarog also seemed exactly like the person Kiana had described: someone who liked children under twelve and had the strange habit of liking them to go barefoot without shoes.
"Wow, what a pervert. I never expected Svarog to be that kind of person."
She had not lowered her voice, so everyone nearby heard her. Bronya even lost focus because of it and nearly got hit by an automaton.
"Don't get distracted during battle."
"Sorry. But thank you, Seele."
After apologizing, Bronya began multitasking.
She interfered from a distance, used the power of Harmony to support Seele, and simultaneously made up her mind to investigate Svarog thoroughly once everything was over. There was definitely something perverted about him.
The Cosmos Kiana had mentioned was the same. She would absolutely add him to the wanted list in the future and ban him, or anyone similar, from appearing in Belobog.
Cosmos: Why has my reputation been ruined again?
Fortunately, Clara explained the truth. Otherwise, Svarog might have ended up saddled with the reputation of a pervert.
"Interesting. Truly interesting. As expected of the person I took an interest in. How delightful."
"However, it seems my Prince still hasn't chosen a Path. I wonder if I'll have the chance to make him my companion in the future?"
Before you continue