After the Old Director and the others took Chu Mu out of the Fight Club, they did not return to the Orphanage right away. Instead, they went to the Goethe Grand Hotel and booked a budget room.
But the hotel's proprietress refused to accept their money, no matter what they said. She even upgraded their budget room to her finest suite!
Rooms of that caliber had always been affordable only to nobles visiting from the Upper District.
This left the Old Director feeling rather embarrassed, but the young proprietress, Gertie, simply pointed at Chu Mu and said admiringly:
"He's a hero of our Underworld, isn't he?"
Hearing this, the Old Director nodded proudly:
"He's an incredible child!"
What had happened tonight-Chu Mu's extraordinary act of taking an eye for an eye-had shaken everyone who knew about it!
Once the story made tomorrow's newspaper headlines, it would undoubtedly cause a sensation throughout the Underworld!
Gertie escorted them to their room and said earnestly:
"Old Director, please don't feel you owe me anything. If we're talking about debts, everyone in the Underworld owes you a word of thanks. Stay here tonight, and let me know if you need anything. Hmm, let me get this child some pajamas first. He can't keep wearing those clothes."
"Thank you so much!" The Old Director thanked her sincerely and stopped refusing.
"Don't thank me. I don't deserve it! I have my own selfish reasons for doing this! If this boy becomes someone important someday, that bloodstained outfit might even become the Goethe Grand Hotel's prized treasure." Gertie openly admitted her scheme.
Yet it was precisely this candor that made her seem rather likable.
Still, none of them took her words to heart.
After all, even if a child from the Underworld managed to survive to adulthood, becoming the captain of a mining crew was about the best they could hope for.
Rising any higher was difficult. The nobles of the Upper District had children of their own, after all.
Gertie understood this too. Everything she had said was merely meant to lighten the mood.
After settling everyone in and bringing over a finely made set of children's pajamas, Gertie went downstairs.
Oleg did not stay long either, leaving with Seele.
The child had been through too much tonight and had already fallen asleep against his shoulder.
Only the Old Director, Natasha, and Chu Mu remained in the room.
Chu Mu lay on the bed, his right eye socket sunken and empty.
Losing the sight on one side left him feeling deeply unsettled.
Beyond his reduced field of vision, the biggest problem was that his sense of distance had become dulled.
People with two healthy eyes saw things in three dimensions. Each eye saw a different angle, allowing them to judge how far away an object was.
But everything Chu Mu saw now was flat, leaving him unable to gauge distance.
The stark difference was impossible for him to get used to right away.
Of course, time would smooth everything over. Eventually, he would adapt to this way of life.
Just then, Natasha came to his side and said softly:
"You're very brave, Chu Mu."
She sat beside the bed, took one of his hands, and asked gently:
"Chu Mu, do you know about Aeons?"
"Aeons? I know Qlipoth, the god of Preservation. The Architects who first built Belobog were this Aeon's most devout followers." Recalling what he had read in books, Chu Mu smiled. "Teacher, why are you suddenly telling me fairy tales? I'm past the age for that."
"This isn't a fairy tale." Natasha looked at Chu Mu earnestly. "Chu Mu, Aeons really do exist."
Chu Mu looked at Natasha in surprise.
A sudden sense of clarity welled up inside him, followed by profound shock!
He remembered it vividly! Every time he suffered an episode, he would hear that same sigh at the very end:
"Is this the might of a god?"
Did that god refer to an Aeon?
Why did I have memories connected to Aeons?
Where did I come from?
Chu Mu had once firmly believed that his parents had placed him in an escape pod because their spaceship was crashing.
After all, that was what everyone around him said.
But now, with the existence of Aeons, his strange illness, and his fragmented memories, he was beginning to doubt that explanation.
At that moment, Chu Mu felt his throat go dry and asked:
"What are Aeons? Is there only one, or are there many? What effect do they have on us mortals?"
"It's impressive that you can come up with so many questions right after learning that Aeons exist." Natasha gave Chu Mu an approving look.
Then she explained:
"Aeons are the most mysterious beings in the sea of stars. They are powerful and strange, wielding cosmic laws known as 'Paths.' Of course there is more than one Aeon. After all, there is more than one Path in the universe. Qlipoth, the god of Preservation you know, is the Aeon who presides over the Path of Preservation."
She paused, then continued:
"For mortals like us, our only point of contact with Aeons is to embark on the Paths they command. Once a mortal awakens as a Pathstrider, they can wield the abilities of their Path."
Chu Mu considered this for a moment, then asked:
"Do mortals fight Aeons?"
"If you mean mortals challenging Aeons, that's impossible. The two aren't even life-forms on the same plane of existence." Natasha shook her head. "However, the Aeons do not coexist peacefully. Their mortal followers wage war against one another. The disaster on our planet began seven hundred years ago, when a faction serving Nanook, the god of Destruction, launched a war against us."
"Why do Aeons fight one another?"
"Perhaps their ideals differ. Each Aeon commands a different Path, and some Paths naturally oppose one another, like Preservation and Destruction. Others overlap, like Harmony and Order." Natasha sighed. "Mortals know far too little about Aeons. But once their battles spill over into the mortal world, countless stars are shattered."
"Chaos and disorder." Chu Mu offered his assessment, then posed another question. "Are Aeons born as Aeons, or do they become Aeons later?"
"Many become Aeons later. Some were once human, while others belonged to other species. After they ascended to godhood, the laws they commanded became Paths.
"However, one theory holds that once an intelligent being ascends to godhood and takes command of an entire Path, their life takes on a different form. They are no longer the person they once were, but the embodiment of a highly condensed philosophical concept."
At this point, Natasha looked at Chu Mu and smiled.
"You certainly have a lot of questions. Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"
"One more." Chu Mu gazed quietly at Natasha. "Teacher, are you suddenly telling me all this because you're a Pathstrider too?"
"Clever!" Natasha winked. "You guessed right. How should I reward you?"
Before you continue