Into the Cosmos (Star Rail SI, Chaos Gacha) (Patreon)

Chapter 35: First Sunlight

Sometime Later

“Onii-chan!”

“Clara!”

Taking Clara into my arms and hugging her firmly while rubbing our cheeks together, I felt a sudden peace take over my soul, as if everything was right with the world.

After several hours of being debriefed on everything that had happened in the time I was away in Firefly’s warm embrace, being able to hug my cute little sister like this was heaven.

Just recalling how much had passed threatened to give me a headache, with the most important being the fate of Cocolia.

Despite Bronya’s suggestion that Cocolia remain in charge and just make up a lie to the people of Belobog—which I thought was a horrible idea, as the truth always eventually comes out—Cocolia had disagreed and resigned as Supreme Guardian.

She had argued that after everything she had done, possessed or not, there was no way she could remain in power and passed the mantle to her daughter. I had learned that Cocolia wanted to reveal the truth and take the blame for everything before leaving the world for good in exile, but Bronya had been heavily against it.

After much arguing back and forth, it was decided that while Cocolia would still resign, she would stay and do her best to guide her daughter as the next leader.

The people of Belobog would be told a slightly altered version of events that wouldn’t paint Cocolia as the villain, and that she simply no longer felt worthy of leading Belobog.

Since the existence of the Stellaron was a secret from the public, all the people knew was that our group had managed to make great headway against the Fragmentum, since the changing of the weather was attributed entirely to me.

While it was a slightly better version of events than what I remembered, I admit it still left a bad taste in my mouth, since they were basically lying to the people of Belobog. Lies, from my personal experience and belief, never tended to stay secret for long, and it was better to rip off the band-aid than let the wound fester.

March, being the honest girl she was, had felt the same as me, but in the end it was not our decision to make, since this was not our world.

With that handled, they had become busy letting everyone know, especially the populace of the Underworld, about the sun shining once more on Belobog and that the Underworld would be reopened as soon as possible, allowing them to once more come to the surface.

Wanting to see Clara and Natasha again, especially after hearing that they had been really worried about me, I had decided to make the trip here by my lonesome before we headed back to the surface for Bronya’s ascension. March and Dan Heng had wanted to accompany me, but now that we weren’t fugitives anymore, March wanted to explore the surface a bit and Dan Heng wanted to see the library.

I had found them standing outside the clinic and, unable to help myself, I had immediately jumped at the chance to spoil my cute sister.

“I’m glad to see you in good spirits, Caelus. Both Clara and I have been worried about you, as it seems you have a habit of disappearing for periods of time without informing anyone,” came Natasha’s soft and teasing voice.

I blinked my eyes open and saw the beautiful nurse smiling at us while looking at me with a relieved but still worried expression.

“Hey, Natasha!” I greeted cheerfully with a grin, not moving from my spot at all and causing Clara to squirm a bit as she got comfortable. “How’s my favorite beautiful nurse doing?”

“Fufufu, always the flatterer. And aren’t I the only nurse you know so far, Mr. I-Lost-My-Memories?” Natasha asked as she giggled softly into her hand.

I was about to respond with another compliment before I blinked as Clara finally pulled away and turned my cheek to face her worried eyes.

“You lost your memories, Onii-chan?” Clara asked worryingly before her gaze traveled over my body and she gave me a quick once-over.

“And are you sure you shouldn’t be resting right now? You pushed yourself really hard against Mr. Svarog and then went and did it again for the entire planet after waking up. I heard from Miss March and Miss Seele that you did something so incredible that everyone is calling you a hero now, so you must be exhausted,” Clara rambled on in a worried tone, her eyes trembling.

Grinning confidently to reassure her, I puffed my chest, which was a bit hard with her still in my arms, and pointed at myself.

“Huhu~ Didn’t I tell you before, Clara? Your Onii-chan is pretty amazing, so something like that was nothing for me,” I boasted in an exaggerated manner.

It seemed my words did have some effect, as Clara’s expression became a bit more relaxed and she nodded at me. I also mentally gave myself a pat on the back from distracting her from the lost memories mess.

“Yes. To be honest, I have always believed you were amazing, Onii-chan. Even during our first meeting. Your eyes were so full of hope and life that it was mesmerizing to look at,” Clara revealed honestly, causing a genuine blush to rise to my cheeks as Natasha giggled in the background.

“Geez, you sure know how to make your Onii-chan’s heart go doki-doki.” I let out a playful sigh before grinning and kissing Clara on the cheek, taking her by surprise and causing her to turn cherry red.

“There. As a reward for making Onii-chan really happy with your words. Expect a lot more in the future~” I teased playfully.

Apparently that was too much for my cute sister, as she started stuttering terribly while grabbing her cheeks and looking away from me.

“Fufufu, alright, I think you’ve teased Clara enough,” Natasha jumped in with an amused laugh and a suggestion. “Clara, why don’t you go look for Hook and her little friends and bring them here so we can go to the Overworld together?”

Happy to get away from the embarrassing situation, Clara rapidly nodded before shyly turning to me. “C-Can you let me down now, Onii-chan?”

“Aww, but I wasn’t done recharging my Clara batteries,” I whined, but nonetheless let her down onto the ground. She quickly but politely dismissed herself before making a beeline in search of Hook.

“Don’t take too long, Clara, and please try not to let Hook corrupt you!” I yelled with a wave as I watched her go with a smile.

“Hook is not that bad,” Natasha said gently as she stood next to me with a relaxed expression on her face.

“I know, but there’s no denying that Hook is a mischievous kid,” I said in agreement as I stuck my hands in my pockets and relaxed.

“True,” Natasha conceded before she turned to me with a bit of concern in her eyes. “Are you truly alright? We were really worried about you.”

Smiling lightly, I turned to her and nodded calmly. “I am. I should’ve figured someone as smart as you would quickly put the clues together about my condition.”

“You flatter me, but you can’t exactly blame me for worrying after ending up in my clinic three times for the same reason. After your fight with Svarog, I took some of the dried blood from your injuries and, on a whim, ran a test on it to see if I could find something. I never would have expected…” Natasha paused at the end as a look of anguish crossed her face.

“I’m no doctor, but I can probably guess that you saw my blood breaking down, right?” I finished for her in the same tone.

“…Yes. It was the first time I had seen such a phenomenon, and I’m still astonished that you’re still walking around like nothing is wrong,” Natasha admitted, her beautiful face marred with a frown.

“I won’t tell you not to worry, but just know that not everything is as bleak as it looks,” I said reassuringly as I placed a hand on her shoulder.

Natasha looked at me silently with complicated emotions in her eyes for a moment before letting out a hollow chuckle.

“I don’t get it. How can you still smile like that and risk everything for complete strangers, even taking the time to take a lonely girl under your wing and ignite such hope in her? Are you secretly a saint?” she asked with sad but soft eyes.

“Now, now, don’t go writing me off just yet, Nat,” I said as I playfully flicked her forehead, causing her to blink in astonishment at my actions.

“I can assure you that I won’t be kicking the bucket anytime soon, so there’s no need to give me such a sad look. Aren’t you supposed to be celebrating that Belobog is no longer a frozen wasteland and that you and every citizen in the Underworld are now able to freely travel to the surface?” I asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

Natasha blinked again as she grabbed her forehead before letting out another chuckle, this one much happier. “And I suppose you’re not going to mention the fact that all of this was only possible because of you and your friends?”

“Pst, it was a group effort.” I waved it away before suddenly blinking myself as I remembered the second reason I was here. I pulled out two red potions from my inventory under Natasha’s curious gaze.

“Here. I told you I would pay you back, and this is the start,” I said as I held them out to her.

Natasha looked surprised but nonetheless took them from my hands and examined them closely. “I thought I told you that there was no need, but I have a feeling you’re quite the stubborn person. Anyway, what’s this?”

“You got it in one, alright,” I confirmed her suspicions with a happy nod before smiling brightly and then striking a ridiculous pose while pointing at her as I started explaining. “And I’m glad you asked!”

“What you have in your hands right now is a medical and magical wonder that’s been used by adventurers all over the universe to traverse great dangers while coming out unscathed! The one and only healing potion!” I declared dramatically as I pointed down at it with what I thought was a cool pose.

‘Yep, nailed it. I could totally become a salesman if I wanted to.’ I thought inwardly with a mental nod.

Taken aback by my actions, Natasha looked at me silently, some amusement in her eyes, before what I said fully registered. She blinked and then looked down at the red vial in surprise.

“By healing potion, do you mean…”

“Ding, ding, ding!” I finished for her as I raised a finger in the air in a different pose now. “Correct. What you have before you is a wonderful liquid that, when ingested by someone, accelerates a person’s natural healing process and thus heals them!”

“S-Such things actually exist in the wider universe!? Amazing!” Natasha asked in surprise as she started looking at the potions with a look of awe in her eyes and held them gently, as if afraid to break them.

“U-Umm, maybe?” My playful advertisement of my own potions came to a full stop as I tried to recall if potions were a thing here in this universe, but came up blank.

Seeing the curious and confused look Natasha was giving me, I coughed into my hand and continued. “A-Anyway, the point is that they definitely work as intended, and I’m able to get a vial of that daily, so sorry in advance that I can’t just give you a bunch like I originally wanted.” I apologized and bowed to her.

“P-Please stop bowing, Caelus! I believe you.” Natasha quickly assured me, causing me to look up and see that she was slightly panicking, which made her look quite cute.

“And don’t worry about the amount. The fact that you’re giving me something clearly so rare is already too much. Are you sure I can have them?” Natasha asked me in a worried tone before blinking as if realizing something. “Wait, is this the reason you told me not to worry about your condition too much?”

“Of course you can have them. That’s why I gave them to you, after all,” I said with a smile before I thought about her second question. “And that’s partly the reason, but not the main one.”

Natasha nodded slowly in understanding. “I see. If that’s the case, I’ll gladly and thankfully take them off your hands.”

“I’ll try to stock up on some, and whenever I get the chance I’ll come and deliver them to you. With the power of the Trailblaze, I believe I already mentioned that we can always return in the future, so you don’t have to worry about not using them,” I assured her with a smile, getting a thankful one in return.

“Haah, I suppose it would be foolish of me to refuse such a gift,” Natasha said as she gave me a tired but fond look. I smiled and nodded, since she was right. “Hmm, I’ll try to see if I can dilute them a bit then, if you’re going to be dropping off more in the future.”

“I wouldn’t know what to tell you about that. You’re the doctor here.” I shrugged with a clueless look lying with a straight face about my knowledge of medicine, causing her to roll her eyes with a smile.

Hearing the unmistakable loud voice of Hook approaching, I turned to greet them, only to blink as Natasha suddenly held my sleeve. Upon turning, I froze as I saw Natasha literally in front of my face, a small blush on her cheeks and a smile on her face.

A moment later, I felt a pair of soft lips touch my cheek before the feeling was gone. Natasha quickly turned around as she pocketed the potions, though I still heard her whisper.

“Thank you for everything, Caelus. You’re truly one of a kind, and someone I’m happy to have met,” Natasha muttered, still facing away from me.

I was about to respond before I got the breath knocked out of me by none other than the little gremlin herself, Pitch-Dark Hook the Great.

“Honorary Member, I missed you. Why haven’t you come to visit Hook!?” Hook demanded as she looked up at me with a cute scowl on her face.

“Hey Hook, I missed you too.” Smiling down at her, I patted her head, causing her to relax before she realized what she had done and smacked my hand a second later.

“D-Don’t pat-patri—Ggrr, don’t you dare look down on Hook, Honorary Member!” Hook exclaimed, pausing and eventually giving up on using a smarter-sounding word as she pointed at me.

Wanting to tease her a bit more and in an attempt to get my mind off Nat’s kiss, I turned to Clara and saw her trailing a bit behind Hook.

“Alright, I guess Hook won’t get any headpats then and they will all go to my cute Clara!” I exclaimed as I brought my hand down and patted Clara’s soft white hair. Unlike Hook, she immediately melted under my hand and closed her eyes.

“For being such a good girl, I’m going to buy you tons of candy once we get to the Overworld,” I declared with a hidden smile as Hook immediately froze with wide eyes.

Then, a moment later, just as expected…

“Hook is a good girl too. Hook is a good girl too, Onii-chan, so buy her some candy as well!” Hook exclaimed in a desperate tone as she stood next to Clara and lowered her head as if giving me permission to pat her. She didn’t even realize what she had called me.

Grinning triumphantly, I brought my hand down and started patting her head again. Although she pretended to dislike it, she clearly liked the feeling.

“I guess Hook is a good girl after all~” I smiled in amusement before hearing a soft giggle and turning to see Natasha with a beautiful smile as she looked at us fondly.

‘Damn, I said it before but Natasha is truly beautiful. How is this woman not married yet and with a pair of kids?’

My question remained unanswered as we left the Underworld. Clara, Hook, and Natasha saw the sun for the first time as we made it to the Overworld.

Seeing the happy smiles and awed look on their faces, I felt a sense of accomplishment.

‘Yep, all my efforts were totally worth it.’