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

Chapter 37: We Meet Again

A Day Later

First thing in the morning the next day, as we made our way out of Belobog for our departure with Serval and Clara in tow, we met someone we weren’t expecting, seemingly waiting for us at the exit.

Seeing the mature figure of a blonde woman with purple eyes and the figure of a supermodel, we came to a stop as the woman perked up and focused her attention on us—or, to be more specific, on me.

March, who was walking beside me, leaned closer and whispered against my ear. “It’s Cocolia. I was wondering where she had gone the past few days.”

Serval, the one who knew Cocolia the best out of all of us, had a small frown on her face as she tilted her head at the woman.

“What do you want, Cocolia?” Serval asked with a blank tone, her previous dislike of the woman having mostly diminished compared to the tone she had used before.

‘Her finding out about Cocolia’s corruption by the Stellaron probably helped,’ I thought silently as I just stayed quiet while holding onto Clara’s legs. She was riding on my shoulders.

“Serval…” Cocolia turned to the woman with a mostly blank expression as she briefly inspected the bags she was carrying. “I see that you’ve decided to join the Nameless. I’m glad for you. Your talents were going to waste here.”

“Yes, well… There’s nothing keeping me here anymore, and it’s not like I can’t return and visit my siblings whenever I want,” Serval said a bit awkwardly as she looked away.

Cocolia adopted a similar expression, which just made things awkward for us watching as well.

“This is really awkward,” March whispered into my ear with a nervous expression on her face as I nodded silently.

Seemingly having heard us, Cocolia turned in our direction, causing March to squeak cutely and blush in embarrassment.

Ignoring what she said, though, Cocolia focused all of her attention on me, causing me to slightly tense up. I had not forgotten our last encounter, us hugging in the middle of battle before she thanked me as she passed out from me curing her of her mind control.

“Caelus…” Cocolia finally addressed me, causing me to straighten up and hold Clara’s legs a bit tighter as she squirmed on my shoulders. “I’m glad I was able to catch you before your departure,” she said calmly as her expression relaxed into something softer.

Nodding at her, I figured I might as well say something, as it beat staying silent. “Hey, Cocolia. How are you feeling?”

A small smile growing on her face at my question, Cocolia seemed to relax as she responded. “Much better, thanks to you. Anyway, I just wanted to offer my sincere thanks for what you and your friends did for me, and especially for saving Bronya.”

Cocolia then took us all by surprise as she got on her knees in the middle of the street and bowed to me.

“Thank you, truly. I can’t ever repay you for what you’ve done for me, and especially for this world,” Cocolia said sincerely, not caring about her position.

“I accept your thanks. Now please get up,” I said in a hurry and a bit of panic as I waved my hands back and forth, part of me wanting to help her back to her feet and the other not knowing if it would be considered rude to just grab her.

“Yes! This is what we do after all!” March said in equal panic.

Slowly getting back on her feet, Cocolia didn’t even bother to clean her now-dirty stockings as she gave me a smile. “I won’t keep you any longer then. I wish you the best on your upcoming journey, and please know that if there comes a time where you require aid, I will always help you.”

With those final parting words, Cocolia gave me and the others a final nod before departing, leaving us silent for a moment.

“…Wow. I didn’t think I’d ever see the proud Cocolia acting like this,” Serval said with surprise in her voice. “Seems your actions truly managed to move that cold woman, Caelus.”

Shaking my head of what had just happened, I smiled and patted Clara’s legs gently. “I’m just glad that she doesn’t seem so cold anymore. Anyway, you guys ready?”

Receiving a positive response, we signaled Himeko that we were ready for pickup and were picked up the next moment.

=====

Hours Later

After Himeko and Welt welcomed us back to the Express and congratulated us on a successful expedition, they then greeted a shy Clara warmly before welcoming Serval to the Nameless.

Himeko and Serval immediately hit it off as they started talking about their shared interest in mechanics and engineering. Dan Heng had immediately headed to his room to rest, and Welt let us know that we would be having a meeting soon about our next destination, but that we were free to rest for now and show Clara around.

Excited about the latter, March and I took Clara with us. The first thing we did was introduce her to Pom-Pom, who she immediately took a liking to because of their cute looks.

With Pom-Pom’s blessing, we then took Clara on a tour of the Express, starting first with March’s room, where March took forever showing Clara all of her things before we moved along.

Now that we were back on the Express, I let Aries and Virgo out. The latter immediately took on the duty of cleaning my room, and the former got to help around the Express, much to Pom-Pom’s joy.

Before too long, a few hours had passed and we got a little hungry, so we took a short break in the Party Car. I took over the kitchen and cooked a feast for everyone using my Master Cooking skill to make literally mouthwatering food.

The smell of the food even managed to make its way to the others, and they joined us. We were now sitting comfortably, everyone not talking for once as we enjoyed the meal.

“Mmnn~ I’m definitely going to get addicted to your cooking, Caelus,” March moaned happily from next to me. I was sitting in the middle, with Clara on the other side.

Across from us were Aries and Virgo, who, similarly to March, were moaning happily as they ate at a fast but neat pace.

“Onii-chan, this is really good. I can’t believe food can taste this yummy~” Clara said with a happy smile and some crumbs on her lips as she enjoyed the octopus-shaped sausages I had made for her.

“You truly have a talent for this, Master~” Virgo said happily while letting out pretty lewd moans.

“Delicious~” Aries said just as happily, still letting out moans and sounding just as lewd as Virgo despite probably not realizing it.

Behind us, at another two tables, were Dan Heng and Welt at one and Himeko and Serval at another.

“I’m glad you think so,” I said with a smile, internally glad that Clara was too focused on the taste of my food to notice how shameless the girls around us were being.

“That reminds me!” March suddenly exclaimed and grabbed my shoulder while giving me an intense look.

“A certain someone promised me that he would handle all the cooking going forward in return for worrying me so much. I hope you’re not planning to back out now, mister,” she playfully threatened with narrowed eyes.

Rolling my eyes playfully, I nodded. “Yes, yes. I remember. Don’t worry,” I said calmly, not bothered at all at being saddled with such a responsibility.

“Yipee~ Operation ‘Make March’s Life Easier’ is a go!” March celebrated with a happy laugh as she pumped her fist in the air in excitement.

“Hmm, I wonder if I can bring some food back for Miss Seele, Miss Natasha, and Hook?” Clara muttered quietly to herself, but I managed to catch what she said and patted her head.

“Don’t worry, Clara. Your Onii-chan will give you plenty of food to take back with you when you return,” I reassured her happily, getting a shy smile in return.

“Thank you, Onii-chan. You’re the best~” Clara said as she hugged my side and cuddled against me.

“Hihihi, anything for my cute Clara~” I said with a huge, silly smile as I pulled her closer before blinking as I remembered something.

“Oh, and before I forget. March, I will be needing your help with something extremely important,” I exclaimed, turning to said girl, who looked taken aback at my serious expression.

“What is it?” she asked somewhat warily.

Raising a finger in the air, I declared with the most serious tone I could muster, “We must find a pair of shoes that Clara doesn’t mind wearing, of course.”

March, and even Virgo and Aries, who had remained mostly silent, turned to me with blank expressions on their faces before they all let out small sighs and relaxed their shoulders in unison.

‘Do pink-haired girls have an empathic connection or something?’ I thought curiously, finding it fascinating that all three had done that at the same time. ‘Hmm, I wonder if Elysia will also have one?’

Thinking about the beautiful pink-haired elf, a wave of longing hit my heart as I wondered in what state I would be in when we finally met. ‘Hopefully, I’m fully cured by then.’

Speaking of Cyrene/Elysia, and looking at the three pink-haired girls gathered around me, I wondered if that pesky Memokeeper had already made her way into the Express.

‘I will have to search the Express later on my own to see if I can sense anything,’ I thought privately to myself.

“Geez, don’t scare me like that,” March let out with a sigh, bringing me back to the present as she slumped in her seat. “For a moment there, I thought you were going to say something important.”

“What do you mean!?” I asked back in an offended tone as I crossed my arms while Clara watched from the side cutely with a nervous smile. “This is important! I want something stylish and comfortable for my cute Clara to wear, and seeing as I have no sense of fashion at all, I need your help to do it.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll help,” March said, waving my words away, which just offended me more, before her eyes got a twinkle in them and she looked at Clara intently, causing her to lean back slightly.

“Hmm, you know what? This is starting to sound exciting~ Clara is a cute girl, and I bet she will look super cute in some of the other outfits I have stashed away,” March started rambling excitedly to herself, making Clara more nervous.

Patting her head, I turned to Aries, who squirmed a bit when my attention fell on her. “By the way, Aries. Would you mind giving us some of your wool? I recently got an ability that gave me some form of skill in crafting, and I bet your wool is top-quality stuff.”

Squirming even more, Aries looked down in embarrassment and nodded her head while a small smile lit up her face. “I-It would be my pleasure, Master. If you want, I can also help a bit. I have a bit of skill in making clothes.”

“Oh! Oh, don’t leave me out of this, Master! As your maid, let me help as well,” Virgo said with a monotone voice but excited eyes.

With a plan in mind now and with various volunteers, I smiled in satisfaction and nodded. ‘Yep, I will finally be able to stop worrying about my Clara hurting herself or catching a cold going forward.’

“…Y-You don’t have to go so far for me,” Clara suddenly said in a small voice, her head looking down into her lap in a shy expression.

Smiling softly, I brought her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her, letting Cuddle Emperor do its work. Clara melted into my arms, and her nervous expression disappeared, replaced by a happy one.

“It’s no problem at all, Clara. We’re not doing this because it’s a bother, but because we want to. Right, girls?” I reassured her gently with a smile.

“That’s right, Miss Clara. As Master’s little sister, it’s our pleasure to help you,” Aries said with a gentle expression.

“Yep, and if we do a good enough job, then Master will reward us with punishment,” Virgo said shamelessly while giving Clara a thumbs up.

“Don’t confuse the girl with such words!” March exclaimed with a red face as she reprimanded Virgo, who ignored her. “Anyway, Caelus is right, Clara! We want to do this. Besides, I always wanted a little sister to spoil,” March also reassured as she patted her head.

“Hey! Get your own cute little sister. Clara is mine!” I immediately faced away from March, turning my back on the girl while childishly sticking my tongue out at her.

“Wha! Grr! Learn to share, Caelus!” March looked taken aback at first by my actions before immediately settling into an offended tone.

“No!”

As March and I argued like children over Clara, I couldn’t help the feeling of contentment that filled me at the thought that, as the days passed, the Express was truly turning into my home.

When we stopped arguing, we would go on to spend the next few days spoiling my cute Clara rotten with clothes, food, candy, sweets, and anything we could think of in an attempt to outdo the other.

The others, seeing what we were up to, also couldn’t help but spoil Clara as well. The next few days passed in the blink of an eye, and the time for Clara to return had finally come.

=====

“Aaah.” I let out a long sigh while everyone was gathered in the Parlor Car, as the time had finally come to decide our next destination.

“Stop moping already! Clara literally just left this morning, and you have been sighing nonstop since then. It’s not like we won’t ever see her again. In fact, didn’t you just invite her back again after our next expedition?” March said from next to me while giving me a small, annoyed look, but nonetheless patting my back in comfort.

“Yes, but it just doesn’t feel the same without her, okay?” I said dramatically before leaning my head on her shoulder and looking up at her from the corner of my eye. “March, comfort me.”

“W-Why do I have to be the one to comfort you!? I’m feeling sad too, you know? Who’s going to comfort me!?” March exclaimed with a bit of a flush on her face, but despite her words she didn’t say anything about my position and even started patting my head gently.

“That’s easy. I will do it. But for that, you will have to comfort me first,” I said with a nod, mentally patting myself on the back at my amazing and flawless plan.

“Grr, I’m doing it already,” March grumbled cutely.

“Huhuhu, alright you two. The meeting is about to begin. Please pay attention,” Himeko interrupted us with an amused smile on her face.

Blushing even more in embarrassment, March was quick to separate from me before she started looking around, seeing everyone but one person gathered, and blinked. “Is Dan Heng not coming?”

“He told us to go ahead without him. Don’t worry,” Himeko assured her patiently.

Nodding, March and I gathered around Pom-Pom, who clapped its hands cutely.

“Passengers! The warp navigation meeting has officially begun!” Pom-Pom began before turning to March, Serval, and myself.

“First, Pom-Pom wants to congratulate you, the Nameless, for successfully resolving the problems at this stop. The Express is now able to continue along the star rail!”

“The four of us actually pulled it off, huh, Caelus, Serval!” March declared confidently with a hand on her hip.

“Yep, piece of cake,” I said while giving a peace sign, getting a deadpan from most of them.

“I didn’t really contribute much. All the credit goes to these two and Dan Heng,” Serval said humbly.

“What do you mean, Serval? Of course you helped! I would know. I was there after all,” I said reassuringly with a smile.

The others also took their turns reassuring the girl, who became a bit shy before nodding in thanks.        

‘Speaking of which, I wonder where Serval is staying? With Clara around, I didn’t really have the time to ask her if she got a room of her own,’ I thought to myself.

“It’s time for your conductor — ahem, that’s me — to reveal the name of our next stop…” Pom-Pom continued once everything settled down again.

At that moment, though, a holographic image appeared on the Express before a feminine and sensual voice was heard. A painfully familiar one.

“Long time no see, Astral Express crew. It’s Kafka.”

Turning to the owner of the voice, we were met with the image of a beautiful woman with wine-colored hair, similar colored eyes, and a white and black outfit.

As my eyes settled on hers, I caught the small but subtle look she sent me, leaving my heart beating loudly in my chest while I held back the urge to smile and wave to her.

‘We meet again, Kafka.’