Brain bloom

"Let's go back... wait—"

Mori squinted, a thought popping into his mind. Since this place was so important to the first Pope, and so closely connected to the tomb keeper they had to find, why not... climb up and take a look? Such a big clue, it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

Without further ado, Senshi rolled up his sleeves and began weaving time, wanting to turn it into steps so he could climb to the top of the tower and see the clock.

"—Mori-shitsu-neechan."

Just as Sen finished weaving the first step, he was interrupted by Shan, who suddenly flew in.

"Princess Dandelion sent me to call you, saying that once you've finished your business, you should go back early. Also, I shared some good news with everyone, and they're all curious why you didn't go out after you finished."

"Wait, what did you say? Did you say a girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere and kidnapped me?" Some psychological trauma suddenly spread a sense of crisis in Morishi's heart.

“I didn’t have time to say it… because the ancient Demon King was in a hurry, saying he had to return to the Demon Realm, where he and the answer are waiting for you.”

The answer? Yes, Eden Bank.

The ancient Demon King has relinquished the divine status accumulated over ten thousand years, breaking free from the constraints of the rules of equal exchange. Moreover, Sen Shi has provided such a great assistance, so it has no reason to remain silent any longer.

Mori's mind suddenly drifted far away, no longer within the City of Clocks, but instead deeply drawn to the enchanting term "Eden Bank." At that moment, she suddenly realized something: why, throughout her journey, had so many people been discussing this term, so many yearning to uncover its truth…

Because it's Eden Bank.

It possesses a wondrous allure, as if capable of awakening the deepest desires within every soul… Only now, when it is within reach, has this yearning surged forth from the depths of Mori's heart, transforming into a vast, overflowing ocean that has destroyed everything else.

She could no longer hear the color of time...

When he came to his senses, Mori had already left the Clock City.

The spiritual world dissipated at this moment, the vibrant colors faded, taking Mori away. The mundane yet undeniably existing things once again enriched the face of the material world, and everything in this world seemed somewhat tasteless to Mori.

It wasn't until the dandelion smiled at her that she regained her senses and realized that things weren't so hopeless after all.

The sweet aroma of baking flour and butter filled the living room of the pastry shop. There was the oven Mori had used, the sofa she had sat on, and the cheap, touristy-souvenir-like sea god statue…

Her princess, Dandelion, had just put down the pocket watch she had repaired, seemingly waiting for her return. Fufu was the same; as soon as Mori appeared, it climbed onto her shoulder and clung to its usual spot, motionless.

"Are all the troubles over?" Dandelion asked.

"That's a temporary pause. Next, I need to get a few answers... and everything should be perfect." Only after saying it aloud did waves of exhaustion, weariness, and a feeling of being completely drained wash over him, causing Mori to plop down on the sofa...

Hmm? Something felt off. Turns out she'd accidentally pressed down on the sleeping pastry shop manager. She quickly got up, thankfully she was delicate and light, avoiding the disastrous situation of "the coffin bearer sitting on a believer and killing him."

"How impressive! The coffin bearers are using their lovely followers as cushions," Dandelion teased.

"This was an accident."

"Then, the majestic true god, the omnipotent coffin bearer..."

"Leave the affairs of the Kingdom of Flowers to me!"

Mori hurriedly said what Dandelion wanted to hear, which won her a smile.

“It’s good that you remember—but I’m not here to rush you.” With a deeper smile, her voice was light. “Thank you for keeping your promise and bringing yourself back.”

"Hi, as promised, I'm back."

Volume 1, Chapter 353: The Flower Bud and the Black Wildcat

The true dawn has replaced the magic of fate of the ancient demon king. But compared to the magnificent colors of the clouds back then, the dawn in this world is far inferior... especially in Mori's eyes, those clouds are unremarkable.

Exhausted, she closed the pastry shop upon her return, refusing to receive any visitors. She then issued a divine decree restoring everyone's freedom and normal life, which no one dared disobey.

Apart from the ancient demon king who returned to the demon realm, everyone else who came to help had important matters to attend to. Even B and the Pope, who were reluctant to leave and wanted to stay at the door, were waved away by Mori Shi to go about their business—she had to collect the holy remains of the first Pope.

Besides, Mimosa seems to know Fernanda, so she went to catch up with the people of Chaos Land and did not stay here for the time being.

Of course, many believers were still discussing it. In particular, Sen Shi heard believers at the door repeatedly reciting a certain matter.

"Homage to the Most High God! How long has it been... that we can get through the night..."

"This is a gift from the true God—no, a blessing…a divine gift!"

"A Night Given by God!"

"An incredible, divinely granted night! God, thank you for everything you have given me. You have helped me reclaim a night from those ghosts!"

Hearing the voices of these believers, Mori felt quite embarrassed.

Because the very race that creates those nighttime ghosts is the same race that they call their true god. To put it more profoundly—she scattered gold coins, the Kingdom of the Holy Coffin was established, she instigated a war that led to the destruction of the Kingdom of Flowers, and thus the darkness took away the night.

Sen pretended not to hear and tilted his head back to enjoy the care of the dandelion's branches and leaves.

"Bliss." Her voice was still trembling.

"of course."

The dandelion tends to each of its leaves with a unique method. A gentle touch of the fingertips on its tiny hairs sends a jolt of electric pleasure through every cell in the plant. Then, chilled water is used to wipe the leaves and water the roots, doubling the sensation.

Just for that reason alone, being a seasonal being is a wonderful thing.

Mori couldn't help but sigh—

"I've slain the evil sea god, rescued the Dawn Princess, repaired the Clock City, and searched for the tomb keeper. After finishing all that, I'm utterly exhausted, but Your Highness's cooking has truly made me feel wonderful."

"Hehe, that sounds pretty catchy." After joking, Dandelion parted the leaves and observed for a while. "Everything's normal. Your flowering season is probably coming soon."

“My…flowering season?” It sounds rather strange, Mori thought.

"Yes, look, such a big flower bud—hmm? Two? Wait a minute!!!" Suddenly, Dandelion's voice rose eight octaves, "Such a bunch? My god, are you a Four Seasons Master? Mori! You... what secret technique did you use!"

Mori was so engrossed in pleasure that he didn't understand what she was saying and simply touched his head.

Speaking of which, she might have leveled up a few times? In addition, she has been wearing the title of True God frequently recently, and the power of True God has made her branches and leaves much more lush. If she hadn't been pruned by Dandelion before, she could probably have grown a big garden on her head.

Mori felt a novel sensation—

The shy white buds, nestled among the green leaves, seem poised to bloom soon.

"You...you're going to bloom, bloom with lots and lots of flowers!"

"a lot of?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mori realized he had touched new flower buds, and... there were about ten of them. Judging from the dandelion's tone, this seemed quite unusual. He also recalled the seasonal custom of the flower crowns of the Four Seasons Hermits, where only one flower blooms each year...

"Because I am the true God."

"Oh... Damn it, can a true god bloom so many flowers in a year? And it's still winter, yet the flowering season is almost here. A true god is really unreasonable."

"That is."

Mori suddenly got excited. Since it was planned to bloom a lot of flowers, why not just make a crown that would never wither? To be honest, she really wanted one like that because it was so beautiful... But another possibility dampened her enthusiasm.

Flowering means bearing fruit.

Harvesting ten or so strawberries at once? These are all panaceas! Cures all ailments, produced by the true gods. They can even withstand the dandelion's method of resetting the world.

"Princess Dandelion, we have something to discuss." Someone knocked on the door; it was Melia's voice.

"Should we open the door?" Dandelion and Mori looked at each other, asking for their opinions.

"Yes, let's open it. After all, it's Melia." Mori's eyes softened a bit; after all, she was the daughter of another soul.

When Melia entered the pastry shop, she realized that Mimosa was still following behind her. Mori looked around but didn't see Fernanda. A dragon of her level wouldn't be interested in a true god; she probably went back home, Mori thought.

Noticing the confusion in her eyes, Melia explained somewhat shyly:

"Aunt Fernanda went to the realm of demons... to seek retribution from Uncle the ancient demon king, after all, she did a lot for Yuan."

"Hopefully she'll take less," Mori thought to himself, because he also wanted to make a quick buck.

"What's the important matter?" Dandelion asked, getting straight to the point.

“Well, after talking with this mimosa, Aunt Fernanda also told us some secrets. From that, I learned something very important.” Her violet eyes looked kindly at Mori, “There’s a result regarding that matter from last time.”

“…Oh?” Mori’s eyes widened slightly.

In fact, she really couldn't remember what "that incident last time" meant.

Melia casually moved a chair over, retracted her curled tail, and sat down. She immediately began to speak in a complicated tone about the answer that Senshi did not know.

“I don’t know if this is related to Eden Bank, but the clue that Dad—the great coffin sender—gave me last time is very important. I’ve actually been investigating it, but I haven’t had any good results. Now, I have an important guess that is waiting to be confirmed.”

Dandelion gently nudged Morishi with her elbow, her eyes filled with question: "What clue?" But Morishi could only respond with a serious look that said, "I don't know either, don't ask me," and it was unclear whether she understood or not.

"What I didn't expect was that the Black Wildcat family, such an incredible family, had gone unnoticed before, proving how vast the world is and how limited our perspective is..."

"Yes, the Black Cat family."

Mori clapped her hands, finally understanding the topic. Previously, in order to investigate Eden Bank, she had told Melia about the Black Cat family, hoping she could glean clues from it. So this was what they were talking about… She had thought it was just another clue that had vanished without a trace.

"What exactly did the young lady of the Kuroneko family see?" Moritoki immediately pressed. "Was it one of those terrifying guardians in the ruins of the traveling souls?"

"No, what she saw was probably not ruins, but something much deeper inside."

"...In other words, the places that the souls of travel want to explore?!"

"Yes, according to our discussions with the mimosa, it was probably a creation of the primordial god."

Volume 1 #354: Pre-Departure Musings

For Mori, this was a fascinating topic. Although a considerable amount of time had passed, she still remembered everything she had encountered in Frozen Bear Town—

A bizarre tragedy unfolds within the family of cats who have taken on human forms…

Her pounding heart meant she might be getting closer to some secret. She gestured with her eyes for Melia to continue, and she would be the one listening.

"The creations of the primordial god... to be specific, I don't know too much about them."

Melia's gaze darted around, then hesitantly turned to the mimosa.

"Or, why don't you explain it yourself?"

"I've only heard of it, and there's a legend that's probably connected to it... though it's very old and probably not very credible."

"Anyway, the primordial god?" Dandelion asked with great interest. "Which true god is this?"

"The creator of the mythological age, or rather, the origin of this world. We do not know if He exists, because that is history before the birth of humankind."

"Even among us who follow the Four Seasons, very little related content has been passed down."

Sen listened quietly, his mind in turmoil.

Later, through their difficult back-and-forth narration, she gradually came to understand what they were trying to express.