This is not the date I wanted.

"Well, a balance between work and rest is a must. And even if you want to participate now, I can't think of any new topics for the time being. Hmm—"

At this moment, everyone's cell phone, including Mengyue's, rang.

"Hello, Tohka?"

After confirming the caller's name, Mengyue pressed the call button.

[Meng Yue, I'm preparing rice balls for Shidao and the others at the apartment, how about joining us? ]

At the same time, Meng Yue also metaphorically heard other people talking on the phone and having similar conversations. It seemed that the elves in the apartment called together. However, only Mi Jiu received a text message from Nanashi instead of a phone call.

"Yeah, sure."

There was no reason to refuse, so Mengyue agreed readily.

[Hmm, I'll wait for you then. And...]

During the conversation, Tohka suddenly fell silent on the phone, as if she was hesitating about something.

"Anything else?"

Meng Yue was a little confused. After a little hesitation, Shixiang said worriedly.

[Hmm, that Yumezuki. Shidou, it seems, had a nightmare...]

PS: I originally wanted to write about the negotiation between Shashin and Origami at AST, but after thinking about it carefully, this part is not much different from the original work, and its nature is similar to the part about Artemisia, so I didn't write it.

18 Talk therapy

==============================

Late at night that day, Gokawa Shido did not return home, but came to an aerial ship at an altitude of 15,000 meters.

I walked through the long corridor and arrived at the lounge. The spacious room was empty and only the sound of my footsteps could be heard faintly.

(Kotori and the others should be in the command room now.)

Shidou thought in his heart. Although there were only a few things that Shidou and the elves had to do before the battle, Kotori, as the fleet commander, could not relax and had to mobilize and organize all the resources that could be prepared in the limited time left.

Although I think I should go over to express my condolences, but if I go over when I am busy, I might disturb the other person. And at this time, Shidao himself is also a little depressed and tired, and wants to be alone.

Fortunately, even if DEM's "Nibelcol" wanted to sneak into this airship through the sky without being noticed, it would be extremely difficult. Shidao didn't have to worry about being suddenly attacked.

After ordering a cup of hot milk tea from the vending machine to help him sleep, Shidou sat on the bench closest to the window.

"It's so beautiful."

After taking a sip of the slightly hot milk tea, Shidou couldn't help but sigh.

Looking out the window, the boundless night sky is dotted with countless stars, like a brilliant painting, which is in full view and makes people intoxicated.

This is probably a view that you can never see in Tengu City. Shidao couldn't help but guess that even if he stood in the tallest Tengu Tower in the city, he wouldn't be able to see the stars through the clouds.

Like a wedge, it was fixed in the sky without a fulcrum. It was a beautiful view that could only be seen from this airship.

"But on the other hand, you can't see the night view of the city from here."

As he spoke, Shidou moved his gaze downwards. Today's weather was cloudy, and thick clouds were slowly floating thousands of meters below the aerial ship, blocking the lights of the city.

In the dark night, the pure white clouds were dyed into a vast gray.

Hazy, ominous, and turbid - the flowing clouds seem to be lurking with deadly poisonous snakes, making people feel chilly.

"..."

With a sense of inexplicable fear, Shidou withdrew his gaze and looked up at the sky again.

"Speaking of which, where is the moon..."

As if he was killing time, Shidao's gaze wandered across the starry sky, and finally found the moon and fixed on it.

“So thin.”

This is Shidao's intuitive feeling. Compared with the gorgeous stars, the existence of the moon is so indifferent, and the crescent moon is as thin as a toothpick.

But if you think about it carefully, this is not strange. The moon is bright and the stars are sparse. The bright moonlight will cover the light of the stars. If the moon had not disappeared, Shidao would not be able to see such a starry sky.

(But if you think about it, I’ve been to that night sky before.)

When Shidao thought about the time when he had wandered in that universe not long ago, he couldn't help but sigh that anything could happen in life.

"Will I become a star in the sky one day?"

"What are you talking about, Shidou? Do you want to become a meteor too?"

Someone tapped the back of his head gently. Shidou looked back and saw a girl with long brown hair standing behind him, looking at him with a smile.

"Mengyue, when did you get behind me? I didn't hear any footsteps at all."

"I wanted to give you a surprise, so I muted the footsteps."

"Hey, this isn't a surprise, it's a shock!"

"You can feel my energy through the flow of air."

"How is it possible?!"

"I haven't practiced enough~"

While carrying on a manzai-like conversation, Meng Yue sat down next to Shidou without any restraint.

"And then? Why would you come here alone and look up at the stars? What's on your mind?"

Hearing Mengyue's straightforward question, Shidao couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"When did you find out?"

"It wasn't me, it was Tohka who found out." Meng Yue couldn't help but sigh, "She said that you've been absent-minded since you had a nightmare during your nap."

"Uh, is that so..." Shidou was stunned, then scratched his cheek awkwardly, "I thought I was behaving quite normally."

"You're the only one who thinks so...Whenever I see you, I look like I'm lost in life."

"Really? I'm sorry for making Tohka worried."

"Remember to tell Tohka this in person later."

Shrugging speechlessly, Meng Yue continued.

"Well, to sum up, in order to stop you from thinking about it alone, I came here to give you some talk therapy."

"Talk therapy?"

Hearing these unfamiliar words, Shidao was a little confused.

"No injections, no medicine, just sit and chat with you - ahem, sorry. To put it simply, we use dialogue to make you open up, understand your past, analyze your inner world, then uncover the scars, disintegrate your mental defenses, and finally perform precise surgery and prescribe the right medicine."

"Why does it sound dangerous to me?"

Shidou was ashamed.

"Well, it's just a joke to lighten the mood. Don't think too much about it. Just say whatever's on your mind."

"Ha ha……"

Shidao looked at Mengyue with a smile on his face. But it was true that thanks to Mengyue, his originally depressed mood suddenly became much more relaxed.

"Mengyue, you should know that I have been having a dream these past few days..."

Just like that, Shidao opened up and told Mengyue everything about his dream.

In the dream, his name was not Gokawa Shido, but a high school student named Takamiya Shinji, and his sister was not Gokawa Kotori, but Takamiya Mana.

One day, he met a strange elf, and after discussing with Mana, he decided to take her in and named her Mio.

As an extraordinary existence that broke into Shinshi's daily life, Mio naturally left a very deep impression on Shinshi. Coupled with her beautiful appearance and innocent and gentle personality, Shinshi gradually developed a good impression of Mio.

Then, in a dream not long ago, just as Shinshi was about to hand the doll to Mio, Gokawa Shido was suddenly driven out of the dream by "Shinshi".

After that, Shidao could no longer enter the dream world, as if the personality named "Takamiya Shinshi" had blocked him from entering.

"Do you think it's possible? I have another personality inside of me... or something."

When he said this, Shidou's voice trembled slightly.

"Hmm... I'm not sure either. After all, I don't know much about the psychology of multiple personalities. And with Yoshino and Yoshina around, I can't say there's no possibility."

"Yeah……"

"but--"

Just when Shidao was feeling discouraged, Mengyue suddenly changed the subject.

"I don't think this is the case with you, Shidou."

"Eh?"

"Actually, I've encountered a situation similar to Shidou's before."

Meng Yue clasped her fingers together, paused, and spoke in a calm but solemn voice.

“Same as me?”

Shidou couldn't help swallowing and asked curiously.

"Yes, that's right." Meng Yue nodded, and then said, "Shidao, you should know, right? My angel, Ratziel (Sage of the Dawn), has the ability to retain memory when history changes."

"Ok, I know."

Although he didn't know why Mengyue mentioned this, Shidao nodded anyway.

"Then do you know how this ability retains memories?"

"Uh... I don't know."

Shidou shook his head honestly.

"This is just my personal feeling. To put it simply... after changing history, the whole world will go back to that time and start over, just like a movie with the rewind button pressed. The saved memories will also be sent back to that time. When I use the Sage of the Dawn in the future, it will act as a terminal for receiving memories. Well... you just need to feel like sending a text message to the past."

"Don't treat me like a fool, okay Mengyue."

Shidou retorted somewhat dissatisfiedly, took a deep breath, and said.

"You mean, when I change history, the angel will copy all of your memories, and then teleport them to the future closest to the time point of the change, using you, the Sage of the Dawn, right?"

Mengyue was a little surprised.

"Throat... As far as Shidou is concerned, he understands it quite well. Well, that's roughly the feeling."

Meng Yue shrugged.

"After all, this is just a speculation I made in order to give a logical explanation. It has no basis. But that's not the point now. Sorry for getting off topic."

As she said this, as if to apologize to Shidou, Mengyue blinked and showed a playful smile.

Shidou was slightly moved.

"Shidou, when you changed the history of five years ago, the time when I received the memory was when I first came to this world and used the angel for the first time. Shidou, do you know how I looked at you at that time?"

"how to think?"

Shidou asked following the topic.

"Hate. I can say that if you appeared in front of me at that time, I would have beaten you to death."

"Wait!? Did I do something wrong?!"

Shidou asked with a surprised look on his face.

"You did nothing wrong. In my opinion, your existence itself was a mistake."

“It’s even more outrageous!”

"After all, I was being hunted by a magician at the time, so I wanted to return to my original world rather than settle down in this world. In the future, I will live in a strange place with a group of strangers - and my first kiss was taken away by a man. Even if you suddenly say this to me, I can only treat it as a very cheap prank."

“Well…indeed.”

Hearing Mengyue's complaints, Shidao could only smile bitterly and nod. If he were in Mengyue's perspective at the time, he would indeed think so.

"Shidou, before you used the 'Sealing Master' on yourself, you told Kotori that no matter what happens, you are still his brother, right?"

"Yes, I told you."

"Can I understand this sentence to mean that even after seeing the memories of 'Shinji Takamiya', you are unwilling to acknowledge him, nor are you willing to change for this?"

"This……"