"Ah, I see. So that's what happened." Listening to Mr. Yang's account, Stelle nodded. "No wonder Firefly didn't see you. So you were rescued by Nero. As for that kid, he really can do something like that."
Since Nero had stepped in, there was no problem. That was what Stelle thought.
But soon, she noticed something else.
"By the way... Mr. Welt, you actually came up here in an elevator with Nero? That feels much more comfortable than our method."
As she spoke, Stelle's face fell. "Although getting stabbed through the chest wasn't as painful as I imagined, compared with taking an elevator, I suddenly feel like I'm so pitiful..."
Hearing what Stelle said, Firefly tugged at the corner of her mouth and gave an helpless smile.
But this was the only method she knew. Directly using memoria to create an elevator and all that, she really couldn't do it, and...
Let alone her being unable to do it, even an ordinary Memokeeper probably couldn't do something like this. No, it should be said that the vast majority of Memokeepers couldn't do something like this.
In a dreamscape controlled by the Family, forcibly mobilizing a huge amount of memoria to freely create things was simply not something an ordinary Memokeeper could do.
After all, this was a kid who could give Elio a nervous breakdown. Being able to do something like this did not seem particularly outrageous.
And although taking an elevator really was something worth envying, the more important thing should be...
Firefly's gaze fell on the two March 7ths once again...
Which one was the real one?
The question of the true and false March 7th really was a headache. Both of these two kept shouting beside each other, "I'm the real one, you're the fake!"
There was no doubt that, judging from the current situation, asking which of them was real would only make the argument drag on endlessly. And judging from the two Marches' flushed faces, both of these March 7ths seemed very real.
After thinking for a while, Mr. Yang confirmed some things with Stelle, then discovered that whether it was Stelle or himself, the first time they had seen two Marches together in Penacony had been in Dreamflux Reef. The point when the divergence appeared was when Nero returned, when Acheron swung her blade.
According to Firefly, at that time she had taken March and Stelle away, while in Mr. Yang's memories, March had been with them the entire time afterward.
Just as he was thinking about this, they heard some footsteps. Nero came over from the other side.
There were several figures following behind him. There was Argenti and Miss Noe, along with some other figures. Judging from their looks and art style, which were far superior to those of ordinary people, they should all be knights...
"We didn't find anything fun around here..."
Nero walked over while muttering under his breath.
After taking the elevator to Dreamflux Reef, their group had split up. Mr. Yang and Himeko decided to discuss what they should do next.
March and Nero decided to look around this place first, but before exploring the new map, Nero had to find Aventurine somewhere to rest. As expected, the two knights decided to follow Nero.
After that, March, who had gone off to explore Dreamflux Reef on her own, encountered another version of herself... And Nero had obviously finished looking around Dreamflux Reef by now, and had even brought back a large group of companions.
Soon, Nero stopped. He stared at the two Marches in front of him for a long time, then silently walked around them and came over to Mr. Yang and Stelle, asking, "Why are there two Marches?"
Mr. Yang, Stelle, and Firefly looked somewhat embarrassed at this child who was still leisurely going about his business.
"We don't know either," Stelle said. "Actually, we're discussing this right now."
"So, have you reached a conclusion?"
"Not yet." Mr. Yang shook his head.
"Judging only by observation, it's difficult to determine which of these two Marches is real. And there's also no way to determine when the second March appeared."
"If we reason backward only to the point when I was able to notice something suspicious, it should have been after the confrontation with Aventurine."
"Then let's ask them themselves," Nero said. "Let's first see whether the things they know are the same."
As he spoke, Nero got moving. He had always been a person with a strong ability to act.
After coming to the two Marches, he first pulled apart the two people who were still arguing nonstop. "All right, stop arguing for now. You're not going to get a result like this. To distinguish whether you're real or fake, I'm going to ask you some questions."
Nero's words were quite effective. The two Marches almost immediately stopped arguing.
One of them said to Nero, "Nero, I'm the real one. You can definitely tell, right?"
The other said, "Nero, I believe in you. You definitely know that I'm the real one!"
Looking at the two Marches' reactions, Nero tugged at the corner of his mouth. This was a bit too much to ask of him.
After all, there was still no way to tell what was different between these two Marches. Unless he simply picked one at random and happened to pick the real March.
"Ahem." Nero cleared his throat. He did not intend to make some kind of guarantee to March right here.
He was not someone who liked making promises or confirming guarantees ahead of time. After all, accidents always happened.
"Anyway, so that we can distinguish you two more easily at this stage..." Nero looked at the first March who had spoken. "You are March 7th for now, while the other one will be called July 3rd for the time being."
"Huh?" July 3rd immediately frowned when she heard this. "How can you do that? It sounds like you've directly decided that I'm the fake one. Why can't I be March 7th and she be July 3rd?"
March 7th raised her head, a smug smile appearing on her face. "Heh heh heh! This obviously means that, in Nero's eyes, I'm the real me! You fake have already aroused suspicion!"
"No, this name is only a form of address... It doesn't mean that much." Nero rejected the smug March's claim. "Then, let's start by talking about what you were doing before this."
"What was I doing before this? Haven't I been with you the whole time?"
"What else could I have been doing? Of course I was looking for you. You have no idea how worried we were when you disappeared!"
The moment Nero finished speaking, March 7th and July 3rd immediately answered. They did not even have time to think about their answers before they came tumbling out of their mouths.
And the next second, the two who had heard the other's answer froze. They looked at each other in confusion.
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
Behind them, Mr. Yang and Brother Stelle, who had been watching everything, froze.
The two seemed not to have expected the problem to be solved so easily.
Then, Stelle immediately pointed at March 7th. "I get it, you're the fake!"
Yet, surprisingly, when Stelle pointed out the fake March, Nero also pointed at July 3rd. "I've confirmed it. You're the fake March!"