Seeing that the younger generation were such spirited people, Mikhail felt pretty good.
He smiled and said, "Hehe. I have a bad friend who always says that my whole life has been full of twists and turns, only to end up back where I started... Maybe this is a stage every Nameless has to go through."
Then Mikhail straightened his expression and looked at the younger people before him. "But in the end, you still found me."
"To get back to the point, since you've come all the way here, I imagine you must also be very concerned about what the Watchmaker's legacy actually is. My Hound should have mentioned the Stellaron, as well as the tycoon's fortune..."
"Allow me to apologize. The Stellaron is indeed real, but Mikhail's fortune is nothing more than a rumor passed around the streets."
"It's fine. We weren't really concerned about whether we could get any actual gift anyway," Nero said indifferently.
Hearing this, Mikhail shrugged. "I said goodbye to my homeland as a child and embarked on the journey of Trailblaze."
"I passed through one station after another, and finally stopped in Asdana. My friends and I built the original Penacony, and then fought for its future until this day..."
"My whole life has been spent moving forward, doing everything I could to break through the obstacles blocking my path. But in the end, my road also reached its end."
"My body was like a battered old locomotive, and behind me, I had left no fortune worth entrusting to anyone..."
"So, if you ask what remains inside this worn-out locomotive that could still be called a legacy... I think it can only be those things that are still burning in the depths of the engine."
"You already know what Penacony is like now. Of course I hope someone will come and help this world return to the right path. But that decision should be made by you, because the road of Trailblaze has never been laid out by others."
"So I have left you all a story, and two gifts."
"I want to give you this, my pocket watch. It accompanied me through my long journey, guiding that ignorant foolish child forward, and it was fortunate enough to walk alongside so many great people all the way to this day."
"And my hat. The person who guided me put it on my head, and from that moment on planted an unrealistic thought in my mind, that the journey of Trailblaze would never end."
"Next, it is time for you to make your choice. If you have made up your minds, push open that door and step into the long dream of an old man."
"I will wait for you at the end of this corridor of time."
With that, Mikhail turned and left. His figure and that of Clockie disappeared together before the door.
"All right, everyone. Let's make our decision." After Mikhail left, Himeko looked at the Trailblazers now gathered before her. "But I don't think anyone will object."
"I choose Trailblaze!" The little raccoon raised his arm and shouted.
"Of course." March said, "We've already come this far. Is there really any option other than moving forward?"
"Even if we hadn't come this far, there wouldn't be any other option. More precisely, we never had a choice from the very beginning." Nero looked at March. He realized that sometimes, the things March said would faintly confirm certain things.
After saying that, Nero paused. "If possible, I'd like that pocket watch."
"What do you want that pocket watch for?" March looked at Nero. She wasn't opposed to it. She was simply curious.
"To give to someone."
Nero's answer was concise, but it piqued the interest of the others in the Astral Express crew.
"To give to someone? Who are you giving it to?" March looked at Nero with a smile. "Is Nero going to give it to his clever and beautiful big sister March?"
"To Misha," Nero said.
"To Misha? But isn't Misha..." March looked at Nero in confusion.
"Yeah. When an old man fulfills his final wish, the obsession and reflection accumulated within a long dream will disappear with it. That will be an exceptionally long yet brief farewell."
"But what I want to say is that every unique, independent thought, from the moment it is born, is destined to remain one of a kind forever."
"There was a Misha who grew up in Dreamflux Reef. He shouldn't leave together with Mikhail. He guided us here, and I hope I can give him the pocket watch as a gift."
The other three looked at Nero in a daze.
They realized that sometimes, this overly realistic child could also come up with fairy-tale-like ideas.
Just when everyone had subconsciously overlooked that "Misha who grew up in Dreamflux Reef," he said that he wanted to give him a gift.
But... was that possible?
...Maybe it was.
A voice said, "Beauty is omnipotent."
When everyone took a step forward and pushed open that door, countless rays of light bloomed, bringing the entire life of a Nameless into their view.
As a child, he left his adoptive father and homeland and boarded the train. As a teenager, he revealed his talent and became the train's mechanic.
As a young man, he left the train and embarked on his own journey of Trailblaze. In middle age, he traveled here and there for Penacony. Even in old age, he still did not stop, continuing forward and fighting until this day.
At the end of his life, he lit the final spark and entrusted his hope to Trailblaze along the Silver Rail. Then, beneath the moon's frost, he came to the garden together with his first friend, Clockie.
"Clockie, do you still remember how you got your name?"
"Of course I remember! You told me that when you were little, you lived in a clock shop. Those clocks and pocket watches grew up with you and were your best friends!"
"Yes, but I never told you that behind this story... there was also a wonderful misunderstanding."
"I was still young then. In my memories, there was a special pocket watch. It was always by Grandpa's side, accompanying him as he sailed out to sea, pointing the way for him in every adventure story."
"I wanted so badly to have a pocket watch like that too. And then you appeared in my dreams."
"Yes. Every night, we would board the Compass and set sail together!"
"But do you know? It wasn't until the day Grandpa gave it to me that I suddenly realized it wasn't a pocket watch at all... It was a compass."
"So your name... should have been Compass Boy... and the Watchmaker... was the Nameless."
That night, amid the slightly cool memoria in the dream, in Dreamflux Reef, when Clockie asked where they would go adventuring that night, Mikhail answered, "Clockie, I probably... won't be going anywhere anymore. I've already gone far enough. It's time to rest for a while..."
"Oh, then once you've rested, shall we set off again?"
"No. I think I'll stay here. And then... it will be over."
"Over? Misha, what do you mean? You clearly said that the journey of Trailblaze would never end."
"Yes, I did say that... So now, it's time for you to decide your next stop."
"My next stop? Where should that be? I've always followed you... Misha? What's wrong with you? You're so strange today! If you're unhappy, we can do what we usually do, use the Clockie trick!"
"No need. I'm not unhappy." Mikhail shook his head. "As for the Clockie trick... yes, in this dream, it seems to be able to solve every problem. So do you know what the Clockie trick actually is?"
"What is it? I don't know."
"Everyone gets lost sometimes, hesitating and not knowing which direction to go. It exists in this dream, and it also exists everywhere outside the dream."
"But there's no need to be afraid. Just as people become lost, at some moment, they will also make up their minds and make a bold and remarkable decision..."
"Whether they are calm, joyful, angry, or sad, all they need is a little push. Then they can take a step and walk toward their own future."
"I leave this little bit of strength to you, and I hope you will bring it to more people... This is the Clockie trick, the will called Trailblaze."
With a faint smile on his face, Mikhail slowly walked over and sat down in the armchair.
He raised his head and looked toward the sky. The reflection of the bustling city, the indistinct buildings, the shifting shapes, brought the figure that had appeared countless times in his dreams, running along the Silver Rail, into view once again.
He preserved his dream. He condensed his long life into a short story. Beneath the moonlight, he fell into a deep sleep, embracing the dream of a child and waiting for the day when the train that had once carried him across distant lands would arrive.
Then, once again, once again, it would leave streaks of light across the sky of the long night, brighter and more enchanting than any falling star.
The members of the Astral Express passed through the dream and returned to that garden in Dreamflux Reef.
The voice of Watchmaker Charles Mikhail faintly echoed in their ears, telling them his final words, "The hands of a clock go round and round, just like human confusion, troubles, and weakness... swaying back and forth without end."
"But in the end, people still have to move forward, just like your hands, always pointing ahead."
"My journey ends here. From now on... it is your road."
March bent down and bowed, holding a hat in her hands. She lowered her head as the senior Nameless offered his respect.
Nero carefully took the Watchmaker's pocket watch, offering his own blessing to the senior Nameless who had already departed.
The long dream-night is like water, the moonlight shimmering like water. The years blow upon youth, and the wandering child longs for home.
Hearing the flute, it comes and goes, stirring the heart and sending its feelings afar. You must know the road is vast and uncertain, yet the Silver Rail always stretches on.
'Goodbye, Watchmaker. May you have a good night and sweet dreams.'