Arnea—

Ever since I called her by that name, a faint glow had begun to flicker in Rabbichu’s eyes.

Not words—but feelings.

The pride of someone who once protected others.
And the pain of someone who lost something to stand here now.

A few days after our return—

The “price” appeared.

“Kyu…”

Arnea suddenly couldn’t stand.

Her glowing ears dulled, her fragment burned with heat, and a mist-like radiance leaked from her body.

“This is… soul dissonance. Her vessel can’t withstand the release of the True Name.”

Sarius’s voice carried rare anguish.

“No…”

“Normally, a True Name places so much strain it breaks the vessel. But she… she is likely a dual existence—the Rabbichu of now and the Arnea of the past, not yet fully fused.”

Her soul was wavering.

Caught between past and present.

I asked him straight:

“How can I keep Arnea as she is now?”

“…Strengthen the resonance of the fragments. In other words, rebuild your bond. By nurturing your connection anew, you can stabilize her soul’s axis.”

And so began our “retraining.”

Dill and Neel joined as well.

“No matter what Kanon’s past is, our ‘now’ is here, right?”

“Rabbichu—or Arnea, I guess—she’s the same. She’s the partner you raised now.”

We trained together.

Reflex drills in the hills outside the village.
Rank-up exercises for coordination.
Resonance Arts training with the fragments.

Little by little, Arnea began to make sounds closer to words, returning our feelings with her winged ears.

“…Ka…non… to…mo…”

Just barely, but it was speech.

But the price of walking the Path of Stars didn’t end there.

A new envoy arrived from the Academy’s Special Observation Division.

“The manifestation of a True Name has been confirmed. The capital formally demands the transfer of the Arnea entity, and the immediate enrollment of Master Kanon.”

This was no longer “observation.”

It was confinement.

But my mind was already made up.

“I won’t go to the capital. I’ll walk here—with Arnea, and my friends.”

“But the world…”

“That’s exactly why. Even if the world moves—we won’t stop walking.”

Arnea’s winged ears cut through the night air, scattering lights like tiny stars.

On her back, the mark was clear: the name that tied past and future together.

Arnea = Rabbichu
Bearer of a True Name
Protector of those unloved by the world

And by her side—

Kanon
Fragment Resonator
The one who gave the name

The story moves to its next stage.

The world begins to stir. The mirror of records has shattered, and the forgotten True Names are awakening.

The boy and his monster walk that path—

Illuminating it with the memories of the stars.