You will be reunited again.

Igarashi continued to play on the piano without getting interrupted.

All the while Lumine listened to him while hugging her legs on the floor.

"Smiley Monocle's good at this, huh?" Paimon whispered.

Lumine nodded. "Yeah, he is."

The two of them continued listening until Igarashi was finally finished.

Standing up, Igarashi looked at his two audiences and slightly bowed.

Lumine and Paimon clapped their hands when they saw this.

"That was amazing!" Paimon said as she floated to Igarashi. "Oh, Paimon loved that!"

"It was a great song." Lumine walked over with a smile. "It was mixed with... feelings. I can tell."

Igarashi slightly bowed his head with a smile. "Thank you. Although I must remind you, it is not me that made it. I am merely an admirer."

"Oh! If so, Paimon wants to one day see the person that made it!" Paimon excitedly said.

Hearing this, Igarashi chortled. "Haha, I'm sure you will."

He then turned his head to Lumine. "So, miss Lumine, to what do I owe the pleasure of you stalking me?"

"W-What?" Lumine embarrassedly said. "H-How did you know?"

'I didn't.' He smiled. "Just take it as a hunch."

After saying this, he leaned on the piano and crossed his arms. "Now then, care to tell me the reason you were actually following me?"

"I umm..." Lumine tried to make an excuse. How was she gonna explain to him that she just wanted to follow him around?

Just then, she got an idea. 'That's it!'

"I wanted to ask you to draw something for me!" Lumine said. "Yeah, that's right. I want to commission a drawing."

"I could do that but..." Igarashi tried to deny but he looked at Lumine and saw her serious face. "You know what? Yeah, I'll do it. As for the compensation... How about... 60,000 Mora?"

"50,000?!" Paimon exclaimed. "You might as well rob us!"

"Hey, hey, relax." Igarashi laughed. "That's just the initial price. Depending on how hard the commission is, I'll either lower it or increase it."

"Humph! Fine, but Paimon wants to ask for a drawing too!" Paimon crossed her arms.

'It isn't even your money...' Igarashi thought with a wry smile. "I'll try."

Seeing that Igarashi agreed to her request, Lumine sighed in relief. However, she noticed something. "Oh right, you have no art materials."

"That's no problem." Igarashi shrugged.

He then casually extended his arm into thin air and soon, a stack of paper appeared in his hand along with some pencils.

"I already got it covered." He said with a smile, casually flaunting his inventory skill.

"Huh? Is that..." Lumine saw what he did and got curious. 'Is that... The same inventory as mine?'

Inventory is the name she has given to her ability to store items in separate dimensions. It was a rather convenient ability.

"Hey, Amon, that ability just now..." Lumine tried to inquire more about Igarashi's powers.

"Oh, this?" Igarashi replied with a confident smile. "Nothing, really. It's just a skill I picked up. Moreover, I'm not the only one that possesses this ability, I think."

"I-I see." Lumine said. 'Could there be more inventory holders? Hmm...'

Igarashi wasn't lying. Canonically speaking, some people possess something similar to an inventory.

Especially the Raiden Shogun. Her Plane of Euthymia is somewhat similar too.

Igarashi then placed the papers on top of the piano and picked up a pencil. "Now then."

"Tell me what you want to be sketched. It can be anything or anyone as long as it's within my capabilities and compensation." He explained while twirling his pencil.

'He sure loves money.' Lumine internally laughed. "Alright. What I want to be drawn is..."

"My brother." She said with somewhat determined eyes.

'Oh?' Igarashi heard this and couldn't help but get interested. 'This'll be easier than I thought.'

"Sure." Igarashi nodded. "First, give me his key features, as well as some small details, and I might replicate him."

"You can even rate it once it's finished." He added.

Lumine nodded. "Let's see... Oh, his height is a bit taller than mine. We have the same hair color but have different lengths and styles."

"My hair is short and his hair is long." Lumine described her brother as much as she can. "Ah, and he also shares the same eye color as me."

"I take it that you two have an exactly similar face?" Igarashi said while sketching her descriptions.

Although he already knew what Aether looked like, he still took the time to listen to her before starting.

Lumine heard this and nodded. She then continued. "He wears the same scarf as mine, it was made as a match for both of us."

"He wears a dark brown breastplate vest with gold and black accents baring his midriff and adorned with a diamond ornament." She continued without anyone interrupting her.

Out of nowhere a reminiscing sweet smile appeared on her face. "I remember when I tried to replace his clothes with mine and it resulted in him being embarrassed for wearing a female's clothing."

"And at that one time, we tried to try other clothes. I didn't like any of what we picked and neither did he. In the end, we just went in our usual clothes." She said as she slightly tilted her head as she sat down on a chair nearby.

"It seems like your brother follows you a lot." Igarashi commented as he carefully drew Aether's eyes. "I can tell that he dearly loves you as a sibling."

"...Thank you." Lumine buried her head in her hands. She then continued. "Me and my brother... Aether... Always traveled together."

"We have been to many places and witnessed many things." She said, however, in the next moment, her tone became sad. "Unfortunately... An accident happened that split us apart."

"..." Igarashi stayed silent as he carefully drew Aether. He then looked at her. "I don't even need to ask that you're finding him."

"Yes..." Lumine nodded.

"Don't worry." Igarashi said with seriousness while sketching. "You'll meet him soon."

Lumine heard this and slowly lifted her head to look at Igarashi who was drawing on a piece of paper.

"I'm sure you two..." He added as he made an arc brushstroke. "Will be reunited."

Lumine heard this and couldn't help but feel something. It was a feeling that the words of the man speaking right now was the truth.

"Thank you." She said as a small tinge of red appeared on her face. She then buried her face in her hands.

It felt like he was someone dependable that she can lean on when life is tough.

'...What am I thinking?' Lumine shook her head before looking at Igarashi's face.

She then saw his monocle.

Quite a few minutes have passed. The two haven't said anything and Lumine just looked at Igarashi intently.

Finally, after some time, the painting was done. "...And done."

Igarashi then stood up and took the paper. "I apologize it doesn't have any colors... I didn't place any coloring materials in my inventory."

"It's alright." Lumine nodded.

Igarashi heard this and just smiled before nodding. He then gave the painting to her.

Lumine accepted it and saw something that evoked a lot of emotions inside her.

It was... The exact portrait of her brother. From his hair down to the details of his clothes.

The painting showed only the upper part of Aether's body and depicted him with a warm smile.

"So." Igarashi leaned over. "How is it? On a rate of 1 to 10?"

"It's... Beautiful." Lumine muttered before looking straight at Igarashi's face.

"???" Igarashi didn't know why she looked at him straight in the eyes. 'It feels like she's directly looking to my soul...'

"Excuse me." Lumine said before suddenly extending her arms.

"Huh?!" Igarashi was too surprised to react, as such, Lumine managed to touch him.

More precisely, his monocle.

"...I knew it." Lumine said while touching Igarashi's monocle.

She then grabbed Igarashi by his arms and turned him over to the wall.

"Wh-What the...?!" Igarashi said.

"Traveler?! What are you doing?" Paimon saw this and got surprised. However, Lumine ignored her.

"You're..." Lumine said as she pressed Igarashi against the wall. "Not from this world too, right?"

"There's no use in lying." She said with dead-serious eyes. "I already found out."

"I had some suspicions since we first met..." She explained. "But now, I confirmed it."

"When I touched your monocle, I got to see its description as well as its effects." She said before taking off Igarashi's monocle.

Sure enough, with the removal of Igarashi's monocle, his true form appeared.

A person with short dark hair and ocean-blue eyes appeared. He was still wearing his previous clothes but they still looked fitting to him.

"[A Scholar's Monocle]" She said. "An item that lets its user change appearances."

"And let its user form memories from other worlds." She added.

Yes, the system function known as [Palace of Memories] is an effect brought by the monocle as its second effect.

This feature was already in the system, to begin with. It just needed a catalyst— a monocle in this case— to activate it.

Igarashi, who got exposed, groaned. "Alright, alright, I lied. But... Can you please release me? This is a very uncomfortable position."

Lumine listened to this and let him go, but still kept watch.

"Hold on!" Paimon shouted. "What the heck is actually going on?!"

"Well..." Lumine heard this and pointed at Igarashi who was adjusting the monocle he lost. "He's just about to explain it."

'Oh boy.' Igarashi thought before sighing.

* * *

A/N: Bloody keyboard loves replacing "Paimon" with "Simon"