"I want to take a trip to the Celestial Spirit World," Noah said, stating his request.

"No, you can't go to the Celestial Spirit World." Layla refused immediately without a second thought. But she quickly composed herself, looked at him seriously, and asked, "No, wait. Why do you want to go to the Celestial Spirit World?"

"As I thought, Sister Layla knows the situation there very well." A look of "I knew it" appeared on Noah's face.

Layla nodded. "Of course. Because it's the place where the Celestial Spirits live, I made a point of learning about it. I don't know if I've told you before, but the Celestial Spirit World has a very special characteristic: the flow of time there is different from ours. It's much, much slower. One day in the Celestial Spirit World is equal to three months here. And humans cannot survive there. So, I must ask you, why do you want to go?"

"That's not quite right. I asked Grandpa Crux, and he said that as long as you wear special celestial clothing, you can move about freely in the Spirit World."

"Even if you can move freely, because of the different flow of time, it's hard to predict what effect it would have on a human. You need to tell me what you want to do in the Celestial Spirit World."

"I think you might be misunderstanding something, Sister Layla. I don't intend to enter the Spirit World with my real body. I'm currently in a stage of rapid growth, and because of the time dilation, entering the Spirit World would slow that down. I plan to enter using a Thought Projection. But if the Spirit World doesn't agree, I can't just force my way in. I'd have to find another way. That's why I wanted to ask if you knew anyone there. Grandpa Crux was the one who told me that you might have a way to solve this problem."

Layla thought for a moment, then looked at Noah. "I might have a way to solve this, but you still haven't told me why you want to go."

"I want to go there to study on-site. Although I can learn about the Spirit World through Grandpa Crux, the speed is a bit slow. I want to learn faster. I want to research how the Spirit World uses the power of the stars, and why its flow of time is different from ours. I have so many ideas I want to research in the Celestial Spirit World."

As Noah spoke about his ideas, his eyes began to shine. Jude and Lucy, who were standing nearby, could easily see the light in his expression.

Seeing him like this, Layla knew this was just his nature. When Noah had stayed at their house, aside from eating, resting, training, and treating them, he had spent all his other time reading. Not just their books; he had brought a huge pile of his own. When he got engrossed, he would even run outside to try out the magic from the books, which would often result in accidental explosions. Thankfully, he had always run to the barren mountain next to the Heartfilia estate to do his experiments and would reinforce the surrounding area beforehand, so even though they often heard explosions, the environmental damage was minimal.

Knowing that this was what Noah truly wanted, Layla decided to help him. But she still had to give him a warning first. "I can try to help you, but I don't know if it will work, so you need to be prepared."

"Okay, I'm prepared. If it doesn't work, I'll just continue learning about the Spirit World from Grandpa Crux." Noah nodded. He was, of course, very confident that Layla could help him, but what if? He couldn't deny the possibility and was prepared for the outcome of not being able to send his projection there. In that case, he would just have to trouble Grandpa Crux to help him bring books to the human world.

Seeing that Noah agreed, Layla first had someone find Aunt Spetto. When she arrived, Layla said to her, "Aunt Spetto, I'd like to temporarily borrow back the key to Cancer."

"Of course, madam. You can have the key back at any time. Does this mean you plan to become a Celestial Spirit wizard again?" Aunt Spetto was very excited. She thought Layla was planning to return to her wizarding life. After all, back when Layla was a wizard, she had been full of spirit and drive. It was only later that she retired due to her health. Although the gentle Layla of today was also wonderful, Aunt Spetto still wanted to see her full of life and energy again.

"No, I don't have any plans to become a Celestial Spirit wizard again for the time being. But I would like to borrow the power of the Zodiac for something."

Aunt Spetto was a little disappointed to hear this, but she still hurried back and returned with the key to Cancer.

Layla took the key from her hand and poured magic into it. She then swung her hand.

"Open, Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"

As a magic circle unfolded in front of her, a figure emerged. The person who appeared had black hair, braided with red, cornrow-like ornaments, the ends of which were shaped like crab pincers. He had thick lips and wore a blue-striped shirt, dark pants, and boots. A loop chain hung from the right pocket of his pants, and a hairstylist's tool pouch was on his left hip. He wore a gold necklace, and his face was covered by green-lensed sunglasses. He held a pair of scissors in each hand, and six red crab legs protruded from his back.

He snapped his scissors twice with a snip snip sound, then turned to Layla. "What kind of haircut are we doing today-ebi?"

Layla was clearly used to his way of speaking. "Cancer, it's been a long time."

"It has been a long time-ebi. You don't need me to give you a trim-ebi?"

"Not at the moment. But I'd like to ask you to do something for me."

"What is it-ebi?"

"I'd like you to ask the Celestial Spirit King if my little brother can be allowed to visit the Celestial Spirit World."

Cancer was clearly startled by this, and his voice trembled slightly. "But I can't guarantee I'll be able to see the Celestial Spirit King-ebi."

"It's alright. I suspect he already knows. You just need to go back and tell him."

"You're not tricking me, are you-ebi?"

"Of course not. Now, hurry back!"

"Then I'll be heading back now-ebi." With that, Cancer dissolved into a ball of golden light and disappeared.

After he was gone, Noah walked up to Layla. "Is that all it takes, Sister Layla?"

"That's all. I believe the Celestial Spirit King knows now. All that's left is to see what he says."

"The Celestial Spirit King? That must be the king of the Celestial Spirit World. Do you know him, Sister Layla?"

"Mhm. I met him once before by a stroke of luck. If you want to enter the Celestial Spirit World, you'll need his permission."

~~~

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