In the eyes of uninformed travelers from Rigal, the shrines scattered throughout the Crescent Continent and the small shrines on the roadside have always been part of the country's unique landscape.
However, what they and even most of today's Kazuto natives don't know is that all of these things are not limited to religious significance or traditional culture.
Human culture is extremely easy to date.
The elves with long lifespans can remember the meteor shower that flashed one night a thousand years ago. From their point of view, humans are generally forgetful. There was once a country that was extremely prosperous and won a great war. The whole country cheered for the hero whose name was mentioned. In order to permanently preserve his feats, people built stone statues, poured bronze statues, wrote stories and sang songs.
But within three or five generations, the stone statues will become mottled and their faces will no longer be clear. Perhaps even the country that the heroes once guarded has changed or is no longer there. People have forgotten the name of the hero or a new hero has replaced him. The melody of the poem is still there, but no one knows the meaning of the content.
In three or five generations, even the language will change. They are still singing, but the content is far different from the original, and no one can clearly remember the facts of the past.
A family of craftsmen who were at their peak may easily lose their craftsmanship due to changes. A town that once had people coming and going will only be left with ruins when they visit again. There are wild grasses and dense vegetation, and squirrels and deer run unimpeded on the mottled stone avenues. Although still full of vitality, all the faces of the old friend have been blown away by the wind.
This is probably the reason why all long-lived species appear to be indifferent to humans.
Passion is a curse to elves, because to them everything just seems like it happened yesterday, but there is no one among humans who has the same memory.
Although the world is big, I can't find a close friend with whom I can talk and laugh together. Those who can understand their own jokes are among the stars. Although all those adventure stories are still sung by others, making children's eyes light up and pose and loudly declare that they want to be such a person - but that is not version of my own experience.
But even rebuttal is not necessary.
After all, even if those heroes that children praised were standing in front of them, no one could recognize them as people came and went.
Loneliness is a yoke that heroes must bear - and even for gods who claim to worship wholeheartedly, they are forgotten by humans.
This is also common.
Everyone slowed down.
Mira felt an discomfort like a heavy pressure near her heart. She remembered this feeling, and she was still aware of the pain she felt when she mistakenly entered the place Henry called the "other world" in the past.
Even others whose magic talent is not as high as hers have their hairs standing on end instinctively.
There is something not of this world, just ahead.
The old shrine was destroyed, the inscription rope that had long lost its effectiveness was broken, and judging from the cutting edge of a sharp tool, part of it was removed, and it seemed that it was used as material for something.
"If they remembered everything, maybe this wouldn't have happened so easily."
The pursuit took most of the time, and it was almost sunset when they were about to enter the shrine. Henry seemed to say these words to himself. The people next to him looked at him, especially the Luoan girl.
She felt worried for a moment, not just because of the influence of magic.
When his teacher said these words, he seemed to be disappearing with the sunset.
He still remembered everything and still knew many things she didn't.
But everyone else forgot.
Will he also be forgotten one day?
If cold emotions are a necessary self-protection for long-lived species like elves, then for humans who are rich in emotions.
Is a long life really a blessing?
"You may not be familiar with the concept of the inner world." He said, as always, explaining in simple words when it is most necessary.
"Tradition and human society always place shrines at turning points on the road, and shrines are set up at key points."
"Because in your culture, 'roads' don't just connect conceptual distances in reality."
"The 'door' and the 'corner' and 'intersection' are a boundary line. It will blur the world and the inner world. Once you step into it, what you call it will happen." Henry said this, and the young master who was sweating immediately Reacted: "Kami Kakusi (神hid)"
"Well" Henry nodded: "The entrance to the inner world is actually everywhere, because of its appearance or not."
"Depends on whether you 'recognize' it or not."
"Such incidents don't happen on a large scale because most people have a stronger understanding of the present world. This is also the focus of what I want to say next." His voice suddenly became erratic.
"This is a place that is completely different from the world we used to live in. Most of the things that already exist in it go against your common sense. Even time and distance don't need to follow the original laws, but don't panic."
"Because once you blur your own heart, you won't have a clear enough inner understanding of things in your original world."
fo
"You will be devoured."
"Don't."
"Don't."
The last voice was vague and indistinct, like a murmur in a dream, which instantly became blurry when I woke up.
Everything just now disappeared, the shrine was gone, and none of the companions around him existed.
"The teacher is really missing." The uneasiness became reality, but she immediately tried to shake all these things away, because Henry clearly told her not to panic.
But this place is completely different from the inner world that I entered in the past.
The sky was clear, and even the feeling of heavy pressure and discomfort in her chest had completely disappeared - she felt liberated as never before, and at the same time, a strong sense of nostalgia arose spontaneously.
"But where is this?"
This is a forest, but it is not the kind of forest Mira knew at all.
The grass was too uniform, all short and of the same type, as if someone had carefully taken care of it - but for such a large area? Compared with the mottled wild trees, the trees looked more like they were carefully cared for and pruned by a gardener - she mustered up her courage and walked forward.
"Whose garden is it? What kind of noble noble can own such a garden?" Such thoughts occupied all her thinking ability when walking, so much so that she only noticed that there was such a garden the moment she walked out of the bushes. Many other people.
"What's going on?" No one is around, but this is also completely different from the other world I experienced in the north of Crescent Continent.
What kind of clothes are they wearing?
She had never seen anything like this before. It was an obviously man-made forest and meadow filled with people playing carefree. These people were wearing clothes with a seemingly unrecognizable cut structure and completely unrecognizable materials. They were holding some kind of luminous props in their hands. They were looking at and chatting with the people around them.
Some kind of tall gray pillars stood up in the distance. They looked like trees, but they had strings on them. There are so many of them that they must have some purpose, but what purpose?
Further on, there is a building that is taller than the Imperial Palace of Otolo Empire and Padrosi Empire. The neat glass on it is cleaner and more transparent than those blown by the best dwarf craftsmen, and it is covered with towering glass. The side of the house that enters the clouds.
They reflect the rolling clouds in the clear sky.
It was a sight she had never seen before, but she seemed to be used to it, and there was no feeling of shock in her heart.
'It's all unnatural. '
There was a voice shouting in my heart.
But she was still attracted by all this unconsciously and walked forward.
This is not Luo An’s home, nor is it everything in Avenella. It is certainly not the scene of any city I have seen, lived in, or known along the way.
However, even so, there is something buried deep in my heart that originates from the extremely long past.
The feeling of nostalgia arises spontaneously.
The sun shines on the buildings, and the people on the balconies of the buildings take advantage of the sunshine to dry their quilts, just like the residents of the Avenela Ecasta plain.
The wind here is different from that of Ecasta, but it is the same.
The wind blew her whole head [black hair]
She saw those forest things in the distance.
She now knows they are called "telephone poles."
What those people were holding was not a magic item, but something called a "mobile phone".
But why does she know?
She lowered her head and then noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as these people.
Pants of strange blue material, a strange dark shirt and a strange white robe.
There is also a flat card wrapped in some kind of transparent material hanging on the chest.
She took out her phone.
The glass screen that was not turned on reflected a face that she did not recognize - it was the face of an adult woman with long black hair and side bangs. Her face was very delicate, but she had no makeup. The idea of 'My hair is a little long and I haven't had time to cut it recently' came to my mind immediately.
This was followed by 'The dark circles under my eyes are a bit serious, so drink less coffee'.
"What is coffee?" Mira muttered to herself, and then a thought emerged in her heart, 'There is not enough time, the ventilation is over', which made her subconsciously press the switch whose position it was impossible to know.
The screen lights up.
"Facial recognition enabled." The prop spoke in a female voice in a language she shouldn't understand.
"Authorization correct."
"Welcome."
"Dr. Sania Kopokova, you have -10- new messages."
"What is this-" The painful pressure struck again. The white-haired girl clutched her chest and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was back in the forest.
"What's going on?" With a strong desire for answers, she walked forward again, but this time she saw the pain on the faces of those people and struck again;
She repeated it again and again, switching from walking to running, but each time the distance she moved forward became shorter.
In the end, even this forest was unable to escape.
The sky was still clear and the clouds were rolling, but something seemed to be restraining her body and preventing her from moving.
——Something is pulling me in little by little.
A strong sense of helplessness and bone-deep despair suddenly overflowed from the bottom of my heart.
It contained failure and despair after countless efforts. It was not her own feelings. Mira remembered the teacher's words and emphasized to herself again and again.
"This is not my memory."
The moment he realized this clearly, the surrounding scenery began to fade.
When I noticed, her clothes and hair color had changed back.
This is not another world.
The white-haired girl, whose eyes began to glow slightly and whose mana pool was turning at full strength, understood this fact at an alarming speed.
"The embodiment of the longing contained in the magic." - She had empathized with the witch's emotions after coming into contact with Kuroyuki, but this time it was just stronger. Because of her own growth and the difference in her environment this time, all of this has become so intense that it's like stepping into another world in person.
So intense that she was nearly swallowed up.
Henry and Horno once explained to her that this is the spiritual resonance produced by people with extremely high magical adaptability when they have similar wavelengths.
So this is someone's memory, from the very distant past.
Memories of the stars.
But why that name.
If I tell the teacher, will he know? If he knew, would he say it? Still prevaricating again, although she didn't hate the way he prevaricated - her little head was filled with all kinds of questions, but now was obviously not a good time to worry about them - Mira held the sword handle.
"They are compatriots."
Under the dim sky at the time of the devil, a young man with short white hair walked out expressionlessly.
"You too, can you hear the whisper of the abyss?"
"Then why are you still with mortals?"
"You should dedicate yourself to the great return. Only the true God in this world is eternal." The Luoan language he spoke was more classical and conservative than what Mira knew, so it took some effort for the Luoan girl to understand what he meant.
"He is the Lord who transcends time and space and controls eternal reincarnation."
"He is the lord of the circle, he is the lord of death."
"The justice he gives to everything is not the injustice inflicted by false gods in the world under various names."
"He is the only true God."
She was dripping with cold sweat, but the other person did not pull out the sword. She had clearly pointed the tip of the sword at this person, but she still felt endless uneasiness.
Where did the friendly forces go? Why were they separated? Was he really alone?
Miscellaneous thoughts quickly ran through her mind, but the Luoan girl still couldn't help but speak:
"What is the so-called fairness for everything?"
She said this, because absolutely fairness is obviously something that no being can achieve.
"Hehehe" the short-haired man laughed in a weird way.
"It is death."
"Then you are the enemy." Mira tightened her grip on the sword.
