In truth, the kiss lasted for only a brief moment.
Chendo barely brushed his lips against Siles’s, much like a small animal making sure its master was still alive. Then, he held Siles in a tight, desperate embrace. He fumbled until he found Siles’s hand, gripping it tightly, their fingers tightly intertwined.
Siles patted Chendo’s back, realizing that the man was trembling slightly. Seeing the still-unhealed wound on the back of Chendo’s hand, Siles lowered his eyes and sighed faintly.
Knowing Chendo’s emotions wouldn’t settle down anytime soon, Siles gently patted him to soothe his feelings while looking up to survey his surroundings.
He noticed that he appeared to be in an inn, likely Audrey’s Inn. However, he wasn’t the only one here.
Albert, Mary, Chester, Alva, Audrey, and Andy—all six of them were present, standing or sitting scattered around the room. There were also a few unfamiliar explorers in the room.
He had been lying on a bed against the wall. Other people who had turned into statues, as well as the injured, were also lying on beds. The former had already lost all signs of life, while the latter struggled and screamed in pain.
…It seemed that after his incident, some rather unfortunate events had transpired across the entire House of Hales. Siles thought with relative calmness.
The helpless expressions of his companions were proof enough. Even the ever-optimistic Alva hadn’t cheered or tried to tease them when Chendo uncontrollably kissed Siles—well, regardless, it truly proved that the situation was far from optimistic.
At this moment, Siles’s mind was actually flooded with a vast array of information and questions: Chendo’s major failure on the Will check, the chaos at the House of Hales, and his own encounter in that dark space.
He had no choice but to pinch the bridge of his nose firmly to maintain his composure and rationality.
Having just escaped the threat of death, the icy chill still lingered in his heart. Yet, the slightly trembling man in his arms made him realize that he had truly returned to the living world.
Just then, Audrey slowly walked over, looking at them with a gentle gaze, and whispered, “You two can stay here for a while. Mr. Chendo’s state… isn’t very good.”
Siles nodded and said, “I understand.”
Audrey then gently pulled the curtain around the bed closed. The noises outside were shut out, leaving only Siles and Chendo together in this narrow, fabric-enclosed space.
Chendo was still trembling slightly. His ash-gray hair rubbed against Siles’s neck, tickling him slightly. Nevertheless, Siles patiently stroked Chendo’s hair, letting him slowly calm down.
“…Are you not afraid at all?” Chendo suddenly asked, his voice extremely raspy and low.
Siles said, “Of course I am.”
“But you never show it.”
“Yes. I never show it.” Siles paused, then added, “I’m sorry, Chendo.”
Chendo gave a muffled response, then suddenly reacted and asked, “Why are you apologizing?”
“I failed to stay vigilant.”
“…You were ambushed. You can’t be blamed for that,” Chendo said. “I was just afraid… afraid I wouldn’t reach your side in time. It should be my duty to protect and guard you.”
Siles still couldn’t see Chendo’s face, but from his tone, he could clearly hear a rather stubborn emotion.
“I was so terrified… Siles. I was terrified,” Chendo’s voice gradually cracked with raspy emotion. “How could I leave your side? How could I watch your body slowly grow cold…”
His emotions were on the verge of collapsing again. This had likely already happened once, which was why Audrey had so gently reminded Siles to soothe Chendo.
Siles sighed inwardly, then firmly lifted Chendo’s face. He kissed Chendo and said, “I’m still alive.”
Chendo looked as though he hadn’t processed it at all. Siles noticed his reddened eyes, which made the man look unprecedentedly fragile and bewildered.
Siles gently pressed his lips to Chendo’s once more and said, “I’m alive.”
“You’re alive… You’re alive!” Chendo uttered a quiet exclamation of joy. A subtle, spring-water-like joy rippled in his eyes. Cautiously, like a harmless, fluffy little animal, he gently licked Siles’s lips.
Siles was amused by him. The move was so clumsy that Siles didn’t even know what to say.
The well-read (yet completely inexperienced) Earthling hesitated for only a second before actively deepening the kiss. Chendo displayed a helpless awkwardness and slowness in this regard, yet he was also remarkably submissive, as if Siles were the god who held his very life.
Siles thought back to that major failure on the Will check—one critical success, one major failure, and Chendo had become completely his. Of course, only Chendo.
He was actually puzzled by the appearance of that major failure because he didn’t understand why a Will check for Chendo would trigger at that moment, nor why he couldn’t control the outcome. This had never happened before.
However, the dice had never explained the reasons behind these checks to Siles either—aside from the ones triggered by the TRPG player characters that were slightly easier to comprehend.
He thought that Chendo’s major failure on the Will check was certainly not incomprehensible. He meant that it signified Chendo’s feelings for him had completely shattered this powerful man’s rationality, didn’t it?
Siles felt a lighthearted surge of emotion swell uncontrollably in his heart. He stopped dwelling on it and focused on the kiss instead. He viewed this kiss as one between lovers, rather than mere relief after surviving a near-death encounter.
Chendo seemed completely powerless to resist, breathing softly. When the kiss ended, he asked bewilderedly and softly, “So… is this your answer?”
“Yes, this is my answer,” Siles said.
Chendo’s emerald eyes stared intently at Siles as he murmured, “That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful… I feel like my love for you is boiling over. Luckily… you gave me an answer now, otherwise, I really don’t know what I might have done.”
…What would Chendo have done? Siles was slightly curious about the answer, though it was only a slight curiosity.
Having been soothed, Chendo held Siles tightly, lazily absorbing—or rather, reassuring himself of—Siles’s body heat. He actually looked exhausted, having likely gone without sleep for a long time, but no matter what Siles said, he refused to rest properly.
“At least wait until this matter is over,” Chendo said. “That way, you can put your mind at ease too.”
Siles ultimately nodded.
Chendo asked, “Did it hurt earlier?”
“I didn’t feel much,” Siles admitted honestly. “I just felt like I entered a dark room and spent a long period of time there. Then, a lighthouse suddenly lit up in the distant darkness. Chendo, was that your doing?”
“Yes,” Chendo said.
He retrieved the booklet from the side. Siles had actually seen this booklet outside the Stardust vein and knew it was the source of Chendo’s power, though he hadn’t known what it actually was.
“A travelogue,” Chendo said. “Originally, it was a travelogue written by Ligadia Himself, and later transcribed by descendants of the Praia family who possessed the Old God’s bloodline power.
“The former is called the ‘Divine Master Version,’ while the latter is known as the ‘Bloodline Transcript’. Different deities possess different… forms of power manifestation, many of which are expressed through words, hence the distinction between ‘Master Version’ and ‘Transcript’.
“Followers of other deities also produce ‘Believer Transcripts’. Generally speaking, in terms of power, a Divine Master Version is stronger than a Bloodline Transcript, which in turn is stronger than a Believer Transcript.
“However, Bloodline Transcripts are extremely rare nowadays. After all, only the Praia family still carries the bloodline power of an Old God; the families of other deities have likely all died out.
“…Ligadia’s ‘Divine Master Version’ is preserved in the Praia family archives and is rarely used. I mostly use the Bloodline Transcript, though I keep a page of the Divine Master Version on me just in case. And this time, it proved useful.
“My father once instructed me that before I die, I must transcribe a copy for future generations… though perhaps it’s better for the Praia family to end with my generation. After all, I already have you.”
He spoke with a touch of affection and smugness.
Then, his tone sank lower as he added, “Besides… the Old God bloodline isn’t a good thing anyway. This world no longer needs the existence of Old Gods.”
“You are yourself, Chendo,” Siles said. “I have never viewed you simply as the words ‘Old God’s Scion’.”
“Of course, I understand what you mean,” Chendo nuzzled Siles’s chin. He seemed quite fond of this action now.
Siles let him be. He continued asking, “So, this is the power you normally use?”
“Yes. That’s why people always say I possess strange powers,” Chendo said. “The power I use comes from my bloodline; I don’t need potions, nor do I need Time Traces.
“The words in these travelogues—their context, their meaning, their stories—are the entirety of the power I can command. A kind of…”
He seemed unsure of how to describe it.
Then he gave an example: “Take earlier, for instance. Your body turned into a statue, but I could sense that your soul hadn’t perished. So, I used the words ‘Lighthouse of the Soul’ from the Divine Master Version, hoping it would guide you back.
“…To be honest, I was just making an attempt. There were other methods I wanted to try, but I didn’t expect you to revive immediately. This proves the uniqueness of your power. It also means that what I did was effective, doesn’t it?”
He looked at Siles with a hint of expectation.
“Of course, Chendo. Thank you,” Siles said.
Chendo waited for a moment, and seeing that Siles had merely offered a simple thank-you without any further action, he stared at him in utter shock.
Siles smiled, pressed Chendo back into his embrace, and said unhurriedly in a low voice, “There are people outside.”
“…You’re being reserved again,” Chendo grumbled unhappily. “Always keeping me on edge.”
Siles had no choice but to kiss Chendo’s lips to stop him from muttering.
“You’re wonderful,” Chendo’s face immediately lit up with joy, his eyes overflowing with laughter as he stared at Siles. “I mean it. Of course, it would be even better if you didn’t scare me like that in the future.”
Siles hesitated before saying, “Perhaps you could teach me, Chendo.” He paused and explained, “I used to live in an extremely peaceful environment, so I truly lack vigilance.”
“Teach you how to fight?” Chendo muttered. “That sounds like a good idea.”
Once that topic passed, Siles asked again, “Regarding the state I was in earlier… do you have any thoughts on it? Why did my soul appear in that dark room? Why could the lighthouse’s light guide me back?”
Chendo pondered for a moment, then said, “There seem to be some related records in my family’s books… though I wasn’t a very good student. It was terribly dry material; perhaps you would enjoy it.”
Siles cast a half-smiling glance at him: “In a few days, I have to return to Lamifa City to resume work. Even if I go to Kansas, that won’t be until next year’s spring break.”
Chendo let out a disappointed sigh.
He then said earnestly, “I’m telling the truth, you have to believe me. What I mean is, those concepts were always vague, like riddles.
“In short, some books mentioned things like the ‘dangerous Sea of Darkness,’ ‘isolated islands in the sea,’ and ‘cold northern winds,’ as well as ‘lighthouses,’ ‘guiding directions,’ ‘sea fog,’ and ‘mysterious animals’…
“It was only because the page of the Divine Master Version I brought contained the words ‘Lighthouse of the Soul’ that I gave it a try.”
Chendo’s explanation plunged Siles into deep thought. He recalled the book he had borrowed from Professor Cabel, On the Journey. That book had mentioned “a lighthouse by the sea” and phrases like “the island in the mist where snakes dwell is a northern paradise unbothered by cold winds.”
That seemed to align with Chendo’s words.
And… the Sea of Darkness?
He still remembered that during the Constitution check in that dark space earlier, the dice prompt had mentioned, “‘Capsizing’ is not a word to be used lightly.”
A ship and the sea—the two seemed implicitly connected.
Moved by a sudden thought, Siles asked, “May I see that page of the Divine Master Version?”
“Of course,” Chendo handed Siles a thin sheet of paper tucked inside the booklet. “Though, you probably won’t be able to read the contents. I can translate for you.”
It was an extremely ancient piece of paper that looked to be made from animal hide. However, under the erosion of time, the originally thick and sturdy parchment had become very fragile.
Siles cradled it carefully and looked down. The script written on it was something he completely failed to understand and had never heard of—a form of writing resembling hieroglyphs. That, oddly enough, gave him a sense of familiarity.
With Chendo’s explanation, Siles came to understand that this was an early script popular among the tribe protected by Ligadia. Because this travelogue was originally gifted by Ligadia to that tribe, it used their script.
Siles thought to himself: Indeed, Ligadia really had protected a tribe—and that tribe was likely the origin of the wandering poets, wasn’t it?
Chendo’s next words confirmed his suspicion: “The wandering poets you’re researching probably originated from that tribe as well. However, ever since Ligadia went missing during the Age of Shadows, that tribe gradually declined. That also seems to be the origin of the Praia family.”
Unsurprisingly, Siles nodded.
Then, through Chendo’s explanation, Siles understood the content written on the Divine Master Version page.
It roughly recounted the tale of a follower of Ligadia who traveled out to sea and got lost in the vast, deep ocean. In the pitch-black darkness, a glowing lighthouse suddenly appeared to guide the way, allowing the follower to return home safely.
Upon hearing this story, Ligadia greatly praised the unique function of the lighthouse’s light, recording it and naming the lighthouse the “Lighthouse of the Soul,” symbolizing guiding lost souls back home.
Chendo said, “It was precisely because of this meaning that I thought using the four words ‘Lighthouse of the Soul’ might bring you back… or perhaps… I was simply out of options.”
Not long ago, Siles lying on the bed had been a cold, stiff statue. It was horrifying—so horrifying that Chendo wished he could erase that entire memory.
He kept his eyes fixed on Siles, as if a single lapse in attention might cause Siles to vanish.
Embracing him, Siles said softly, “I’m already back.”
“…Sometimes I really wish I could bite onto your sleeve and make you drag me along wherever you go.”
Siles let out a chuckle: “As long as you stay by my side.”
“I will always stay by your side,” Chendo said. “My love for you is beyond cure. Only you can save me, depending entirely on whether you’re willing to.”
Siles said, “I am.”
He thought to himself that he had to take responsibility for that critical success and that major failure.
Furthermore, the moment he returned from the brink of death and opened his eyes to see Chendo’s emerald eyes washed with tears… he suddenly realized how deeply intimate he had become with the owner of those eyes.
Intimate to the point where only death stood between them.
That was something difficult to sever with a few simple words. Siles could not bring himself to be so cruel, neither to himself nor to Chendo.
“Then my mind is at ease,” Chendo murmured.
After their brief exchange of sweet talk, their topic shifted back to serious matters.
In truth, regarding the concepts of the “Sea of Darkness” and “Lighthouse of the Soul,” Siles had his own ideas. It definitely wasn’t a physical, concrete place, but rather a specific realm.
…The boundary of near-death? He speculated.
Setting that concept aside, however, they still had many matters to address.
Chendo quickly recounted what had happened after Siles fell unconscious.
Siles’s collapse had been entirely sudden, not only for himself but also for the explorers. A living person suddenly turning into a statue was more than anyone could handle, let alone a group of explorers who were already hyper-vigilant.
In short, the situation had seemingly spiraled out of control in an instant. Explorers scrambled to flee, shoving one another as the atmosphere grew tense, with some taking advantage of the chaos.
The few other statues lying not far away, as well as the injured, were the result of that chaos.
The situation ultimately triggered a fierce brawl. Things gradually settled down afterward, but the cheerful scene of people playing cards was gone for good. Furthermore, many shops and stalls had closed up, leaving the entire Pavilion quiet and oppressive.
Siles pondered this news, suddenly realizing: “So, they weren’t necessarily targeting me specifically?”
He might have just been an unlucky target picked to trigger the chaos because he lacked vigilance.
“Perhaps,” Chendo said through gritted teeth.
This was likely the most dangerous situation Siles had encountered since coming to this world.
Had Chendo not rushed back in time, and had Siles not prudently prepared [A Tranquil Mind] for himself, his soul might have dissipated in the Sea of Darkness in a short period of time.
Siles felt lingering fear as well. Yet, precisely because of this ordeal, he realized that the mastermind’s actions were accelerating.
After a moment’s reflection, Siles said, “Corinna Canyon.”
“What?” Chendo was taken aback.
“We need to go to Corinna Canyon,” Siles said. “We leave immediately, without delay.”
Chendo frowned and said, “You’ve only just awakened—and you haven’t even had lunch!”
“We can eat on the way,” Siles stood up, tidying his collar and cuffs. Turning around, he saw Chendo sitting on the bed with a gloomy expression, which made him smile slightly.
He leaned down, kissed Chendo, and said, “We can also discuss the matters I asked you to investigate on the way.”
Chendo moved his lips, seemingly wanting to argue further, but in the end, he only muttered, “Fine, as you wish. I can never oppose your ideas.”
“We are practically dating now, yet you still address me with such formal honorifics,” Siles said. “It’s a bit strange.”
“I heard some nobles prefer this kind of tone. Perhaps in bed,” Chendo let out a low chuckle. “Though to me, you truly are like a god. You control my body and mind, and my will cannot help but yield to you.”
Those emerald eyes stared at Siles as he said, “I’m thrilled you said we’re dating. I belong to you, and you belong to me.”
Siles said, “You say I’m your god… do you worship me? Your attitude doesn’t seem like that of a devout believer.”
“A believer who adores you, a believer who longs to possess you…” Chendo said. “A believer who fears your power, a believer who kneels before your powerful essence… Can’t all of these be unified in me?”
“Of course they can,” Siles said. He respected Chendo’s perspective.
Still, he sometimes couldn’t fully comprehend the people of this world, at least when it came to faith.
As they spoke, he had already straightened his clothes and verified that all his belongings were still intact. He asked, “Who brought me here?”
“…A stranger, an explorer,” Chendo said. “A man, no less. I really need to pay closer attention to your social circle and make my presence known loud and clear.”
It took Siles a moment to grasp Chendo’s meaning. Amused and exasperated, he said, “Albert? …Never mind. Let’s go, we must hurry.”
Chendo muttered something under his breath before standing up to follow Siles’s footsteps.
When Audrey and Alva learned that Siles was heading to Corinna Canyon right away, both gasped in surprise.
Audrey, the innkeeper, said with deep concern, “But, sir, you’ve only just…”
“Indeed, Professor,” Alva chimed in. “Don’t you plan to rest for a bit?”
“The doctor can attest to the fact that I am perfectly healthy,” Siles nodded toward Chester. “Most importantly, we need to resolve the current situation.”
He turned to Mary and said, “Ms. Mary, perhaps you all should leave the Pavilion and head over to the low stone houses. It might become extremely dangerous here very soon.”
Mary nodded, and Andy offered enthusiastically, “No problem, I think my place can accommodate quite a few guests.”
Siles thanked him as well; after all, Andy’s presence here at this moment proved his stance was relatively neutral, even if he might have previously sold Siles’s information.
Additionally, the local tribe might also be able to offer assistance, at least by taking in some explorers for the time being.
Siles then thanked Albert, as it was this explorer who had physically hauled his “statue body” up to the third-floor inn. That must have been an extraordinarily heavy task.
Albert waved it off with a casual shrug and said, “You’re a Prophet. I almost suspected you had me come along because you knew I possessed a Time Trace that grants brute strength.”
The remark left Siles momentarily speechless.
Chendo asked suspiciously from the side, “What is a Prophet?”
“I’ll explain to you later,” Siles said. “So, Chendo and I will head to Corinna Canyon. The rest of you stay here and wait to see how things develop.”
This division of labor was agreed upon by the others.
Mary asked, “Professor, is there anything we should do?”
Siles pondered briefly, then said, “Try your best to get the other explorers to leave the Pavilion. Also, pay attention to their emotions. Have Miles stabilize the situation so no large-scale fights break out.”
He paused before finally adding, “If everything fails and it’s too late, burn down the Pavilion.”
The others looked at one another in shock. Mary asked hesitantly, “Are you… sure?”
Siles tilted his head to glance at the glowing fabric nearby. After a moment, he asked, “Have you ever wondered why this fabric glows?”
Some shook their heads, while Audrey said hesitantly, “I think I heard… someone mentioned that glowing plant materials were woven into the fabric?”
The corners of Siles’s lips curled into a satirical smile.
He said, “Stardust… glows as well, doesn’t it?”
He heard someone gasp in realization, followed by complete silence.
“…I hope the situation doesn’t devolve to that point,” Siles said, then turned and asked, “Ms. Audrey, do you have any portable food? I might need to eat something on the way.”
Audrey snapped back to reality and hurriedly said, “Of course, of course I do. Please wait a moment.”
They dispersed to prepare. Doctor Chester found Siles and said anxiously, “Professor, what happened earlier was far too dangerous. You have no idea how we felt when we saw you turned into a statue…”
He cut himself off mid-sentence because the look Chendo shot him was thoroughly unpleasant.
So he shifted his tone: “In short, it is wonderful that you are safe now. But you absolutely cannot take any more risks after this.”
“I understand,” Siles could only say.
After this incident, his friends—and his lover—would likely become increasingly “overprotective” of him. And that was indeed his own doing.
Roughly ten minutes later, Siles and Chendo were the first to leave the Pavilion. As they left, Siles noticed that above the central open area on the first floor, the dirty-feathered birdman was still flying aimlessly overhead.
The others intended to stay in the Pavilion a bit longer to prepare food and try to persuade the remaining explorers to leave. However, Siles doubted their efforts would go smoothly.
In any case, Siles instructed them to leave the Pavilion before nightfall no matter what.
Once night fell, the events unfolding inside the Pavilion could easily spiral out of control.
They retrieved their feather-horses from the low stone houses and rode along the mapped path toward Corinna Canyon. As dusk approached, the temperature dropped rapidly, making Siles feel as if his ears were freezing in the bitter wind.
Fortunately, Corinna Canyon wasn’t too far away, and they arrived roughly an hour later. From a distance, beneath the deep purple sky, Siles spotted a neat, heart-shaped depression surrounded by steep cliffs, looking thoroughly desolate.
Siles didn’t rush to approach. They dismounted and walked around the perimeter for a bit.
Along the way, Chendo shared his findings with Siles piece by piece.
When he arrived in Biedel City, the merchant Lanmere had actually been investigating related matters as well, specifically records concerning the history of the House of Hales.
All three of Siles’s questions had received corresponding answers.
As for Joseph and Lila, they had indeed appeared in Biedel City seven years ago. No one knew where they came from, and few had interacted with them, but it was said that when they first arrived in Biedel City, they acted like frightened birds, refusing to communicate with anyone.
This almost conclusively proved that Siles’s suspicions about them were correct. Furthermore, Chendo mentioned that Joseph had now gone missing, with no one knowing his whereabouts.
Siles said, “We should have communicated with him.” He shook his head. “Never mind, there’s no point in regrets now.”
As for the second question, it happened to be what Lanmere was currently researching.
Lanmere had looked into rumors over an extended period and discovered that over the past few centuries, rumors about “the Non-existent City” or news regarding special maps and treasure maps popped up every few years.
In the past decade, such news had suddenly intensified, becoming an annual occurrence. The source and core of these occurrences were outposts like the House of Hales, particularly in the southeastern part of the Ashless Lands.
The main structure of the House of Hales was built centuries ago during the Age of Silence. However, its role as a key outpost in the Ashless Lands was only established after the Age of Mist.
Had it undergone renovations? Indeed it had. Late last summer, the House of Hales Pavilion underwent a thorough overhaul, reportedly replacing all of its fabric.
This aligned with Siles’s expectations.
And combining this with the third question—who was Lanmere selling his mined Stardust to?
Lanmere hadn’t concealed this at all, straightforwardly stating that half was sold to various nations, such as the Duchy of Konst and the Duchy of Kansas, while the other half was distributed within the Ashless Lands.
A large portion of the latter was clearly handed over to merchants in the Ashless Lands who had better connections in Glastone.
Chendo relayed Lanmere’s exact words: “He said his business mostly connects the Ashless Lands with various nations, primarily centered in Galsworthy. As for business in Glastone, he couldn’t get involved much.”
“Which means a large portion of this Stardust was given to… those merchants,” Siles said.
Which merchants? Those who, according to Mary, had formed a secret commercial alliance within the Ashless Lands to distribute the mined Stardust.
However, had they truly sold that Stardust?
Siles and Chendo walked around Corinna Canyon for a while before Siles said, “Perhaps I already understand the sequence of events behind all this. However…” He deliberated, “there is still one detail that isn’t clear enough.”
Chendo said, “You can take your time to think it through.”
Siles shook his head and said, “Let’s go down to the canyon and take a look.”
Corinna Canyon. This artificially created heart-shaped canyon appeared extraordinarily peaceful in the hazy twilight, drawing one’s gaze like an abyss.
Siles and Chendo stopped at the canyon’s edge. Siles squatted down and lightly touched the vertical edge of the canyon. Then he said, “This is too smooth.”
Even after three or four hundred years of wind, sun, and rain erosion, the vertical angle of the canyon’s edge remained far too perfect, as if a giant spade had sliced straight through the earth.
Chendo asked, “Wouldn’t that arouse suspicion?”
“Aren’t people speculating that it was created by a deity?” Siles said. “That’s the explanation they gave. Deities—just push everything onto those deities.”
Saying this, he put on [Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame].
The two Time Traces gifted to him by the Church of the Past were exceptionally useful. [Boots of Nature] kept his feet from aching or tiring despite days of traveling, while [Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame] immensely aided his exploration of the Ashless Lands.
He observed the heart-shaped canyon while asking, “Since this place was once covered in mist, shouldn’t it be considered Gainsde after the mist vanished?”
“Centuries ago, yes,” Chendo said. “However, hundreds of years after the mist cleared, it became a safe zone.”
Siles nodded in agreement.
His gaze fell to the bottom of Corinna Canyon. [Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame] helped zoom in his field of vision. The night was pitch-black, with only hazy light illuminating the canyon floor.
“…Corpses,” he said suddenly.
Chendo was slightly taken aback.
Siles sighed and took off the eyeglasses: “There are numerous corpses, statues, and skeletal remains. They seem to be concealed by something, making it look like a normal natural landscape on the surface.”
Chendo asked, “Are your two friends down there?”
On the way, Siles had already told him that he suspected Alfonso and Emmanuel, along with other explorers and the owner of that ancient map, had come to Corinna Canyon.
Siles shook his head and said, “I didn’t spot them.”
[Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame] lacked night-vision capabilities. He couldn’t clearly discern the features of those corpses.
“Then that’s good news,” Chendo said. “I doubt they would die here.”
Siles nodded. He suspected Alfonso and the others had visited this place before—the tribal ruins might very well be located here. Siles didn’t know the exact location, but Alfonso and his party had surely come prepared.
Siles added, “Is there any way to check if there are living people down there? Including underground?”
“Hold on…”
“A person! A living person!” A shrill shout suddenly rang out from the bottom of the canyon. “It’s a person!”
Someone was screaming loudly.
…Siles was startled by the sudden voice and couldn’t help but miss the giant flashlights of Earth. He was also puzzled. When he had observed the canyon moments ago, he hadn’t noticed any living people. Where had this guy popped up from?
Chendo asked vigilantly, “Who’s there?”
“Me!” The person’s voice sounded wildly neurotic. “A living person!”
Then came a rustling noise from the canyon floor. The person shouted again, “Me! I’m going to die! They all left! They left me behind! Damn them, damn them, they deserve to die!”
“Who are ‘they’?” Siles asked sharply.
The crazed voice continued, “They… went to the temple! Ha, the temple! I’m going to die, I’m going to die! They’re going to die too, you… you, all of you are going to die! All of you!”
Chendo frowned and whispered, “It seems impossible to communicate with him.”
Siles pondered for a moment, then said, “Temple of Belan?”
The person abruptly stopped shouting. After an uncomfortable silence, he said, “How do you know! Who are you?” The nervous trembling in his voice remained, but the mania had lessened slightly.
Siles and Chendo exchanged a glance.
Siles immediately asked, “What are they planning to do at the Temple of Belan?”
“The temple… awaken… Our Lord… No, no, no, they all saw that record… No, no, no… It’s impossible to awaken Him… They’re still trying to do useless work! Useless work!”
“Why is it impossible?”
“We! We saw it with our own eyes—the words recording Our Lord’s fall… Someone pushed Our Lord into the abyss with their own hands! The Temple of Belan stands high in the sky, yet Our Lord fell into the abyss! Fell into the abyss!”
His words were laced with madness, yet Siles understood certain things.
This person didn’t seem to believe the Old God followers’ actions would succeed, so at the final moment, he was abandoned.
Temple of Belan… high in the sky. A palace floating in the heavens.
“…You utilized the followers of Timiafa,” Siles said into the darkness.
“They did it willingly! It wasn’t utilization! Hehehe, not utilization! They willingly embarked on a path to try and find a possible way. They failed… and we, we won’t succeed either! The Old God has fallen, and later gods have replaced the ancient ones!”
His words shocked Siles deeply.
Chendo gripped Siles’s cold hand tightly. Night had fallen, and in the freezing air, they listened to the deathbed ramblings of a madman.
“What exactly are you planning to do?” Siles heard his own voice, equally cold.
The madman made rustling sounds again, as if crawling on the ground. Siles recalled the scene Doctor Chester had witnessed seven years ago and instantly understood the current situation at the bottom of the canyon.
He felt a slight urge to put on his eyeglasses, but ultimately chose to refrain. The pitch-black night was currently their cover.
“An exchange! An exchange! Do you understand equivalent exchange? One life for one life; many lives can exchange for a god’s life. One person won’t do, so a hundred; a hundred won’t do, so ten thousand. Work hard, kill more people, accumulate more souls… hehehehe…”
The man let out a chilling laugh. Their feather-horses let out frightened neighs.
“It’s impossible! Impossible! They’re deceiving themselves! They’re bringing trouble upon themselves, seeking their own deaths! We’ve tried for so many years, hundreds of years, and we even found the Temple of Belan! Yet they’re still deceiving themselves! Seven years!”
Siles listened in silence. He thought that these people seemed trapped in a self-deceiving frenzy from which they could not escape. They could only spin around within this madness, with no way out.
He couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
“That fountain pen,” Siles said. “What does it represent?”
“What does it represent? Hahahaha, so you don’t know! So you don’t know! That fountain pen pronounced Our Lord’s death! Gods die, humans die—aren’t humans and gods practically the same? I’m going to die too, so it turns out I am a god as well! I am a god too!”
He spoke incoherently, his mind slipping back into confusion.
The fountain pen pronounced the death of a god. That meant…
“Revelations of the Heavenly God,” Siles thought. What exactly was recorded on the parchment in that mysterious tribal ruin?
“Heavenly God.” This was his first time hearing such a phrasing.
Siles asked a few more questions, but received no further coherent answers. The madman muttered incomprehensible nonsense. Siles opened his pocket watch and checked the time; it was already seven in the evening.
Decisively, he said, “Let’s go, back to the House of Hales.”
Chendo asked, “Leave this guy to fend for himself?”
Siles said calmly, “Yes.”
“…You’re leaving? Leaving?” The man suddenly shrieked. “No! You can’t leave! Die with me!!”
In the darkness, a cloud of steel-gray mist mixed with the faint blue glow of Stardust lunged toward them. As Chendo reached for the horses, Siles had already opened [The Warrior’s Black Umbrella], which he had been holding all along, the moment the man began shrieking.
The canopy unfolded. Siles saw a protective barrier glowing with blue light abruptly snap open, blocking all attacks and even reflecting the strange entities straight back. Chendo looked at the effect in surprise.
“…No! It shouldn’t be like this! Our Lord, Our Lord…!”
“Hoodoka’s followers pushed Him into the abyss with their own hands,” Siles said coldly. “And yet you still pray for His protection now?”
“No… Menavaca… They are one and the same after all… So it was once, and so it shall ultimately be!”
After that sentence, the man lost all signs of life.
Siles heard that line once again. He slowly closed the black umbrella and stood silent for a moment.
Chendo said, “Truly insane.”
“Indeed,” Siles murmured. “Truly unbelievable.”
After a brief pause, Siles regained his composure and said, “Let’s go down and check.”
They tied the feather-horses’ reins to a nearby withered tree, then carefully made their way down to the canyon floor. They found the madman who had just spoken to them; his lower body had indeed turned to stone, while his upper body glared angrily, bearing a vivid expression of madness even in death.
The canyon was somewhat deep, with a flat floor overgrown with a few plants, but lacking any real vitality. In the darkness of the night, they could see almost nothing. Chendo pulled out a match and handed it to Siles.
“A Time Trace,” he said. “The associated ritual is probably called something like [Dark Night Fire].”
Siles looked at the small match with curiosity, then struck it lightly against the rock wall. With a whoosh, a fist-sized ball of blue fire—disproportionate to the match’s size—lit up above it.
The match then floated into the air on its own, illuminating their surroundings with a faint glow.
They explored the canyon for a while. Using [Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame], Siles discovered a strange secret passage not far from where the Old God follower had died.
They didn’t have time for a thorough investigation right now. Siles asked Chendo to check if there were any other living people nearby.
It was Siles’s first time observing Chendo’s power up close. The way Chendo plucked characters off the travelogue’s pages marvelled him and gave him a few sparks of inspiration.
Chendo plucked the character “查” (Inspect/Search) from the page, conveying the general meaning of inspecting the surroundings, then tossed it into the air. A cloud of ash-gray mist expanded and seeped outward in all directions.
Siles watched thoughtfully and said, “This looks like the ability to manifest the abstract into reality.”
“It’s possible,” Chendo shrugged. “I don’t really understand the essence of this power; I just know how to use it. You seem more interested in the essence of power?”
Siles said, “Indeed I am.”
He wanted to uncover the secrets of this world and ultimately return to Earth. Learning step-by-step and mastering power slowly was simply too inefficient.
He shook his head; now was not the time to discuss this topic.
Chendo didn’t pry further. After a moment, as if suddenly realizing something, he looked ahead and said, “There’s no one nearby, but further away… there seems to be someone.”
Ten minutes later, about three hundred meters from Corinna Canyon, they found Alfonso Carte, covered in injuries, and Emmanuel, who had already lost all signs of life.
“Who’s there?!” Alfonso asked, vigilant and uneasy. A moment later, he stared in dumbfounded disbelief, “Professor Noel?!”
He stared at Siles incredulously, bloodstains still lingering on his face.
Siles dismounted and walked over. He first examined Alfonso, then looked at Emmanuel.
“Emmanuel…?” Siles said softly.
Once Alfonso realized it was Siles, he collapsed onto the ground in relief. He looked at Emmanuel with a complex expression, then said, “He’s dead.” He paused before adding, “I wanted to carry his body back to bury him in his hometown, but…”
Suddenly, he jumped up and shouted, “The House of Hales! Those bastards! They’re heading to the House of Hales!”
“I know,” Siles said simply.
Alfonso’s look seemed to ask: How do you know? Oh, right, Prophet. Understanding dawned in his eyes.
Siles felt helpless. Looking at Emmanuel’s calm, lifeless face, he let out a soft sigh. He asked, “Can you hold on?”
“I’ll wait for you here,” Alfonso said. “I can’t walk anymore. Over these past few days…”
He let out a bittersweet laugh filled with mixed emotions.
Siles didn’t press for details immediately. He said, “Then we will return to the House of Hales first and come back for you afterward. You must stay safe in the meantime.”
“I know,” Alfonso said. “End all of this. All these lies, deceptions… this terrifying scam,” he murmured.
Siles sighed as well. He wanted to leave the shield fragment and the match with Alfonso in case he encountered wild beasts or other attacks at night, but Alfonso refused.
He simply said, “Please be careful as well, Professor. I won’t die that easily here.” He paused, then added, “If we hadn’t been in such a rush, Emmanuel wouldn’t have had to die.”
Siles had his guesses regarding what they had been through over the past few days. Thinking of how Emmanuel had come to the Ashless Lands resolved to die, only to truly perish here… an emotion that was a mix of regret and melancholy welled up in his heart.
Chendo stood quietly a short distance away, holding the horses. Alfonso cast a curious glance at him, but lacked the energy to ask questions at this moment.
He sat on the ground, dragging Emmanuel’s body close to his side, and said calmly, “Go ahead, Professor. I’ll wait for your good news.”
Siles was temporarily at a loss for words. In the end, he simply said, “Rest assured.” Then, he and Chendo turned back.
On the way, Chendo asked, “Where do you think the Temple of Belan will appear? The naked eye cannot observe the paradise of a god; that requires a… very marvelous power.”
Siles cleared his mind of all sighs and complex emotions as best he could. After pondering for a moment, he murmured, “Trade… equivalent exchange… scales!”
“What?”
“Above the Pavilion, that massive scale symbol. The emblem of trade. Both sides of the scale must hold weight,” Siles said softly. “They want to exchange human lives for a god’s life.”
“…To whom?” Chendo asked this question.
Siles shook his head and said, “I don’t know either.”
From what that crazed Old God follower had said, the followers of Timiafa had actually failed. This had left them deeply discouraged as well.
Centuries of futile efforts, endless darkness and failure, immense pressure, and self-inflicted oppression… they truly had nowhere left to go. They had to make this attempt, regardless of success or failure.
In their despair and madness, they chose their own end.
Siles and Chendo quickly approached the House of Hales. What met their eyes, however, was a roaring blaze of fire that illuminated nearly half the night sky.
Siles was thoroughly caught off guard and said, “They really set it on fire.”
This made his heart sink. He hoped the situation at the House of Hales hadn’t turned too horrifying before the fire broke out.
Chendo, on the other hand, spoke with a somewhat relaxed tone: “In that case, perhaps this single fire can resolve the whole matter?”
Siles thought about it and said objectively, “Perhaps other outposts will need to be inspected as well, though I highly doubt those outposts would be willing to do so.
“In any case, if those Old God followers hiding in the Temple of Belan are already dead, then at least this incident can be considered resolved.”
“Judging by that guy’s mental state earlier,” Chendo said, “they probably won’t survive long in the god’s paradise either. They are seeking their own destruction.”
They exchanged a few brief words before falling silent amid the approaching smell of smoke and sound of crying. They found Mary, Chester, and the others standing amidst a crowd of collapsed explorers, silently watching the massive Pavilion burn.
Beside them, Joseph was kneeling on the ground, staring blankly at the flames ahead. From time to time, he would let out a tragic laugh, followed by loud wailing.
Doctor Chester noticed the return of Siles and Chendo. He said, “Joseph set the fire.” He paused, then added, “Shortly after you left.”
Understanding dawned on Siles. He stared at the weeping man, stunned for a moment, and sighed inwardly.
The firelit night sky burned brightly. Occasionally, flashes of blue light flickered within the flames, though only for an instant. Afterward, the fire would burn even more fiercely, as if fuel had been tossed into it.
Siles put on [Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame]. He didn’t feel the overshadowing gloom or heavy pressure, so he looked up at the sky. A faint, palace-like phantom appeared on the other side of the scale above the Pavilion.
In that Temple of Belan high above in the heavens, there once lived an arrogant, conceited deity. His arrogance forced His believers to prostrate before Him, unable even to look up at His true form.
Once they looked up, once they dared to gaze upon His temple and His divine presence, their lives would fade away into cold statues. That was the deity’s punishment for sacrilege.
Yet His believers were not so devout either. Cowardly followers used the deity to cleanse their own sins and exact their own gains.
Until one day, the god was pushed into the abyss by His own followers.
Until one day, the followers were driven into a corner by their own madness.
Until one day…
“A bird!” Alva suddenly cried out.
Siles turned his gaze and saw that above the collapsing massive tent, the dirty-feathered birdman flapped its wings, breaking through the fabric’s confinement. Against the backdrop of the night sky and the firelight, it scattered the vague shadows and soared into the high, vast clouds.
