The cat, perched on the pillar where the plaster statue should have been placed, licked its fur. Hearing footsteps approaching, its pointed ears twitched twice. After quickly adjusting its posture, it nimbly jumped onto the shoulder and settled steadily in its place.
Without needing further questioning, a quick glance through the hall revealed a woman in elaborate attire sitting calmly behind a stack of books. Her eyes, gleaming like iridescent gemstones, shone as she turned the pages of her book, offering a casual inquiry: "Good afternoon, Master of the Box Garden. Is there anything else that requires your attention today?"
"It sounds like you're saying that every time I come here I have some trouble and need your help."
Isn't that exactly right?
The sound of the book closing was clearly audible. He swept it aside, interlaced his fingers, and looked up: "Do you need me to report on the situation so far?"
I nodded and sat down in the sofa that had been moved in.
"Then let's start with the initial question."
Yao, who quickly got into the zone, pulled out a document that had been prepared at some point, as if it were suspended by invisible threads, and casually scattered it in mid-air: "It concerns the World Tree that we sisters have been pursuing. Although the Sacred Tree Barrier is no longer demanding anything, this is still a commission we accepted. Regardless of credibility, we are still continuing our investigation."
"The investigation of the numerous records in the books has not yet yielded any suspicious traces, and it is reasonable to conclude that a reliable time point has not yet been found. Therefore, I have tried to make contact and communicate with the fairy race—by the way, the last batch of those little guys was brought over a few days ago, and they also brought back some remnants that are said to belong to the World Tree's subordinate space after its collapse, which are temporarily stored near the fairy race's territory for confirmation."
"According to the fairies, as early as 120 years ago, or perhaps even earlier, the traces of the World Tree had already been replaced by [a simulated illusion].
"However, this process does not seem to be completed overnight. The reason is that the Fairy Queen, who should have had a spiritual connection with the World Tree, said that her connection with the World Tree became increasingly blurred during that period and eventually broke completely. This also led to many fairies born afterward showing signs of premature death or physical weakness."
"But judging from this statement, could it be that the World Tree really disappeared on its own?" I wondered. "But if that were the case, the World Tree should have informed us long ago, right? Theoretically, it wouldn't have caused the fairies to panic and bewilderment afterward."
“Perhaps something unexpected happened, or perhaps the World Tree itself didn’t expect anything to be happening.” Yao spread his hands, letting the first document fall into his hand. “But until we actually find the World Tree, no one can say for sure what exactly happened back then.”
"What's next?"
“I tried to follow the clues about [The Wisdom of the Stars].
Several documents of varying thicknesses were laid out in the center: "The creator is unknown, the initiator is unknown, it looks like a group of kids spontaneously formed an association one day, displaying the same sign in different places at the same time."
"But based on what we've confirmed so far, the people here come from all walks of life, men and women, young and old, and are not limited to just one organization, the [Arcane Research Center]. The reason we've encountered the most so far is simply because those guys are more radical and have turned that sudden fervor into concrete action."
"Wait a minute?"
I felt a sudden, doubled pain in my forehead, as if I had been struck on the head.
Taking several deep breaths, I emphasized my words: "That strange cult, does it really have all sorts of people?"
Doesn't that mean there are people from the other side in the academy or academic circles?
Yao wore a "When have I ever lied to you?" expression, his tone flat and without much variation: "You even brushed past one of them before, but didn't realize who he was."
"Huh? Is there?"
Hikari looked up in surprise as she tried to confirm what was written on the document.
Yao continued his narration: "But the more important one is this one... Do you remember when you first arrived at the transit hub? Hikari had inquired and confirmed that there was a hunter who spread dangerous rumors everywhere, but he was just driven away by the city lord a few days before you arrived in the city."
"I thought it was just a trivial matter. There have been people spreading strange rumors over the past decade or so... Are all those guys like that?"
At that time, I was still pondering the task assigned to me by my mentor. I became suspicious whenever I heard rumors. It wasn't that I hadn't considered whether this matter was related to it. However, as the events unfolded rapidly, I was busy dealing with the surging beast tide and the dragon beast's attack. In addition, I needed to handle matters related to the Chimera. Before I knew it, I had forgotten about it.
In that case, it seems that he vaguely remembers that the other party was heading towards the western Sacred Tree Fortress.
Yao nodded seriously: "Most of them."
I thought it was just an ordinary little fish, but I never expected it to provoke a deep-sea monster.
I feel completely lost.
"...Is that guy who called himself a hunter still alive?"
Although that's what I asked, I didn't hold much hope for the edge of that perilous gray zone during that period. The only time I was able to get through was with Miyuki as the main attacker and Hikari as backup support. I don't think it would be possible for a lone person to break through unless they took a roundabout route.
However, Yao's next words surprised us greatly: "Although we didn't have high expectations, the hunter's trail was eventually discovered near Qingyuan City, which is farther away than the Sacred Tree Barrier, just before the beast tide arrived."
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