Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 540 Forgotten Sanctuary
The rope ladder was pulled up by the people on the airship with all their might. Gwen clung to the hatch, staring intently down below.

White mist, white mist, seemingly endless white mist, the airship like a lone boat sailing in a sea of ​​clouds.

She stared blankly for a long time, then suddenly turned around and asked the people inside the cabin, "Who was that little girl just now?"

The cabin was quiet for a moment, and then everyone turned to look at her.

"What little girl?"

"A little girl, about this tall, small, with white hair and white pupils, who looks very much like... very much like... in short, a little girl who looks about eight or nine years old!"

The people on the airship exchanged surprised glances, and finally, a man dressed as an expeditionary force member stepped forward:

"There was no little girl on the airship, where did you see her?"

"Down there, no, in the air. Just as we were about to be grabbed by those skeletons, she fell down. Wait, didn't you have a little girl on your airship?"

"Yes, an airship is a combat unit, and it's on a mission, so how could they allow a little girl to board it?"

Gwen opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word. Indeed, it was strange that there was a little girl on this airship, but... but...
She looked down at the white mist below, then turned back to look at the people in the airship.

The little girl just disappeared like that, no one knew, no one noticed, she silently sacrificed herself.

"What about the skeleton? Did it just disappear on its own? She clearly defeated that giant skeleton and then never came back up. Didn't any of you notice?"

Gwen shouted excitedly, but the eyes of those around her were filled with confusion.

"Bones and skeletons? Hmm, there were indeed a lot of bones just now, but skeletons... did you see them?"

The expeditionary force members all shook their heads.

"Ms. Gwen, we have some sedatives here. Have you been agitated?"

"Impossible! Just now, those bones gathered together and formed a giant skull, almost pulling our airship down! Didn't you see that? Impossible, impossible!!"

Gwen felt like she was going crazy. What was wrong with her?

Hodge stepped forward, his eyes filled with worry, and gently reassured her, "Gwen, relax, we're safe now. Put the machine gun down."

"I'm perfectly normal, I'm not crazy, but I clearly saw it just now, didn't any of you see it?"

“Gwen, you just said that the skeletons formed a giant skeleton and almost shot down the airship, but that doesn’t make sense. If they had that ability, why didn’t they use it right away?”

"Even assuming such a colossal giant did appear, could a little girl—let's set aside whether this little girl even exists—single-handedly kill such a massive skeletal giant? No superhuman possesses such power, right?"

Gwen was speechless. She knew that Hodge was right, but could it all just be an illusion?
Was the little girl and her sacrifice all an illusion?
The soldiers of the expeditionary force all looked worried. They made way for Gwen, clearing a seat for her next to the filing cabinet, and members of the medical team poured her a calming drink.

Gwen held a glass of water in her hand, but she had indescribable feelings in her heart.

Even though everyone was concerned about her, she felt a chill run down her spine.

The people here have truly forgotten everything that just happened.

She wanted to do something, but didn't know how, like walking alone in a desolate wilderness, drawing her long sword, but not even being able to find the enemy.

Gwen sat in the chair, her eyes filled with confusion and pain.

Suddenly, her aimless gaze sharpened, and she slowly turned her head to look at the filing cabinet on the side.

"The wind and snow bury the past, but the sanctuary will never forget?" She read the words aloud.

“Oh, this is a book from the Silent Church. We selected some classic passages for reference. This sentence is the most widely circulated. Many churches will carve it on their doors. This sentence is carved on Nora’s hammer.”

Hodge casually offered an explanation.

He reached out and pulled out the page: "I almost forgot, you're a White Crow, you should know more about these things than we do, we've only done some basic research."

Gwen slowly raised her head and stared intently at Hodge.

Which sanctuary?

"Huh?" Hodge was taken aback. "The Silent Sanctuary, huh? Nora is a priestess of the Silent Sanctuary. Are you alright?"

“No, I remember now, they used to be called the Forgotten Sanctuary.” Gwen’s whole body began to tremble, as if she had grasped some clues that she had been ignoring.

"Bury the past, never forget it."

"What exactly happened at the Silent Sanctuary?"

She told herself "live on." Did she know herself?

Sunlight streamed onto the ebony dining table inlaid with gold thread. Hunter poured amber-colored cedar mead into a stemmed glass, took a gentle sniff, and revealed a satisfied smile.

He handed the wine glass to the other side of the table, glanced at Grisha's youthful face, then withdrew his hand and replaced it with a bottle of icethorn juice.

Grisha glanced at Hunter, then looked down at the scones on the silver plate.

"How about it? I dare say that even Archbishop Alexei doesn't have such exquisite meals in his military camp."

Grisha nodded in agreement: "Indeed, this bread smells delicious. Once, I fell asleep while on guard duty in the forest. When I woke up, there were many coyotes gathered under the trees. It took me five whole days to find a chance to slip away. During that time, I could only eat the snow on the trees."

"I was starving when we found the camp. Gwen was roasting potatoes, and I grabbed one and ate it. It tasted like the best thing in the world."

Grisha chuckled sheepishly and pointed to the scones on his plate: "These are only slightly worse than that one."

Hunter swallowed hard and quickly said, "Roasted potatoes? Are they easy to make? Roast one for me after the war, and I'll teach you calculus!"

Really? Is calculus interesting?

“Interesting, it’s one of the most interesting things in the world, but I seem to lack the talent. Castel is even better than a snack stall owner.”

"Hmm, it's okay. I'm always clumsy too, and I can't do anything right."

"Never mind, let's not talk about this anymore, let's eat something together!"

"it is good!"

Both the adult and the child smiled and began to eat.

"Hmm, speaking of which, how come you have so many good things here? Their barracks look so simple."

“Oh, my family refused to surrender before, so I pointed out a few secret passages to Alexei. We took over the family's fortress without much effort, and then they moved all these things to me.”

Hunter shrugged.

(End of this chapter)