Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

That's the sound of a beating heart.

I raised my head and looked towards the sky. In this moment of stopping, it seemed that even what I saw was different from before. The sky was not filled with poisonous clouds, nor were they those alien shapes that made people afraid of the sky. It was not the clear blue sky, nor was it the sky island where the legendary dragon lived.

It was a scene different from anything we knew, but equally crazy.

Countless dials interlaced, countless hour hands, minute hands, and second hands turned forward and backward, countless gears meshed with each other, yet maintained a strange stillness. The picture did not look like a huge mechanical clock. On the contrary, the thing covering the boundless sky looked like... a sleeping life form, a living thing that was not recognized and therefore did not exist. Lunisia saw it clearly. At the moment when the huge heartbeat sounded, the gears slowly turned, as if that was the ominous sound made by the gears meshing. Just hearing it once would shake the mind, drive the fragile crazy, and indulge in the madness of strange worship.

That is the sound of a rotten heart beating, the sound made when pus, corpse fluid and black blood are squeezed out of the heart and flow throughout the body, and the sound of gears meshing and turning, the horrible whispering of gears.

Everything faded away like an illusion, with only the heartbeat remaining in my ears and the sweat on my forehead proving the reality of that moment. It seemed that as long as the gears started to rotate, the huge existence covering the sky would wake up, and as long as the huge sleeping thing woke up from its long sleep, everything would come to an end.

She understood: if she said the key words openly, the gears would start turning again. It seemed that the existence was not completely ignorant of what had happened. So even in a dream that seemed to have no end, "that thing" was listening. Even if it could not hear all the words, as long as it heard the words it could recognize, it would be awakened from its sleep.

So——I can’t say.

The words "time travel", once spoken, will be heard.

Once heard, everything will be over again.

The words were interrupted and stuck in her mouth, unable to utter them. Lunicia could only blush and pause because she could not continue the conversation immediately, not knowing what to do.

"——Did you feel anything just now?"

She looked helplessly back and forth between Ashetherin and Ella, at their azure eyes and the sparkling golden lake, and was forced to change from a narrator to a questioner, waiting for their answers.

"No, there is nothing, Lady Luna."

Ella looked confused, but Ashlee looked thoughtful.

"...Ashe seems to have sensed something, something is wrong, but she can't tell what happened. Individual Asheselin cannot provide any useful information on this matter. I'm very sorry."

She could feel it, but she didn't understand what it was. This made Lunicia a little distressed. How should she explain it? How should she tell them what happened? She didn't dare to say "time just stopped". It didn't seem to be much different from "time going back". If she said it, it might be noticed by "that thing". Lunicia didn't know what would happen if she really said the words that could be heard. Would the heartbeat sound again, or would "that thing" wake up directly? She didn't dare to make such a terrible gamble.

"Well……"

Lunicia pondered in distress, her brows furrowed, and she thought hard, but she couldn't think of a solution for a while.

"Lady Luna, you can just arrange what Ash and I should do."

Ella reminded carefully, and Lunicia shook her head.

"No, I don't know what to do..."

Indeed, I had no idea what to do.

If instructions could be given directly to Ashetherin and Ella, they would probably carry them out without any doubts even without telling the reason. Moreover, if they did so, as long as the problem was solved, they should be able to add the explanation of the reason normally afterwards, so that there would be no omissions. But the fatal thing was that Lunicia had no idea "what happened that night". She only knew "what would happen" but had no idea "why it happened". The sudden change was too terrifying and appalling. Even if more preparations were made on the combat power of three people, they would probably appear vulnerable. So what preparations should be made?

Lunisia couldn't even think of such a thing.

——No, wait.

Wait, wait, what did you just think of?

——“What will happen”…?

Yes, it can be done this way... maybe it can work.

In a flash of inspiration, Lunisia decided to try this - if it failed, the same situation might occur as before, then she would stop immediately and think about whether there were any other ways, but if it succeeded...

"Well...Ashe, Ella, I'm going to say something that may sound incredible."

This statement sounded magical, but neither Ella nor Ashlee seemed too surprised, nor did they take it lightly. After all, Lunicia's serious expression was enough to show that she had no intention of taking this opportunity to make a joke.

"Go ahead, Lady Luna."

"I want to hear how incredible it can be. Like the trembling hope, the ruthless miracle of grief, and the wonder of desire?"

"Well...it's probably like this..."

In the next three days, Ella, Ashcelin, and myself, a girl named Lunicia, will spend a relaxing and enjoyable three-day trip in the city of Myuland. Because of the holiday of Myuland's National Day, the airport staff will be on holiday and rest. It will take at least three days before there is an airship to take. In order to wait for the airship to fly to Zerhar in the west of the continent in three days, during these three days of leisure, we tasted Myuland delicacies such as pickled pork and iron pot stewed crucian carp, bought a variety of beautiful skirts, prepared dresses for the celebration, and sent the half-damaged armor for repair. The group not only experienced the ancient and high-end hotels here, but also visited various local attractions. Until the third day——

Until the third night, at the door of the Cathedral of Alexandria, everything came to an end.

“…Probably, this is what happened.”

In three days, everything will be destroyed, or so it seems.

Lunicia's memory, which should have become blurred and confused due to the long imprisonment, seemed to have been sorted and restored, and became clear and orderly after returning to the present moment. Even so, Lunicia's ability to express herself was limited. In addition, she didn't know which of the things contained important information. She could only tell everything she knew in detail, completely ignoring the fact that too much information might confuse people. She only wanted to let Ashlee and Ella know as much as possible about what happened in the three days that did not exist yet.

Ashlee's expression did not change much. She seemed to have figured something out. She just listened quietly and wrote down everything she heard. Ella, on the other hand, frowned. It seemed that she chose to completely accept Lunicia's statement at the first moment, but was distressed because of Lunicia's not-so-clever way of explanation.

No matter which one of them, they chose to completely believe what Lunicia said.

"I see. Individual Ashetherin has recorded all of this. However, from what I can see now, it is difficult for Ash to determine why this happened."

“…I hate to say this, but I don’t really understand.”

Ella could only show a helpless expression and look at Lunicia, waiting for her next words.

Lunicia looked surprised.

"You...don't have any doubts at all?"

"I will never doubt Lady Luna."

"Why do you do this?" Ashlee tilted her head. "Luna is a paladin. A white knight can't lie, right?"

"But, it's also possible that I didn't mean to lie, but was influenced by something and had an unrealistic dream, or that I was under an illusion and my memory was occupied by an illusion or something like that—"

Hearing this, Ashethelyn tilted her head again, looking even more confused, while Ella looked at Lunicia helplessly and said, "Lady Luna doesn't seem to understand illusions very well."

"Huh? Is that so? I thought I knew more about it."

"If it's a dream, Lady Luna doesn't seem to dream often. She has never strayed into a fantasy dreamland, and she rarely has ordinary dreams. If it's a dream, the logic is often confusing or missing, or it's a reflection of real events. It's hard to be like what Lady Luna described... As for hallucinations, the possibility is even lower."

"Is that so?"

"Well, there are traces of missing details in the illusion. That is, if the illusion is constructed based on the caster's cognition, then it will lack content that only the recipient knows. If the illusion is constructed based on the recipient's cognition, then it is difficult for the caster to project his own cognition into this illusion. Such a detailed and long illusion as Lady Luna mentioned can probably only be done by a master of the illusion school. Moreover, that person is an upper-class noble, a royal wizard, or a senior military officer. It is not difficult to identify such a person. At least I can't think of why such a person would deal with Lady Luna."

"That's right..."

"So, Lady Luna didn't have a dream or hallucination, but when Lady Luna was passed..."

"Stop! Stop talking!"

Lunicia quickly stopped Ella from speaking, leaving the latter confused.

"If you bring up how it was achieved, you'll hear it."

Who would hear it? Ashlee looked around. No one tried to get close to the threesome, and there was no one within range to hear their conversation. If that was the case, if you said certain words, they would be heard, and after being heard, something would happen.

Even if you can't explain it clearly, you can probably understand the reasons and causes behind it.

It was precisely because some things had been figured out that the conversation came to a standstill for a while - thinking about what to do, but having no clue at all, such a stagnation.

"Um... so... what should we do next?"

Should I run away? This is the first option that will be ruled out.

Where to escape? Escape to the west, climb over the endless peaks and cliffs of the Anda-Brun Mountains with your body? Escape to the east, be frozen into an ice block by the north wind on the dirty beach? Escape to the north, be intercepted by the northern defense line, or be buried in the blizzard? Escape to the south, and continue to fight to the end with "Legacy of Natya"? No matter which option, it is a foolish dream.

Besides, would there be no problem if she just ran away, would she be safe if she just ran away, would she just pretend nothing happened? Regardless of whether it was true or not, at least this choice was definitely not in line with Lunisia's wishes. She couldn't just sit back and watch this clear, huge disaster that had to be prevented.

So, do you want to fight?

If we want to fight——how should we do it?

"In that case, why not go to the city first?"

Finally, it was Ashlee who suggested taking one step at a time.

It's really amazing. This team that was formed by coincidence and accident has now once again returned to a fate that can only be determined by coincidence and accident. Driven by the sound of gears meshing, it moves forward, forward, all the way to the other side of the mountain, into the depths of the clouds, until the moment when time stops.

Chapter 38 Day 1: Reasoning Restarted (Part 1)

The huge dragon crystal-powered train suspended on the track is running from the platform to the city center on the top of the mountain today, and then returning from the other end of the city, taking people to their desired places, thus connecting various parts of this huge city.

Lunisia and her group were no exception - why did they take the skytrain? Is there any need to ask? There was no reason to give up this option this time just because they had taken it last time, right?

Lunicia looked around in her seat but did not find the figure in her memory, Julio de Howard. If he was a member of one of the four major families of Muirand and a member of a high status, he must know something. Although she had originally thought so, the other party did not seem to be on the same train with her.

Perhaps it was because he had been delayed on the platform for too long. Not only did it take some time to sort out his confused consciousness, but he also had to discuss with Ella and Ashlee and tell them everything he knew. All of this also took time. As a result, by the time Lunicia got on the carriage, Julio had already left.

"Luna doesn't seem to be curious about anything about this train, like the power source or something like that."

Ella turned her head and asked Lunicia.

"Ah? Ah, because I asked last time, about dragon crystal and so on."

"Last time? ...I see, that's how it is."

Ella Hepper understood things very quickly. Although this was a situation she had never experienced before and her experience and knowledge were all useless in this situation, she relied on her absolute trust in Lunicia and remembered everything Lunicia said, so she was able to keep up with the pace of Lunicia's conversation easily.

On the other hand, Lunicia had only heard the explanation of dragon crystal knowledge from Ella once, but she still remembered it very clearly. This was quite difficult for her, after all, her theoretical level was only average.

Ashtherin also turned around and stared at Lunisia's face.

"Luna, are you looking for something?"

"Well, let's see if there is anyone around who can provide information..."

"This aimless search is not a solution."

Indeed, what Ashlee said was right. This approach was actually similar to taking a chance. Taking Julio as an example, Lunisia thought that if she found him, she would be able to obtain some information. But in fact, Lunisia could not guarantee that Julio would still be on the same train when she could board the train. Even if they were on the same train, she could not be sure which car he was in. Even if she really found him, it would be difficult to get information from him.

We cannot pin all our hopes on the coincidence that happened "three days ago". The mere fact that we were a few trains late may make some of these coincidences difficult to establish. It is better to think about how to take the initiative to look for clues.

"Ash, any suggestions?"

"Let's find a base first—"

"——Then, we will collect intelligence with the base as the center. Since Luna has already asked us to collect intelligence once last time, after we have chosen the base, we can first organize the information we collected last time, and then consider what information we should look for next."

"That's good. But I only know how to set up a camp in the wild, and I don't know much about how to choose a base in the city."

This was a completely unfamiliar topic to Ashlee, so Ella took over the topic again: "If you want to act covertly, you usually choose underground spaces, remote courtyards or alleys, away from people and security posts. If you need a good view, you need to choose a location with a higher altitude and a wider view. There is no fixed way to gather intelligence. Compared to where you live, it is more important to find the right middleman."

"Overlooking the whole city... um..."

In other words, there are no special requirements? Lunicia pondered in distress. It seemed that having too many options was also a problem.

"In that case, why don't we choose a higher place? There are probably many places in the city that we didn't explore last time. I wonder if there is anything we missed."

If we must say, the group "three days ago" actually only went to the airport, hotel, city center and several famous attractions in the city. In addition, when collecting intelligence on the penultimate day, they wandered around the lower class area and tavern street for a while. Generally speaking, they can be said to have not been to many places.

"Then it might be more appropriate to choose a place with a wider view."

In fact, Ella herself was not sure about this view. After all, her experience was basically only applicable to the wilderness and not-so-prosperous cities. In places like Twick or Nosaway, Ella could easily build a safe base and conduct activities around it. However, in a place like Muirand with complete public security and tall buildings, she had little experience and could only make suggestions based on her impressions.

If there is any flaw in high-rise buildings, it is that they can easily lead to critical situations in the event of an attack. Lunicia and her group did not take this into consideration, but this is not a big problem. After all, given the security situation in Muirand, except for the unexpected problems that may occur at twelve o'clock on the third day, there will basically be no emergencies in other situations.

As the train slowly pulled into the city center, Lunicea's nervous mood gradually calmed down.

Next, it’s time to do something specific.

……

"…That's about it. This is the information we got last time."

As a result, the base was finally chosen in the most familiar place in Lunisia, the Pasipatio Hotel, which had a good view, guaranteed security, was comfortable to live in, and convenient for everything - there was no need to go to the airport for the time being. After all, the departure time of the airship had been confirmed "last time", and the incident itself did not seem to have much to do with the airship and the airport area. Now they only needed to focus on the urban area.

On the fourth day of the Muirand National Day holiday, a grand celebration ceremony will be held at Ipatto Citizen Square, and there are rumors from unknown sources circulating among citizens, warning them to be careful of accidents and chaos that may occur at that time. As a result, in fact, the accident did happen, but not on the fourth day but late at night on the third day - if midnight is regarded as the second day, then it can be said to be the fourth day, but it still has nothing to do with the celebration - and it is not a problem that can be dealt with by stockpiling supplies and purchasing more weapons.

There are so many reasons mixed in the rumors that it is difficult to analyze which one is correct. In this case, instead of considering which one is true, it is better to directly consider who spread the news and what his intentions are. After all, no one knows whether the real reason is in those rumors. The original plan proposed by Ashleelin, that is, to leave directly, now seems to be difficult to implement. The scale of the disaster seems to have far exceeded the mainland of Muirand. Escape is not an option. For a while, there is no way to find enough reliable reinforcements. The only thing to consider is to solve everything in Muirand. Otherwise, no matter who makes you come back here, everything will lose its meaning.

“There aren’t many effective parts.”

After listening to this, Ella frowned.

Lunicia tilted her head: "Huh? What's wrong?"

"Compared to what Luna said, if this is really the information I collected, it is too crude and unreliable."

"It doesn't matter. No one knew things would turn out like this back then. At most, I can just sort it out now. I spent too much time shopping 'last time'. If I focus all my time on solving the problem this time, maybe..."

Ella didn't say anything else, but her frown remained. It seemed that she had thought of something, but couldn't say it out loud for other reasons.

"Did something happen to me at that time?" "Have I changed at that time?" When Ella thought about the possible subtexts contained in them, she was reluctant to reveal them.

Ashlee looked at Ella's profile quietly without saying anything. She just turned her face again and said, "The problems have been solved one by one. The first thing Ashlee wants to ask is, does Luna have any clues about 'who asked Luna to return here'?"

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"Although this seems like a good thing, if that being has malicious intentions, at least we can take precautions when solving the problem. Can you remember it?"

"I don't have any clue..."