Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"It's just that I seem to have forgotten something...what is it?"

Melted into the deepest part of the mind, entangled with countless dark things, something called memory.

After a long period of time, countless memories have been shattered, buried, and sunk to the bottom of the sea of ​​​​mind. No matter how hard I want to recall, it seems that I am just a little bit short of it, as if I can reach it if I just stretch my hand a little bit longer, but in the end, even my fingertips cannot touch it. I can only stir up water in vain and make some sounds in the silent and dead darkness.

——Forgot.

This is nothing new.

What happened a hundred years ago, what happened two hundred years ago, what happened three hundred years ago, what happened a process ago, what happened in the ancient past, it seems that we all know it, and yet it seems that we don’t know it. Every day that is too similar is deleted layer by layer, and in the end only incomplete things are left. Every day asks what we remember, and every day gives a similar answer, not much is remembered.

Father, doctor, Lunicia, familiar voices and familiar words, methods of using abilities, these are the only things that seem to remain in the ocean of memory.

Most of them were blocked off layer by layer, surrounded by layers of pitch-black chains, floating there as untouchable fragments.

Although it was something too familiar, at this moment, Ashlee suddenly felt that she should remember something.

If I can't remember, something bad will definitely happen.

Chapter 10 Girl and Girl

"Well, I'll go to the registration office to get my pass first. Ella and Ash can take a rest here."

"Why bother Lady Luna? Just let me handle this matter..."

"Okay, okay, take a break. Ella never took a break during the whole process, did she?"

Lunicia waved her hands and stuffed the kettle into Ella's arms, while Ashlee just nodded symbolically. Looking at her thoughtful look, it was obvious that she was not paying attention to what Lunicia said.

"If Luna-sama says so, then there is nothing we can do..."

While holding the kettle in her hand, Ella sighed and shook her head. Although she no longer expressed any objections, her expression could not be said to be free of worries.

"Hey."

"However, if Lady Luna encounters any unexpected situation, please notify me immediately and I will rush there with Ashlee."

"I am a holy warrior after all."

"Please don't push yourself too hard."

Even with repeated instructions, Ella still didn't seem to feel at ease.

Of course, Lunicia still looked completely unconcerned. After all, she really didn't think that a fully trained paladin like her would encounter anything at the gate of Muirand, which seemed safe no matter how you thought. Ella's caring attitude didn't annoy her, but made her feel warm. However, she still hoped that Ella would pay more attention to her own affairs.

"Anyway, wait a moment, I'll be right back."

"Well, be careful on the road, Lady Luna."

She bowed - even though the person she was bowing to didn't see her, as she had already turned around - and then looked at her, watching her walk away, as she followed the other pedestrians into the giant gate. She watched her hair blown by the mountain breeze, her slightly tattered and scarred armor, and the pure white sword behind her. Ella stared and stared for a long time, until the figure named Lunicia completely disappeared from her sight.

"You should take a break."

"..."

At some point, Ashlee had recovered from her contemplation and seemed to have returned to her previous calm state. She was looking at Ella Hepper with a gaze that was neither cold nor warm.

Golden pupils, very beautiful - this was her first thought, without resorting to words, and it was only fleeting. A long silence followed. Ella neither answered nor continued to look into Ashlee's eyes. She just lowered her head and stared at the ground in silence, staring at those square bricks.

"You're not in very good condition."

"Yeah."

"Heart rate, breathing, pulse, blood pressure... every value shows that you need to rest."

"You're monitoring me?"

"You only need to look at it to understand."

"..."

Of course, Ashlee was telling the truth. She only needed to take a glance to determine Ella's physical condition.

As for Ella, she did not continue talking, but just leaned against the stone wall behind her. She was neither standing upright nor sitting down. She just let the sweat roll down her forehead, slide down her cheeks, and finally hit the ground, splashing some crystal clear water droplets.

Ashlee didn't care too much about it. She just moved a little closer to Ella, then squatted beside her and looked at her profile with her beautiful golden eyes.

"Although Ella's body must have been through a lot, as an adventurer's training, whether it was fighting, camping, eating, or sleeping, it was stronger than ordinary half-blood elves. On this basis, lack of nutrition, overwork, and a lot of injuries caused her body functions to decline. From the foot of the mountain to the top, the shaky boat barely completed the voyage, filled with rainwater, and looked miserable."

"…What exactly do you want to say?"

"As long as Ella says so, Luna will stop and wait for Ella."

"How could I possibly do something like that?"

Ella seemed to want to hold on, but the reality was that after her knees relaxed, they began to tremble uncontrollably, forcing her to lower her body further and further until she sat on the ground. Her expression did not change at all, and it seemed that the current situation was within her expectations. She knew very well that she could not hold on any longer, and she did not feel tired at all, as if it was not her body that was in over-exertion, but something else.

"Lunicia Agris is a gentle person, but sometimes she is a little slow... a little confused... and not so sharp. Although she should also understand that Ella is not as physically fit and energetic as she is, if Ella doesn't say it, there is a high probability that she will not be able to detect the time when Ella is tired. It is still a little too early for Luna to hope that she will take the initiative to stop and rest."

"What does it matter?"

"If Luna knew, Luna would..."

Pointing at her chin with her black iron fingertips, Ashlee tilted her head and thought for a moment.

“…I’ll be sad.”

"That's not going to happen."

"why?"

"I won't let the Savior know."

Ashlee didn't respond immediately. She just lowered her body and moved closer to Ella, staring at her with her golden eyes, from her ear to her cheek, and from her cheek to the tip of her nose, as if she was looking for something.

"As long as you don't know about Ella's trauma and exhaustion, Luna won't be sad?"

"that's it."

"That's not 'honest', Ella."

Although Ella Hepper seemed to want to hide, unwilling to show any thoughts on her face, unwilling to reveal a single bit of her inner feelings in front of anyone other than Lunisia, she still trembled, from her fingers to her shoulders, all of which trembled violently because of this short sentence, which was enough to prove her hesitation.

She raised her head and looked at Ashetherin's face. For a moment, even though she knew that she was a completely different existence from Lunicia, not even a human being, but merely a thing made up of organic and inorganic matter, she still couldn't help but see another person who was too similar to her in that face, the figure with black hair and brown eyes, and was shaken by it.

It seemed that she did not think this was an honorable thing. She just took a quick and hasty glance, and Ella lowered her head again, hiding her face in the shadows, unwilling to face those beautiful golden eyes.

"...You are...different today than before."

"Really? Ashe doesn't have such an understanding."

“That hasn’t changed.”

"So, what is changing? What is not changing? When the tide washes over the rocks, is it the waves or the rocks that change? Are both eternal and unchanging, or are they changing all the time?"

"I like to say meaningless things, but that hasn't changed... What happened?"

"If you use this standard, Ella is different today than she was in the past."

"what?"

"Before, Ella would not have paid so much attention to the individual Asheselin's situation, and her attitude would have been lower than it is now."

"……Yeah."

Even Ella herself didn't understand what kind of thoughts and mentality she had when getting along with the mechanical puppet beside her and facing the face that was almost identical to Lunicia.

……

"Registry...Registry...Where is the registry..."

At the same time, Lunicia herself was completely unaware of the small conversation between her companions. She was standing in front of the stone map of the city gate area, trying hard to find the words "Mulland City Entrance Registration Office" - she herself was not sure whether it was called this name, but from the conversation mixed in the wind, she seemed to have heard such words.

Originally, she thought that as long as she followed the crowd, she would be able to easily find the registration point. However, when she faced the chaotic, noisy and bustling crowd, she was still hit by the cruel reality.

Not everyone needs to register, not everyone goes to register first, and not everyone is even entering the city. Naturally, her previous beautiful idea came to nothing, and she could only continue to study the map.

"Here?... The City Gate Branch of Sefirol Bank... There should still be some Ils left from the previous exchange... Hmm... Here? This is the sentry post..."

Standing on tiptoe and staring at the map, she was so focused on it that she didn't realize at first that there was someone beside her.

"Looking for the registry?"

"Yeah, yeah... huh?"

It was not until a female voice sounded in her ears that Lunicia suddenly realized that a young girl had been standing beside her since she had no idea when. She seemed to be looking up at the stone map with her, but in fact she was staring at her vaguely.

There is more than one stone map. Of course, this does not mean that the number of travelers gathering here will decrease much. Men, women, old and young who come and go, and those who stop here will naturally pass by Lunicia, or study this map that looks quite historical with her. Even so, instinct still whispers in Lunicia's ears, telling of her uniqueness.

She looked different enough that when she stood next to Lunicia, both of them seemed so out of place in this world.

Her long grey hair was tied into a waist-length ponytail on the left side, her golden eyes sparkled, her facial features were regular and beautiful, she looked neither an elf, nor a dwarf or a halfling, and she did not have the appearance of a dragonborn or other races. She looked like a mere human, but Lunicia had no way of telling where she was from.

Her clothes were not common either. She wore a black coat that looked like a combination of a windbreaker and a robe, and a neat white shirt and short skirt with gold edges, black tights and short boots. These clothes wrapped around her flat body had no special decorations or eye-catching emblems. Moreover, she did not look like a traveler, but more like a scholar like a mage who seldom went out.

It is unique yet seemingly ordinary, exuding a unique sense of contradiction.

If there is anything that would attract attention, it is the scar on her left eye. It looks like a mark left by a dagger, extending from the forehead to the cheek. Just looking at that thing that has completely healed and turned into a mark of the past, it is also shocking, and people wonder why she can keep her left eye intact and not let the eyeball be split open together with it.

This reminded Lunisia of an acquaintance of hers. The woman named Sestine also had a very conspicuous scar on her right eye. Even though the girl in front of her had nothing in common with the black knight, this scar alone still reminded Lunisia of her mentor.

"You are stunned. Although I don't think I am that charming..."

——What I mean is, it’s my own problem…ah.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Although Lunicia was a caged bird with little social experience and even little experience of going out, she could still tell that the girl in front of her had something else in her words - maybe this was her speaking style? If so, she was really a difficult person to get along with.

"I just think... you have beautiful eyes."

For some reason, Lunicia instinctively felt that it was not convenient for her to directly mention the scar on the other person's face, so she could only explain it from a different angle. Of course, her golden pupils were as eye-catching as her scar, but when the two were superimposed together, no matter who it was, they would first pay attention to the particularly conspicuous scar.

"You use honorifics as soon as you meet. That's really... well... very classy."

——It looks pretty good…

Lunicia still instinctively realized that the other party was definitely not praising her, but was insulting her.

"This one……"

"Or do I actually look like I'm popular with 'that type'? If that's the case, it's really surprising and I've learned a lot. After all, I've never heard of this kind of thing."

——What kind of type is that?

"Hmm... golden pupils are quite rare, especially of this color."

"Yeah, it's usually amber, I guess."

A paladin cannot lie, and this is indeed the truth. If it was just gold, it would be fine, but like the girl in front of her, Lunisia has only seen three people with golden pupils like the lake of gold.

Ashlee, Systine—and the girl in front of him.

"So, what can I do for you...?"

"It's still honorifics - nothing much, I just wanted to say that the registration office is here."

The girl pointed to a location casually, and Lunicia looked in the direction of her finger and saw the words "Mueland City Entry Registration Office".

"If I continue to search in the original way, I will probably see a holy warrior turn around and walk out of the gate, and then announce at the foot of the mountain that he has found a new registration point? If that's the case, it would be quite interesting. I can look forward to it."

"Uh, um..."

Lunicia felt quite embarrassed and didn't know how to respond to the girl's way of speaking. She could only look at her face with depression, looking at her expression that hardly changed, as if she wanted to completely imprint her appearance in her memory.

It seemed that ever since Lunicia noticed the girl and started talking to her, the girl's expression had been a faint smile, as if she was happy about something. But when Lunicia looked at her carefully for a while, she found that it was not the case - she just seemed to be smiling, but what was hidden under the smile was not joy, not politeness, but something more complicated and more difficult to understand, which made her expression look unclear, but rather gloomy and melancholy.

——Who is she?

At the moment when such doubt came to her mind, Lunicia tilted her head involuntarily.

Chapter 11: The Fleeting Eternity

An expression that is neither smiling nor laughing.

An outfit I've never seen before.

A puzzle-like identity.

Even though she was even shorter than Lunicia, and her figure could only be described as tragic, she was undoubtedly someone that people would pay attention to. This was no exception for Lunicia - she felt that she could not take her eyes off the girl, just as the other party almost never took her golden eyes off her.

"It seems that you still care about me."

The crowd around changed one after another. Like any other travelers, they stopped here, studied the map, and then left contentedly. Only two girls were not among them. They never moved, but no one paid much attention to them, as if they were not in the same world as themselves.