Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"How do you move up and down a building that high? Do you walk?"

"Ms. Luna has good stamina, but even so, if you have to use so much energy to climb up and down the stairs every day, you will probably feel tired."

"perhaps?"

"The power of this train comes from a power device with dragon crystal as its core..."

"What is dragon crystal? It sounds like it has something to do with dragons."

"...Lady Luna, didn't the Highest Priest teach you this?"

"No."

"Neither does Setin?"

"That's right, no."

Ella seemed speechless - she really couldn't figure out what Lunicia had learned in these ten years of teaching experience, or did these teachers not think that this kind of common sense was necessary?

"'Dragon crystal'... the substance is called this nowadays. It is the product of scattered magic power condensing in the earth veins. This magic power is converted into crystals. It can be processed by devices to provide energy like now, or it can be cut into small pieces or ground into powder to produce some magic props... or something else."

"Regular dragon crystals are like this. There is also a variety called Palaris dragon crystals. This kind of dragon crystal is the magic power blocked in the magic network. When it condenses beyond the critical point, it will break away from the magic network and fall into the real plane from the intersection of the magic network and the real plane... This kind of Palaris dragon crystal is very rare and can be used to produce legendary magic items."

Ella added.

"So, like this train, there are devices in those buildings that are powered by magic crystals, allowing people to move up and down?"

"Yes, Lady Luna understands very quickly."

"Don't do this, I'm going to be embarrassed..."

"Floating buildings also use similar facilities. Unlike the floating city, this place is almost impossible to enter and exit without teleportation arrays and flying methods. All it needs is a facility of sufficient length to move up and down."

Those tall buildings that have no bottom touching the ground use processed dragon crystal that can offset gravity as their base. They are suspended in the air. Some round or square tubes are located next to them. Those are the mobile devices described by Ella Hepper.

"See, Lady Luna? That's it."

"Um……"

She saw it clearly and was mesmerized by it.

“This place is not far from Mariai, but it feels so different.”

"If it was the Nasarlan capital of Twek during its heyday, the scene would not be any less spectacular than this. However, with everything lost, the most basic magic technology in Marielen now has to rely on archaeology. Regardless of population, economy, magical attainments, or technology, it is impossible for Grand Duke Ivanov to restore the glory of the Nasarlan era."

"Is that why Roy has such an idea?"

"That's something only he can understand."

For a moment, the topic came to a halt, and the three of them fell silent again, each thinking about different things.

Taking out the "Death" card from her waist bag and staring at the portrait of goddess Lucy on it, Lunicia spoke as if she was asking a question or talking to herself.

"This place is not far from the center of the Demon Network's Great Collapse."

"Ok?"

Ella turned and looked at Lunisia who was in deep thought.

"But why, when the Demon Network collapsed, the Nasalan Kingdom in the center was almost completely destroyed, but Myuland here was fine?"

"This one……"

"because……"

"Because before that, the saint from Zerhar, 'Sunlight' Jiefulin, warned Mulande."

Before Ashatherine gave her answer, the middle-aged man on the other side gave his answer.

Facing the three gazes, the middle-aged man smiled slightly and took off his black hat, revealing his half-white light blond short hair and his angular face that could not hide his fatigue.

"Led by four legendary wizards, all the forces of Myuland were mobilized to find a solution to overcome this crisis. Until the end, it was the same four legendary wizards who cast the legendary spell 'Scale of Eternity' to eliminate the damage caused by the collapse of the magic network. Later, the magic network stabilized in the form of wreckage."

The middle-aged man did not explain in detail, but he still gave a general summary of what happened.

Obviously, this answer surprised Lunicia. She had never expected to hear the names "Zerhar" and "Saint" here.

"...In that case, what is Nasaran?"

Lunisia's question did not stump him. The man answered while playing with the top hat in his hand: "Zelhar's warning seems to have no effect on them. The Great Collapse of the Magic Network still happened. As for the relationship between the Great Collapse of the Magic Network and Nasaran... Excessive speculation will never get the answer you want. What do you think?"

"Sorry, I was rude."

"No problem." The man put his hat back on and smiled indifferently. "This city gained a lot at that time. We learned about the existence of the 'Saint' of Zerhar and survived the disaster. Everything depended on the Eye of Shahar, the Star of Shahar, and the Revelation of Shahar. For those of us who have been blessed by the Light, believers from Zerhar are all honored guests, not to mention... a holy warrior."

For a moment, Lunisia's breathing stopped.

From the beginning of her journey until now, this was the first time that she was called "Paladin" before she introduced herself - not to mention that she didn't even know the other person.

This made her feel nervous, so much so that she tensed her body silently, ready to release the scabbard at any time.

Not only she, but also Ella and Ashlee who were beside her, had made such preparations.

"……you are?"

"take it easy."

The middle-aged man pressed down the brim of his hat, with a faint smile still on his lips.

"My name is Julio de Howard - welcome to Muirand, three ladies."

Chapter 16 Airport

"Howard—"

Just a little repetition and you will understand the meaning of this word.

Laurenhot Howard, who had taken office in Marie as Roy von Ivanov's deputy, had made considerable contributions in Roy's battle with Clermont Éphabelier, and was probably still working hard beside Roy - but before that, before he became Roy von Ivanov's deputy, he was first the son of old Laurenhot, a branch of the Howard family that had moved to Marie.

The Howard family is one of the so-called "Four Major Families of Muirand".

The sounds of station announcements and passengers around her were still there, not decreasing, but they became insignificant in Lunicia's ears. Her attention was completely tense. The other party announced his identity, but this did not mean that Lunicia would let down her guard. Instead, it made her more nervous because she could not tell the other party's intentions.

The only thing that is beyond doubt is that the other person is sizing me up, and maybe even silently scoring me in his mind.

"...It seems that you all know something. I am being rude."

After a brief silence and then a light chuckle, there was still no sign of anything interesting in Mr. Julio's attitude.

"I didn't expect that great nobles would squeeze into a public carriage with commoners."

Ella's words drew Julio's attention away from Lunicia. He answered while paying attention to Lunicia's attitude:

"There's nothing strange about that."

"I think this is a little unusual."

"That's a misunderstanding. With enough money, you can buy a mount and a flying carpet. If you find driving too tiring, you can hire another rider. All this is for travel. Money is used to accomplish what you want to do. Since I want to 'travel by skytrain,' why not do it? I am also a citizen, so I naturally have the right to use the track built with tax money."

"You just came back from outside?"

“That’s why we came to South Station.”

"For this reason..."

"There is no way to infer this result, so I will just give the answer truthfully."

It is not a strange thing that members of the four major families - and they seem to be of high status - are traveling abroad. For such high-ranking people, whether they are at home, in an office building or abroad, it is in line with their status and what they need to do.

"Then may I ask, what did you do?"

"It's not good to ask too many questions. It's not a good habit. Of course, I am going to the east for an inspection. There is nothing to hide about this matter. Maybe you will see a report about my trip in the morning paper tomorrow, if you have the habit of reading newspapers."

"excuse me."

"It doesn't matter."

Julio de Howard pinched the brim of his hat and continued to speak in a pretentious manner. No one had any objection to this, and no one would have any objection to this. Even if there was, they would not raise the opinion here.

"…I will take my leave at this stop."

As the train slowly stopped, Julio also stood up, like the ordinary passengers around him, and followed the crowd to the door. From the back, he seemed no different from the other people who were dressed formally and older, as if the depression that had just emerged from him was just an illusion, a product of self-deception.

"I hope you all enjoy your stay in Muirand these few days."

Julio's words were mixed in with the conversations of other passengers and were not prominent, but clear enough. As his words fell, some passengers who looked less ordinary also stood up and walked out together with the crowd.

When the doors closed again and the passengers looked for empty seats or handrails, everything seemed to have finally come to an end and returned to its proper track.

“…I was careless.”

Lunicia said this with some annoyance.

The "passengers" who left with Julio in the end were undoubtedly the guards who traveled secretly with him. It was not until they finally left with Julio that Lunicia finally discovered, or realized their existence. This had to be said to be a mistake - she had completely focused her attention outside the car window before, and then completely focused on Julio De Howard, so that she didn't even think about the existence of the secret guards, let alone discover them.

"It's alright, Lady Luna, there's nothing wrong with relaxing your focus once in a while."

Ella responded to Lunesia with a gentle smile.

"I will always be on guard around here and make sure no one can attack Lady Luna from the dark."

"Ashe can also scan to keep an eye on her surroundings."

"Um……"

As expected, she still couldn't let it go - of course she couldn't say such words.

"From the time I arrived in Muirand until now, I feel like I have met a lot of strange people."

"For example?"

"A strange girl, a strange fortune teller, and a strange middle-aged man."

"Strange girl?"

"He has a gloomy expression, speaks in a sarcastic tone, has a scar on his left eye, and wears clothes that are not modern in style..."

If only one of these points were taken into account, it would be somewhat difficult to recognize her. However, if these points were added together, then anyone who had seen Ophelia would involuntarily associate these elements with her and picture the appearance of the gray-haired girl in their mind.

"……what."

"It's her."

"Hey, did you see it too?"

Ella and Ashlee seemed to be in perfect agreement and nodded together.

"Um……"

——What a wonderful journey.

Although she wanted to say so, Lunicia didn't expect this trip to be "wonderful" at all. For her, all she wanted to do now was to have a good meal, have a good sleep, and take the airship to Amblissburg safely. After returning to find Father Sieli, whatever happened next would be fine. Death and gunpowder lingered in her mind, and she had to pay an unusual ticket price to embark on an unusual journey. The price of "thrilling" was too cruel and too high to pay for the collapse of the city, the decline of the country, and the disappearance of life.

Ella and Ashlee looked at each other and chose to remain silent at the same time - judging from Lunicia's performance, her contact with the gray-haired girl was not deep, so there was no need to surprise her any more. It would be better for her to fix her impression of the girl as a "weird person with a weird odor".

The train stops at one station after another, and passengers get on and off, approaching their destination stop by stop.

The scenery outside the window also kept changing, but even Lunicia lost interest for a moment. She just stared blankly at the sign with the platform name and listened to the announcer's voice passing by her ears. She didn't even know if she really heard it or if she really remembered where she should get off.

Going north from the South Station, across the city center, and then arriving at the "Abetone Airport" station which is almost on the northernmost side, when the skytrain slowly stopped, there were not many passengers left on the train. Lunicia, in a slight trance, walked towards the door with Ella and Ashlee, and left the train that had been carrying them for a long time.

After paying the fare and walking out of the station, the surroundings seemed a little brighter than when I entered the city. The hour hand pointed to a position close to noon, but for this street scene that was not very prosperous, it was difficult to give people the feeling that it was "noon".

“This place looks so desolate…”

The cold wind blowing across her cheeks cheered up Lunicia a little. Only then did she finally realize that she had long been away from the bustling city and came to a place that was neither like the city of Muirand nor like the countryside like Shuichequ.

The gray-white streets are spacious and empty, with only three-story bungalows on both sides. If you stand in a slightly higher position and look around, you can even see the distant plains below the city of Muirand, and watch the suspended track of the skytrain extend all the way. Turning your head, the towering buildings in the distance seem to be in another world, hazy and difficult to distinguish, floating in the sea of ​​clouds.

More than half of the shops on the street are open, and the rest are either closed or have transfer notices posted. It seems that business here is not very good.

Ella also looked around and said, "There must be some reason. Lady Luna, do you plan to walk to the airport next?"

"Even if it is, for Luna, this distance is not close enough."

"It's mainly because it takes too much time..."

He took out the holy emblem of the Glorious Temple from his waist bag, closed his eyes and concentrated. As the halo floating in the air became brighter, a warhorse with gray fur appeared out of thin air beside Lunicia. When Lunicia stretched out her hand, the warhorse rubbed its head against her affectionately, showing its friendly relationship with Lunicia.

"Use the magic of 'summon a mount'? We shouldn't encounter any battles here, so it's a good choice."

"But this will make Ashe suffer a little."

"Ashe can fly, Luna just needs to carry Ella."

"It's still a bit difficult to carry three people at a time... Come on, Ella."