Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Fall, fall, fall - there is nothing else to do.

……

"……Well!"

Today, Lunisia got up faster and more violently than ever before. She looked more like a frightened cat than a sleeping person.

"Luna, are you awake?"

A cold voice came from the side. The mechanical girl named Ashlee was still emotionless today. Just looking at her face, you can understand why she made such a voice, but if you really do this, you will be immersed in those golden lakes and unable to extricate yourself.

"You didn't sleep, Ash..."

I couldn't help but rub my eyes. Although Lunisia had no dreams all night, it didn't look like she had a good sleep at all.

On the other hand, Ashlee, the mechanical girl lying on her side on the bed, looking into Lunicia's eyes, looked very energetic. Would a mechanical humanoid be "very energetic"? Who knows, anyway, she looked much more energetic than a human like Lunicia who had a good sleep, even though she hadn't slept all night, just maintaining herself by reducing power consumption.

Ashlee didn't answer, and Lunicia didn't dwell on it - lack of sleep should hardly have an impact on an adventurer like her. After training and physical conditioning, let alone eight hours of sleep, even four hours of sleep would be enough to fully restore her mental and physical strength to peak condition. Of course, this was based on excluding the influence of the environment and injuries.

But now, even though she had slept for eight hours, she still felt like she hadn't gotten enough rest.

Did I dream last night? I thought about it carefully, but I couldn't remember anything about it. It is often said that dreams are easily forgotten, but after waking up, at least one will remember whether or not he dreamed. For Lunicia, last night was a very peaceful night. There were no dreams, and nothing else. Her companion who could not breathe or move was beside her ears. All that emerged in her mind was a peaceful darkness. It seemed that they had not communicated for a long time. However, the goddess Levina seemed to be still protecting her sleep, which made Lunicia quite happy.

But something must have happened last night.

She believed it so much, was so convinced that even though there was a blank in her memory, she still felt that there was a familiar voice whispering in her ear, telling her a secret that no one knew.

Was that trust in herself? Or was it because she had given up, so she just said something in despair, hoping for a response that would never come?

No matter which one it was, Lunicia felt that she couldn't just ignore it.

What a nosy character! If the self-proclaimed enemy, Sestin, were here, he would definitely say this, with a helpless, gentle, and somewhat cold expression. And Lunicia's answer would not change no matter how many times she said it. From that day on, from the day she swore to the gods as a paladin, she would no longer change the trajectory of her life. She would only proudly say: I am this kind of person, this kind of paladin.

Who is she? Such questions are like a floating boat, floating on the ocean called memory.

That was someone they had met before and would meet again in the future. The gods used "intuition" as a guarantee to Lunisia.

"call--"

I shook my head, shook my head, and tried to breathe the morning air again.

Snap, Snap, two hands gently patted her face, and Lunicia cheered herself up again - what's wrong with it, it's just a night of insufficient sleep, and there is one more person who reaches out to her for help and she can do her best to help. Isn't this a very cost-effective deal? So Luna, Lunicia, cheer up and greet the new day. Only by continuing to improve and train yourself unremittingly like this, and when you really meet the person who is waiting for a response, you can do your best as you wish, right?

"Good morning, Ashley!"

"Good morning, Luna."

This is how you say good morning seriously.

"Is it really okay, Ash? Don't you get tired of doing this all the time?"

Ashlee stroked the hair by her ears and tucked it behind her ears - she still looked indifferent, clear and cold. It seemed that she would never feel tired. There was no doubt that her condition was much better than Lunicia's own, except that she was said to have lost half of her strength.

"Ashe is a mechanical puppet designed to be semi-permanently active. Even if she doesn't enter hibernation mode, she won't become incapable of activity."

"Okay - so what happened last night?"

I was not awakened by Ash, which proved that there was no danger in the hotel last night. Even in the dormant state, Ashlee had no problem expanding the alert range to the door of the guest room. Not to mention taking the initiative, even if someone just appeared in this alert range, Ashlee would respond without hesitation. It seems that Ashlee was quite safe last night.

But this only represents Ashethelin's feelings. Lunisia doesn't think so. Her "intuition" is trembling slightly. The "sounds of all things" should have become vague and subtle, and it is impossible to hear clearly. But after one night, it has changed, as if someone is leaning on her shoulder and her ear, repeating the same words to her. Something has changed, something is constantly changing, and that change must be very important, so important that everything she has is used at all costs to remind herself, warn herself, and make herself more careful.

The longer I stayed in this city, the more doubts I had; the more doubts I had, the more uneasy I became.

This city is not as peaceful as it seems.

"No? No."

Ashlee tilted her head in confusion.

Her answer was quick and decisive. Reading the memory from just a few hours ago did not require any time to think. She was not like Lunicia, who was bound by the oath and could not lie, but she also had no need to do so, so Lunicia chose to believe her testimony completely.

"Is this so..."

"Although nothing has happened, it's not that nothing has changed."

“Is that so… huh?”

Hearing this, Lunicia's expression suddenly became a little stunned. She stared at Ashlee's eyes, and for a moment she didn't understand what the other party was referring to.

"Late at night, around 12:52 to be exact, it started to fog up here."

"Fog?" Lunicia stretched out her index finger and pressed it against the wooden board at the head of the bed. "The humidity hasn't increased?"

"It's the word 'fog'."

Ashlee looked as if she really couldn't do anything to you, and continued, "It's a very strange phenomenon, and it's the first time Ashlee has seen it. The source is not in this room. According to Ashlee's judgment, it's somewhere in this city where a 'fog' made of invisible prayers emerged after nightfall, and this room happened to be within its coverage."

This answer made Lunicia even more shocked, so much so that she couldn't help but prop up her body from the bed and looked at Ashatherine in surprise - she didn't know much about prayer words, but she did know something about them. Some of her knowledge came from the prayer word expert in front of her, and in Lunicia's impression, she had never heard of such a ridiculous term as the prayer word fog.

Moreover, she remembered clearly that the mechanical creations were powered by the prayer words and carried information. What about the prayer words' mist? What would happen if these things spread like mist?

As if she could see what Lunicia was thinking, Ashlee shook her head gently. "Ashe can't tell if the mist contains any information. At least the mist is not targeting Luna. Perhaps the mist is just spreading and diffusing without a clear target. In the early morning, to be precise, after six o'clock, it dissipated on its own without any residue."

Lunicia sat up from the soft mattress.

Now, she no longer felt sleepy.

Chapter 32 Day 2 (Part 2)

Dusk and early morning do not seem to make much difference in this environment. As long as it is not noon, the surrounding lights will not be temporarily turned off. If it is rainy, windy or snowy, this time will only continue to increase - excessive security needs lead to a significant increase in the rate of resource consumption, and this ambiguous weather will only make people's sense of time become blurred.

Looking at the clock will tell you the exact time. Human eyes no longer have the ability to see through the sky, and astronomy has lost its function in the modern world. Fortunately, the wise have not lost the ability to calibrate time. With the help of magic and gods, the "standard time" is still extremely accurate. Is that so? Or is it not so? Perhaps at a certain moment unknown to anyone, time has already deviated significantly from its proper trajectory, and the calibrated clock is just an illusion, showing an erroneous calendar and spreading confusion with the click of overlapping gears.

Who can know the truth? Alexander's voice had long disappeared from the solemn courtroom. Without the authority of time, the things that passed on the clock face became agnosticism to intelligent life.

Even in such an environment and such a world, there are still people who abide by the most accurate time.

"Good morning, Lady Luna."

Her appearance was meticulous, her manners were perfect, and it seemed that the scars on her body could no longer take away any beauty from her thin figure, but instead gave her a different kind of temptation. However, even she must have been confused about how she should show herself to others, so she chose to still wear last night's pajamas instead of putting on the leather armor full of traces like a servant or a guard. In addition to the waist, even without armor, the pair of long swords of different colors were still hung around her waist, as if only in this way could she have the confidence to protect the safety of important things.

"Good morning, Ella. You're up really early."

Lunicea looked surprised.

During the journey, even if they were not sleeping in the same sleeping bag, everyone rested in the same tent. In this case, even if there was a difference in the time they woke up, it would not be very obvious. But today, when Ella and Lunicia did not sleep together, Ella's wake-up time seemed to be quite early.

In response, Ella just responded with a faint smile. She had no intention of revealing anything about this. It was not because she intended to hide it, but simply because in her opinion, this was just a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning and did not take up Lunicia's precious time.

How can we engrave a biological clock accurate to the millisecond on our body, and where can we know the correct time from above the sky? These are trivial matters and are not worth worrying about.

"Do you need help washing up, Lady Luna?"

"No need for that. It's better to do this kind of thing yourself—"

"I understand."

Somehow, she seemed to have become more skilled than before.

This kind of small thing might not be so easy to notice for the insensitive Lunicia. The gods did not give any hints, the world around her did not whisper to her, and there was no feeling of depression and melancholy from Ella. Everything seemed to be the same as usual. Perhaps she would think that Ella had become more considerate than before, but after a moment she would put this idea behind her, shake her head and mutter, "Maybe it's an illusion." She is such a helpless girl, especially when she just woke up. If there is nothing special, she will be particularly confused and make people feel distressed.

However, there are not only Lunicia and Ella Hepper here, but also a mechanical girl named Ashithelin.

Today, she did not float in the air as usual, but stepped on the ground normally, walking with her feet that looked like black high heels, making crisp footsteps.

She is an unchanging yet changeable elf. Under her unchanging appearance, she has a slightly different mood every day. From the perspective of a mechanical puppet, mood is too mysterious, but for Ashlee, it is a real thing. Because of the different surroundings, the different memory fragments that emerge in her mind, and the different speeds of the gears, her mood always changes for various reasons. How to reproduce the structure of the soul with the structure of the mechanism is an eternal puzzle left to the mechanical craftsmen, because once successful, humans can use this to step into the realm of eternity - chiseling runes with a mithril chisel, plating them with mercury, inlaying crystals from outer space, and exhausting thousands of means, in the end, all that can be obtained is an immortal cage that can imprison the soul, and the puzzle becomes a puzzle.

And this mechanical puppet with a soul happens to be a sensitive being.

Things that seem as fine as dust to ordinary people are as bright and eye-catching as candlelight in her eyes, so she can always see details that are usually difficult to notice. For example, now, Lunicia cannot see the new shallow white marks on Ella's wrist, but Ashlee can see them clearly. She is not an ignorant person. On the contrary, she is an ancient mechanism that has existed for who knows how long. With just a casual glance, she can tell that it is the mark of a scar.

"..."

Did you do anything? If you ask this question, the answer you will get will definitely be "nothing".

From the beginning, Ashethelin had never considered that this would definitely make Ella unhappy. Although Lunicia was insensitive, she was the type who undoubtedly cared about what others thought. In this respect, Ashethelin was like Lunicia's shadow. Although she was quite sensitive, she rarely changed her actions because she cared about what others thought. In this sense, she was a very self-centered mechanical girl.

She just adheres to the idea of ​​"no answer unless asked". She will not get involved in things she doesn't care about, and will not even ask.

Anyway, one day, Lunicia will notice something, and their relationship will change accordingly - sometimes Ashlee would think so. As for whether it would change for the better or fall in a bad direction, Ashlee did not hesitate to believe in the former. After all, Lunicia was such a magical person in her eyes.

The second morning, or the first morning the group spent in Myland, seemed to Lunicia to be calm and peaceful, nothing happened. There were some minor incidents, but in the end, they turned out to be just false alarms. This was indeed the largest and safest city in the eastern part of the continent. There was no need to watch the campfire all night, nor to be careful of the darkness in the forest. There were no wandering undead, and no mutated beasts passing by. It was probably okay to let down your guard completely.

Fortunately, fortunately, it will only take three days at most for me and my group to leave this city. Although it makes me feel a little reluctant, this way I don't have to worry about my abilities rusting and weathering in this comfortable atmosphere.

After returning to Zelhar, Sieli would surely assign tasks to me. He was a kind father and a wise old man. He knew very well how to give his children freedom while allowing them to improve themselves to the maximum extent. Using adventures that were not the most dangerous but could give full play to one's abilities and not allow oneself to be too idle to maintain the vitality of life was not only the trick to becoming stronger, but also the way to longevity. Lunisia always kept this concept in mind.

However, let’s just treat these three days as a short vacation.

It was a rare opportunity to have sufficient bathing resources, so Lunicia did not intend to waste any of them: after brushing her teeth, she washed her body carefully again, and after a normal shower with water and toiletries, she added enough water to cover her body into the bathtub, then took out the ritual bath salts from her bag and sprinkled them into the bathtub to soak her whole body. Finally, she wiped her body and applied the essence extracted from hyacinth on her skin, thus completing the preparatory bath.

The more upscale the hotel, the more it can meet the needs of different guests - there are many guests with religious beliefs, so the hotel rooms are equipped with ritual objects, altars and venues, which is convenient for Lunicia, and she does not need to spend extra time to build the altar. The preparations were impeccable, and Lunicia prayed for a full two hours in the morning, and selected some items provided by the hotel and the spoils of the journey as tributes for the small sacrifice.

This kind of thing cannot improve one's strength. After all, it is no longer the era when gods can bestow equal blessings as long as tributes are offered. If one must say, it can make the heart feel at ease, calm emotions, purify the mind, and enhance the resonance between oneself and the gods. As a warrior, one can strengthen the body through exercise, as a mage, one can practice magic by studying knowledge, and as a clergyman, one can only improve the connection between oneself and the gods through day-to-day prayers and holy deeds.

The hour hand points to nine, the minute hand points to six, and the time now is exactly half past ten.

While Lunicia was doing her morning prayers, Ashethelin was studying the handicrafts on display in the hotel rooms, and Ella was flipping through her magic book, writing and drawing on it from time to time, adding, subtracting, or modifying it. When Lunicia finished her morning prayers and looked up, Ashethelin and Ella stopped what they were doing at the same time.

"Sorry, sorry, I seem to be too absorbed..."

I had originally planned to spend half an hour to an hour doing a formal morning prayer, but I didn't expect that two hours would pass in the blink of an eye, which somewhat disrupted my plan.

However, both Ashlee and Ella Hepper seemed to not care at all.

"It's okay, Lady Luna, just do what you want to do."

"Ashe has nothing to do anyway. So Luna, what are you going to do next?"

This is a question worth pondering. Originally, Lunisia and her group had no plan to stay in Muirand. After shopping in the commercial district in the city center yesterday, they needed to think about how to spend these three non-existent days.

"Well... after all, let's eat first."

"As you wish."

"Want to eat?"

It's a good idea.

Although it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, "brunch" was still a satisfactory choice. As an automatic replenishment machine, it was needless to say that Lunicia and Ella would still feel hungry, so it was a good idea to replenish their energy and think about how to spend the afternoon and tonight.

With this thought in mind, the group took the escalator to the floor where the restaurant was located.

The hotel's breakfast and lunch are served buffet-style, while dinner is semi-buffet. Of course, these are trivial matters to Lunicia and her group. After all, adventurers like them are not picky about food. To be honest, the description of "young masters and young ladies who can only swallow delicacies" is a derogatory term among adventurers. If the food can be eaten and satisfy the nutritional needs, it is considered qualified food. Only after that will they consider the taste and flavor.

Of course, since it is a buffet in an old high-end hotel, the food provided will naturally not be bad: smoked and roasted pork, beef, lamb and poultry legs and steaks; dishes cooked with offal, Muirand's special pickles, such as pepper-salt pickled pork slices or some red fish fillets; vegetables and fruits picked that day; thick soups, clear soups, and even stews with seafood. If it is your first time to a country that can raise aquatic products, you will probably be stunned by the shellfish and fish in the soup.

There are many kinds of cheese, made from the milk of cows, buffaloes and goats, ranging from soft cheese with a soft and delicate taste to salty and hard cheese, filling the display shelves like a show-off. In fact, this is indeed a kind of show-off. Only a prosperous country like Muirand can develop animal husbandry so luxuriously; in order to match such a wide variety of dishes, there are also rich types of bread, including baked pies with meat and vegetable fillings, alkaline bread, dry and hard bread slices, soft bread that southern residents are keen on, croissants, crispy bread sticks, puff pastry... or the most ordinary toast; of course, spiral pasta and rice can also be found here, after all, the tastes of guests from different regions must be satisfied.

Lunicia was still very satisfied with the meal, but there was one thing that puzzled her.

There are too few people.

According to what the waiter said, all hotels in Muirand are now fully booked, and this one is no exception. The number of customers Lunisia saw in the restaurant is probably far from "full". People who eat breakfast and lunch will automatically be separated from those who eat brunch. Lunisia certainly understands this, but according to the number of people she saw and the large number of empty seats in the restaurant, most of the rooms in this hotel should be empty now.

Lunicia naturally would not keep this question in her heart, so she immediately chose to ask the waiter in the restaurant.

"In fact, most of the guests went to the opera today."

——This is the final answer.

Chapter 33 Day 2 (Part 3)

"opera?"

"Yes."

"Did you all go to the opera?"

"Yes, as you heard."

If she recalled this conversation, Lunesia herself would probably feel stupid.

Opera was undoubtedly a strange thing to Lunicia. She had admired paintings and sculptures, read popular chivalric novels, and of course listened to operas. However, she could not go to any live performances because she was confined to her house, so she could only watch the image crystals sent as gifts.

The power of God can create countless miracles, but it cannot condense a long pattern into a small crystal like a magician's masterpiece. Lunisia didn't pay much attention to some of the countless gifts. She flipped through them quickly and then forgot about them. Now that I think about it, it's probably not a play that can be seen everywhere. It's a pity that it can only sleep in Lunisia's boudoir now. Maybe she will take it away when she returns there, or maybe one day, when even Zelhar has become a ruin, it will be obtained by an adventurer who strays into it and admires the artistic achievements of the distant past.

Unfortunately, neither Ashlee nor Ella knew much about opera. One was a mechanical puppet far away from the world, and the other was an adventurer who lived in the open air. Sitting in a big theater and enjoying opera comfortably seemed too far away from their lives.

“…something a little unusual.”

"Ok?"

Ashlee's voice attracted the attention of Lunicia and Ella.