Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

It's incredible, talking to her is like talking to the sounds of all things, as if she is the type who is particularly good at expressing herself with words?

I couldn't help but turn my head to see what kind of person that was.

"..."

"what……"

She couldn't help but let out a small sound of surprise, for no other reason than that the girl was already sitting on the other side of the bench without any concern. It seemed that not only Lunicia was surprised, but also the girl who seemed familiar at first glance, but whom she couldn't remember where they had met before.

"what happened?"

"No, nothing... I just thought you looked familiar."

Although it was the truth, it sounded like an immature pick-up line, which made people feel strange, wonderful and hilarious.

She was wearing a black and white dress that looked like an evening gown. The silver jewelry between her long black hair, on her earlobes, on her neck, and on her wrists sparkled under the night light like bright stars. Did she just get out of a party? If so, she lacked the aura that only belongs to banquets. Looking more closely, beads of sweat that did not belong to this season hung on her forehead, her shoulders, and both sides of her cheeks. Even if her face did not show fatigue, the crystal sweat also showed the hard work.

——Could it be that they are the staff of the opera house?

This possibility is probably the greatest. After all, taking all the conditions into consideration, only in this way can the girl in front of him not appear out of place.

"Hehe... looks familiar, doesn't it?"

Hearing this, the girl covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Yeah, looks familiar."

"Just look familiar?"

"perhaps……"

The girl seemed to have figured something out and let go of something. Just from the look on her shoulders, one could tell that she was a lot more relaxed than at the beginning.

"You must be from another country, perhaps even another continent?"

Can you tell from this? Lunicia did not hide her surprise, but nodded in response: "So, you are a local? A local of Muirand——"

"Yes, this is my hometown. I was born here and will rest in peace here."

The feeling of nostalgia in her words was hard to conceal.

"What about you? Where are you from?"

"Zelhar."

Lunicia cast her gaze to the northwest - on the other side of the continent that spans plains and hills, forests and mountains, that golden, glorious and sacred land is not the country where she was born, but the cradle of her growth. She is more familiar with it than any other place in the world.

"Ah, the theocracy Zerhal..." The girl's tone could be described as familiar. She was obviously not a clergyman of Zerhal, but she seemed to be very familiar with the place. "Even for the airship capital of Muirand, it is quite difficult to maintain the route from the east of the continent to Zerhal. You don't seem to be familiar with this place, so you must have come here after last winter. There are no people like you on the flights during this period. How did you get here? Did you walk over the natural barrier called Anda-Brun?"

She seemed so interested that she became even more enthusiastic about Lunicia.

"Not on foot, but in a carriage..."

"Carriage, um... carriage..."

The girl covered her lips lightly, as if she was thinking about what Lunicia said.

"I see. Are you a clergyman? Even if you are a priest, you have to take an airship to come to Muirand. Your status is probably at least equivalent to that of a high priest, so you would use this unheard-of method to cross the barrier of the Anda-Brun Mountains..."

However, she did not say the second half of the sentence, "somewhat unlike." The woman in front of her might be a clergyman. She was probably inexperienced and unaware of it, so she could not judge the subtle differences. She had spoken out of turn.

Lunicia seemed a little surprised as well. She herself had not really thought about this aspect. Anyway, she was just a fledgling going out for the first time and naturally did not know the details of other colleagues' trips. The girl in front of her had judged so many things just from these contents. What kind of experience did she have?

"Well, actually, I don't really understand these... If you say I'm a clergyman, then I'm a holy warrior."

"Ah, you are a noble paladin. Are you here on a mission? Or are you just passing through here on your adventure?"

"Well……"

"Sorry, I was rude."

The black-haired girl smiled apologetically and restrained her attitude, as if she had lost her composure for some reason during the conversation just now.

The topic came to an end, and the two people sitting on the bench fell silent again.

The howling north wind turned into a gentle breeze after blowing into the city. It couldn't even blow up the collar, but only slightly shook the hair, the leaves and grass stems that had not yet fallen. The lights seemed to be dimmer than before, probably because the opera had ended, the actors and the audience had left, and there was no need to keep the lights on. Now only the necessary lighting was maintained, and it was precisely because of this that the lights under the cliff seemed softer than before, no longer so hot.

Looking at the dome of the grand theater below the cliff, at the lights on the distant city streets, and at the pedestrians that became scarce after nightfall, the black-haired girl's expression softened, as if she was missing something, and there seemed to be a bit of sadness, as if she was mourning for something, but this sadness was fleeting and short-lived like an illusion.

"A traveler."

"Ok?"

“Do you like this city?”

"Hmm - it's probably a very nice city. I've had a very pleasant time these past few days."

"……Yeah."

After hearing Lunicia's answer, she seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief and looked a lot more relaxed.

These questions were incoherent and had no beginning or end. I didn't know why they came up, and there was no proper follow-up. It seemed that he had only thought of these questions, or that he felt that there was no need to ask the rest. What kind of places did he like, history, art, architecture, or the cultural atmosphere here? Was there a stable place to live, warm food? Would he want to stay here for a few more days? These questions did not appear, let alone stay in the girl's mouth, and they seemed to have never appeared in her mind.

"Yes, that's fine. In this case, there's nothing wrong with being everyone's hero, and protecting this city of everyone's memories..."

"Hmm? Did you say anything?"

"No, I haven't." Nothing could be seen on the girl's face. She just shook her head expressionlessly. "I just said that I like this city very much, that's all."

"You really seem to like it here."

"It's just that my love for the story is not as good as it seems. If it's just for the sake of collecting material, then it probably doesn't matter if I never come back... probably."

As if she had thought of something, Lunisia asked, "Are you a bard?"

If adventurers are used to wandering and are travelers who never stop, then bards are outliers even among adventurers. They collect stories and legends, music and plays from everywhere, just like adventurers go deep into underground ruins to find treasures. They sing the military exploits of heroes and praise the beauty of love. They record and sing everything from the clown's dance steps to the rise and fall of empires. The so-called bards are such a group of people.

Is this also the kind of bard we see before us, who is willing to leave his familiar homeland for the sake of songs and spread the heroic stories throughout this increasingly closed land?

"Yes, I am a bard, just as you are a paladin."

She probably really likes this job, and when she talked about this, she smiled faintly again.

"So, beautiful paladin, the paladin passing through this mountaintop city, can you tell me if you have ever had any exciting adventure?"

"How unfortunate, elegant poet." Lunicia smiled and shook her head. "I have only dealt with ghouls. Under the walls of Marie, I fought against the Legacy of Natya with the soldiers. It was neither exciting nor interesting. My career as an adventurer has just begun, and I have not yet reached the peak of seeing a dragon."

If Ashetherin were here, she would definitely seriously correct Lunitia's remarks, and maybe even comment on Lunitia's lack of self-awareness. However, in Lunitia's own opinion, she really just fought a group of zombies and killed a lich that was almost disabled for some reason. It was not an achievement worthy of writing about, and naturally she was ashamed to show it to the bard who knew countless heroic skills.

"Is that so? That's fine too."

As if to say "this way there won't be any regrets", the unknown black-haired girl slowly stood up and bowed to Lunicia.

"It was a pleasant encounter, but it is time to say goodbye."

"Yeah, it would be nice if we could chat a little longer."

A lively voice came from the side of the path, with a hint of tiredness in its innocence, as if calling a name.

From the other side of the path, a voice that was extremely familiar to Lunicia came. It was Ella. The girl named Ella Heper did not stay in the hotel room peacefully. She probably left Ashlee to look after the house and went out to look for Lunicia who had not returned yet. Listen, her originally cold voice was filled with concern and intersection, and contained the beautiful syllable of Lunicia.

"Goodbye, farewell, unknown paladin."

--ah.

It was not until then that Lunicia remembered that she had been chatting for quite some time but had forgotten such basic etiquette as reporting her name. Perhaps it was the breeze that slowed her thinking and made her so lazy.

"Although he is not a famous hero, but—"

Lunicia waved to her.

"——My name is Lunitia, Lunitia Agris."

The figure that was gradually moving away seemed to pause because of the name, and the figure of the girl appeared again.

"Collette H. Caroline is a bard you have only met once."

Chapter 35: The End of the Third Day

"Colette..."

Playing with the glass in her hand, Lunicia looked like she was in deep thought.

"Collette H. Caroline..."

It wasn't the first time that he had seen that face. After all, not long ago, Ashlee had shown him a portrait of the black-haired girl. But it was only during that short conversation before she left that he knew who she was. If there was a reason, it was simply because Lunicia felt that she would not be so "lucky" to meet the most popular celebrity in this city just by taking a break in the park.

I slept soundly last night, and I could even say it was more sound than the first night. After all, a voice from an unknown source did not appear in my dreams again. It appeared under the curtain that was neither a dream nor reality, saying words that I could not remember clearly and heard vaguely.

This night was as if nothing had happened, it was incredibly peaceful.

When they returned to the hotel, Lunicia was not in a hurry to exchange information with her two travel companions. Ashlee and Ella were certainly not in a hurry either - according to what they had learned, although the situation was delicate, there did not seem to be any imminent danger. It would be better to conserve their energy while nothing had happened yet and everything was peaceful.

As a result, she had rested enough physically. The rare eight hours of high-quality sleep in the wild was enough to wash away all fatigue. But mentally, she was still stuck in last night, as if the memory from bathing to falling asleep was cut off, so that Lunicia was still thinking about that brief encounter and the hidden meaning in it.

Yes, she was so sure that it could not be a simple encounter.

"Luna, what are you thinking about?"

"I always feel like I'm missing something, and I feel a little uneasy."

Lunisia did not hide her feelings. To be precise, she could not hide them at all. She could not help but sigh and curled up in the sofa, squeezing the soft cushions. Ashlee lay on the other side of the sofa, looking bored.

I don't know why, but I feel like Ashlee has been staring at Ella more often in the past two days. While she was daydreaming, Lunicia was thinking about the itinerary for today, which was the third day in Muirand.

"Ah..." Lunicia stretched, "Well, after all, let's talk about intelligence first."

"Is it okay? Do you want to rest for a while, Luna?"

Ella asked with concern as she brought two cups of black tea and a small porcelain jar for sugar cubes.

"It's okay. I've gotten enough sleep."

After getting up, I had a brief conversation with Ashlee and Ella about the intelligence I had gathered last night.

After just half a day of superficial inquiries, the information obtained is actually basically the same: on the fourth day of the National Day holiday, a large celebration ceremony will be held in the Civic Square. It seems that many dignitaries will attend, and members of the four major families will also be present. In addition, other areas of Muland will also hold celebrations at the same time, there will be discounts on shopping, and tickets to tourist attractions will also be discounted.

Of course, these were not the focus of Lunicia and her group, and unfortunately, they did not obtain any substantial information as to the part they were really interested in.

As for the reasons for the price fluctuations, the information obtained from inquiries in different places can be said to be varied: some citizens believed that anti-parliamentary elements would attack the celebration and create riots, some believed that the House of Lords had serious disagreements over a secret bill and were preparing to engage in a fight on the fourth day, and some believed that the four major families were secretly preparing to purge the opposition and strengthen centralization... All of these sounded confusing and made people wonder, "Why do you know about this?"

As for the intelligence obtained from other places, such as the old streets and the tavern district, it was even more varied. The more common ones said in a serious tone that the parliament had issued a disaster evacuation warning, and that a blizzard would arrive in Myoland during the National Day holiday, and that public security and living conditions would deteriorate rapidly. Some swore that the observatory had observed a giant dragon flying at full speed to Myoland and would arrive on the day of the celebration. Others simply said that they had heard news from the Guards Division that "Legacy of Natya" would attack in the next two days...

"Nathia's Legacy" had already been defeated in the city of Twick, so how could it still reach Muirand? Lunisia no longer had any expectations for the accuracy of these statements.

It seems that these statements are not completely groundless. They all seem to have their sources, rather than being fabricated by the information providers themselves. However, when asked about the real sources of these news, the statements are often vague. They seem to be the words of neighbors, or they seem to be heard unconsciously while drinking in a tavern, or they may be the edges and corners of market bulletin boards. Fragmented information seems to be scattered in every corner of the city, just waiting to be picked up by someone by chance and become a part of this information vortex.

"It's like someone spread it deliberately."

Lunicia pondered and came to this conclusion.

Of course, she came to her conclusion not by reasoning, but by intuition, yes, as always.

"It seems so." Ella nodded in agreement, "But why do you do this?"

Taking into account the similarities between these types of information, we can roughly summarize the following points: the source is unknown, the wording is unclear, there may be emergencies during the fourth day of the celebration and the following days, and citizens are encouraged to stockpile daily necessities just in case... Thinking from these similarities, the person spreading the information behind the scenes does not seem to have malicious intentions, and there is a certain possibility that the Merchant Guild that is currently maintaining price stability is closely related to the spreader of the information.

“I can’t figure it out…”

Lunicia tilted her head in distress.

"If you can't figure it out, you can try another way of thinking."

Hearing Ashetherin's words, Lunicia raised her head again and met the former's golden eyes.

"As long as it doesn't affect tomorrow's flight, no matter what happens then, it actually has nothing to do with Luna, right?"

"Ugh?"

If you think about it carefully, it seems to be true.

As long as the flight can take off as usual, no matter what happens to Myurand next, it will have nothing to do with the group of people who have already boarded the airship and left. They only need to consider what to eat on the airship, whether the bed is comfortable, and whether they will encounter the dangers in the sky. That's all. Let Myurand solve what happens on her own.

Just when Ashlee proposed this plan, Ella had already picked up the communication equipment in the guest room. These small magic props could directly connect to the hotel's customer service center to meet the needs of guests at any time. Ashlee's request was also very simple, that is, to help inquire whether the Muland Airport would be open as usual tomorrow.

The answer is yes.

“…This isn’t a good idea.”

"What's not so good about it?"

"For example, Mulande might be in danger..."

Ashethelin's thought process worked for a while, and she came to the conclusion without much effort: Lunicia really liked to cause trouble for herself.

"Luna."