Life has dealt a heavy hand to a weak demigod like me.

Sacred hunting is a traditional activity on National Day of Remembrance.

For Pallasti, the most unchangeable thing is tradition.

This is the foundation of their country.

Grass skirts and animal skins, with the help of magic, may be more comfortable than ordinary silk fabrics, but they are definitely not as beautiful and convenient as them.

But among the Palasti, these clothes are traditions, and there are many of them in places where outsiders are entertained, but the Palasti people will not wear them.

The same goes for books on parchment, daily necessities made of pottery, and the eternal fire in every household.

Whether in terms of time cost, material cost, extraordinary cost, convenience, aesthetics and practicality, they all have perfect replacement methods.

But the Parasti people still maintain their original customs, use inconvenient things, and live a primitive life.

This is a habit, a constraint, and an unbreakable rule.

Sacred hunting is also included in the rules.

If the king or anyone else made such changes and requests, the Palasti would ignore them.

But just like what the person just said.

The three priests are the patron saints of this country. They do not interfere in government affairs, but they bless every citizen and guard this place silently.

For hundreds or even thousands of years, most of them made their contributions silently but rarely asked the Palasti to do anything for them.

Therefore, every time the bell swung, it was something the people of Palasti had to accomplish even at the risk of their lives.

This is a very difficult choice for most Palasti people.

Tradition cannot be broken, but the priest's request must never be ignored.

"Vote."

"Let the divine judgment be made."

"This is the only way it can be."

The noise gradually faded away, and the mainstream voices declared their attitudes.

In fact, divine judgment does not apply to the present situation.

That is an approach that is only used when the country faces major differences and important events.

However...from a certain perspective, this situation can be considered an important event.

The popular will is the public opinion. Considering that tomorrow is the day of the sacred hunt, the king of Pallasti quickly stood up.

Under his guidance, a colorful cloud that could cover the entire Palasti slowly floated over.

The rain kept falling.

In a trance, Peroz felt that his soul was washed out of his body by the rain and was slowly led to an unknown place.

There were two huge stones standing before her. On one was written the word "Forest" and on the other was written the word "Tradition".

Around the characters on the two boulders, Peroz could see countless tiny black words slowly filling the blank spaces of the boulders in the form of patterns.

She focused her attention and looked closely. The patterns were made up of countless names. When her gaze lingered on a name for too long, she could vaguely see the appearance of the person behind the name.

Perhaps in some customs, Palasti is synonymous with backwardness, but in the use of magic power, Palasti can be said to be at the forefront of the world.

Without much hesitation, Peroz chose the boulder with the word "tradition" engraved on it.

After all, she had been preparing for this day for almost a month.

However...after making her choice, she suddenly thought of something.

She prepared for a month, but the native people here have been participating in this activity since they were young.

"Huh...I really don't want to admit it."

"But I have to say that my father's affairs had a great impact on me."

I'm getting impatient...

However, while she chose traditional, most people chose "sen".

If the custom is to be completely changed, even if three priests request it at the same time, they will not get many votes.

But if it only changes occasionally, most people will still choose to stand on the side of the priests.

After seeing the result, Sen in the sky couldn't help but smile. Then he put his hand on his neck, took off a necklace and gently threw it into the clouds.

A transparent city slightly larger than Pallasti appeared in the sky.

"Tomorrow, the first person to walk out of the maze will become the winner of the new rules." He said softly.

As he finished speaking, the transparent "city" began to slowly solidify, then dissipated, and finally stood in the west above the city like a mirage.

"The style of this building..." After coming out of the voting space, Hogot couldn't help but frown when he saw the mirage on the horizon.

After a moment, he seemed to have thought of something and said uncertainly, "It seems to be the style of the Oren Empire."

"Some of them look like the ruins of Oren. I remember you, Mr. Hogot, were there before."

"Yeah... That was the first adventure your father and I went on. Although we didn't find any precious treasures, some interesting things happened."

"But...why are there buildings related to Oren here?" The Oren Empire was a kingdom that almost unified the entire world during the Golden Age.

During its heyday, almost all demigods were members of the empire.

However, after the death of the emperor who could subdue all demigods, different voices began to be heard within the empire.

Later, due to differences in ideas, the entire empire collapsed from within and quickly disappeared into history.

Hogot had always believed that the ruins they were visiting were the only relatively complete ruins left in the Oren Empire today, but now it seems that this is not the case.

"Perhaps these were left behind by the former citizens of the Oren Empire when they joined this place." Peroz's eyes kept scanning the "mirage", preparing for tomorrow's adventure.

Lord Mori, standing in the sky, slowly landed on the gate tower of the "Mirage" ruins, and his sight slowly fell on Peroz.

“It really looks like that…”

A sigh echoed all around.

Steam calendar year 1756, above the Palasti Gate.

Sen was sitting on the gatehouse, gazing into the distance, doing nothing as usual.

What will the world outside be like?

He pondered for the umpteenth time.

Unlike everyone else here, Sen is very interested in the world outside of Pallasti.

Unfortunately, everyone in this country can choose to stay or go, except priests.

When he accepted the inheritance of power, he also needed to assume corresponding responsibilities.

He never regretted his choice, it's just a pity.

"It's not good for a girl to always look sad. Shouldn't she smile a little when seeing such beautiful scenery?" A stranger behind him said with a laugh after seeing him.

"Stranger?" Sen restrained his expression, turned around and asked indifferently.

"How do you know? I changed into clothes specially for here." Rotun looked at his clothes in some surprise.

Today, because of wearing this kind of clothing and deliberately imitating customs, many people don’t realize that they are outsiders.

"I know everyone here," Mori said calmly.

"Wow~ Is that true?" Rotun was a little surprised, and then sat next to her.

"I've been trying really hard to make friends, but I've only met a few dozen people in the few months I've been here."

Sen looked at the other person calmly. Most people would lower their heads involuntarily when facing his gaze.

But the other party just looked at him with a smile.

After a moment he turned around and ignored the other person.

He was just a passer-by, not worth wasting too much time on.

He thought so.

Then a small bowl appeared in front of him.

"Would you like to drink something?" asked Rawdon.

"I don't know what happened to you, but that's what alcohol does."

"It can't wash away the sadness, but at least it can help you forget some unhappy things during this period of time."

"Escape." Sen was not impressed by his behavior.

“It’s not about escaping, but about facing and overcoming sadness.”

"Because...only after you have escaped and forgotten, will you realize that there are many things you can no longer escape or forget."

“Only by remembering this feeling can we overcome sadness and regret.”

"Useless preaching." As he spoke, Sen took the bowl of wine that the other party had been holding.

"Huh? It's useless? I thought I spoke very well."

"I also want to comfort a few more girls your age and accumulate some experience. When little Peroz grows up, I can solve all her sorrows and troubles."

Sen felt a little strange. The man in front of him said so carelessly that he was being used as an experimental subject. Didn't he feel embarrassed at all?

He calmly drank the wine in the bowl. The taste was very light, just like the wine he had drunk before.

But this time, he always felt something different.

"I'm not as sad as you say, and I don't need comfort." Sen slowly stood up and prepared to leave.

Just as his figure was about to disappear from Rotun's sight, his voice reached his ears again.

"Also, I'm a man."

“Eh????!!” Rotun was stunned, then stood up in a hurry and wanted to say something.

However, due to alcohol, he accidentally fell off the city gate.

Seeing the other person's somewhat embarrassed look, Sen couldn't help laughing.

Rawdon was stunned again.

How could this smile and figure, which are even cuter than my own little angel, be a boy?

-

Chapter 147: Strange Stranger

Although the rules of the Sacred Hunt had changed significantly, one thing that remained unchanged was that no more items could be brought into the area suspected to be the Oren Ruins.

Early the next morning, Peroz followed the local customs, wearing animal skins and grass skirts and waiting quietly in the square.

Sacred hunting is a national sport.

Except for children and the elderly, most people will put down what they are doing and let their light shine freely.

"What do you think we'll encounter there?"

"I guess it must be a ferocious and strange supernatural creature."

"If that's the case, there's no need to change the rules, Lord Mori."

"Anyway, no matter what, I'm the champion this time! I'm sure I'll get an audience with Master Mori."

"as long as you are happy..."

In a noisy atmosphere, most people in the city began to walk towards a square under the temple.

The square wasn't big, only about the size of two football fields. Although the number of people in Palasti was small, they weren't big enough to fit into this place.

Peroz was curious.

However, when the person in front of her shrank to the size of an ant as he stepped into the square, she understood why this place could accommodate so many people.

It's a very unique experience.

This shrinkage does not mean that people themselves shrink, but that the space ahead is infinitely expanded and compressed to the size of a square. People who enter here later change the space they are in without changing themselves.

People themselves do not shrink or change, only the space changes.