"This...is...a magic...protection room. It is used to protect...the magic on the equipment. It can be used normally..."
"...That should be called a maintenance room, or something like that..."
"……maintainance?"
"It's okay, it's okay, just keep talking. Anyway, now is not the time to take a language teaching class..."
Cold wind, rocks, sparse and messy incomplete buildings, and the sunlight gradually falling on their surfaces... most of the scenes faced by Duan Qing's trio walking on the streets of Sky City at this time, look at
It seems to be no different from an abandoned desert city. If it weren't for the protection that Christine used ice magic to support, maybe the other two people present would soon become part of those rubbles. I reiterated again and again.
There was nothing wrong with her body. The girl named Ayina finally took the lead and walked out to the front of the city. While trying to maintain her smile, she kept pointing at the remaining bricks and tiles around her.
The stumbling words also appeared in Duan Qing's ears as the three people walked. The meaning of the words was difficult to distinguish, but they were full of irresistible power. The little face of Christine who looked at the front without saying a word.
With a serious face, Duan Qing also swallowed back the words he originally wanted to question and ask.
As if everything had experienced the baptism of time, only two voices of conversation drifting in the wind echoed in the ruins for a while - the girl who looked just like ordinary people really took on the role of guide as she said.
Work.
"In the history that the tribe... told me, the equipment made by magic... needs... maintenance."
Her eyes moved away from the magic mark between the ruins beside her, and Ayina, who clasped her hands in front of her chest, cast her eyes on Duan Qing: "Businessmen will...use...these to collect...gold coins.
, but only...good businessmen can...use...good magic..."
"I understand. In short, merchants with high technical level will make more money, right?" Duan Qing replied helplessly, but his eyes that originally turned to the surroundings became lowered: "It's a pity... no matter how good it is,
My magic skills have probably disappeared with the wind now."
"No matter what, these are good clues." Looking at the ruins of the building further away, Christine, who was walking in front, whispered without looking back: "As long as there are enough clues and information, we will
Maybe these ancient shops can be restored..."
"...Have you already thought this far?" Then the look of helplessness on Duan Qing's face became even thicker: "Let's not worry about whether we can fully explore this place..."
"Just the people down there who are eyeing us can probably give us a drink."
Because of the distance, Duan Qing could not tell whether the city in the sky was still moving at this time, but through the constant shouts of death coming from below, he could still confirm that he was still in Zaraha.
The result above the city. Although no attack could threaten this high-altitude land, this threat still made Duan Qing present feel on pins and needles. He suppressed the increasingly obvious anxiety and irritability in his heart, and used a calm mind to
Observing the surroundings of the street: "This place...should still be on the outskirts of the city, right?"
"Yes, yes." Ayina, who was trying to identify the purpose of another building, turned around hurriedly when she heard the sound, and pointed at the huge group of city walls in front of them: "That... that should be... the city
In the center of it, the records passed down... say so."
"There must be something very important there." Looking at the towering spiers and holding the staff, Christine stopped slightly: "For example, the magic center that controls the city
Category……"
"How important it is, how dangerous it is." Duan Qing shook his head: "As far as I know, there will be a guardian guarding the gate leading to that area. That guy and
The guardian we met on Falling Star Mountain is similar to the one we met before, so he should be a difficult type to deal with..."
The strong sound of wind interrupted Duan Qing's intention to continue the introduction, and swept past them with the cold air and blowing dust from the sky. The sudden high-altitude convection then swept the entire building including the street.
The swarm was completely covered, and even the magic shield that Christine maintained began to become unstable. Looking at the half-person-high bricks that were being lifted around, the blue-haired woman who worked hard to cast spells finally
He made a gesture of avoidance, and then together with Duan Qing who gritted his teeth, he carried the weakest Aiina to one of the best-preserved ruins nearby: "...How can there be such a strong wind?"
"It may not be common on land, but this level of wind should be very common in the sky." Kristine, who also hid in the broken wall, frowned and replied: "But... this creates another problem.
one question."
"Since even the bricks and stones can be lifted up, this city should have been in danger for a long time." Duan Qing continued the other person's words and concluded: "But this city has been in the sky for at least a thousand years.
, it can actually leave so many remnants..."
"There are two explanations that can be thought of at the moment." Christine replied in a low voice: "Sky City has been using some means to protect itself before it appeared here, or..."
"It has been hidden somewhere, somewhere...even the sky cannot reach it."
With some possible answer in mind, the two people suppressed their voices at the same time, and then after the long wind gradually passed away, they poked their heads out again. The scene of the brilliance of ice magic unfolding again appeared next.
At the door on the other side of the house, Duan Qing and Aiina walked out together and arrived at the edge of the adjacent street in a star-shaped layout. The foreign woman who had been huddled behind Duan Qing without speaking, now
Only then did a curious look appear: "Just now..."
"What's wrong?"
"Just now... that was... a hotel."
"...Hotel?"
Looking back at the strange vials scattered around the doorway he just walked out of, Duan Qing nodded with enlightenment: "It does look like a wine bottle..."
"It should be the magic wine that was abundant in the ancient magic empire."
Following elegant steps, Christine stepped out of the room and picked up one of the small bottles that had fallen to her feet: "This is a package specially used to hold that kind of wine."
"...The Mages Council has seen this kind of thing?"
"It's just recorded in the past history books." Christine, whose blue hair was blowing in the wind, raised the vial in front of her and narrowed her eyes at the same time: "And... I can still learn from these
You can feel the residual power of magic in the bottle.”
"...Really? A thousand years have passed." Duan Qing asked slightly surprised: "And they actually drink magic power as wine? Aren't they afraid that drinking will cause problems?"
"The magic technology of the ancient magic empire is very superb - this sentence is not said casually."
Glancing in the direction of Aina, Christine put the wine bottle in her hand into her arms: "Magic food, magic drinks, magic tools, and healing spells...these are very common in our existing continent.
The rare thing was that at that time, it was just a skill that common people could master. They could even use these means of food, clothing, housing and transportation to feed themselves, exercise and strengthen their magic level..."
"Of course, this is only for people who can use magic." She paused for a moment, then pointed at Duan Qing's head: "A guy like you...if we were in the past, I'm afraid he wouldn't even be able to use a drop of magic wine.
Touching is not allowed."
"Am I so bad?" Duan Qing pointed to his nose with a wry smile: "At least I can still cast a few earth spells..."
"Don't think I don't know. That's what that old guy Norman taught you." Christine shook her head in a low voice: "If it weren't for the techniques mentioned in the book he gave you..."
"You, who can only be a swordsman, may not be able to use magic in your life."
A moment of silence then covered this slightly heavy topic, and at the same time, it spread to the surroundings as Duan Qing and others continued to move forward. The cold wind from the surroundings also became less raging as the sun gradually rose.
Get up. Still pointing at the surrounding places from time to time, Ayina's extremely unskilled explanations kept ringing in Duan Qing's ears, until the three people's footsteps passed through the obstacles made of countless bricks and tiles.
, after walking out of that street, they stopped in front of an empty and deserted square: "I've seen it in the potion shop, and I've seen it in the gem shop... Well, is this the square?"
"...Why, have you seen this place again?"
"Uh... I once saw a battle that took place here in my dream." Duan Qing, who was scratching his head, used the lameest excuse, but his embarrassed eyes turned in the direction of Aiina: "
That battle...what happened, Ayina, what did you find?"
"This used to be...a garden."
Pointing to a certain fenced-in open space in front of them, Ayina's eyes fell on the wasteland with a bit of sadness: "Here... originally... there should be... a lot of plants, very...
Beautiful plants...and flowers..."
"If there really is a plant that can live for more than a thousand years, I can't help but kneel down in front of it." Duan Qing comforted the other party half-jokingly: "And... we might be able to repair this place and make it a new place."
It’s rejuvenated, right?”
"……Yes."
Her eyes moved to Duan Qing's face, and Ayina, who didn't know what she thought of, burst out into a bright smile again: "If... it's you..., you will definitely... succeed, I... believe it."
"I don't want to interrupt the reminiscing between you two 'locals', but... we'd better find a place to rest now." Looking at the girl's face carefully, Christine stood aside and smiled slightly.
He sighed: "Her condition is very bad now."
"...Are you okay?" After hesitating for a while, Duan Qing finally believed in the great magician's judgment: "Do you feel any discomfort?"
"I...I'm fine."
Looking around with flickering eyes, Ayina lowered her head: "It's just...a little...tired..."
"...Then let's find a place to rest." Duan Qing, who looked at Kristine, made a decision in a low voice: "How about staying at the hotel just now?"
"no, do not want."
For the first time since following Duan Qing, Aiina reacted with rejection. Her expression became panicked, and her already slightly frivolous footsteps staggered backwards, falling to the side of the wasteland just now.
: "I...what I want to do...has not been completed yet..."
"We'll talk about it later." Duan Qing, who arrived in two steps, tried to pull up the woman who fell on the ground: "Your body is very weak now, you..."
"I, I'm fine."
With her hands resisting Duan Qing's pull, Ayina's voice was filled with a hint of uncontrollable anxiety: "I, I, I... my time... is running out..."
"...We are not the Geis clan, we are the descendants of the Okris clan..."
The low voice became much more fluent. Ayina put her hands tied with gauze ribbons on the ground. Her eyes that did not want to continue to look at Duan Qing also fell on her own pair of eyes along with her lowering her head.
Between the transparent fingers: "We... have been wandering... for so long, and we have always hoped to... return to our own land..."
"It...is there now." In the sight of the bright water drops gradually falling on the dry ground, her voice became choked up: "We have been waiting...for too long, too long...
…”
"You are the last person of your clan." Duan Qing interrupted the other party in a low voice: "Think about those guys who attacked your village and the suffering they suffered along the way... Even if it is for them and yourself, you will
You should keep going."
"I...want to...go on."
Like a flower that had just emerged from the mud, Ayina with tears on her face showed a smile again. The hands that were the same as those crystal clear eyes then stretched into her arms, holding her before
The Okonos Stone taken from Duan Qing was handed to him: "I... want to... tell you... what I know..."
"I...want to see...everything here..."
"I...want to...live..."
"I want...those flowers...them..."
The pair of transparent hands that were gradually raised fell down as she turned her gaze to the side. The girl finally lost her voice like the withered wasteland, and her body that gradually collapsed to the ground and the emerald-green stone were also destroyed by quick eyes and quick hands.
Duan Qing picked it up, and at the same time, he shouted: "Hey, Ayina! Hey! You..."
"Don't get excited, she's not dead yet."
Ice crystals that were colder than the cold wind in the sky then appeared next to Duan Qing, freezing the cold body of the woman in his arms into a huge ice block, which belonged to Christine's gorgeous hand holding the staff.
The figure then flashed in front of Duan Qing, reminding him with a calm and low voice: "The freezing cold will temporarily seal her time, but the passage of life that happened to her... I am unable to solve it now.
"
"Then, what should we do now?"
"Just keep going."
Looking up at the city in the sky in front of her, Christine turned around with a flick of her robe: "Since this is the hometown of her ancestors..."
"There may be a way to save her inside." (To be continued)
This chapter has been completed!