It was dawn.
The sky was still dim and the temperature seemed extremely low. There was no wind. There was no wind, and the city was enveloped in a pre-dawn calm, as if before a storm.
I don't know if I can call it a city.
It was a scene of ruins.
The buildings that had been burned to the ground either looked as if they were about to collapse, or they had crumbled and lost all semblance of what they once were. There was nothing that was even halfway burnt.
Everything had been burned to the ground.
By the madness of a single person.
Setsuna was standing alone on the main street of the city of Callan. There was no way she could speak. In the twilight, with not even a breeze blowing, all she could do was stunned and accept the reality.
A few days had passed since Setsuna had regained consciousness. Since the interview with Faria-Belfaria. Since her reunion with Elina.
The muscle pains in his whole body had healed, albeit slightly, and he no longer experienced any severe pains when he walked or moved normally. It was something he should be truly happy about, something that would make him sob with joy. Of course, he never cried in real life.
Aside from that, it was thanks to Faria, of all people, that the scars of the flames that had burned through Setsuna's body were completely gone.
The power of her summoned armament had almost completely healed the severe burns by dramatically improving Setsuna's own natural healing power. If that was the case, the muscle pains all over her body should have disappeared, but things didn't seem to be going that well.
She seemed to have said a lot of other things, but the barrage of questions was making Setsuna's head spin. He could barely remember what she had said.
She had spent the past few days convincing herself that it was because it was unimportant.
The days spent in a tent instead of a hospital room, unable to move, were extremely boring for Setsuna, but they were important days for her to confirm once again that every day in this other world was reality.
The scenery, which never changed whether I slept or woke up, coldly told me that this was the world.
This is the present world.
This was no time to be talking about another world. The summoning by Azmaria, the battle with the Imperial Demon, the armed summoning, the fire in Callan, the man, all of it, all of it, is something that Setsuna herself experienced.
I guess that means you should be prepared.
(Preparedness: ...?)
Setsuna was walking in a wide but lonely space on a deserted main street. The tent where Setsuna spent her time was located on the south side of Callan. The tent where Setsuna spent her time was located on the south side of Kallang, a temporary residential area made up of tents, where people who had been burned out in the recent fires, or who had lost their homes or places to live, were forced to live in tents.
It seems that Setsuna's tent is a substitute for a hospital room. I heard that the guards and Faria had planned to leave Setsuna alone after she had achieved the feat of defeating Lance-Villain.
It's true that it's extremely annoying to have so many people coming and going when your muscles are sore all over, and to begin with, Setsuna is not a resident of Callan. She didn't know a single person there. She didn't know anyone in Callan, and it seemed unlikely that anyone would be curious enough to visit Setsuna's tent, but when she mentioned it, Faria said, "Just in case. I had no words to reply.
However, I didn't mind the quiet. I was rather grateful for their hospitality, but I had no reason to resent them.
The reason why I had just left the tent was because I had confirmed that I had no trouble walking, and I hadn't moved my body properly in the past few days. If I don't, I'll end up with an accent.
We headed north from the hypothetical residential area that had been hastily built in a burnt-out corner.
How many times did Setsuna have to stop before she reached the main street? In a world where everything was blackened and scorched, there was not a single thing with a vivid color. Forgetting to even breathe, she continued on through the claw marks of the destruction brought about by that madman.
A few days have passed since the great fire.
The city of Callan was nowhere close to recovery.
We continue along the main street.
Elina had told me that it was the main street that ran through the north and south of Calang. There is a cenotaph in the center of the street. Elina said that she prays there every day and then comes to visit Setsuna's tent.
The cenotaph.
Before she knew it, Setsuna found herself walking towards it. When she had first left the tent, she had not intended to do so. She was just trying to move her limp body and change her mind.
Staying cooped up in a tent was just too depressing.
Callan used to be surrounded by a strong wall around the perimeter of the city. Gates were essential to the walls. The gates on the four sides of the city, east, west, north, south, and southwest, were so magnificent and solid that they were inconceivable for the size of the city, and were famous as symbols of the prosperity of the country.
The streets extending from the four gates eventually collided in the center of the city. Just like a cross.
The Crossroads of Karan is also so famous that no one in Gandia knows about it.
This was Faria's information, and she often came to Setsuna's tent to talk with him. Without Faria and Elina's presence, Setsuna might have spent her days alone and depressed.
In the middle of the crossroad - in other words, in the center of Callan, there was a cenotaph. No, it may not have been a cenotaph at all. But whatever it was, I could feel strongly and deeply the mourning and requiem of the survivors for those who had died.
...
Setsuna couldn't even speak. She was afraid to say even a single word. It was just a stone.
It was just a stone. A stone the size of my fist. There were hundreds and thousands of them piled up at the intersection of the streets, with no idea where they had come from. The pile of stones suddenly appearing in the scorched earth of the city was a strange and bizarre sight by itself.
However, the thoughts of the people who had put their hearts into each stone seemed to make the pile of stones somehow sacred.
Just looking at it made Setsuna's heart tremble, probably because the thought of not being able to do anything still smoldered deep inside. If lit, it could burn her body and soul to the ground in the blink of an eye. Remorse, I suppose.
"It seems that it all started when a girl placed a stone with her dead father's name carved on it.
A young man's voice came out of nowhere, and Setsuna gently turned her attention to it. In front of the cenotaph, she was not in the mood to react ostentatiously.
No one was going to pay attention to a stone with a name carved on it. No one would have paid attention to a stone in the middle of the main street. Who would pay attention to a single stone in the middle of the city's main street?
His voice, which contained a hint of coldness, emitted an inexplicable fragrance that gave a certain pleasure to those who listened. I'm not sure what to make of it.
It's not that I don't like it. It's not every day that you fall in love with a man's voice. It was different from a beautiful voice. Perhaps it is not the voice itself, but rather the charm of the person who is speaking it.
But that's what happened in real life. Somebody put a stone next to the girl's stone. Someone put a stone next to the girl's stone, imitating her.
He was standing just to the right of Setsuna. He must have approached while Setsuna was distracted by the cenotaph. However, he did not seem to have any business with Setsuna. She must have been just killing time when she came to talk to him.
With this intuition, Setsuna's eyes widened at his appearance.
And it immediately spread throughout the Callan. I don't know why. Someone told me that the survivors wanted a way to show their regret and condolences to those who had died, but I think it was different. It's hard to say.
He was a beautiful young man. It was a gift from the heavens, more valuable than any jewel. She had a head of golden hair, translucent white skin, and slightly sharp-angled eyes framed by deep lashes, with eyes like jasper.
Beauty, I suppose. No one who met him would have any other word to describe his appearance. It would be a different story if the criteria for judging beauty and ugliness were decidedly different. But that was only an exception.
Setsuna quickly turned her eyes away from his good looks and focused on the cenotaph again. In the midst of her overwhelming sense of defeat, she was also shocked to find that she had to console herself that she was used to such things.
Yes, he was used to it.
Setsuna knew that men with his kind of good looks existed. And her repeated defeats had convinced her that human beings were not about looks. Of course, he does not despise his own appearance. I'm confident enough to say that I'm better than a medium-ranked person.
Therefore, whenever I encounter an incredibly beautiful man, I realize that there is a higher class.
There is a higher class.
The world that I live in is different from theirs.
But it was not despair. It wasn't hope either.
Anyway, the story of the masonry that began with one girl has now reached not only Callan, but also Crevelle, Merel, Mardal, and even the royal capital Gandion.
When Setsuna turned to look at him, she saw that the young man also had a small stone in his hand. He must have come from the royal capital, since he was the last one to mention it. I don't know how far it is from the royal capital to Karan, but he is very fond of things.
Of course, Setsuna did not intend to make fun of his feelings. In fact, she even respected him. He had come all the way from the Royal Capital to Karan just to pile up stones. It was not so easy to do that.
On closer inspection, he could see that the good-looking clothes he was wearing were stained with travel dust.
The young man approached the pile of stones. He placed the pebble in his hand in the middle of the pile of stones. A mumbling, yet stern voice reached Setsuna's ears.
The King of Gandia, Leongand Ray-Gandia, hereby prays for your souls and vows to restore Callan and revive Gandia.
The scene, bathed in the dawn's first light, was as mysterious and majestic as a religious painting.
Setsuna forgot to be astonished and just watched the fantastic scene as if it was burned into her retinas.
This was the encounter between Setsuna and Leongande, and the beginning of a new beginning.