"Hey, Cassius, where in the world have you been lately?" A boy with orange hair as bright as the sun ran up.
"Here. All the time."
"Huh, that's weird. I remember passing this place twice before." The boy scratched his head, tangling his orange hair even more, then rummaged through his cross-body bag and said, "I have something for you," handing Cassius a letter. A luxurious letter, designed in the manner of a true aristocrat.
"Your family sent this."
"Thank you." The boy received the letter. A faint melancholy appeared on his face, but it faded quickly.
There was a strange silence, so the orange-haired boy decided to say goodbye after completing his mission. "Um... if you don't need anything else, I'll go."
Cassius stood there, watching the strange orange hair disappear behind ancient marble columns.
...
After traveling in a horse-drawn carriage, Althur arrived at a cemetery outside the suburbs as the sun was setting.
In front of him was a tall marble gate, carved with flowers and grass, and a nameplate carved just below it, "Sliva Green". This cemetery was one of seven that the City Council had authorized to be built under the Cemeteries, Burials and Funerals Act, and all the cemeteries built under the Act were known collectively as the Magnificent Seven.
Althur stepped through the gate and onto a path of trees and flowers that ran straight ahead.
With their belief in the goddess Haya, their followers believe that the body is preserved after death, so they are against cremation. Consequently, with the growth of the population, many church cemeteries were crowded. As the number of people who died in the catacombs increased in recent years, coffins were piled on top of coffins.
Many outdoor burial sites became unclean. There used to be no place for corpses to be buried, and looting and rotting corpses affected the surrounding environment. On top of that, the development of society has changed the way funerals are organized.
Years later, the government and the church had to lobby to build more private cemeteries around the suburbs to combat these evils. After that, different groups of believers built their own private cemeteries. A group of believers in the Goddess built this private cemetery. It was built on the outskirts of the city of Phlegoneos.
In addition to showing off their wealth, many families began to pay attention to funeral arrangements, making funeral work attractive. Funeral customs changed, too. So did the tomb. This place is popular among the middle class. It is so beautifully built that they think of it as a park for a weekend stroll.
Back here for the second time, Althur followed the familiar route to where his mentor's body lay.
The sunset was pure gold, casting a golden glow on the lawn that resembled ripe crops. The figures of the pure and shy maidens were also tinted with a rosy hue, enlivening the whole scene.
The cemetery scene gradually became peaceful but still full of life. All kinds of flowers bloomed and showed their colors. The lilies bloomed elegantly like an innocent maiden, together with the old rose pots that emitted a sweet fragrance. Everything was planted to comfort the departed souls. There were several couples walking in the garden and a few families visiting the grave.
"I hope none of the souls are allergic to pollen." Althur thought as he walked along the colorful street.
Although the departed spirits no longer interact with the real world under normal conditions. However, some scenes in the real world can excite them as if they were alive. That is why human souls need to go through a good purification process after death.
"You will return to the field. Your spirit will never die." A well-known biblical quote from the Haya Church says that every three steps in a tomb will have this inscription.
But not all of the dead were literate, so there were more rudimentary graves, carved only with divine names and symbols. In any case, with a full form of burial, devotees long to return to the embrace of the goddess in the harvest field, where the merits of the living accumulate and can only be enjoyed after death.
The burial is a popular belief among the followers of the goddess because they believe that after death, the human soul will awaken in the field of immortality. Where the ancient tree Ameratat grows in the center, reaching up to the sky, to the place where the goddess dwells.
The people of Haya do not bury themselves in elaborate mausoleums. They believe it goes against the teachings of the Goddess. For the closer one is buried underground, the more the soul will grow at the foot of the Eternal Tree. As wheat is sown in the field, flowers are planted in the ground. The devotees will revive under the tree and enjoy life under the grace of the Goddess. This is not to say that these believers are not wasteful; after all, if life on earth is not good, many are ready for a good afterlife.
This is completely contrary to the followers of God Lut, because they like to put themselves in graves, believing that it is an honor to be cremated in the fire of God. Those who spend money to build small mausoleums with flames burning for the rest of their lives in the belief that it will light the way to His Holy Kingdom - Dashte.
Althur walked to the eastern corner of the cemetery, where there was a tomb, modestly placed and carved differently from the rest.
Although there is no belief in Haya. However, due to special ties, his body is buried in this tomb. For supernatural people, their bodies undergo special rituals after death to prevent them from mutating or developing anomalies when buried. Much of the responsibility for this lies with the professors of the Isandros Academy. Those who arrived in a hurry after receiving notice of this departure.
He stopped before the grave. In front of him was a modestly carved stele bearing the name Liam Smith. With a common first and last name, his teacher's name is the most ordinary of the camp's orphans.