Chapter 8 - Earthian

"I am Damien Crowell from a world called Earth. Please feel free to call me Damien."

At this, Damien noticed the older man—now revealed to be named Cedran—looked surprised. He was probably shocked that he could now understand Damien's words.

"See, Cedran? Just like the old legends," Theo said, sounding excited as he spoke to Cedran.

"Still, my lord, understanding the language and hearing the name 'Earth' alone isn't enough to make any definitive conclusions..." Cedran replied cautiously.

Now Damien could understand Cedran's words too. The magic of the necklace was impressive.

"A person from Earth, unable to speak our language, appearing from the Forest of the Divine Tree... Everything aligns perfectly with the legends. How can you not believe it?" Theo pressed on, clearly animated by the situation.

"But my lord, that's hardly enough evidence. We need something more concrete to be sure," Cedran argued.

"Come on, it's been 800 years! The stories from that time are vague, it has been passed down as nothing more than legends," Theo countered.

"Precisely. That's why we can't just make assumptions based on such flimsy evidence. I can't accept something so uncertain."

"Ugh, you're so stubborn! This is the rare being from the legends! Can't you feel the romance of this?" Theo exclaimed passionately.

"Please, you're a theological priest. Don't start talking about 'romance'," Cedran sighed.

"Theology is full of romance!" Theo shot back.

"And it's because of comments like that you've drawn the attention of the Cardinal," Cedran muttered.

Damien watched as the two men debated back and forth about something he only half-understood. Apparently, there were legends about Earth—or "Earthian"—in this world, but was it really connected to the Earth he knew? Or was it just a coincidence?

"Um... this legend you're talking about..." Damien started hesitantly.

"Damien, you're curious too?!" Theo interrupted, closing the distance between them with surprising speed and enthusiasm.

For a moment, despite his divine beauty, there was an oddly clumsy aura around him.

"The legend of the Earthian first appears in <>, Chapter 10, written about 800 years ago! It describes a messenger descending from a heavenly land to the Forest of the Divine Tree. That's the only mention in << The Scriptures of Germonique>>, but from that time onward, other texts started mentioning 'Earth' or 'Earthian'. Scholars believe that the heavenly messenger was an Earthian. There are many stories about them: how Earthians had the strength of demons, how a single Earthian with a bow could defeat an army of ten thousand, or how when they rode a horse, they could travel thousands of miles in a single day. And..."

Damien could feel it—Theo wasn't going to stop. His tone was even becoming more casual.

And what was all this about these strange-sounding "Earthians"?

"It's all just old stories, nothing more than fairy tales," Cedran said calmly, interrupting Theo's excited ramblings.

Well, that made sense. There was no way people as monstrous as those in the legends could have existed.