Those few grayish-white grains of sand were the "samples" Maggie had brought back from Tarlonnd across a vast distance. They were mysterious substances Modir Wilde had brought back from The Other Side while being pursued by Ancient God Power. They lay quietly against a backdrop of black velvet, like dim stars embedded in the night sky. Around their edges, an extremely faint grayish-white hue, like a spreading halo, extended onto the velvet. It was so subtle that even Gawain had nearly failed to distinguish it without close inspection.
"...This is it?" Gawain looked at the grains in the box with some surprise and spoke instinctively. "It doesn't look like much..."
"Yes, it doesn't look like much, but it is absolutely not something that should exist in the material world," Maggie said gravely. "Before I came here, Victoria and Lord Heragol had already conducted some preliminary examinations on these grains. They found that this sand does not interact with any magical power and cannot be stained by any color. Shine colored light on its surface, and it will always remain a constant grayish-white, as if its true body still exists in an independent space unaffected by the real world, while what we see is merely its projection into reality—but its existence is undeniably real."
Gawain hummed, then suddenly asked after a moment of contemplation, "...What is Victoria doing?"
"She is staying by Mr. Modir's side—without revealing her identity," Maggie said with a nod. "Mr. Modir's condition is extremely unstable right now. He seems as though he could be pulled into The Other Side by that dream at any moment, while Victoria's bloodline connection with him appears capable of temporarily interfering with that 'pull,' waking him from the dream in time..."
"I heard that the abnormalities affecting Modir began after he approached