The communication from the Azure Well disconnected. The underground storage center that had emerged amid the sea of flowers, along with Ophelia's figure, receded like the tide. Bright sunlight once again shone upon this open, full-of-life place. In the gentle breeze, Beltira reappeared before Gawain, her expression grave.
"I never expected the key to breaking the deadlock would appear before us in this form... The Azure Well actually preserved Magic Tide data from seven hundred years ago."
"Unexpected, yet reasonable," Gawain said slowly. "If there was anywhere in this world that might have retained a 'shadow' of the Magic Tide, it could only be the Azure Well... That earthshaking explosion destroyed the Gandor Civilization, but it also held back a Magic Tide that might have brought about the end of the world. I had considered this possibility long ago, but I never expected... that it truly left traces there."
"Do you think Ophelia's plan can really succeed? Raising the Azure Well's magical power to an 'energy level' sufficient to simulate the Magic Tide, creating a controlled Magic Tide environment in a laboratory..." There seemed to be a trace of concern in Beltira's voice. "It is theoretically feasible, but the idea is far too radical, and... it is unsettling."
She shook her head and looked into Gawain's eyes. "Honestly, I did not expect you to agree to her plan. It does not seem to fit your usual cautious nature."
"...We may not have much time left," Gawain said, meeting Beltira's gaze. Before this "former Saintess," who could stand alongside the Dawn of the Mortal World as one of the Cecil Empire's two core military forces, he did not conceal his thoughts. "Our civilization has developed peacefully for too many years. Though the arrival of the Magic Tide does not seem to