When the first rest day of summer arrived, the Sorin Region saw a night of rain, and the unbroken gloom lingered into the following day.
The towering Thorin Giant Tree stood proudly upon this land that had already revived. Its fortress-like canopy stretched out beneath the sky, covering a third of Sorin Castle in the distance and vast plains beyond it. The giant tree had blocked the rain all night, yet several streams formed after the rain flowed in from beyond its cover. They wound through the low ground between research, storage, and industrial facilities, converging beside the newly built Druid Institute at the base of the trunk. There they formed a small pond before flowing into gaps among the nearby roots that led deep underground, becoming part of an underground river.
Rows of streetlamps stood along both sides of the roads, while countless high-powered lighting devices hung beneath the giant tree's canopy. These artificial lights drove away the vast "night" created by the colossal plant. Margarita came from the sunlit plains outside into this shadowed area and saw soldiers standing guard beneath the streetlamps, while many people peeked out from the paths between the buildings.
Margarita ignored them. She passed through the checkpoint and walked beyond the guards who saluted her, arriving near the giant tree's roots—countless tangled vines and wooden structures branching from the tree trunk had cleverly "grown" into a small house here. The vines connected to its roof twitched faintly in the air like blood vessels. Two tall treants with faint green light in their eye sockets stood before the house, nearly taller than its pointed roof. Their heavy, powerful hands gripped squad Railguns known as Gorgon Cannons, while Magic Net Devices that supplied power to the weapons had been fastened to their bodies of thick