(It was neither the end nor the beginning of the month, but I was going to awkwardly ask for votes anyway—because I suddenly remembered it.)
As if to confirm Sandora's and my premonition, when Sakina found the crystal panel floating in midair, the first thing that caught our eyes was an incredibly familiar cross-shaped symbol: the cross-shaped Rhomboid Crystal, the Empire emblem.
In theory, I should have been surprised at that moment, but for some reason, all I felt was a sense of helplessness. It was as if I had become immune to constantly running into Imperial relics in other worlds. I shrugged and gave Sandora a resigned smile. "See? More nonflammable Imperial trash. You people really did throw stuff everywhere back then."
Confusion appeared on Sakina and Sona's faces. Naturally, they could not understand what I was talking about, but they did not ask further. Sandora, meanwhile, wore a different expression—not surprise, not delight, but intense suspicion and disbelief. She stared fixedly at the Empire emblem on the crystal panel as if trying to force it to speak, then squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth. "Something is wrong!"
"Hm?" My sister glanced at her. "What is it?"
"We have come this far, and the Empire emblem is right before my eyes," Sandora said, stressing every word to convey her seriousness and unease. "Yet I still have not found anything related to the Old Empire. Everything here is unfamiliar. Unfamiliar materials, unfamiliar energy arrays, unfamiliar technology, even an unfamiliar atmosphere... This is too abnormal. Even for something from the Mystic System, this sense of unfamiliarity is far too abnormal. It is as though these things have nothing to do with the Empire at all—aside from this symbol. A Jun, you may not understand how I feel. But right