"I could probably guess that you would ask these questions."
Claire was not surprised by Anvis's questions.
"As for your first question, I am not entirely sure how my existence should be defined."
As she spoke, she slowly walked forward a few steps to the edge of the terrace, then turned back to face Anvis, letting the silver-violet moonlight fall across the side of her face.
"The earliest point at which I possessed something called 'memory' was during this world's High Elf era. At first, they called me Experiment Body 24, until that day when the last High Elf Empress gave me a name: 'Claire.'
But afterward, when the final cluster of Floating Cities of High Elf Civilization departed, I too was split apart in the collision later known as the 'Great Rift,' scattered across different times and spaces.
However, as Fragments of 'me,' they naturally possess the instinct to merge back into One Piece. Even endlessly distant time and space cannot sever that connection.
From that time onward, I began my journey to find myself."
With the endless, profound Dark Starry Sky behind her, the girl's voice was ethereal and quiet.
"Did you know? I once walked upon the dark earth of ages beyond measure, and saw the first beasts crawl out of the sea and set foot upon land.
I also saw the stone cities of Serpentfolk Civilization and the limestone Altars built amid steaming swamps. Beneath the exceptionally immense and scorching Sae—the sun—they waged war against one another to please the Serpent God. In that ancient age before humans existed, I looked up at a primordial starry sky utterly different from the one today.
After passing through even I do not know how many years, I encountered the arriving Civilization of Stars.
After negotiating with them, they