"I am very glad to see you again, Old God. May I ask how long it has been since I last left?"
After steadying his emotions, Shade greeted him first, then asked his first question.
The young man in the Clown Hat shook his head. The aura of decay around him had become even more obvious than during their last meeting.
It was as though everything was about to wither away:
"Hope Town itself is not a normal place. There is no normal concept of time here. Coupled with the distortions in the Material World caused by my impending fall, abnormal states of time and space have enveloped this place. This is merely the autumn of Fifth Epoch 1068; it does not represent any particular point in time."
So that was why History College at Saint Byron's had found no major events at this point in time. That Ring Arcanist who had been held back for decades because of this had truly been wronged.
Shade then guessed that Hope Town itself was a relic formed in an epoch earlier than the Fifth Epoch.
He pondered this quietly. Knowing that time was short, he spoke again:
"Old God, I have come this time to witness your final wish as well. But after an existence such as yourself falls, can you still return?"
He had asked this in order to verify Miss Annette's claims about Murmuring Chapters.
"Compared to falling, the word slumber is actually more appropriate."
"Slumber? You can still awaken?"
Shade asked in surprise, but the saint in the Clown Hat merely smiled and did not answer.
"All right, then. May I ask a few more questions?"
"Of course. Satisfying children's curiosity is also one of my duties. It's just that you do not seem able to stay here for