"Sir, would you like to see Father?"
At that moment, Tolina spoke softly, seeking Gilan's opinion.
"During the past half year while you were asleep, He often came to visit and showed great concern..."
"Yes, that would be good."
Gilan nodded.
"Now that I'm awake, I should pay a visit to His Excellency the Crippled King."
At that, Tolina smiled faintly. Raising a hand, she summoned a deep black void and pushed Gilan's wheelchair into it.
When the two emerged from the void again, they had arrived at the Temple district of the Land of Gods, Tuoyalan.
Atop a mountain shrouded in ethereal gray mist.
A tranquil, rustic village stood there.
Gilan gazed at it from afar and could not help finding it familiar.
That looks like...
His eyes widened as something suddenly occurred to him.
The Marta Village I saw in the True Film Reel Dark Age—the very place where William had lived as a child.
Yet in the film, that village had long since been reduced to ruins, massacred and burned amid the flames of the War of Rongsa.
It was utterly different from what lay before him.
This was Gilan's first visit to the Crippled King's residence, yet he seemed to understand William's intentions...
Perhaps He used this method to remember the past. Or perhaps He wanted to constantly remind Himself never to forget that painful experience, strengthening His resolve to pursue the ideal of a peaceful and prosperous age.
"That is Father's residence. He calls it the 'Tranquil Land.' The December Ascension Gate, the Gate of Antelopefish, leads there... In the past, those who ascended by that path would be received by Father in the Silent Land."
Pushing the wheelchair slowly down the woodland path toward the village, Tolina explained in a soft voice.
"Let's go."