"Huh? What's that?" Alice was the first to notice something unusual. She ran to the window and peered outside curiously.
After Alice called out, Cui Ciyou rose as well and walked over to the window.
Outside the inn, the crumbling ruins and the outlines of the relatively intact buildings were all enveloped in a hazy glow, like moonlight.
The light was not harsh, but it was enough to dispel the darkness and illuminate the city's streets and main districts, creating a distinctive nightscape tinged with mystery and dreamlike beauty.
"So... so pretty..." Sylphy came over too, wonder spreading across her little face.
She had never seen such an unusual city nightscape, not even in Roa on the wealthy Humanfolk continent. She had never expected to find such beauty on the desolate Demon Continent.
"That's the light of demonlight stones." Rujierd had joined them from behind at some point. His deep blue eyes gazed out the window as he slowly explained, his head currently shaved bald.
"Demonlight stones?" Cui Ciyou repeated the term. He seemed to recall reading about them in the House Boreas library, but they had left little impression on him.
Rujierd nodded. "Yes. Demonlight stones are a rather unusual kind of ore found on the Demon Continent."
"During the day, they absorb the magic power drifting freely in the air, as well as... sunlight."
"At night, they slowly release the stored energy as light, producing this illumination."
He paused, then added:
"Because of Old Kishirisu City's unusual location inside the crater of Ring Mountain, and its history as an important stronghold of the Demon Eye Emperor, large quantities of demonlight stones were embedded in the mountain walls surrounding the city and at several key points among the ruins."
"That's also one reason it's called the Demon Continent's only