Forsaken Land of the Gods, Moon City.
Before Lightning alternated several times, the priests of Moon City had received Mr. Fool's Oracle. They stopped sending hunting parties out and instructed every resident to pack their important belongings and be ready to leave at any time.
At that moment, as the High Priest's voice rang throughout the city-state, all the survivors of Moon City became extraordinarily excited.
They almost simultaneously rose to their feet and slung the beast-hide bundles they had long prepared onto their backs.
Inside were their allotted mushroom powder, dried mushrooms, some canned food gifted by the ascetic Gehrman, Monster leather, and Beyonder Characteristics of varying quantities and conditions.
—Although the living conditions Gehrman displayed made them feel that they had nothing whatsoever to do with "asceticism"... Anyone who had visited that "miraculously" appearing house and heard Gehrman's sermons within it even felt that it was a corner of Mr. Fool's Divine Kingdom.
In short, although they were excited now and filled with anticipation for the future, the suffering they had endured in the past kept them from being careless in the slightest. They carried as much food as possible.
In only a few dozen seconds, the residents of Moon City each carried lanterns out of their homes and onto the streets.
As their gazes met, undisguised joy filled their ugly or grotesquely deformed faces. They held not the slightest negative feeling toward abandoning Moon City and leaving their homeland.
This place was the source of their nightmares. No one knew how many generations had lost their happiness in childhood.
After gathering at the plaza with the raised platform, they suppressed their excitement and lined up in an orderly fashion according to where they lived, checking whether all their neighbors had arrived.
Not long after, High Priest Nim