The Blank Land had no distinction between up, down, left, or right, nor any changes of sky marked by sunrise or moonset.
Within it, it was difficult to sense the passage of time.
Especially when one person in the conversation always had endless questions, while the one answering possessed infinite patience. So long as curiosity remained, the process would not come to an end.
During a pause in the young wizard's chick-pecking nods, the gentleman took out his Pocket Watch for the second time and checked the time.
When he looked up again, the young wizard had thrown out another question.
"Sir, what exactly are Outer Gods?"
As he spoke, he slightly raised his eyelids, seeming to want another look at the illusory Starry Sky overhead. But he immediately restrained the impulse and forced his eyelids back down. "I mean, they don't give people a very good feeling... When I saw their figures outside earlier, I always felt an inexplicable irritability in my heart."
"That is because you are standing too low." The gentleman's answer was very straightforward. "It is like when ordinary people look up at the Starry Sky on a dark night. They become anxious, their hearts tremble, they doubt themselves, and feel that a fleeting life of several decades has no meaning at all before the vast universe. The tiny individual, the enormous celestial bodies, the immense distances and endless time—all of it makes people feel powerless... Many people develop a sense that 'life is meaningless' because of this. In severe cases, it can even cause their worldview and outlook on life to collapse."
"The more 'knowledge' a group possesses, the stronger this sense of 'nihility' becomes."
"If you have an old farmer look up at the stars, at most he will remark that tomorrow's weather will