Over the next two days, Klein did not come looking for Neph again. Neph enjoyed the peace and quiet, steadily working on her digestion without rushing.
The team that had brought her back finally finished their quarantine. When Neph saw Zaphir at Narani's home, he was using one hand to hold off a child flailing about. Upon seeing Neph, he merely nodded.
Neph nodded back. She greeted Narani as she approached and asked with a smile:
"Is the quarantine over?"
Narani nodded and replied, "Yes."
Neph found herself a seat, and Narani came over as well. Neph glanced at her and asked:
"Then... Arula's younger brother, Bartel, should have been released too, right?"
At the mention of Arula, a trace of sorrow crossed Narani's face. She nodded and sighed. "Yes."
Zaphir fell silent as well. Neph considered for a moment before asking, "He should be holding a funeral for his sister, shouldn't he? How do funerals work in Moon City?"
There was a little curiosity in Neph's expression as she spoke. After all, weddings and funerals in the outside world had been influenced by so many transmigrators that they probably differed little from what she remembered. But after several thousand years of isolation, Neph thought things ought to be different in Moon City.
Yet Narani and Zaphir both looked astonished. They exchanged a glance, and then Narani asked:
"A funeral? What is that?"
"...?" Neph froze. She looked at Narani in surprise, carefully studying her expression.
Narani's confusion was undisguised. Neph turned to Zaphir, this "Reaper"-information she had learned from Narani.
At that moment, the Reaper, who was about to begin preparing for his advancement, had eyes full of confusion. He seemed equally unfamiliar with the word.
Neph asked instinctively, "You don't have funerals? Then you..."
She abruptly stopped speaking as she remembered that it actually made sense for Moon City to have no funerals. Just as High Priest Nim had told her, corpses were rarely seen in Moon City, and deaths within it were rarer still.
Most people in Moon City died while exploring or hunting, or quietly turned into monsters in the darkness-you almost never saw anyone die inside Moon City.
Bodies from outside could not be brought back, bodies inside the city had to be burned, and those on the verge of death would leave alone. Under those circumstances, funerals lost their meaning.
Neph fell quiet. Her gaze dropped to the floor, and she began hesitantly:
"It's a kind of... custom.
"In my homeland, and in the outside world, when people die, their relatives collect their bodies and hold funerals.
"We use funerals and memorial rites to remember the dead. We write things like mottos and accounts of their lives on their gravestones, preserving their deeds and giving our feelings somewhere to rest...
"At a funeral, the friends and relatives of the deceased can freely express their grief. Once the funeral ends, we begin a new life as well."
She paused, then turned toward Narani and said:
"For heroes... uh, people who deserve to be remembered, their funerals are grander and more solemn."
Language proved somewhat inadequate at that moment. Neph discovered that this ancient language lacked certain words from her native tongue, forcing her to try to explain them.
Narani nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "What sort of person is a hero, or deserves to be remembered?"
"...Someone who sacri... uh, dies so Moon City can continue to exist?" Neph hesitantly searched for a suitable explanation. "Uh, or someone with certain admirable qualities? A particular kind of spirit, or someone who has made contributions and achieved results in some field...?"
She spoke with considerable hesitation. Although people in modern times often spoke of "heroes," when Neph thought carefully about it, she realized she did not actually know the word's definition. She only knew what sort of person could be called a hero.
-It was a feeling.
Strictly speaking, Neph had indeed seen an explanation of the word's origins-the finest among plants were called "ying," and those that stood above the other beasts were called "xiong."
She could hardly teach Narani classical Chinese here, could she?
Though Narani might well have been happy to learn...
And so, amid Neph's muddled explanations, Narani shook her head and said with apparent amusement:
"If that's what you mean, then probably everyone in Moon City counts as a hero."
Neph was speechless. Just as Narani had said, everyone here had given everything so Moon City could continue to exist.
-Except her.
I'm not from Moon City in the first place... Neph pressed her lips together. As someone from the modern world, she found far too many things in the Forsaken Land of the Gods unsettling. The living conditions here were secondary. Once she experienced it firsthand, it was the unavoidable tragedy that distressed her most.
After all, people tended to think more once they had full stomachs.
...Should I buy enough food from Miss Justice and leave it here?
The moment that thought surfaced, Neph shook her head and stopped herself. She knew better than anyone that this would only treat the symptoms, not the cause. If she truly wanted to do something, she ought to create the Sealed Artifact that could purify corruption sooner and cleanse the corruption from Moon City's people.
"Do you know which herbs belong to the domain of fate?" she asked tentatively.
Narani was clearly puzzled by the change of subject, but after a brief moment of surprise, she answered:
"Golden mint, alfalfa, aconite..."
She listed seven or eight herbs in succession, then asked, under Neph's astonished gaze, "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
Neph did not answer. She merely asked curiously, "Does Moon City have any Beyonders of the Monster Pathway?"
"No." Narani shook her head. "We have potion formulas up to 'Misfortune Mage,' as well as Beyonder characteristics from Sequence 9 to Sequence 5, but..."
She paused, then sighed. "A 'Monster' cannot survive in this land."
Neph froze for a moment. Without needing Narani to explain, she realized the problem-the uncontrollable spiritual perception of a "Monster" was practically a death knell in this land where danger lurked everywhere.
But Neph soon focused on another issue. She asked tentatively, "You have Beyonder characteristics of the Monster Pathway?"
"Yes." Narani nodded.
So Neph pressed further. "Have any been made into Mystical Items?"
"Yes." Narani nodded again. "Which Sequence do you need? Or what sort of function?"
"'Lucky One,' or 'Winner'?" Neph answered tentatively. "I want to turn a Beyonder characteristic into a Sealed Artifact while retaining one of its functions... I need a little help from luck."
Narani
nodded thoughtfully, then suggested, "Perhaps you could ask the High Priest."
"I will," Neph said with a nod.
This way, I won't need to buy one... Hmm, I could also try praying to Ouroboros again and take a two-pronged approach...
Before you continue