In a room of an abandoned castle, sunlight streamed through gaps in the heavy curtains, illuminating a pitch-black coffin.
Suddenly, the lid of the coffin made a rattling sound and slowly began to move to the side.
With a thud, it fell to the ground.
A few seconds later, Azik Eggers sat up, looking rather bewildered.
At this moment, he was wearing a loose-fitting pajama set that was popular in Loen a few years ago, just like a nobleman waking up in his own manor.
After a while, Azik squinted slightly, looking around with a bewildered expression, as if he didn't know who he was.
He then saw the brilliant sunlight streaming through the cracks, the Levitation dancing and floating in the sunlight, and the letters scattered on the table, the floor, and beside the coffin lid.
They resembled giant snowflakes, covering almost half of the area.
Azik stepped out of the coffin, bent down with a puzzled look, picked up a letter, and opened it.
As he read, the blankness on his face lessened somewhat, as if he were recalling many past events.
Azik immediately found a chair and sat down, letting all the letters fly to him, overlapping like peaks.
He opened letter after letter, pausing occasionally to ponder for a long time, as if seriously recalling something.
The sunlight filtering through the curtains gradually dimmed, then after a long while, it shone in again.
At this point, Azik finally finished reading all the letters and completed one long period of " Cogitation "-like contemplation after another.
He glanced at the letters piled up on the table, and slowly, deeply sighed.
Then, he found some letter paper, a fountain pen, and some usable ink, and wrote gently:
"... I have woken up and received all your letters. They reminded me of who I am, who you are, and many things from the past."
"Your experience, in terms of both complexity and excitement, has exceeded my expectations and has made me understand some of my previous questions."
"From these letters, I can feel your joy, your exhaustion, your hope for life, and the heavy responsibility you bear."
"I can roughly guess why you ultimately made that choice. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have been able to make that decision."
"From the very beginning, you have been a Guardian, from imitating others to being imitated."
"Next, I will embark on a Travel to explore more of the past and witness the changes in this world."
"You seem to still be asleep, but that's okay. I'll write to tell you about the interesting things I've encountered, the interesting customs, and the interesting people."
"I think we can send these letters to you through a sacrifice..."
The golden pen tip reflected the sunlight, gliding across the white paper with a soft scratching sound, continuously writing more and more content.
Inside the sunroom of a row house in Backlund.
Melissa led a little girl, who was clearly under ten years old, into the room.
"Aunt, aunt, why here?" the little girl asked doubtfully, "The stories I heard were all about mysterious rituals being held in the basement."
Melissa, with her hair pulled back and wearing glasses, smiled and said:
"That was an irregular occult ritual."
She then pointed to the altar that had already been set up and the unlit candles in front of her, saying:
"You can begin."
"Really?" The little girl glanced at the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. "Should we... should we draw the curtains?"
"No need, this is fine." Melissa replied, smiling as she watched the little girl awkwardly and clumsily imitate her usual rituals.
Throughout the process, she offered guidance from time to time, and even did the work herself, finally helping the little girl complete the preliminary steps of the ceremony.
"Okay, repeat after me." Melissa took a breath, her expression gradually becoming serious.
"Mmm." The little girl tried her best to appear serious.
Melissa gazed at the candlelight on the altar for a few seconds, then slowly spoke, reciting in Ancient Hermes:
" The Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era..."
"The water-catching language is like a single drop of joy..." The little girl had never learned Ancient Hermes, and although she tried her best to imitate her aunt, she still didn't know what she was saying.
" The Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog..." Melissa continued reading.
"The ghost bone fractures, the holy honey boils the debt..." the little girl repeated earnestly.
" The King of Yellow and Black who holds good fortune..." After Melissa finished reciting the words, the candle flame at the top swelled to the size of a human head before the little girl could even imitate it.
Within this enormous ball of fire, a slippery tentacle, with faintly visible, eerie patterns, yet impossible to discern clearly, hesitantly extended out, its movements extremely slow.
The little girl froze instantly, then quickly retreated and hid behind her aunt.
Melissa pursed her lips, her expression gentle with a hint of a smile, and said:
"Don't be afraid, go and say hello to him."
The little girl timidly peeked out from behind her aunt and saw the terrifying, slippery tentacle gently swaying in the bright sunlight streaming in from the window, as if wiping away dust, or perhaps waving to her.
"Go, don't be afraid," Melissa repeated.
The little girl finally mustered her courage and stood in front of the altar.
She rattled off some spells she had invented, then smiled sincerely and raised her hand.
The smooth, patterned tentacles paused for several seconds, seemingly hesitant and somewhat unfamiliar.
Then, it gently rose, curled up slightly, and descended inch by inch.
In the sunlight, it clapped its hands together with that tiny palm.
(The End)
P. S.: I feel completely drained. I'll post the author's closing remarks tomorrow at noon.