Chapter 461.2: How Did She Crawl Onto My Bed From So Far Away? (2)
Chapter 461.2: How Did She Crawl Onto My Bed From So Far Away? (2)
Learn from history to avoid repeating past mistakes.
This was a common adage often said in Roel’s previous world, but there were plenty of obstacles to that. Oral traditions were often distorted with time, and written records often only lasted centuries before they were eroded away. For that reason, there were only comprehensive records on a few civilizations.
Furthermore, languages were constantly transforming with time. Be it the nuances or the connotations, a word could have a vastly different meaning in the olden days. All of these made the interpretation of historical texts a huge challenge.
Things were slightly better in the Sia Continent, not because the people here were better at passing down their culture and heritage but because humans had longer lifespans here.
It was not common, but there were transcendents who could live for centuries. Most who were able to reach that level of power and survive for that long would have already become a part of the upper echelon. It was human nature to resist unfamiliar changes, which was why this powerful group of people wouldn’t just sit still when their descendants attempted to distort their language and culture.
One could say that the longer lifespans of humans had created the greatest ever inertia against change.
On the bright side, it allowed most heritages and legacies to be properly passed down. Thanks to that, humankind was able to advance steadily to greater heights.
That being said, there were still freak accidents that set humankind back. The mass migration in the final days of the Second Epoch had practically erased an entire half of humankind’s culture. Many missing gaps appeared in the records that had been painstakingly gathered by the Ancient Austine Empire, especially regarding the Six Calamities.
The reason behind that was apparent to Roel.
The Six Calamities would swiftly destroy the then-dominant civilization once they reached maturity, be it through a merciless glacier or a time-siphoning tempest. There was very little time and opportunity for anyone to properly record their existence once they had been sighted.
That being said, Roel was still able to gather some clues, but what was ironic was that most of them were from evil cultists.
The Saints Convocation used to have a branch in Leinster, but they were destroyed in the fight against the Salvation Brotherhood four centuries ago. After the incident, Leinster’s officials took possession of their records and stored them in the National Athenaeum of Wisdom. Roel was able to gather quite a bit of information through those records.
Those records showed that the Saints Convocation did have some understanding of their so-called ‘God’s Envoys’, just that their perception of them was extremely abstract and mythical.
The Saints Convocation believed that the God’s Envoys had descended upon the world under the will of the Mother Goddess. As the Mother Goddess fell into a deep sleep, the God’s Envoys were forced to go into occasional hibernation. However, from time to time, when the Mother Goddess briefly awakens from her sleep, the God’s Envoys will enter a state of hyperactivity, prompting them to resort to all sorts of means to replenish their energy.
When Roel saw this piece of information, he was reminded of the nightmare he had right before tragedy fell upon Tark Stronghold. He thought that it was the presence of Shrouding Fog that led to him dreaming about the Mother Goddess, but it looked like there was another explanation for it.
The Mother Goddess might have briefly awoken from her slumber for a moment, but she didn’t lay her eyes on me. That would explain why I didn’t experience the intense pressure and fear I previously felt from her.
However, her awakening led to Shrouding Fog going into a state of hyperactivity. In a bid to replenish its energy, Shrouding Fog’s attention was drawn to the fortress filled with over a hundred thousand prey, and that resulted in the eventual tragedy.
That was Roel’s deduction after spending a moment in contemplation. He was glad to have made a bit of sense out of that irrational event, but honestly, the cause was not that important anymore. What they had to do now was to find a way to deal with that darned fog.
To his disappointment, he wasn’t able to find any content relating to that.
Tsk, you are the worst batch of evil cultists I’ve ever seen. Is that all the information you have on your deities despite devoting your lives to them? Roel thought to himself in frustration.
Unfortunately, it would seem that the evil cultists from the Saints Convocation’s Leinster Branch four centuries ago weren’t that well-versed in their cult’s theology.
“Ey, forget it. It’s only the first day anyway.”
Roel looked at the mountains of unread records piled up on the table and comforted himself. On the optimistic side, he was fairly lucky to have been able to make some progress on the first day of his research.
In the next few hours, Roel and Kurt buried their heads into the historical records till the library’s closing time. The two of them bade farewell before parting under the night sky. In the several hours they had spent together in the library, Roel realized that Kurt was indeed a history enthusiast just like him, evident from how he could spend hours going through historical records without getting bored.
It was rare for history enthusiasts to find peers with the same interests. The two of them ended up getting much closer even though they had spent much of the last few hours in silence. It also helped that the two of them had a high level of acknowledgment for each other.
Roel’s Crown Origin Attribute was practically a cheat when it came to conducting research on past events, considering how it allowed him to easily sieve out the truth. However, the same could be said about Kurt’s Renascence Origin Attribute, which granted him the ability to read an object’s memory.
It was similar to a crime drama series Roel had watched in his previous life that followed a detective who possessed superpowers that granted him insights into a crime scene just by touching a murder weapon. Kurt’s Renascence Origin Attribute was more potent in the sense that it allowed him to peer into the distant past, but it came with a similar weakness—he couldn’t control the time period he was peering into.
An ancient artifact that had existed for several millennia could easily have more than a hundred owners, but Kurt’s Renascence Origin Attribute could only see a short period of its long history. For example, if Kurt were to touch a dress, it was possible for him to see it as an untailored cloth or a lady dancing with it in a ballroom. It was completely random.
“I see. But isn’t this ability…”
… one that was coveted by all men? Well, at least for the perverts… I guess.
Roel couldn’t help but think about all the things one could do from reading the memory of an object, but he quickly shook off those dirty thoughts in his mind.
It was already nearing midnight by the time he returned to the Azure Manor. Most lights were already out by the time he arrived at its entrance. Not wanting to disturb the others, he stopped at the porch and carefully scanned his surroundings first.
He was keeping an eye out for an intruder who had a long history of sneaking into his room—Alicia.
She couldn’t visit him yesterday due to the hype from her becoming the Whiterose Ringbearer, but her schedule should be freed up tonight. Considering how they hadn’t met for an entire day, it was entirely possible for her to be camping in the vicinity, waiting for his return.
Now that they were both students of Saint Freya Academy—not to mention, Ringbearers—it wouldn’t do for them to share a bed anymore. He didn’t want to kick up a fuss inside the Azure manor, which was why he decided to deal with outside.
To his surprise, he didn’t find anyone at all.
Oh? Did Alicia become more conscious of the position she’s in?
With doubts in his mind, Roel finally opened the door and made his way into the Azure Manor. He gave the matter some thought and suddenly found that it made perfect sense.
The Azure Manor was in the midst of a remote mountainous area whereas Alicia’s dormitory was located in the heart of the academy. Given the far distance, it would be inconvenient for Alicia to make her way here even with her ability to teleport under the moonlight. There was a limit to how far she could teleport at a time, after all.
A heartened smile formed on his lips as he walked past the lounge and headed straight to his bedroom. The moment he opened his bedroom door, he found himself met with a familiar silhouette dressed in a thin nightgown lying on his bed.
“…”
Roel stood by the doorway, at a loss for words.