Miss Witch doesn't want to be a diva!.

Chapter 684 A World Full of Heterogeneities

The big bell in the meeting hall rang. This newly completed clock tower is now a landmark in the city. Many people adjust their watches and daily routines according to the scale of the clock tower.

"Then this concludes today's meeting."

The fox-tail woman who was the host stood up, and then everyone else stood up one after another, bowed to the girl sitting under the giant clock face, and then left.

The polished stone wall is a delicate blue-green color with smooth copper pointers on it, one large and one small, winding like a hook, but with the end as straight and sharp as a sword. The sun is also a clock, time and history. The golden burning edge sets off its power. It is located in the center of the pattern. The clock face is inlaid with twinkling silver stars, each of which has an intersecting trajectory, crossing the clock ground, as if shuttling through the galaxy, and these tracks are coated with gradient silver powder, which reflects beautiful colors under the light.

From the overall perspective, there are probably seven or eight meteors of different sizes carrying brilliant and interlaced tracks, crossing the clock face and rushing towards the distant upper left corner. The slightly dim golden branded pattern on the clock face looks like a burning sun.

The metallic colors of copper and silver have a certain steamy retro feel, but their well-defined edges and three-dimensional structures make them more impactful than flat patterns.

Although the Star-Seeking Covenant is still a small organization, the founder's great vision and ideals can be seen from this artistic logo, especially the several silver stars passing through the clock face, which seem to have the breathtaking beauty of tearing the sun apart.

When everyone left one after another, the figure sitting under the huge clock face did not stand up. Today, Tilan was wearing a solemn black dress, with only a little round-edged lace on the cuffs, which made her style not too cold and dark.

"Your Highness Heshia, someone wants to see you." A clerk from the Heshan Rescue Society stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

"Since they come to consult me, they must be special." If ordinary people wanted to see her, they would have been stopped long ago, because her time and energy are limited, and many small matters will be handled directly by the staff below.

"Yes, one of them is a very famous figure among the Gray Feather species. They call him 'Gray Cotton Scholar'. The other one brought a letter of introduction from the Butterfly Eye species. It is said that he is the descendant of a sage from the far north." The scribe replied.

"Did the two come here together?" Tilan asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Is that so? Then let them come over." She happened to be free at the moment, and she was also curious about why the 'Gray-capped Scholar' who had always refused to show up chose to take the initiative to ask for a meeting this time.

When Shilin Mountain Fort fell last year, he did not show up even at the last moment, but asked his subordinate Gray Feather to deliver the message on his behalf.

A few minutes later, the door of the meeting hall opened again, and two figures stepped into the quiet and solemn hall. There was no scene filled with various guards as they had imagined. It was rather too quiet and empty.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the sunlight shines obliquely into the hall through the small glass window. The light cannot fill the place completely. When walking through the aisle in the middle of the hall, you can still feel the significant changes in light and dark. The floor is mottled with light. The girl sitting under the tall chair seems to be half hidden in the shadows. Only the ground in front of her, which is several steps higher, reflects the sparkling colors in the sun.

The two came to the open space in front of the steps and stopped. Even with the dazzling sunlight on one side, they could slowly see the girl sitting under the high chair of the throne.

To the two men who were seeing Heshia for the first time, the girl seemed to have a face that was too young. Her fair and white cheeks seemed to have some green hair in the light. Her slender fingers were only partially exposed from the wide cuffs. It was hard to imagine that such fingers could hold the sword that killed the Wolfblood Queen. The only thing that made the two men feel at ease was her quiet and jet-black long hair, which seemed to tell a long history and some kind of cold truth.

The two men bowed and saluted the girl, then raised their heads and began to explain their purpose.

"Your Highness Heshia, my name is Lindsay, and I come from the frozen land far to the north," the reddish-brown-haired man introduced himself, placing one hand on his chest and extending the other naturally.

Based on the letter of introduction just handed to her, Tilan knew that this purple-clothed woman and the one she had rescued by the Wolfblood King were both apprentices of the previous generation of the 'Sage'.

The girl nodded slightly, then turned her gaze to the sturdy old man with gray feathers beside her. It is said that this man is the 'Gray Cape Scholar'. It must be said that this image is a bit unexpected, but it makes sense upon closer thought.

'Mr. Graycape' traveled to many places when he was young. When he was quite old, he returned to Stone Forest Castle and built the city in the mountains, gradually making the Gray Feather race prosperous. A person with such ambition and drive should be a tough old man, not a frail white beard.

"Hello, Maester Graycap." Tilan expressed a certain respect. When she lived in Stone Forest Castle before, the Gray Feather race left a good impression on her.

After a brief acquaintance, Tilan asked the guard at the gate to bring two chairs so that the two could sit down and talk. She had a feeling that this conversation would take a long time.

…………

The sunlight in the hall slowly moved, and when it reached noon, there was no direct light in the hall, but it was not dim at this time, and the bright blue sky could be seen through the small windows on the side of the wall.

Time passed quietly, just as Tilan expected. Lindsay talked for a long time, from when he was adopted as a child, to when he gradually grew up, following his mentor through the mountains and frozen land, learning all kinds of knowledge, and getting to know the settlements and races with different appearances and habits.

"According to the sages of previous generations, the civilization on this planet was destroyed nine times. After each destruction, the traces of the previous civilization were wiped out. Then, each race learned from ignorance and accumulated experience, gradually revived and expanded."

"Because of the repeated destruction and rebirth, many once-glorious technologies and cultures have lost their inheritance and disappeared into the dust."

"Then how do you know all this?" Tilan asked curiously.

"We, or the 'sage's' heritage is an exception. When the fifth generation of civilization, that is, the civilization founded by the electric marrow species, flourished, a lot of electronic documents were left behind. These were obtained by the first sage, who knew the secrets of this world, so he carefully avoided areas of civilized activity and headed for the northernmost frozen land to establish a place of inheritance and pass down this careful record of history." Lindsay recounted his mission and origins.

“Whenever civilization is destroyed, disaster always strikes places where intelligent creatures gather in large numbers. If you want to survive, you have to stay away from the crowd and go to a remote place that no one knows about, a place where life is rare and no one knows about it.”

……

"I roughly understand it, but since you come to me at the risk of being exposed, why?" Tilan knew that the other party would not tell her these secrets for no reason.

"I see some hope in you, so I take the risk to come to see you and tell you the truth about the world. As for why, it is naturally because I hope you can lead the new civilization and break out of this endless spiral." "It's a hard reason to deny, but I know it's not entirely your true feelings." Tilan nodded and shook her head.

She could tell that the other party was not lying, but it was definitely not the main motivation for him to take the risk to come here. However, Tilan didn't want to force him at this time, so the girl turned her gaze to the gray-capped scholar beside her.

"As a legendary scholar who has traveled extensively, Mr. Bernhard, do you have anything to say?"

"I just heard a lot. Many of the things this young man said really echoed what I had seen and heard."

"For example, he said that there is a sapphire lake in the mountains further north of Stone Forest Fort. It is obvious that it was not formed naturally, but was formed when a huge meteorite broke the mountain ridge in this area."

"There is also a small continent full of swamps to the west and south of the continent. Deep in the swamp, some obvious remains of man-made objects can be dug out. They also correspond to the destroyed seventh-generation civilization he just mentioned."

"Why is there no island in the vast ocean between the North Continent and the South Continent? This is actually very unusual from the perspective of geographical common sense of crustal movement and the collision and compression of continents. My guess is that there was once a broken island civilization in this sea area, but it was destroyed hundreds of years ago, and all the islands sank to the bottom of the sea."

With the endorsement of this 'Graycloak Scholar', many of the things Lindsay said just now became more credible.

"Just like Her Highness Heshia said, since the 'Sage' lineage recorded such important things, it should be passed on more carefully. I wonder why you are so anxious?" He asked the reddish-brown-haired young man again.

Seeing that both Maester Grayskin and Heshia pointed out the crux of the matter, Lindsay knew that continuing to hide the truth in front of such smart people would only lead to losing their trust.

He sighed, sorted out his words, and looked out the window.

"As you said, my behavior is indeed risky and somewhat incomprehensible."

He no longer sat upright, but leaned back in his chair, put his hands together, and occasionally tapped them to relieve his anxiety.

"I was raised by the Sage since I was a child. The Sage was very kind to me, and was very patient. Logically, I shouldn't have any other emotions."

"But the thinking and logic I was taught since childhood kept telling me that I could not fit into this world. It was like a person walking into a zoo, or an ant accidentally entering the kingdom of giants. The animals were lively and had different and vibrant lives, and the giants were powerful and had abilities and knowledge that were beyond my reach."

"But we are fundamentally different from each other. Even if they are very nice to me, I can still feel this alienation, as if I were watching an old horror movie."

"——They are just alien creatures with the same appearance as humans."

"I am very afraid of this world, so I try not to go to crowded places. Only when I am alone can I feel relaxed and comfortable."

“Things formed naturally are like tree rings, with all kinds of scars, spots, and imperfections. Only things made by humans are straight, neat, and pure.”

“If you live in the natural world and occasionally see something created by civilization, you will feel a sense of wonder, curiosity and yearning.”

“But if you live in a world where everything is well-ordered, everything is in line with standards, neat, pure, and straight, after a while, you will feel suffocated. This means that you have never been free. Everything is under control. There are no surprises, no freshness, and everything is repeated over and over again.”

"Unfortunately, I just had this experience."

"I feel that this planet, this world is a huge cage. Even though I may feel happy occasionally when I see the sunset, soon after this happiness is over, there will be a cold and suffocating feeling spreading, as if the cold water is over my ankles. Yes, it will not drown me, nor is it enough to kill me, but it will permanently and invisibly remind me of the cold truth of this world."

"I have been tormented by this feeling for a long time. Although I look as healthy as an ordinary person, I know that if this state continues, I am afraid that I will completely collapse one day."

"So after receiving the letter from my junior sister, I set out immediately and came here after a long journey. The fresh atmosphere and the ever-changing vitality of this city have greatly relieved my anxiety and given me some hope. Finally, these prompted me to make up my mind to come to you and tell you everything I know." After saying this, he seemed to be burned out and a little weak, but his eyes revealed satisfaction, probably because he had released the pressure that had been hidden in his heart for many years.

Listening to the other party's cathartic statement, Tilan seemed to see a flame that had been struggling and swaying, and now it finally stopped shaking and calmed down.

She didn't expect this to be the reason. She felt the diversity and complexity of the world, and that there were many things that could not be deduced logically.

"I understand." Tilan nodded, acknowledging the man who had expressed his true feelings.

It seems that the other party is too keenly aware of the truth of this world, and therefore has experienced pain that is difficult for ordinary people to understand.

I didn't expect that under the seemingly wild and rough appearance of this planet, there are so many secrets hidden, just like a thousand-layer pie that is constantly being opened, no one knows what is hidden at the bottom.

After saying this, it was already past noon. Compared to the huge secret that Lindsay was carrying, the Gray Robe Bachelor behaved much more normally and rationally. Through the conversation during this short half-day, Tilan felt that the other party's personality was similar to those curious and playful old men on the street.

Only when he occasionally talked about key issues would he become serious, with a bit of the temperament that the title of 'Gray-capped Scholar' should have.

"It seems that we still have a lot to face in the future. If you don't mind, I will arrange accommodation for you two in the city so that you can live a stable life here." After finishing the conversation, Tilan stood up.

"Thank you, Your Highness Heshia." The two bowed in thanks in the afternoon light.

(End of this chapter)