In the airport departure lounge, Aslan raised an eyebrow as he watched the rushing, hurried Caren run over. He had already been prepared to just cancel his cheap apprentice's plane ticket. But since this cheap apprentice of his had made it, then there was no need for him to say anything more. Aslan flicked the plane ticket in his hand. "We're about to board. There's no time for you to buy little snacks to eat on the plane this time. But this time, we'll have to make your church spend some more money. You're only in your teens, how did you get so tall?"
If one were to look closely at the plane ticket, it would clearly say New York to Salem.
Salem is an industrial city in Massachusetts, USA, and also one of the oldest seaports in New England. It was first established in 1630. Its industry is mainly focused on electrical equipment, leather, and chemical products. The exhibition of naval historical artifacts and many ancient seventeenth-century buildings attract a large number of tourists. It is also the location of the University of Massachusetts.
Of course, this was not the most attractive aspect of this place. People had probably heard of this place more because of the "Salem Witch Trials."
Salem was allowed to establish its own church in 1689. The former merchant, Samuel Parris, became the pastor. In February 1692, Pastor Parris's 9-year-old daughter, Betty, and 11-year-old niece, Abigail, contracted a strange illness: they began to show signs of lethargy, the girls would scream, throw things, and sometimes their bodies would convulse and they would make painful sounds. Then, other girls also showed the same symptoms. Panic enveloped the entire small town.
Pastor Parris called in a doctor, Griggs. The doctor diagnosed that these girls were bewitched by witchcraft. Several pastors came to the small town to pray for the sick, to no effect. And so, the pastors demanded that the girls must point out who were the people using witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials thus began. By the time the witch trials were terminated due to pressure from public opinion, 19 people had been hanged, and 1 person had been pressed to death with a pile of stones. For the small town at that time, this was definitely a large number of deaths. The population of a small town in that era was not like the tens of thousands in a modern town.
And the reason Aslan was going to this small town this time was, on one hand, to see the scenery of the New England period. On the other hand, of course, he also had a certain interest in Abigail Williams. After all, she was a cute and well-behaved child, wasn't she?
He was going to participate in the Holy Grail War next. If he could be chosen as a Master, he would probably have a hard time squeezing into the original summoning team. What's more, at that time, probably no one would have thought that a Son of God would summon a Foreigner. Of course, from another perspective, the reason for choosing Abigail was also because among the currently known Foreigners, in a fully released state, Abigail was still relatively self-controllable.
---
At the same time in Salem, a research team was cleaning up the site of the witch trials from that year. Even after so many years, there were still people quietly researching the related events. After all, who could say that they had definitely investigated all the events of that year and had already cleaned up all the sites? Of course, in the process of their research, if they incidentally discovered some objects from the New England period, that would also be a good discovery, wouldn't it? In short, as long as it could enrich the local museum, there was no harm to them.
The old expert leading the team held a notebook in his hand. On one page of the notebook was a drawing of a pattern that looked like a cross, but also like a key. This was also the reason why this old expert had always insisted on continuing to excavate here. This old expert had a premonition that once this artifact was discovered, it would surely be able to effectively advance the research of the Salem witch trials.
It was said that this "key" had once appeared in Salem, existing for about several decades. But compared to the long centuries the key itself had experienced, this was but a fleeting moment. The key was meticulously kept by an ancestor, a "magus" in England, wrapped in a large sheet of parchment and stored in a fragrant wooden box.
The key would grant its holder a special power, but it was not for just any subject. Its use had to meet specific conditions: having the aptitude for magic, being pure and flawless, and not having lost one's childlike innocence were the conditions. Because the key was connected to the world of dreams. And according to the records of several grimoires such as the Book of Eibon and the Necronomicon, one could learn that the "key" was made by the magi of a continent from the distant past, which was covered in the extreme cold of the ice age.
The old professor did not know what magic was, or what so-called "magi" were. But just from these words, he could associate them with witchcraft and witches. Therefore, the old professor believed that this key was probably the beginning of everything.
"When the fatal disaster of the witch trials befell Salem, the key should have also been lost, veiled in hypocrisy and superstition. But a successor to the key appeared. This young girl's name was—Abigail Williams... The young girl, at sunset, at the moment when the stars on this Gallows Hill were dyed rose-colored, correctly used the key given to her by the Demon God Pillar.
Ia! Ia!
The women who were suspected of being witches left a red mark in the devil's book. Using actions corresponding to each mark, they tied a number of knots equal to the nine marks. The young girl opened the gate to the 'Boundary.'
Ia, Ia, Y'ghaa, y'gai, gai! O thou who descendeth from the fictional abyss! O god who presideth at the ultimate gate beyond the long gallery of dream!"
Looking at the last few sentences recorded in this notebook, and the language that could be called strange, the old professor frowned tightly. If he hadn't confirmed again and again that this notebook was indeed an ancient object, indeed an object from the time of the witch trials, the old professor would have suspected that this notebook was a prank from some modern paranormal research society. After all, these words should have been the language that appeared in a fictional, modern myth. Why would it appear in a record from two or three hundred years earlier? Was it a coincidence? Or was it that the so-called modern myth already had its beginnings in that distant past? If it was the latter, then this would be another magical discovery.
The old professor looked outside the tent. This was an old, abandoned, and forgotten cemetery, a place to bury the forgotten, the abandoned, and the guilty. According to his deduction, the key in this record was very likely to have been buried in a certain tomb as a burial good. He hoped everything would go smoothly.
What the professor didn't notice was that a spider was hanging upside down from the top of the tent, silently watching everything.