"Calm down, Miss Delezie. No matter what happens, first retract your aura. You're scaring A-Liu."
A-Liu, who was leading the way for them, also noticed the aura emanating from Miss Delezie. A-Liu, who had never experienced such a thing, trembled with fear. Fortunately, the aura was not directed at A-Liu, and Miss Delezie unconsciously made the aura ignore A-Liu's position; otherwise, his situation would probably be even worse.
At Lumine's reminder, Miss Delezie also understood that what she was doing was quite inappropriate, but she really couldn't calm down, especially after seeing those fragments from the ley lines. The anger in her heart couldn't be suppressed no matter what.
Miss Delezie closed her eyes, trying hard to recall Klee's cute smile, and through this method, she calmed the anger in her heart. Then, under A-Liu's uneasy gaze, she came before him and reached out to stroke his hat.
Miss Delezie said nothing, just gazed at A-Liu. A-Liu saw "heartache" in Miss Delezie's eyes.
Noticing this, A-Liu gradually calmed down. Although he had been startled by Miss Delezie's aura just now, she... she probably wouldn't hurt him.
Just like Kapatcir, A-Liu believed that Miss Delezie should be a very gentle person, just like Kapatcir.
"...I'm sorry, I scared you, A-Liu."
"N-No problem, big sister, please don't mind. Although the feeling just now was indeed terrifying, I'm already used to it. Tsurumi Island often has many terrifying lightning strikes, and I'm already used to that feeling."
Has he really gotten used to it? Maybe he really has, or maybe he just didn't want Durandal to feel guilty for scaring him, so he said those words to comfort Durandal.
Regardless, A-Liu is truly a good child; even though Durandal was the one who made the mistake and he was the victim, he turned around and comforted Durandal not to blame herself.
"Alright, I'll take everyone to meet the others. And I'll show you the perches. There's still a lot to do before The Rite begins, so let's hurry over."
A-Liu steered the conversation back to The Rite. He smiled and walked ahead, leading everyone towards the closest perch.
Watching the smiling A-Liu, Durandal's heart grew heavier, and the killing intent suppressed within her became increasingly Rich.
She... understood why Kapatcir did what he did. Not to mention Kapatcir, even she would do the same thing when faced with such a situation.
Noticing the others' gazes, Durandal shook her head: "Wait a moment, I'll tell you what I just saw. But you need to be mentally prepared; it's not something pleasant."
"Mm."
It's serious enough to require mental preparation? What kind of dreadful things happened here?
Leaving aside the issue of the perches, the main focus was The Rite A-Liu mentioned. After they dealt with the perches, they followed A-Liu's instructions to the location of The Rite.
However, this place was completely different from what Paimon imagined. There was no food, no entertainment facilities, only a group of people gathered, whispering to each other, discussing who knows what.
These people behaved quite strangely. When Lumine and Paimon approached them to talk, they completely ignored them, talking to themselves in incomprehensible words, which annoyed Paimon for a while.
From the priest everyone spoke of, the fellow named 'Ann', they heard some strange things.
He kept muttering that this The Rite would surely satisfy Thunderbird, and he also mentioned that the other perches had not yet been dealt with.
More and more unsolved mysteries emerged. Although they didn't know exactly what was going on, Lumine and Paimon decided to go to the foggy area to find the three perches Ann spoke of.
Based on the condition of the recently dealt with perch, as long as the perch's branches and leaves Bloom again, the surrounding dense fog could be dispersed.
They decided to split into two groups: Lumine and Paimon in one, Durandal and Shenhe in the other, to fix the perches as quickly as possible and also to look for A-Liu.
Durandal said nothing, only leading Shenhe towards one of the perches. Her behavior was quite abnormal, making Lumine and Paimon somewhat worried.
Before separating, Lumine asked Shenhe to keep an eye on Durandal. Besides her, only Shenhe could stabilize Durandal's emotions here.
The location of the perch was not far, and with the faint power emanating from it, Durandal and Shenhe quickly arrived at the perch's location.
"Shenhe, I... want to tell you a story. A story that happened on this land a long time ago."
"Mm, I want to hear it."
In the past, strange objects once fell from the sky onto Tsurumi Island. With the appearance of this thing, dense fog began to appear on Tsurumi Island.
On this fog-shrouded island, Thunderbird moved unhindered. The humans living on Tsurumi Island began collecting Thunderbird's feathers to use for direction.
Regarding Thunderbird's existence, the residents of Tsurumi Island were grateful but also feared his power.
To gain his protection, they elected priests, offering living sacrifices to pray for Thunderbird's protection.
Thunderbird felt nothing about the humans' actions, but the residents of Tsurumi Island regarded the thunder caused by his breathing as a divine revelation, believing that the responses occurring on Tsurumi Island were Thunderbird's answers to them.
Until one day, the aloof Thunderbird was attracted by a clear singing voice. With curiosity, he descended before a boy.
The boy was not afraid of Thunderbird; he continued to sing, and his performance piqued Thunderbird's interest.
"What an interesting tune. You, tiny human, are you not afraid of thunder and storms?"
"The adults in my tribe say that a child like me can calm lightning and turn heavy rain into sweet dew."
Thunderbird did not deny it, because the boy's singing was indeed very beautiful and wonderful.
On this day, Thunderbird and the boy formed a beautiful friendship. The boy named Thunderbird "Kapatcir" and promised to return here next year to hear him sing.
"When you return with thunder and rain,"
"I will sing you a different song."
When Kapatcir departed, the boy picked up a feather he had dropped and happily took it back to his tribe to show the priests.
Hearing the boy's words, the priests thought that a boy who could win Thunderbird's favor, if offered as a sacrifice, would surely ensure Thunderbird's protection for the residents of Tsurumi Island.
Did the boy know about this? He must have, right? After all, the other residents knew about it, so how could the boy, as the protagonist, not know?
But he did not run away. For a beautiful future, he accepted his fate, believing it was the best choice.
Finally, when Kapatcir returned with thunder and rain, he did not hear the boy's singing, but instead saw the boy lying on the ground, his blood staining the earth.
He... could no longer hear that boy's song, no longer see that boy's smiling face.
Because of the ignorance of these humans, the boy could no longer sing. In his rage, he destroyed the civilization of Tsurumi Island and declared that until he heard the boy's singing again, this land would suffer eternal calamity.
The name of this boy who befriended Thunderbird was... "A-Liu."
After listening to Durandal's story, Shenhe roughly understood what had happened on this land.
No wonder... no wonder Durandal suddenly lost control. Durandal had always been incredibly tolerant of children.
No matter how mischievous a child was, Durandal would at most complain a few words and gently pat their head, doing nothing else.
She... truly cherished these unbloomed flowers, these small lives.
But... for such a ridiculous reason, they actually sacrificed a child! Just for such a ludicrous reason!
Hopeless! Beyond saving!
The destruction of Tsurumi Island was not brought by Kapatcir, but by the ignorance of these people! By their foolishness!
"Everything we see is due to the chaotic Ley Lines on the island. The reason those people didn't talk to us is because they are just effects of the chaotic Ley Lines. As for why A-Liu can speak, it's probably because he's special."
Durandal and Lumine returned to The Rite area. They had already dealt with the other perches, but nothing was left here, only a flute lying at the location of the person named Ann.
This thing... must be the Maushiro Sumida commissioned them to find, right? But this Maushiro, just like the people who appeared here, is merely a product of the Ley Lines and will disappear after leaving Tsurumi Island.
"So suspicious, everything here is too suspicious. Didn't they say there was going to be The Rite? Where are those people? Why are they all gone? We worked so hard to fix the perches, why aren't we even allowed to participate in The Rite?"
Paimon thought she could eat something when The Rite started, but there was nothing here, which was really disappointing.
"...Now can you tell us about the situation on this island, Durandal? Why did those people act like we didn't exist? What is this abnormal The Rite? And... is there something wrong with A-Liu?"
Compared to Paimon, who hadn't noticed anything, Lumine realized that everything on this island was so abnormal.
It was already this time; it was time for Durandal to tell her the truth she knew, right?
"...Mm, I'll tell you the information I found. The ignorance of this island, and... the friendship between A-Liu and Kapatcir."
Durandal repeated the story she had just told Shenhe. Hearing that the "The Rite" A-Liu spoke of was actually this, Paimon was completely distraught.
"This... how can this be! This kind of thing, no matter how you think about it, is strange!"
"No wonder you're so angry..."
Lumine understood why Durandal had acted that way just now. If Tsurumi Island hadn't already been destroyed, Durandal would probably have done it herself.
"So what do we do now?"
"...Go find Kama. He... should know something."
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