「The third day after the battle.」
The sky was gray. Along both sides of the long street in the west district of Golden Stone City, coffins were lined up. Even so, there weren't enough to hold all the fallen soldiers.
Lumber was continuously transported in from outside the city. Carpentry workshops rushed to keep up day and night, wood shavings piling up into small hills.
The sound of hammers striking wooden planks echoed throughout the entire district.
The coffins mostly contained clothes, as there were not many intact bodies left.
In the disaster that had swept the coastline, the remains of the vast majority of the fallen had either been devoured by the Heart Eaters or permanently assimilated by that sacred yet monstrous crystal forest, making them impossible to recover.
In the square, by the streets, family members were everywhere, kneeling and weeping in anguish.
