Echoes of the Past

Chapter 33: I kneel before the veteran!

"Routine communication, Nilar, are you there? What's for dinner today?"

"Meat floss and bean porridge noodles... The supplies just arrived today, the food is quite plentiful."

Nan'an Suiyue glanced down at the plate in front of her and couldn't help but feel a deep respect for Nilar and his group of fog sentries.

The stir-fried chicken with chili peppers glistened with oil, the deep-fried meat was golden and crispy, and the honey-roasted chicken wings exuded an enticing sweet aroma.

He glanced again at Cat Food, who was munching on the same plentiful food not far away—ever since the food exchange, Cat Food had become much more attached to Nan'an, never leaving his side with the wok and spoon.

The rules only stipulated that Cat Food was not allowed to leave the Deep Cave of Kren, so Nan'an exercised his authority as the supervisor and released Cat Food.

The work of a fog sentry isn't too strenuous, but it requires constant mental strain.

Because the black mist could invade at any moment, the population in the border area had already migrated inland. The creatures they saw every day were either monsters that bared their teeth at them or nightmares that suddenly emerged from the darkness.

Loneliness and high pressure are the norm for border guards. Most of them are stationed on the border, facing the towering black fog wall. Most of them feel a sense of suffocation and insignificance that comes from their very survival instinct.

Nan'an flipped through the booklet Pieline had given him, then looked up and asked, "What kinds of nightmares have you encountered?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication array, as if they were lost in memories.

"In most cases, powerful Nightmare Gods will not leave the black mist to move, so what we see are basically grunts that appear in the form of zombies, and defeating them will not yield much Nightmare God Dust."

"Just like fish need water."

Nan'an suddenly turned around and looked at Suiyue.

"W-what are you doing?"

Suiyue slowed down her eating of the chicken wing, looking quite guilty.

She had developed a conditioned reflex; when Nan'an looked directly at her, she subconsciously felt that she had said something wrong.

"Your mind is much sharper now, keep up the good work."

Suiyue chewed the chicken wing with a vengeful tone: "What do you mean by talking to me like that, like you're coaxing a child?"

Nan'an continued the conversation with Nilar: "Have you seen, or do you know, what is the most powerful Nightmare God?"

"A mirror." A clear breathing sound came from the communication array. Nilar lowered his voice and said, "A mirror isn't quite right... It has a mirror-like structure, is wrapped in a huge picture frame, and is hazy in its dormant state, like opaque glass, where you can clearly see the reflection."

"When it enters an active state, the mirror sparkles and emits an incomprehensible, unusually noisy sound, accompanied by strange, seductive, rhythmic melodies."

Suiyue asked curiously, "What is its ability?"

"I don't know," Nilar said. "They only told me that my father disappeared screaming after the mirror shone with a brilliant light."

Nan'an stopped flipping through the handbook with one hand. The pages hung suspended in mid-air.

Cat Food seemed to understand the emotions in the food, and he endured the choking from the chili without making a sound.

Nan An paused for a few seconds before slowly asking, "Have you had related nightmares?"

"How did Senior Nan'an know that?"

"It was similar when I first started killing; the shocking images just wouldn't leave my mind." Nan An wondered, "Who would tell you the details? You were probably not even an adult at the time. Don't the people of Erlu consider your psychological capacity?"

"It has nothing to do with the Elru people, it's my mother... she was having nightmares and talking in her sleep." Nilar comforted her, "It's alright, she's much better now."

"Did she agree to let you enter El Lu?"

"Anyway, no one stopped me," Nilar laughed. "My father's pension is quite generous, enough for the rest of the family to enjoy half their lives. I became an E'lu to make up for the other half. Senior Nan'an probably doesn't know that after becoming an E'lu, one member of the family can choose any magic academy to study at."

This is indeed little-known fact about Nan'an Suiyue.

Nan'an is dead, and Suiyue is all alone. If it weren't for the summoning ritual binding her, she wouldn't have any sense of belonging to this world.

After the routine communication ended, Nilar patted his chest heartily, indicating that he would hunt the black-bristled wild boar, unique to the Rostarek region, for Nan'an Suiyue when the opportunity arose; it was said that everyone who had eaten it raved about its deliciousness.

Upon hearing this, Cat Rice's eyes gleamed as he stared at the communication array patterns floating above his head.

So far, Nan'an and Suiyue's onboarding experience seems perfect.

My boss, Huo Ya, is mysterious but also understanding and willing to back me up in crucial moments.

Nilar, his only direct subordinate and colleague, is cheerful and sunny, and they work well together on tasks.

Aside from those enemies who always seem to pop up and get in the way, this is practically the kind of work environment every working person dreams of—if this world didn't have the Black Mist, the Nightmare God, and the Living Eclipse, Nan'an simply couldn't imagine how comfortable his life would be after his resurrection.

"You've been flipping through it ever since you got back..." Suiyue finally couldn't contain her curiosity and cautiously snuggled up to Nan'an, almost burying her head in his chest. "What's written in that booklet Pietron gave you? You're so engrossed in it?"

The summoned creature had a physical form, and Nan'an could clearly sense the warm body temperature of the girl beside him, as well as the faint scent of sun-dried hay in her hair.

He didn't push her away, but simply moved the black booklet that was spread out on his lap closer to the two of them.

"Regarding why you were targeted," Nan'an's voice was calm, "I think I've figured out the real reason behind Huoya's 'You're just unlucky' comment."

The black fog has lingered for 374 years. Due to its erosion, the Nora people have been forced to retreat and relinquish their homeland.

The 374-year history is filled with the Nora people's constant struggle, exploration, and retreat.

Aside from the only two brief victories in history that were described as "miracles," humanity has always been at a disadvantage in its long war against the encroachment of the black fog, always on the defensive.

The last large-scale mutation and invasion of the black mist was nearly a hundred years ago.

This rare respite allowed the Nora people to accumulate more knowledge and experience in fighting the Black Mist.

However, the peaceful environment also served as a breeding ground for dramatic changes in the ideology of the new religious movement in the Gray Star Era.

A view that has long circulated among some scholars has undergone a variation.

"Only by understanding the black fog can we defeat it."

Under this logic, whether the attitude towards "living erosion" needs to be changed has become the focus of heated debate.

"Wait, wait, wait, I don't understand what 'loosening the bonds and eroding' means?" Suiyue asked.

"You can think of it simply as wanting to use the power of the Nightmare God to fight against the Nightmare God," Nan An explained. "There is a faction in the Senate that advocates no longer using a high-pressure extermination strategy against the Living Eclipses, but instead trying to transform them into 'living combat forces' that are supervised and directly controlled by Nora's official violent institutions, using a hands-on approach to find new ways to fight the Nightmare God."

Located on a relatively remote border of the Kingdom of Solitz, Keren was less affected by such avant-garde ideas, and Suiyue had never heard of such a statement before.

However, in the central region of Solize and the surrounding major city-states, this theory had already caused a great uproar.

Supporters believe the status quo must change.

No one knows when the next Black Mist anomaly will occur, and it would be foolish to pin our hopes on the fragile peace lasting another hundred years.

All races must plan ahead, proactively adapt to change, and even use change to find a way out.

The Nora people have reached a critical turning point where they must make changes; clinging to the old ways will only cause them to lose hope.

The opponents' stance was equally clear.

Once the Living Eclipses are allowed to take center stage in Soliz and fight alongside mages and knights against the Nightmare God, they will no longer be mere monsters, but beings with legitimacy and a voice.

Decades or centuries from now, will the historical evaluation of those warriors who sacrificed themselves in the fight against the Living Erosion over the past few centuries still be as glorious and just as it is today?

This door must never be opened.

In their view, from the moment one becomes a living erosion, the individual no longer belongs to "humanity" but is merely a puppet manipulated by the Nightmare God.

Who can guarantee that these living erosions will remain rational and stand on the same side as them as they venture deeper into the black fog?

Both sides held their own views, and neither could completely convince the other. Just like during the "New Religion Movement" of that time, a core viewpoint often spawned countless branches, each branch bearing entirely new fruit.

For a time, the streets and alleys of Solize were filled with speakers offering insightful opinions on the topics of erosion and nightmares.

There were both clashes of diverse viewpoints and passionate shouts of "Solitz shouldn't have done that!" in beer halls.

The Senate system, in particular, provided a natural amplifier and stage for these debates.

Debates were held one after another, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, and the sparks from the clash of viewpoints almost ignited the air of the entire central city-state.

This debate will determine the course of Solitz for the next hundred years, and the Senate dares not make a decision lightly, but can only hope that the truth will become clearer through debate.

The jinx designated Suiyue as the unlucky one, who appeared at the deliberation meeting at the wrong time and in the wrong place, becoming a tool in the power struggle between various factions.

No one cared about Suiyue's problems; what they were doing was shifting the conflict of opinions that should have been in the Solitz central government to Kren, thus starting a second battle.

Coincidentally, the Crow's faction, the Deer, has not yet declared its allegiance.

And coincidentally, Pirion, as the regional governor, also withdrew from the discussion.

Upon learning what had happened, Suiyue's mouth gaped slightly.

"But...but what does this have to do with me not getting the award from the Honors House?" She still didn't quite understand.

Nan An shrugged: "It's a big deal. The reason why Arele and the others don't want you to receive the honors from the Honors House is precisely because your 'heroism' highlights their 'despair'."

"You, a newcomer from an ordinary background, dared to face the living erosion without fear of death, while their 'noble' companions chose to run away."

"Think about it again: the core of this debate is 'how to view and utilize the living eclipse.' Do you think any of the fathers of those fleeing nobles were prominent representatives of a particular faction in this debate?"

"When their children are disgraced, their entire family and the views they represent are disgraced. In the Senate debates, digging up such dark history to attack opponents is just routine."

Suiyue felt a chill run down her spine and kept rubbing her hands together.

When gods fight, the Great Dao is obliterated, and the residual force only brushed against her side before nearly sending her to reincarnation.

"If it weren't for the crow taking pity on you, this poor wretch, and being willing to protect you to the death," Nan'an stared at Suiyue's pale face, "you'd probably be counting rats in some dark, sunless cell right now. You're not afraid of death, but... aren't you afraid of boredom? Aren't you afraid of endless, meaningless imprisonment?"

As he spoke, he tapped Suiyue's nose again.

"You should be grateful you met me. I showed you my value and you even got a stable government job. You're still not convinced that I'm your lucky star."

She clasped her hands together and made an exaggerated, almost comical "worship" gesture towards Nan'an, while muttering incantations.

"I'm bowing down to the veteran!"

This guy strangely uttered a bizarre phrase without any instruction, and although he spoke it sincerely, it sounded... to Nan'an.

Is that sarcastic or weird?

Suiyue looked up: "So... between these two factions, who is the good guy and who is the bad guy?"

Questions filled with childlike innocence.

"There are no good people or bad people. Everyone thinks they are right and are looking for a way out for the surviving spark of civilization in Solitz and even Nora. Time will tell whether it's good or bad," Nan said with a smile. "Look at Pirion, he doesn't ask about good or bad. He closes the door and focuses on his work. He only sticks his head out when everything has settled down."

Having understood the current situation, Nan'an decided to follow Pirion's example.

He took out his drawing board and charcoal pencils and began to paint on the canvas.

Suiyue exclaimed in surprise, "Nan'an, you can actually draw?"

"It's alright. In my previous life... on the mainland, I had some basic skills."

Seeing that Nan'an had brought her horns and head to life with just a few strokes, Suiyue was speechless: "Is this just because you have some skill? You're just pretending to be humble to make people feel inferior!"

Suiyue also drew pictures in the Dawn Church. The nuns who came to teach would occasionally let them escape from the boring practical and basic knowledge courses and take them to illustration classes.

It was an extremely luxurious experience. According to the nun, if someone could demonstrate exceptional talent, their future life might undergo a qualitative leap.

Unfortunately, during her time at the Dawn Church, Suiyue only met one promising painter who was praised by the nuns as having exceptional talent.

Geniuses get such good treatment; they even get an extra spoonful of food!

Yearning to become a second genius, she racked her brains to unleash her artistic talents whenever she had an art class, but the feedback she received was often...

"Suiyue, your paintings are very ahead of their time."

At the time, Suiyue couldn't understand this assessment and was complacent.

It wasn't until they didn't get an extra spoonful of food at mealtime that they realized they weren't a numbers monster at all!

She hates the talent monster!

"Why did you draw me?" Suiyue asked, looking puzzled. "Why am I covered in bottles and jars? What does that mean?"

Nan An sighed: "With your weak abilities, I can only attack in a weakened state for the foreseeable future. I can only use some advanced technology to force you to grow stronger."