Section A Chapter 23: Silence (El Lea/Hooded Man)
Snowflakes fall in the wind and fall into the girl's dress. It melts into the skin due to body temperature, leaving only a hint of chill.
Snow...... As if in a dream, Ellia stretched out her arms and embraced the falling snowflakes.
The wind speed is getting stronger and stronger, and more and more snowflakes are falling with the wind. The chill that permeated her whole body gradually calmed her restless heart.
The surroundings are so tranquil...... The girl in the wheelchair quietly listened to the wind blowing the leaves, and in a trance, she seemed to hear the whispers of the ancient trees.
Suburbs of Tomeca City...... How is it possible to snow ...... this season?
She knew she was in a strange environment, but she had a glimmer of hope: she wanted Lolo to tell her that it was just a forest she hadn't been to.
How is this possible? Silent reason has been denying all this.
Stroking her snow-soaked hair, Ellia twisted her slightly stiff neck.
Knowing that it was futile, she still opened her eyes with a hint of expectation. Staring at the same black world.
They told me the snow was white...... Pure white. She longed to see the exact opposite of black.
Feeling the cold wind pouring into her eye sockets, the girl's eyes burst into tears because they hadn't been open for a long time. After rubbing her eyes, she opened them again. And tears still flow from the eye sockets.
A snowflake soaks into the left eye, and the cold irritation causes the eye to reflexively close. Snow mixed with tears, slowly flowing out with each blink - she had always been puzzled by the physiological response to blinking. Just as she couldn't understand why, every time she tried to open her eyes, her eyes would cry due to external stimuli.
For some reason, her mind always longed to like opening her eyes in the windswept wilderness - perhaps because it was also a way of perceiving nature with her pupils.
The sound of the arc of light sounded again, and Lolo flew back into Ellia's arms from the direction of the canopy. The girl who had calmed down in her heart caressed Luo Luo: "Did you find anything, Luo Luo?"
"Oh, yes, yes. Luo Luo thought for a moment: "What do you say...... I flew high and looked down. ”
"And then?" said Ellia, hugging the rising Lolo, feeling her body temperature rise very comfortably.
"The snow fog is too thick, so I can only fly lower again, and my vision is much reduced......" Luo Luo's voice was very sad: "We are in a huge mountain range, full of towering ancient trees...... There is no boundary in this forest. ”
"Didn't you fly farther?" Ellia touched her uneasily: there were no mountains on the outskirts of Tomeka City, or even in the entire Tomeika Plains.
"Because it was snowing, I thought the host would be cold so I came back early. Luo Luo was a little frustrated: "I don't know where this is, master...... But certainly not on the outskirts of Tomeca City. ”
"......" Ellia felt more depressed than Lolo: she had never thought about what to do when such a thing happened.
Ellia suddenly had a bad feeling: are we still in the Sixteenth World? Even if we are still here, then it will snow this season, unless it is on the eastern side of the Brenaton continent or the southern part of the Carrea continent where Tomeca City is located.
The best results are in the South...... But even then, it would have been hundreds of miles to get back to the city of Tomeca in the east.
"I don't know how to describe it...... But it's really an old forest. Lolo's size grew, emitting more heat: "The canopies of these trees are terrifyingly huge......"
"Have you ever seen a tree like this, Lolo?"
Ellia suddenly had a bad feeling: are we still in the Sixteenth World? Even if we are still here, then it will snow this season, unless it is on the eastern side of the Brenaton continent or the southern part of the Carrea continent where Tomeca City is located. The best results are in the South...... But even then, it would have been hundreds of miles to get back to the city of Tomeca in the east.
"Never ......," Luo Luo said with some hesitation, "Master, I know what you're thinking." I think...... We are not in the Sixteenth World. ”
"Hey, why?" Allia had already been conceived, but hearing from Lolo surprised Elia.
"Snow fog...... Luo Luo was silent for a moment, and then spoke again: "The special snow fog that was so thick before the light snow came, even the cold land of the Sixteenth World did not exist. It only exists in a climate system that is unique to the thirteen worlds. ”
“...... The Land of Permafrost?" Ellia suddenly remembered the story that Maester Legri had told her: Maester Legri had been to the Permafrost when she was younger, and had witnessed the black ice of the Dark Glacier.
"Probably...... I think so. Luo Luo's tone was very hesitant: "If it is the Land of Permafrost, we are likely to be in the Divine Wood Forest at the very edge. Otherwise the snow could not have been so small, and the ground would not have been covered with snow and frozen ground......"
"That's right......" Allia felt a little comforted: if what Lolo said was true, then she at least knew where she was. But she couldn't suppress the doubts in her heart, and asked the question again: "But, from the sixteenth world to the thirteenth world, how did the people who threw us here do it?"
She didn't really want an answer, she just asked questions to dispel a little worry. She just wanted to say it.
"I want to know too...... Luo Luo was also at a loss: "Generally speaking, to get from the sixteenth world to the thirteenth world, you need to go through many long passes...... For example, the path to the Tower of Nacallo, the Titan Staircase, and the Ruins of Farea...... It's impossible to pass through so many places without us even noticing. ”
“...... Teleportation. Ellia remembered a battle that Geos had told her about: "Aloa's rebels used teleportation to infiltrate mages into the city and destroy the enchantment generator. ”
"But this is too outrageous for us!" Luo Luo was still very puzzled: "It has crossed three worlds......"
"Forget it, Lolo. Let's not think about it......" Allia pinched Lolo, the snowflakes calming her mood.
"How big will this area be?" though in vain, Ellia hoped to distract herself.
"I remember Maester Legree saying...... The Permafrost occupies eighty percent of the area of the Canolea continent, and the other three continents of the Thirteen Worlds together are less than two-thirds the size of the Canolea continent. So, so ......" Lolo nervously recalled: "Canorea...... How big is it? I remember that the smallest continent of Nafrea is 160 million square kilometers......."
"It's about 110 million square kilometers, and the area of the Permafrost is about 90 million square kilometers...... "Allia racked her brain to imagine what the number meant: she knew that the area was huge, but how big was it? The girl who had never seen this world had no concept of space, and could not understand what was so special about the so-called snow fog.
"Such a big ......," Luo Luo said timidly, "We don't know which way to go to leave the Divine Wood Forest, in case we go deeper and deeper......
"It would be nice if you could find Eternal Winter. Allia felt the snowflakes falling to her long hair grow colder.
"But the location of Eternal Winter City has gone deep into the land of permafrost......" Luo Luo seemed a little scared, "We don't even have a map. ”
“...... Dad hasn't had time to tell us why we're here. Thinking of her father, Elia became frustrated again: "What if he can't find us?"
"Woo......" Lolo's tone sounded more frustrated than Elia's, "Anyway, let's do it first, shall we? ”
After a long silence, the girl who hugged Luo Luo for warmth nodded, and the tires slowly turned.
The two did not communicate for a long time, and the warm liquid outside of the snow water dripped onto Luo Luo's body.
The hooded man, who had been watching from the side, took off the hood above his head.
Long silver-white hair fluttered out. "He" changed his body shape and became a petite girl.
After staring at the wheelchair for a long time, she turned around. Putting the hood back on, the woman's body turned into gray smoke and dissipated into the sky.