Miko and Zenith were sitting in the two chairs, facing each other.
Dust held Zenith's head, and had her meet the Miko's eyes.
Then, the Miko brought her face closer and had a look.
It almost seems like an eye exam.
"...Oh."
Looking at the Miko, Zenith's eyes glistened.
Her eyes seemed brighter.
... Still no expression though.
As they were staring into each others eyes, it looked as if faint streaks of light were darting between them.
Until now, I'd never seen such a light.
"As one would expect of Miko-sama..."
"As divine as ever..."
Her lackeys were gushing under their breath.
Until now, such a light did not come out.
I wonder...
No, that light might only appear when she gets serious.
Like fire magic becoming hotter and brighter as more mana is used,
This kind of phenomenon might just be visible when the Miko seriously uses her abilities.
It really looks like a line of light...
"...."
Claire was tightly grasping her hands in front of her chest as she watched.
She had a pose like she was in prayer, I braced myself as well.
Right now, the Miko is looking into Zenith's memories.
The depths of the labyrinth...
Maybe a memory of being trapped in the magic crystal...
If she can find whatever caused this in Zenith's memories, then we might be able to figure out a cure.
Just give me a hint...
If we can just get a hint, maybe one of my knowledgeable acquaintances can figure something out.
Orsted, or Kishirika...
"... Ah."
The Miko raised a small voice, and trembled with a start.
Dust immediately let go of Zenith and put his hand on the Miko's shoulder to comfort her.
Download complete?
"...."
The Miko stood up, wide eyed.
Looking directly at me.
"Rudeus Greyrat."
"Yes."
I straightened myself up after hearing my full name being called.
"I have seen the memories of Zenith Greyrat."
"How is she?"
"Before the Metastasis Event, she lived in Buena village, part of the Fedoa Territory, raising Norn and Aisha while working in the village's clinic."
You're starting from there?
Well, yeah. Not speaking about what you've carefully observed. It seems appropriate to speak on it after all that.
"After she was separated from you, Zenith thought about you every day. Did Rudy eat properly, is he properly changing his clothes, how many girls has he called out to..."
Oi.
I'm sorry.
Well, it's not like I was really fooling around back then.
That was back when the government of the Rudeus Lower Continent was at peace.
That was still several years before the invasion of the defenseless Sylphy Country.
I can hardly remember a time before Sylphy.
"Her memory was dyed pure white in worry about you, and then it's temporarily interrupted."
The Metastasis Event.
I was an eye-witness to that moment.
But, most people didn't even survive long enough to comprehend what had happened, being teleported before they noticed...
Back then Paul was still in his prime, and so was Lilia.
"Afterwards, her memory becomes pitch black for a while."
"... For a while, what?"
"That's right. For a long time, like time passing by in a dream."
So there's no memory of becoming trapped.
That means she must have been teleported directly into the crystal in the labyrinth.
But something like that should be really unlikely...
However, it's still possible even if it's unlikely.
After a teleport, there's always the possibility of ending up buried in a wall somewhere.
Well that shouldn't happen if the magic circles are properly linked, but that's not the case for random teleportation circles...
That Metastasis Event really was a surprise attack.
If I remember correctly, it was caused because Nanahoshi was teleported to this world...
Well, that's already in the past.
Even as a person who was wrapped up in that incident, I don't think teleportation magic should be treated as a taboo, as long as it's properly managed.
If it were properly studied and implemented, then it would have been possible to deal with a disaster like the Metastasis Event more quickly.
Yeah.
I should advise Ariel about that.
If I submit a research report on teleportation, Ariel could probably figure something out