Cabin for two with Maid of Mond

"Move first. If you meet a group here, there is no guarantee that several groups will come right away. If these Qiuqiu people are patrolling in an orderly manner, it will be even more dangerous."

There were a lot of Qiuqiu people killed, and it was impossible to clean up the battlefield to cover up the traces of the battle, so they had to leave quickly.Her Royal Highness naturally agreed, and the two of them bypassed the mountain road and continued walking along the rough but passable path.

It was Toth who led the way, after all he "recognized" this place.Although I don't know the difference from the original terrain in my memory, at least the general terrain I see now is in line with Toth's memory.

From this, Toth also speculated that there might be "something" places, and he was heading to those places with Her Royal Highness.

On the way, Thoth explained the meaning of "abandoned stone".

The so-called abandoned stone refers not only to a social class of Zhumei, but also to a phenomenon related to Zhumei.

The [abandoned stone] in the sense of class is the lowest level of the Pearl Charm society in the heyday of the great cities.

There are four classes of pearl charms, jade, pyroxene, hemipyroxene, and abandoned stone.

The class of jade, the full name of the seat of jade, is a particularly sacred and revered position.The last glorious city had been vacant for a long time, until Ying Ji, as the savior of the apocalypse of the ethnic group, was placed here.

Pyroxene and semi-pyroxene are the real power class in the Zhumei group, and they can also be regarded as nobles.

For the pearl charms that do not reproduce, except for the occasional pearl charms who are like family members due to the closeness of the birth timing and stone species, basically there is no concept of bloodline family, what distinguishes the class is the brilliant power contained in the core, Both the princess and the knight come from pyroxene and hemipyroxene.

The abandoned rocks at the bottom are a group of bead charms whose power of brilliance is relatively weak, and they are also the places where the brilliance of the bottom of the great cities is dim.

What's interesting is that Ying Ji, the later supreme jade seat, was originally born in abandoned stones.

And Yingji's position in the ethnic group vaguely corresponds to another meaning of the word abandoned stone.

sacrifice.

[Abandoned stone] is understood as a phenomenon, and it is an act of sacrifice.

Four Volumes, Fourteen Chapters, Early Morning Tea Party in the Attic of the Cabin

It was still dark in the early morning.

On the hillside outside Mond City, inside Toth's hut.

"Another meaning of the discarded stone...?"

Noelle murmured softly.

On the opposite side of the table, Yingji lightly pressed the core of her chest, and the glow flickered under her fingertips.

"Yes, it's not the class name of the brilliant city, but Zhu Mei's self-sacrifice."

In the attic of the hut, Noelle and this unexpected guest, Ying Ji, sat on both sides of a small table with hot tea and some desserts on the table.

Compared with breakfast, it looked more like an afternoon tea, but it was still dark, and it was half a day away from the real time for afternoon tea.

Noelle actually suggested that Hotaruhime should be allowed to rest for a while, and Noelle would also prepare a meal for her first, and then start talking in depth.But Yingji said it was okay, because she also wanted to clarify her situation as soon as possible.

Earlier, when this unexpected guest reported himself as the Jewel Charm from Another World, Noelle felt a little bit at a loss after being stunned.

If it was only Fatiru's negative karma, those monsters that came from other worlds and caused all kinds of damage in this world, Noelle would have no reason to hesitate, just carry the big sword and kill them.

But what about this "Firefly Girl"?She is completely different from the previous alien monsters, but it is difficult to determine whether she is or not one of the negative karma.

Even Yingji herself is not sure what kind of nature she is.

They noticed that there were decisive discrepancies in each other's cognition, and they were confused and suspicious of each other.Fortunately, both were patient and tried to explain to each other what they knew.

It is impossible to explain all these things clearly at once about Toth's crossing of the world, and Ying Ji and her group of pearl charms should be products of another world.Fortunately, as a maid, Noelle has self-requirements for clear communication, and recently told Amber, Barbara and other friends about Toth's story, so that she can explain it to Ying Ji as concisely and clearly as possible.

On the other hand, the smoothness of communication is also related to the personality of the listener.Fortunately, Ying Ji was also able to calmly receive messages and give feedback despite her great confusion.

For example, Hotaruhime took the initiative to ask Noelle to use the power of the rock element a little bit.

Seeing the translucent pale yellow crystal floating from Noelle's hand, Ying Ji immediately judged that the power of the rock element is not the same as the magic power of Fatiru's earth element mana, and it is indeed not the type of magic power she was familiar with.

Correspondingly, Noelle also needs to further confirm whether Hotaruhime's self-reported identity is true.

Since Toth is not here, Noelle can only test it in his own way.Her solution is to ask Ying Ji to talk more about her own race.

Noelle had never heard of the name of Ying Ji, and after all, Toth hadn't fully told the story of Pearl Charm.The notes that were recorded separately as preliminary information are also mainly about possible combat targets.

But as long as Ying Ji took the initiative to speak and Noel compared the information already recorded in the notebook, the credibility of the other party's identity could be confirmed to a certain extent.

Noelle felt sorry for this practice.

After all, if Yingji's self-reported situation is true, she should be the most disturbed party.

But Yingji was also very cooperative, she could answer Noelle's questions, and answered more and more complete backgrounds.

For example, Zhumei's social structure.

And, as we are now beginning to mention, another meaning of the discarded stone.

Yingji sipped tea and spoke quietly.

"Before the establishment of Glorious City, countless jewel charms fell into the hands of jewel charm hunters. Being directly killed and stripped of their cores is already a relatively good end, at least they don't have to suffer more.

"However, many people believe that the bead charm contains undiscovered value—not the value of life, but the value of being an object, as an experimental object, leading to greater power and benefits.

"The most sensational legend among them...

"Huh? Oh, it's okay, don't worry, it's okay for me to say it directly. I don't worry about you lying to me now, and I don't suspect that this is another world. After all, my family has long since withered, and many secrets have been lost. significance.

"What's more, hehe, I also feel that you can be completely trusted, Miss Maid. If you are a villain with ulterior motives, and you can pretend to be so sincere, it is not wrong to lose to such acting skills.

"Then let's get back to the topic, um, the most sensational legend... Ah, sorry, I should have asked first, do you know anything about the Stone of Mana?"

Hearing Ying Ji's question, Noelle nodded repeatedly.

"Ah, there are, Mr. Toth told me that they are the power branch of the Mana tree in the world of Fatiru, six powerful energy stones kept by the Dragon Clan, but due to various reasons, there are only three left. "

Yingji sighed softly when she heard this.

"Really, just from this sentence, you know more about the Stone of Mana than I do. The fact that the dragon guards the Stone of Mana is only a rumor in my family, and I don't know that there are only three people left. ... until the death of our clan, we are still trying to find the power of the Mana Holy Sword and the Mana Stone, trying to save the clan."

Noelle blinked and asked, "Have you met Mr. Toth, and haven't you mentioned anything about it? Or that Mr. Toth at that time hadn't experienced Tu... the journey about the Stone of Mana."

"I don't know. I don't have many opportunities to meet Mr. Toth, and the situation is very tight, and there is no chance for a long talk."

After Yingji shook her head, she looked at the tea in the cup with distant eyes, as if looking through perspective at a distant hometown in a foreign world that did not exist.

"At that time, I could only know that Mr. Toth was a powerful person. He made friends with the other last surviving jewel charms, and helped to find the survivors of the scattered jewel charms and find out the details of the ruined city... As far as the latter is concerned, I am their answer."

Noelle swallowed.

It is known that even with the appearance of Ying Ji, Glorious City still perished, and Ying Ji was in a state of "under house arrest" when she met Toth. All this is related to the villain "Jewel King" with very little information.

The evolution of the situation in the middle has not yet been heard.

Noelle is very interested in knowing the details, but this is obviously a big topic, and once it gets sidetracked, I don't know when to talk about it.

In fact, even the topic of abandoned rocks that is unfolding now is more interesting to Noelle.She already believed in Ying Ji's identity, and the real problem was something other than that identity.

However, Noelle was debating whether to immediately ask about the process of the demise of Glorious City. After hesitating for a while, Ying Ji brought the topic back on her own.

"I'm sorry to digress, let's talk about the abandoned stone. If the pearl charm captured by the pearl charm hunter is not killed on the spot and digs out the core, then there are two possibilities. One is to be sold as a rare slave plaything, and the other is to become a magician. Experimental living material.

"And the so-called abandoned stone here...

"It is to take the initiative to disperse [brilliance] and destroy all your own value."

Four volumes and fifteen chapters strangle yourself

slave plaything.

Living materials for magic experiments.

Hearing these scary words, Noelle couldn't help but tighten her lips.

Even in Mond, these concepts were not entirely unimaginable.

Thousands of years before Vanessa rebelled, during the dark age that gave birth to the clan's outlaws and has caused disasters to this day, Mond had many slaves with various "purposes", full of filth and filth that were completely unsuitable for being written into bardic poetry.

As for the cruel magic experiments with living people, although there are no records left at present, since knowing the background of the writing of "Clan Outlaws", Noelle, no matter how naive, guessed that there must be many such experiments in that dark age. tragedy.

Even in recent years, although no one in Mond itself should be doing this kind of thing, similar shadows still hang over the land of the wind.

In such a relatively peaceful and stable period before Toth and the hut came, and even the wind demon dragon did not show up to make trouble, Mond once had a major case surrounding the weird [Black Fire], and extended the relationship with the fool related turmoil.

That matter has nothing to do with Noelle, and she doesn't know the details...

But Amber was deeply involved.

After the black fire incident came to an end, Noelle also heard Amber talk about related topics, so he learned that many people in various countries may be abducted by fools for human experiments, including Mond.

Earlier tonight, Noelle insisted on not giving in when facing the Fools. It was also because of this knowledge that she absolutely did not believe that the Fools would treat people well after they took them away.

All of this, although there are several layers of distance from Noelle, she is far from being able to say that she has much understanding, but it is enough for her to understand what Yingji said, the miserable situation that the otherworldly pearl has suffered.

Yingji continued: "As you already know, the real life of our Zhumei lies in the core. Although our physical body is almost the same as other similar creatures, and we will be injured and 'dead', as long as the core is intact, everything will be fine. Have the opportunity.

"Hmm...except that I don't know what to do with the current 'traversal' situation, I have never 'died' before, so I dare not speak lightly to understand what it feels like to be a 'dead' Zhumei.

"However, according to other Zhumei's personal experiences that I have heard, the time of death is still full of pain and sense of loss, and there is no consciousness when only the core is left. It is not as light as a long sleep. Therefore, even if it is possible With the resurrection of the core, we Zhumei will not easily try to commit suicide.

"Of course, if you are in a situation where everyone wants to use suicide to escape the pain, if you really commit suicide, it will be difficult to expect the core to return to the hands of the same race to be resurrected.

"So, if they are sold as slaves, or even in some more...unspeakable situations. As far as I know, most pearl charms will still choose to persevere, endure all kinds of humiliation in body and mind, and hope for the chance to regain freedom .

"However, if it becomes a living material for a magic experiment... or before being killed, if the other party realizes that the other party wants to use the core of the jewel charm for a magic experiment, some jewel charms will choose [abandoned stone]."

Ying Ji paused for a moment.

Noelle continued softly.

"You just said that the ego dissipates its brilliance... In other words, this is more thorough than physical death for Zhu Mei, a real suicide?"

Yingji nodded slowly.

"Yes, apart from magic experiments, external damage, or excessive tears, we Zhumei can also end their glory on their own...but that is not an easy thing to achieve.

"Of course, the act of suicide is not so easy, but [abandoning stones] seems to be particularly difficult.

"This is different from physical death. It is impossible for anyone to use the identity of someone who has experienced it to share the experience with me. I can only speculate and describe it based on my own body sensation..."

Ying Ji said, raising her hands.

Ten white and smooth fingers overlapped and held each other on her porcelain-like neck.

"Using a knife, taking poison, hanging...all kinds of methods are not suitable for comparison. If you can barely describe it with physical death, it is probably like this."

Noelle opened her eyes wide and forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Strangle... yourself?"

There are so many methods of suicide, but generally they all have a common requirement.

When the pain stimulates the survival instinct, it is too late.Such as hanging or diving, even if the body struggles, it may be irreparable; trying to shorten the pain, such as jumping off a cliff or stabbing a vital point; trying to avoid pain and face death, such as taking poison in the form of peace or burning charcoal in a secret room...

But strangle yourself?

The closer one might be the so-called seppuku in Inazuma, right?But even seppuku inflicts irreparable damage with a sharp blade, and when it is officially performed, someone will help to intervene and decapitate.

Strangling this method of death should have been "killing" rather than suicide.

"Yes. But this is just a forced metaphor, maybe a little too exaggerated, please understand, after all, the actual feeling cannot be described by foreigners.

"I just want to say that only with such a firm will can we disperse our brilliance.

"So I can't provide a deeper understanding. I don't think I have the courage to do this kind of self [abandoning stones]."

Ying Ji said, put down her hand.

This made Noelle heave a sigh of relief, and resumed his unconsciously held breath.

Even though he knew that the other party was just making a move, Noelle almost wanted to stand up just now, and quickly pulled the other party's hand away.

Although Ying Ji made it clear that she did not have the courage to [abandon the stone] by herself...

But for some reason, looking at that delicate face with a steady expression, and those hands pinching herself, Noelle felt inexplicably that this was the only sentence the other party said so far that made her suspect that it was not true.

Noelle shook off the miscellaneous thoughts in his mind, and asked: "Is it necessary to do this? Also, if you really want to abandon the rock, can't you destroy the core yourself? I don't know if that will be painful, but... always Easier than strangling yourself?"

Ying Ji shook her head and said: "It is possible to destroy the core by physical means. If it is completely broken, it cannot be resurrected with the tears of the same family, but the brilliance in the crushed stone will still remain for a while.

"In addition, there are also situations where Zhu Mei has lost her freedom of movement and cannot find a way to effectively destroy the core, and she is not sure if she can crush the core with bare hands before she loses consciousness.

"In short, I will go to the point of self-abandoning stones, because I don't want to let myself have the slightest possibility of being seriously researched to find out some mystery.

"And the reason for this is because of one of the legends that led to the massive hunting of Zhumei. Although the number of people who hunt because of that legend is actually only a small number, most of them still come for other values ​​of the brilliant core. ...