Chapter 9 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Gawain gazed into the horizon for a long time. The conflict between his knowledge and what was in front of him was so great that for the first few minutes, he could not fathom what he was looking at. Regardless of it, it was a far cry from the sun he had known.

The broad and magnificent arc continued to rise. Its initial ascent was faster than the sun’s, and Gawain thus could observe a small fraction of the cambered surface. It was indeed emanating light, with edges of blurry and hazy color, as though they were made of clouds and mist. He supposed that the light and heat of this world was provided by this object, but it was not as dazzling as the sun such that he could not view it directly—in fact, the opposite was so. Not only could Gawain stare right at the curved surface,he could also make out some fine lines on the arc itself.

After gauging the arc of the thing, Gawain realized that he was staring at something that was tens, if not hundreds, of times bigger than the sun. Of course, its actual diameter had to be smaller than that of a normal star—it was just so close to the planet.

If it continued to rise at this distance, it could very well shroud one-fifth of the entire sky… However, this was merely Gawain’s subjective estimate, for he was feeling overwhelmed by this sight, and his judgment would inevitably be biased.

It was hard to describe the sense of oppression that was brought about by watching a gigantic celestial body surging up in front of oneself.

A quick search of Gawain Cecil’s memory unsurprisingly turned up countless “sunrises” that were equally majestic. The phenomenon in the sky was not something out of the ordinary, but the most normal occurrence in this world.

But, what was the explanation for this?

Gawain soon began to analyze the scene according to the knowledge he had. Perhaps the physics of this world differed from his home planet’s, causing the low efficiency of light and heat from this star. This planet was probably very close to the star in order for it to appear so large, and maybe the reason the earth was yet to be incinerated was because the supposed “star” was not a sun at all, but a hole that radiated light and heat, or was a thingamajig that was not scientific but magical…

What seemed to be more likely, however, would be that the planet he stood on was not orbiting around the sun, but a gas giant. That would mean that it was not a planet at all, but a satellite of the latter, and the thing that rose in the sky…

Was the parent planet of this satellite.

It was at this moment that Gawain’s feelings of “otherworldliness” felt more intense than ever.

“Ancestor? Lord Ancestor?” Herti’s voice rang out beside him, surprising Gawain from his deep thoughts.

“Ah… ah?” Gawain came to his senses instantly, looking at his nth great-granddaughter by his side.

The beautiful aristocratic woman, having escaped the dark tunnel and the underground crisis, recovered a little of her former countenance. Bowing slightly to Gawain, she said, “Ancestor, you were daydreaming earlier, but we need to get out of here.”

Gawain faltered and brushed the incident aside. It was then he realized that the entrance of the tunnel had led them to an open hillside with no defenses. To stand there dazedly with no awareness of their surroundings did not seem like a wise thing to do, and he thus nodded. “Let’s head to the high ground to survey the place and ascertain our surroundings. The knowledge of the terrain I have is seven hundred years old, and might not be relevant now.”

Thus, under the direction of Gawain, the party advanced up the hillside a little. On the way, Gawain could not help but look up at the large “sun” several times.

“Lord Ancestor, you’ve been staring at the sun?” Behind him walked Rebecca, and she asked concernedly, “Is there a problem?”

Beside her, Amber quipped casually, “Your ancestor hasn’t seen the light of day for seven hundred years; it’s obviously natural that he’d want to look at the sun a few more times than normal.”

Gawain ignored Amber. Glancing at his n+1th great-granddaughter, he shook his head slightly. Internally, he confirmed that “sun” was what the natives of this world called that thing in the sky too.

Or rather, no matter what language it was spoken in, the word referred to the sun and nothing else in the minds of the people here.

Gawain searched through the memory of the original owner of the body again. After several attempts with some keywords and receiving vague information, he finally lifted his head with some understanding, gazing across the part of the sky that was still slightly dimmed.

In the still unlit part of the sky that still showed its many stars, he spotted a “star” that was about the size of a grain that was brighter than the others.

The people of this world labeled that special star as “Ao”, and attributed many religious and symbolic meanings.

Both his previous conjectures were probably debunked, leaving his reasonable third one.

“Ao” was then the star of this solar system. It was unbelievably far away that the light it shone on Gawain was practically as cold as any other star’s.

And in the cool morning breeze, Gawain arrived at the summit of the hill.

In the distance was a mysteriously scarred land that had been blazed to the ground by the flames of war.