What Ebner was reading wasn't Roselle's diary. After all, with Fors present, he had to maintain the pretense of not understanding "Rosellean." So when he previously asked for that diary page, he had put it away, intending to read it later in private.
What he held now was actually Fors's record of the scenes she had dreamed over the past few nights—a genuine "Miss Wall's Diary."
Hearing Fors's complaint, Ebner set the papers down and smiled. "Would you like me to give you some 'hypnosis' and 'suggestion'? It could help you fall asleep quickly."
"Hypnosis? Suggestion?" Fors knew he was joking, but still shot him a few cautious glances and clutched the blanket to her chest in feigned alarm. "That... that sounds pretty shady. Don't tell me you're planning something improper?"
Of course, it was just her response to his teasing. She wasn't truly afraid he would do anything—because if Ebner did want to pull something, she wouldn't be able to resist anyway... Mm, not that I'd have much willpower to resist either...
In fact, she had dreamt of a similar "being hypnotized" scene back in Backlund. In that dream, under Ebner's "suggestion," she had done a lot of shameful things—and even Hugh had been dragged into it. After waking up in a panic, she'd rushed to take a late-night bath...
That was one of the reasons why she instinctively hugged her blanket tightly when he mentioned it.
On the other side, Ebner didn't even need to read her mind to guess what she was thinking. He couldn't help but feel a little speechless. Miss Magician really is a writer—her brain is full of drama... Though I suppose that dream back then was partly the Mirror's fault... But it's not like the Mirror wrote the script!
Even if I really hypnotized you, I wouldn't do something like that... Do you take me for some kind of lecher? Ebner silently grumbled and shook his head, brushing the topic aside. He turned to her and said, "Actually, whether or not you sleep now, that dream about the ruins will drag you in when the time comes."
"You figured out what that ruin actually is?" Fors perked up. "What exactly is it? Why is it appearing in my dreams and targeting me?"
"I've made a few discoveries." Ebner picked up a page from the "Fors Diary" and pointed to it. "Through your repeated explorations, it's clear that the place was originally a city-state. But a hundred years ago, their god fell, and the apocalypse descended. The survivors could only struggle to survive in cold and hunger, right?"
"Yes. The first time I entered, I couldn't touch anything, but I wasn't hindered by the environment either. So I took the chance to gather information about the city-state's history...
"But as the dreams became more vivid with each visit, the restrictions increased. Last night, I even had all five senses and could physically interact with the ruins... That's when I truly felt the cold, the hunger, the despair." As Fors recalled, her tone became more downcast.
She took a moment to compose herself before continuing, "But what's wrong with that?"
"The time those 'city-state survivors' recorded the fall of their god was shortly after the fall of the Gustav Dynasty..." Ebner spoke as he opened another notebook—this one compiled from Fors's recent interviews with local elders. He continued, "According to one elder, the last place the three-eyed thunderbird was seen twenty years ago was the giant wooden cliff on the western slope of Mount Kalar...
"And according to another elder, the cliff was named because more than a hundred years ago, there was indeed a giant tree planted there!"
"But that tree was burned down by a sudden divine fire after the Gustav Dynasty fell, leaving behind only the dead roots, which have rotted over time..."
Fors frowned. "But what does that have to do with the dream-ruins?"
"That ties into a story..." Ebner suddenly narrowed his eyes, as if sensing something. He pulled out a lens and placed it in front of his right eye, continuing to say to Fors, "A long time ago, there was a gentleman who loved to drink. One day, he fell asleep under the big tree in his yard...
"...In the dream, he arrived in a city-state, married a princess, and helped the lord govern the country..."
At first, Fors thought the plot was rather cliché, but as the story progressed, she became immersed—deeply drawn into this Westernized version of "The Dream of Nanke" told by Ebner.
When the tale came to an end, she returned to her senses with lingering fascination—only to realize in shock that she was once again inside the ruins of that city-state.
This time, she truly felt the "reality" of it. There was no longer any illusionary feeling like during her previous entries.
"Ebner!" Fors clutched a talisman, her voice a little panicked as she called out.
Unlike before, she had seemingly lost the "night vision" ability she used to have when entering. Now everything was pitch-black—completely indistinguishable. In such darkness, fear naturally arose.
"I'm here." Ebner's voice came just as a crimson fireball appeared in his hand, lighting up the area around them.
Fors finally let out a sigh of relief and walked over to his side. After calming herself, she asked, "So your story just now meant... this ruin is actually that tree outside the town? It was destroyed by divine fire, and that's why this place became what it is?"
Ebner nodded, then shook his head. "The 'Mystery Pryer' pathway at high Sequence grants an ability called 'Mystical Reenactment.'
"This allows one to draw power from occult knowledge to create magic or rituals. The less widely known or circulated the knowledge, the stronger the resulting spell.
"Most demigods using this can only rely on story archetypes to create single-effect abilities.
"But Roselle once reached Sequence 1 as the 'Knowledge Emperor.' He likely used the power of 'knowledge' to truly build a city-state at the boundary between dream and reality!
"And he made himself its god, commanding the people of the city to build him a palace...
"This may have been some kind of contingency plan by Roselle, but it was unfortunately discovered by the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun. They burned the tree—representing the reality of the city-state. The dream-portion suffered a connected blow. Though not yet fully collapsed, it has entered an 'apocalypse.' Destruction is only a matter of time..."
Ebner selected only part of his deduction—based on "analysis" and "decryption"—to share with Fors, intentionally omitting Roselle's true purpose in building this "kingdom": constructing the mausoleum of the "Black Emperor"!
Yes, Ebner suspected that this dream-ruin was originally a hidden mausoleum built by Roselle. By using angel-level "Mystical Reenactment," he turned a tree into a kingdom, ants and insects into intelligent "dream-people." It was a brilliant deception, difficult to detect...
It's a pity that after Roselle's death, this kingdom was still discovered by the Church... Though it hasn't been completely destroyed, it's already lost its function as a mausoleum and can no longer serve as a vessel for Roselle's resurrection.
Then again, perhaps Roselle revealed it on purpose—to obscure the location of other mausoleums, or to mislead about some other objective...
While Ebner pondered, Fors had finally digested what he just said. Though stunned, she still had lingering doubts:
"The ruin Roselle left behind... why is it drawing me in again and again?"
Ebner held up three fingers and carefully answered, "There are three possibilities...
"First, Emperor Roselle and Mr. Door were acquaintances... and since you're polluted by Mr. Door's power and are an apprentice of the Abraham family, you can hear His murmurs during the full moon... Perhaps there's something of Mr. Door's here—or some remnant—that's targeting you.
"Second, it could be Benjamin's doing... Since he knew of you a hundred years ago, it wouldn't be surprising for him to arrange something within his own domain.
"Third, whether it's Roselle, Benjamin, or the ruin itself, the real target might be that existence behind you—the one shielding you from Mr. Door's whispers!"
(End of chapter)