CHAPTER 29: CHANCE MEETING

After reading further into the book, Hermes realized that the situation inside Sanctuary City was not as simple as he initially assumed. His first hypothesis regarding the class divide was that it was entirely fueled by the lack of resources in the region.

As more and more nobles and wealthy merchants monopolized the different sectors, dissidents and those who saw the greed behind their actions started forming groups to resist the elite.

However, the Underbelly's formation had other causes that he never even considered before. One such cause was religion. No matter where humanity was, beliefs, ideas, and cultural differences led to conflict. The last bastion of humanity, a sanctuary that holds the remnants of what could supposedly be an endangered species, still had the desire to create conflicts regarding such issues.

It completely baffled Hermes. How could humans still have the time to fight about such things when food was running out? The more he read, the more confused he became. Although Hermes wasn't religious, his observations of the universe told him that there had to be a grand designer behind it all.

He believed a god existed, but he found it silly that such a being would want its believers to spread their ideology to others through force or conversion. Shouldn't the deity who created the universe naturally have all its creations know of its existence? Why was there such a divide between the different religions if a god could just make the beings underneath its will understand who it was? Religious disagreements would dissolve overnight if such a thing occurred, but reality clearly reflected the opposite.

After learning about the Will of the Universe, Hermes was so shocked, that he almost burst into tears of laughter at the revelation that Arthur imposed upon him. Who would have thought that not a god created the Universe, but the Universe itself was god?

Although he believed Arthur's teachings, he still found a few logical gaps. How could the Universe create itself? Was the Big Bang Theory incorrect? How could one explain the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation then?

He had no clear answer to the solution, but his gut feeling told him that there was more to the story than what Arthur had taught him to be the truth. The only way to find out would be to get stronger and figure out the Will of the Universe himself.

Flipping the pages some more, Hermes was able to understand what religions caused such a conflict to exist within Sanctuary City's history. During the time period when the Marcia Empire was at its peak, the humans there worshiped a deity called the Monarch of Wisdom.

This ancient faith traces its origins back approximately 9,652 years ago, way before the Marcia Empire even existed. If one were to add all the years that passed since the publication of the book, it would mean that 9,811 years had come and gone since then.

'Wait a second... This is in Martian years...' Hermes activated [Augmented-Comprehension] to accelerate the conversion rate between the timekeeping methods. After a few minutes, he was able to understand the real date behind the emergence of this belief system.

'This dates back to 18,464 Earth years ago... Exactly the date of my slumber…'

Hermes was left confused. He had always assumed that his sleep in the coffin or stasis chamber began around the time when his memories were cut off. If he went by that hypothesis, that would mean the 'Monarch of Wisdom' came to exist in the year 2023.

'Did some god descend upon the Earth around the same moment I was transported and put to sleep on the moon? Now that I think about it, did my dormancy really begin around the same period my memories cut off? There is no evidence to suggest it, I just naturally assumed it to be like that...'

'The prophecy I saw on those murals which described the apocalypse dated to September 25th of 2030... Could this date have anything to do with it? I lack too much information to confirm what the truth is…'

One had to note that Sanctuary City used Martian years to describe the current epoch, but they also kept the conversions of time to Earth years as well. Angelica for example described the date of Rudwell von Marcia the Great's reign to be around 17,500 Earth years ago. She never mentioned it in Martian years; which would place his rule around 9,298 years into the past based on the Martian calendar.

He initially believed that it was due to the residents in Sanctuary City still wanting to hold onto their ancient legacy. He now began to believe that it might have had something to do with the Luminaric Standard. They might have applied Earth years as a universal standard at one point in time, which carried over to Sanctuary City's people who still held onto those customs.

As he continued reading the book, a single question continued to plague him. 'Why does no one mention the Monarch of Wisdom?' Not a single person around him had mentioned his honorific name. He didn't even hear a mention of a church existing or any other religious practice around the city.

As he continued flipping the pages and absorbing all their contents, he had finally arrived at the answer he was looking for. For whatever reason, the Monarch of Wisdom disappeared at some point in the past, causing a divide between the populace who believed in his return and those who didn't.

Because the book only covered the short history of Sanctuary City, there were only brief descriptions of the conflict but not why this supposed god had vanished. Hermes knew that if he wanted an answer, he would need to read other books that peer deeper into the annals of history.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

However, this didn't mean the book was entirely useless. It went into depth on theories the people had on how he would return. Some said that he was currently residing in the Spirit World and would one day return and bring the blessing of the spirits with him. Others said he had perished during his space-shattering battle with Rak'shasa the Destroyer.

'Rak'shasa the Destroyer... Another name I have never heard of... It seems there is a lot that occurred during the past 18,464 years…'

According to the book, the conflict between the nobles who believed in his return and the gangs who held a grudge against him for abandoning them came to a head during the First Disharmony War. Neither side wanted to see eye to eye.

And because the government sided with the nobles, a lot of Guardians whose family members were killed during the conflict began to resent the nobles as well, causing them to leave the armed forces and join the opposing gangs.

These back-and-forth disagreements between the two sides cost the lives of many innocents. The further the grudges between the two groups grew, the more they refused to negotiate or come to terms with each other.

This became obvious to Hermes when he learned that only five Earth years after the first Disharmony War, another one sprung forth. This time, it was due to a noble of the Verdier family who had sexually assaulted a commoner woman and tried to cover it up by murdering her entire family bloodline.

After the news was exposed, those whose memories of the previous Disharmony War and the atrocities that occurred still rang vividly in their souls became furious. The faction inside the Underbelly that tried to dishonor the Monarch of Wisdom took advantage of their anger and recruited them. Then, with all the anger and fury boiling over, they unleashed a devastating attack against the Verdier Family.

During the fighting, the Guardians who had been stretched thin from fighting against the mutants outside the city and the rebels inside caused them to have a security breach which the Xulu forces took advantage of to launch an attack against the city. This caused both the rebels and nobles to put aside their differences and fight the existential threat before them.

In the end, the two sides came to an agreement due to the intervention of the Césaire and Lysange families who demanded justice be served to that Verdier Family member. About 6 months after the start of the conflict, he was executed in public for his crimes, allowing for a temporary ceasefire agreement to occur between the two groups.

The peace however didn't last, as another two Disharmony Wars occurred in the following decades due to food shortages. The most recent one was roughly 480 years ago. The book's publication dates to 300 years ago based on Earth Orbits, Hermes had no idea whether more Disharmony Wars occurred since that period.

Lifting his head, Hermes began to stretch his numb limbs. Since his reading session began, about 6 hours had passed by without him realizing it. It was now 9:23 PM in Martian Local Time. He had read the entire book by skimming through its chapters and finished understanding the majority of the history of Sanctuary City.

He was still clueless of all the events that occurred prior to that 1,000 years, however. Hermes stood up and leaned against the shelf to allow blood to reach his legs. He began to observe the other neatly arranged hardcovers on the bookshelf. All of them piqued his curiosity, but he knew that he had no time.

He had to start training tomorrow morning with Arthur. There were many questions he had in mind regarding the gunblade that he wanted to ask for advice on; especially in regards to creating the perfect sword art for his weapon.

Putting the book where it belonged, Hermes walked out of the aisle when he suddenly bumped into someone. It was a girl roughly an inch shorter than him. Tilting her head up towards the assailant, Hermes was able to get a clear picture of her face.

Fair skin that lacked any imperfections, a small nose that held up her glasses which hid a pair of enchantingly pinkish-grey eyes. Her perfectly symmetrical, round head was covered in waves of gold-blonde hair which ran down her shoulders and reached her waist. Her cheeks, plumb and soft, held onto the veneer of sakura blossoms. An aroma filled with the freshness of spring swam in the air; every single one of her features highlighted her beauty.

To Hermes, her charms were comparable to his fiancee. While Arianna's allure came from her maturity, the lady before him exuded an ambiance of adorableness and enchanting elegance.

She wore a black uniform gilded in the same military honors and emblems as his. On her shoulder pads was a single golden star, denoting her rank as a new cadet. Unlike Hermes however, her uniform featured a black skirt instead of trousers. Sophia's grey uniform also held the same details.

Wrapped around her arms was a book. Hermes was unable to read the title, however, since it was covered within her bosom.

After adjusting his military cap which almost fell off due to the collision, Hermes bowed his head slightly.

"I apologize for that. I did not see you coming from across the hall."

The girl kept a cold and emotionless face as she scrutinized the man before her. She nodded slightly at his comment and opened her small lips that hid the complexion of roses. A soothing voice that calmed the soul slowly encroached upon Hermes' ears.

"No problem. It was my fault as well."

'Huh?... Her voice seems familiar to me…'

Hermes decided not to hold her back from what she was busy with and bowed his head once more to excuse himself. Walking past her, the girl turned her head to face Hermes who was slowly moving away toward the exit of the library. Her soothing voice reached him once more.

"You... Must be Hermes Wilson?"

Hearing his name be called, Hermes stopped in his place and turned his head to face her. His eyebrows furrowed at the question.

"Yes, how did you know? Have we met before?"

The elegant lady shook her head. With one hand letting go of the book that she hugged closely to her chest, she pointed towards his back.

"The gunblade... No one else uses it but you."

"Ah..."

Hermes decided to turn around and face her once more. "That makes sense. So... Can I help you with anything?"

The lady continued staring at Hermes; he had no idea what she was thinking. Before he could even try to break the ice, she spoke once more.

"... Why, did you choose the gunblade?"

Hermes' lips curved up into a smile. Looking straight into her eyes, Hermes answered her question resolutely.

"Sigh, It was a gut feeling. My body is telling me that it's the best weapon for me. It's kind of crazy of me, I know."

Standing there motionless, The lady nodded gracefully. "I see."

Silence once again permeated across the library. Losing his patience, he decided to ask her a question to break the awkward atmosphere.

"I forgot, may I ask what your name is?"

The lady who was clearly lost in her thoughts looked back at Hermes. Her illustriously deep pink-hued eyes hid a layer of grey. Opening her mouth slightly, harmonious words that spelled her name danced in the air as she lifted the hem of her skirt on each end and bowed courteously.

"Elizabeth Lysange... Pleased to meet you..."

End of Chapter