Thinking of this, Lumian came to a conclusion:
If what I guessed just now is true, it means that only the village of Cordu and the surrounding areas have gone backwards in time, and other places have not been affected!
Does this mean that as long as we can get out of here, we can return to normal life? Lumian's thoughts raced as he turned his head to look at Aurore, pretending to be guilty:
"Well, uh, I was actually the one who wrote this telegram."
"You?" Aurore was angry and amused, but mostly confused.
She wondered if she had been accidentally pranked by her brother.
This is just like being pecked in the eye by an eagle while hunting all year round!
Lumian explained "sincerely":
"Well, I've always wanted to visit Trier, haven't I? So, a few days ago, I secretly sent a telegram to the telegraph office corresponding to the Novel Weekly, asking in your tone when the nearest writers' salon would be held. As expected, they enthusiastically sent an invitation."
“So that’s how it is…” Aurore looked as if the mystery was finally solved.
The next second, she picked up the wooden stick beside her and said through gritted teeth:
"The child has grown up!"
Lumian quickly added:
"Aurore, no, sister, listen to my excuses, no, listen to my explanations."
He was not panicked and even made a joke on purpose.
"Okay, go ahead." Aurore said, holding the stick, "Your sister has always convinced people with her good morals. How can I convict someone without listening to the suspect's statement
"Even if I die, I will make you die with understanding!"
Lumian spoke very quickly:
"In Intis, the place with the most universities and the best quality is Trier. I'm about to take the unified college entrance examination, and I want to go there in advance to investigate and decide which three universities to apply for."
Aurore nodded imperceptibly, signaling her brother to continue.
Lumian praised his sister earnestly:
“I believe that if I make this legitimate request, you will definitely take me to Trier for a tour, but in this case, it will be your money. If the invitation is issued by the Novel Weekly, not only the steam train ticket fee, hotel accommodation fee, but also various entertainment expenses in Trier can be reimbursed.
"I know you don't need this little money, but you wrote it word by word with great effort. If there is any way to save it, I will definitely not miss it."
Aurore's expression relaxed.
“I feel sorry for my sister.
"But have you ever considered that I don't want to attend any writers' salon? I hate interacting with so many strangers."
Lumian smiled:
"Aurore, uh, sister, have you ever thought that the reason why Novel Weekly invited you so enthusiastically is not to invite you to attend the salon, but to use the salon to establish a good relationship with you. You are a famous best-selling novelist.
"So, the salon is not important. What's important is you. As long as you are willing to accept their invitation and go to Trier for a while, you can find a reason to turn down the salon. The people from Fiction Weekly will not be angry. Instead, they will be glad that you accepted the invitation."
Aurore looked Lumian up and down.
"You are getting better and better at understanding people."
She then exhaled and said:
"Okay, I'll take care of some things and pack my luggage, and then I'll take you to Trier in two days. When the time comes, send a telegram to Novel Weekly in advance and ask them to pick us up at Trier Railway Station."
"Okay!" Lumian did not hide his joy.
Although he doubted that he and Aurore could easily walk out of Cordu Village, and before solving the mystery of time travel and finding the corresponding root cause, the act of "escaping" might very likely cause some unpredictable changes, he had to give it a try and not trap himself where he was.
With this mentality, he just tried to persuade Aurore.
Lumian had no intention of telling his sister about the time travel right now, because Aurore had lost her corresponding memory and was unlikely to believe this almost delusional speculation, unless Lumian kept making "prophecies" and the prophecies were verified. However, he still wanted to pretend that he was unaware of the time travel and was not going to make "prophecies" for the time being to see if he could find any clues.
Using reading as an excuse, Lumian returned to the second floor and entered the study.
He sat down, picked up a book at random, opened it, and checked whether it was held upside down.
Then he fell into his own thoughts, hoping to further understand his current situation through the details he had discovered last night and today.
As his eyes moved aimlessly, Lumian saw the small blue book on the table.
His heart skipped a beat, he withdrew his thoughts, reached out his hand, took the little blue book, and flipped through it quickly.
Then, pages with some words missing and corresponding holes appeared in his eyes.
"That letter..." Lumian whispered silently.
Combined with the "late" reply from "Novel Weekly", he had a new guess about the letter for help received by Leah, Ryan and others:
“Maybe, I really wrote that letter and I am the ‘murderer’!
"It is very likely that time travel has happened more than once. According to the definition in Aurore's novel, this should be called a time loop.
"In a previous cycle, I discovered some anomalies through some exploration activities, and decided to ask for help from the outside world by sending an anonymous letter without implicating Aurore. But by the time the official personnel realized the seriousness of the problem and sent Ryan and others to deal with it, Cordu had already started a new cycle. I also lost all the corresponding memories like Aurore now, and returned to the 'initial' state...
“Now here’s the question, why does this little blue book still have some of the words cut out
"Logically, it should return to its 'initial' state, just like the food I ate in the last cycle...
"Well, there are two possibilities:
"One is to find the anomaly and seek help before the time cycle starts. But if that's the case, the relevant memories shouldn't be reset. Could there be another reason that caused me to lose some of my memories? This is getting more and more complicated...
"Second, I found a way to make something unaffected by the loop... What could that be? If there is a way, why don't you just find a piece of paper and write down what you found?"
Lumian felt that he had cleared away a layer of fog and restored the general situation, but he fell into more doubts.
He believed that he must have experienced many time loops, but in the previous loops, once he started over, his memory and physical condition would be reset, so he was completely unaware.
The reason why he was able to retain his memory and the extraordinary characteristic of "Hunter" this time was because he met that lady, obtained the Scepter Card, entered the Dream Ruins, and stimulated his special nature.
Since the special properties brought by the two symbols can allow Lumian to "bring" the Beyonder state in his dream to reality, it is entirely possible that they can "save" his complete physical condition to the starting point of the cycle.
“So, after the status of the shotgun monster was reset, it still failed to ‘get’ back the ‘Hunter’ extraordinary characteristic…” Lumian leaned back in his chair, looked at the ceiling, and exhaled slowly.
He then laughed at himself:
"I have just become a Beyonder and I have to face such extraordinary things. I don't even have time to grow...
"Well, I can't be sure that I wrote that letter for help. Aurore and Madam Pualis are also suspects... As Beyonders, they may have noticed something wrong in a previous cycle and tried to save themselves. Moreover, with their knowledge of mysticism, it is easier for them to find a way to preserve certain traces than for me... But no matter what, the time cycle is indeed the most consistent speculation for the current situation."
As he thought about it, Lumian came up with a way to confirm the source of the letter for help.
The method is simple, that is to enter the Dream Ruins and flip through the same little blue book in the house there.
If the little blue book also has missing words, it means that the letter for help was made by Lumian himself, because the home in the special dream is formed by his subconscious projection of the mixed ruins world, and everything he knows subconsciously should appear there.
If not, then it was most likely done by Aurore or Madam Puaris. Lumian's subconscious mind could not have known about this and he is not responsible for it.
Lumian was not in a hurry to "catch up on sleep". Seeing that it was almost time, he sneaked out of the house and went straight to the old tavern.
In the corner of the old tavern, a familiar figure came into his sight.
The lady who had given him the Wands and the potion recipe reappeared.
She was wearing a ruffled orange-yellow long dress with a stand-up collar and a light-colored women's frilly hat at her side.
Lumian immediately breathed a sigh of relief, just like a drowning person finally grabbing a lifebuoy.
He walked closer and saw that what was placed on the table in front of the lady was not breakfast, but three stacks of tarot cards.
“Do you want me to draw a card?” Lumian asked tentatively.
"You've already drawn it." The lady mixed up three stacks of tarot cards without looking up:
Lumian suddenly felt his eyes well up.
As expected, she was not affected by the time loop!
Without any euphemism, Lumian sat down and asked directly:
"I, and the entire village of Cordu, are trapped in a time loop?"
The lady raised her head and replied with a smile:
"Yes, you are all from the ring."
The Man in the Ring... Lumian repeated the term in his mind.
He asked doubtfully:
"What is this, someone stuck in a time loop?"
The lady smiled:
"There are two explanations for this. One is that you obtained a special power equivalent to Sequence 4 by praying to a certain being, and the other is your current situation."
“Can you gain power by praying to a hidden being?” Lumian was surprised by the first explanation of the “Man in the Ring”.
Isn’t it said that all twenty-two extraordinary paths rely on taking magic potions to advance
The lady nodded slightly:
“In theory, ‘Eternal Blazing Sun’ can also allow his believers to become extraordinary people without the need for potions, just through grace. However, to Him, this is a burden and can only be used as a temporary measure. The more people who need grace, the greater the burden, and it may even affect His condition.
“Those who receive the gift are not without harm. They will slowly move closer to the Eternal Blazing Sun, both physically, mentally, and spiritually.
"Also, since it is a gift from the higher-ups, they can take it back at any time, unless you possess some unique power and secretly steal it during the period of your life when you retain the gift."