After a few twists and turns, Gaius and Isabelle found themselves in front of a vast field, something that didn’t seem to be all that physically possible when they remembered the dimensions of Kishi Gakuen. They had stepped through an innocuous door into a lush field, against all logic, but by now, the boy had gotten some immunity as to how illogical Orb was.

“Behold,” Xanadu whispered. “The Highest Plains of the Stars Beyond.”

“That’s a very mouthy name,” Gaius whispered back. “Who came up with it?”

“Champion Solaris. If you have any issue with its full title, you can find him for a good talk,” Xanadu replied. She bent down and touched a stalk of grass, which was a luscious green that looked amazingly tantalising to the boy, for some reason.

“Wow,” said Isabelle. “This is the best grass I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been to the lawns of the major Houses in the South.”

Gaius nodded, almost on instinct. “I have an urge to take a bite out of it, for some reason. It’s so…desirable.”

“Did you hit your head on the way here?”

“Are you alright?”

Gaius suppressed an urge to pull some ears. “I am perfectly alright. It’s just that I get this really odd urge to eat the grass in front of me. I know it’s odd, but my body clearly doesn’t know that.”

“Your body is part of you, Gaius,” said Isabelle. “Maybe it’s reflecting something about you, something that your conscious mind isn’t aware of.”

“Are you suggesting that I stuff my face with this grass?”

“No harm trying.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Gaius asked. “Well, I believe that I can resist this temptation — an odd choice of word, but who cares — and that we should continue delving into this field of desirable green stuff.”

“Is that so?” Isabelle cocked an eyebrow. “Or are you thinking that there’s better stuff inside?”

“Definitely not,” Gaius replied. “In no way did I think that there might be even more tempting plants deep within this plain, and I definitely didn’t think that stuffing my stomach at the entrance was going to be a waste.”

“Alright, enough about the grass here,” said Xanadu. “Let’s move deeper into Takamagahara. It’s a rare opportunity to be here — usually, Kishi Gakuen doesn’t allow visitors to move freely within its grounds.”

“From the looks of it, however, the teachers here don’t really seem to be aware that a hallowed ground is in their school,” said Gaius. “Why is that the case? I mean, it isn’t guarded or anything. We just walked into this place like any other.”

“Well, there’s apparently nothing of value here. It’s just a super big patch of land, or so the general public thinks,” Xanadu replied. “Anyone can enter this place if they know how to.”

“But land has value, right?” Gaius asked. “Look at the grass here. Their abundant growth hints at the sheer fertility of the soil. Planting crops here would have an incredible yield.”

“Believe me,” said Xanadu. “Anything you’ve thought off has been tried before. Whatever changes occur here are undone by the next sunrise. I guess you can turn this place into a sewage disposal area, since it gets rid of any foreign object at that time, but would you dare to do that?”

“Any foreign object?” Gaius repeated.

“Any,” said Xanadu. “Humans. Animals. Weapons. The whole place resets to its original state, as the great gods intended. Anything new when the sun next rises is gone.”

“That’s rather scary.” Gaius shivered. “I’ll make a mental note about this place."

"Mm.” Isabelle nodded her head. “Better tell her that later.”

“Her?” Xanadu echoed.

“Oh, nothing.” Gaius knew that Isabelle was referring to Nakama, but he chose to brush her question off to prevent Xanadu from finding out. “So, where did the great gods hide their loot? I’m interested in knowing that.”

“Who said anything about loot?” Xanadu shook her head. “No, I’m looking for the prophecy they left behind. There’s a wall of words in this place, supposedly the records of the words before the Demon God awakened. Some have found it, but those that did were never able to reveal what they saw. That’s why I’m here.”

“That censor thing again,” Gaius muttered. “Well, I suppose there’s no harm in me reading these things too, is there?”

“Yeah, just tag along, or whatever,” Xanadu replied. “Just don’t kill me or something.”

“Well, if you play nice, we aren’t going to do anything,” said Gaius. “Now, let’s go read the last words the great gods left behind. Do you have a direction?”

“Yes, just follow me.” She pointed at the sky, which, now that Gaius was paying attention to it, was lacking the four Divine Kingdoms that could be seen outside. Instead, an unfamiliar constellation hung in the sky-blue firmament, one made up of ten stars.

“According to the records, the wall I’m looking for can be found after walking for an hour or so in that direction,” said Xanadu.

“An hour…” Gaius repeated. “Isabelle. I…”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I know what you want. It’s a bit regretful, but I’m sure you’ll be able to tell me what you saw.”

Gaius sighed. “It’s unfair to you.”

“I can do without knowing a mystery or two,” she replied. “And I don’t mind. Sometimes, knowing things can be the source of disasters, of a restless mind. It’s okay to not know everything. I too, have the right to choose.”

“You say that, but…” The boy shook his head.

“Don’t worry about me,” said Isabelle.”

Xanadu cleared her throat. “We don’t have that much time to spend here. It’s a distance away, and I’m quite sure that we only have until the festival is over.”

Gaius took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t worry about the two of us,” Isabelle said. “Go.”

The Knight smiled and stepped through the door that divided Takamagahara from the outside world. Her figure vanished as soon as she stepped across the threshold, a sight that created a sense of loss in his heart.

“Let’s hope we can get to that wall quickly,” Xanadu murmured. “It won’t be nice if we had to fight our way out of my alma mater.”