“Hmm, hmm.” Gaius bobbed his head up and down, his eyes scanning through the many miscellaneous details about the army stationed at the Oblivion Portal. It had a rather catchy name — the Oblivion Guards — and boasted of an army over two hundred thousand strong, if non-combatants were included.

“Well, this does explain why the Western Holdings aren’t sending many troops to the Great Divide,” said Isabelle.

“But isn’t two hundred thousand a bit too much?” Gaius tilted his head.

“It’s probably due to the nature of how the Western Holdings operate,” Isabelle replied. “See this bit?”

“The personal troops bit?”

“Yeah. If I’m not wrong, the Western Holdings use a system similar to that of the Southern Assembly,” Isabelle replied. “Every House in the Assembly is expected to maintain a standing army of their own. However, since there’s a monarchy in the Western Holdings, Queen Hyperion is the largest prize in the game.”

Gaius didn’t quite understand the smaller parts of what she said, but he did get a rough idea.

“But Queen Hyperion’s a Demigod. And so is Archduchess Gaia. Between them, I don’t think any coup’s actually possible.”

“Statistically speaking, most coups happen when the head of state and other powerhouses are out of the nation,” Isabelle answered, a brilliant smile on her face.

“…what statistics are you looking at? And how do you even know such things?”

“Well, while you were in a coma, I was busy studying. I didn’t know what I could do, so I resorted to just studying and making artefacts. Your old room was a nice place to read in too, so…”

“O-oh.” Gaius recalled how she had spent the past three years caring for him, and felt a tang of guilt. “Sorry.”

Giving her a hug, the two went on to look at the other exhibits. It was fortunate that Isabelle and Gaius shared the same interests; looking at things and reading about the past was

Most of the exhibits here were details about the garrison stationed around the Oblivion Portal. Gaius had the feeling that the war effort would go a lot more swimmingly if they were dispatched as reinforcements, but Queen Hyperion was probably right in keeping them here.

After all, he’d heard from the Chanter of Innocents that the number of spectres were already increasing. Gaius knew that the great god charged to deter them was doing his best, even as his lifespan continued to burn away, but there was no telling what would happen if even a single spectre made it out.

Besides, of the Five Lands, the West had the least developed military. He had caught sight of a few soldiers, but every single one of them were still using swords, spears and shields. A drive to modernise was already in the making, but for the nation so distant from the other lands...well, many people saw no need for it.

The next few rooms dealt with the years after the Oblivion Portal opened, where reports of people going insane had been compiled and stuck into a picture frame for visitors to view.

“What do you think?” Gaius asked, pointing at yet another report, which detailed how eyeballs had randomly sprouted from an insane man, who proceeded to rip a few people apart.

Isabelle, who was reading another report, turned to the one Gaius was staring up. After looking at it for a minute or so, her face twisted into a grimace.

He couldn’t blame her for that. The report was incredibly detailed about the evolutions that had taken place within that poor fellow’s body. Things like how the eyeballs popped up and other changes that followed during his mutation had been written in that text.”

“Eyeballs…”

“Hm?” Gaius wasn’t quite expecting that reply. “What do you mean?”

“Why were they eyeballs?” Isabelle asked.

“Why were they eyeballs?” Gaius repeated, blinking twice. He understood what she meant a moment later, but it didn’t help him in answering her question.

“Yes.”

It was a question worth considering, and he thought of it for a while. What did the sudden, uncontrolled growth of eyeballs mean? Why did exposure to the Oblivion Portal — the Crying Abyss — stimulate rampant growth within the human body, for some organs in particular?

“I think we need a biologist for that,” Gaius replied, after some time.

“A what?”

“A…scientist that specialises in the study of the human body,” Gaius replied. “It might have something to do with DNA or something. Maybe the same mechanism behind cancer?”

“DNA? Cancer? What’s a Constellation got to do with this?”

“Not the Constellation, I’m talking about a group of diseases that create tumours.”

She blinked twice. “Disease?”

With a jolt, Gaius realised that he had never seen anyone fall sick from the common cold or other diseases in Orb before. Sure, he had seen things like hypothermia, complications arising from injury, but…

He indeed had no recollection of seeing anyone fall sick before.

“Never mind. I forgot. This is Orb, not Earth.” He stole a look at her uncomprehending face, and then began to explain to her that people on Earth fell sick on a semi-regular basis. This had slipped his mind, since falling sick wasn’t an experience a normal person would like to recall.

“I…cannot exactly understand what you mean by that,” Isabelle mused out loud, after Gaius completed his short explanation. “But it sounds like a horrible experience.”

“Well, we should probably rule out any biological explanations for why eyeballs popped up in these people’s bodies, though.” Gaius had a disgruntled look on his face. “But in that case, what kind of explanation are we supposed to look for?”

A familiar voice echoed in Gaius’ head. “Why not one from the mind?”

Gaius and Isabelle jumped, turning their heads to look behind a moment later. There, a familiar great god stood, his aged appearance one of serenity.

The Chanter of Innocents.