One death... One revelation... I see!

After hearing the explanation from the old man with a white beard, Leon compared it to the scenes he had seen in countless ring inscriptions and suddenly noticed a detail he had previously overlooked.

Those saintesses who were "revived," after the confusion faded from their eyes, appeared "older" even though their bodies remained youthful. Their gaze no longer held the innocent charm of before, and their demeanor was noticeably more weathered.

So... is the contemporary saintess sacrificing herself to bring the will of the future, with memories, into the present, the true ability of the "sacred land" of hope?

Glancing at the bloodstained floor not far away, and recalling the figures trembling and lying down on the ground, staining their heart's blood into the circle, Leon couldn't help but frown and say:

"The real Fredri already..."

"Hmm..."

The old man with a white beard replied with a somber expression:

"At that time, the magnetic plane we migrated to was on the verge of collapse, and the revelations left by the last generation's saintess had been exhausted. We urgently needed to move to the next survivable plane that could avoid attacks from the four pillar gods, so..."

So she entered the sacred land in the real "history" and voluntarily sacrificed herself to gain revelations!

With the explanation from the old man, Leon quickly pieced together this last puzzle, and a series of unsolved mysteries in his heart were instantly unraveling.

The Taurus director and Pisces chief did not make mistakes. This dream was indeed related to Fredri's "origins," but his entry into the dream was slightly off in location and timing.

While he was wandering around the mountain with the old ox, Fredri in the dream had already completed the ritual, become her future self, and went down the mountain, clutching her heart, to wash away the bloodstains in the pond.

"So everything I experienced in this dream, from the moment I stumbled upon her bathing, was all fake?"

Leon furrowed his brows and asked:

"Everything I've seen these days is what she wanted me to see? Completely different from the real past?"

"Not entirely, but quite close."

The old man with a white beard nodded and said:

"Just as you don't trust Fredri, she also lacks trust in you and naturally wouldn't let you see everything that happened in the past. She would try her best to cover it up before you.

Moreover, you're someone who was forcibly inserted into this dream. There wasn't originally a perverted ghost daring to barge into the sacred land to peep at her bathing, so from the moment you entered this dream, it could never be entirely the same as the past."

"..."

Are you finished yet? I already said I didn't peep on purpose; it was that darn cow dragging me down, so why are you still holding onto it?

After taking a deep breath, Leon, eager to obtain more information, had to ignore the old man's barbed comments and asked expressionlessly:

"Aren't you Fredri's grandfather? If she doesn't trust me, it'd be hard for you to trust me as well, right? Why did you come to me to save her? And hasn't the real her already died in the ritual? How can I save her? And also..."

"Slow down, slow down..."

Faced with Leon's rapid-fire questions, the old man with a white beard quickly waved his hands and said:

"You're asking too fast. Take it one at a time. As for why I came to you... Although you don't look like a good person and are a pervert, there's an inexplicable trustworthiness about you, and I can also sense a taste of hope in you, so I chose to believe in hope."

The taste of hope? Nonsense, right?

Hearing this, Leon raised an eyebrow and then asked suspiciously:

"If there's really a taste of hope in me, Fredri, as the saintess, should also be able to feel it, right? Why does it seem like she hasn't discovered this taste of hope?"

"That's naturally because she has no more hope."

The old man with a white beard took a deep breath, then answered with a slightly sad expression:

"If she, as the saintess, would naturally be closer to hope than me, a priest, but the her that could see hope has already exchanged all her hope for the future's revelations.

And the her that returned from the future was brought back at the last moment before life's end, so this her, who obtained the revelations, has already exhausted all her hope, and a person without hope naturally can't discover the hope in you."

"..."

This is a bit abstract... but the general idea is that Fredri would lose the ability to sense hope after completing the ritual, right?

Reluctantly accepting the old man's explanation, Leon continued to ask:

"Since you say she's already dead, why ask me to save her?"

"Because she might not be dead."

"???"

No... do you even listen to what you're saying?

"I know this is strange, but Fredri might really not be dead..."

Faced with Leon's crazed gaze, the old man with a white beard helplessly said:

"In theory, Fredri, who used the Time Carving Knife, should be dead, as no previous saintess has ever been an exception, but I also don't know why the real Fredri hasn't died."

"Why hasn't she died then?"

"Didn't I say? I don't know why she hasn't died!"

"Yes, but how do you know she hasn't died?"

"Didn't I say? I don't know!"

"..."

Are you senile? With fists clenched, Leon, facing the seemingly senile old man, couldn't help but hold back his anger after a moment of silence.

But just as he hesitated whether to use a big memory recovery spell, to help the old man wake up, a clear mooing sound suddenly came from behind him.

"Moo! (I know why!)"

"?!!!!"

In the shocked eyes of Leon and the old man, the old yellow cow, wearing an oversized white dress and with white wall dust rubbed on its cow face, lifted its front hoofs and hopped in, "standing" in front of the two, then earnestly explained with a serious face:

"Moo! (Because we are people in Fredri's dream, although she has given us different memories and personalities based on her memories, we are ultimately a part of her memory.

So compared to the real us, we "dream people" know many things we shouldn't, including things only Fredri knows, such as the fact that she is actually still alive.

However, while she remained in the dream, her will suppressed us, preventing us from expressing this. But after she left voluntarily, we are free from her control, and the longer she stays away, the more 'free' we become.

The old man knows Fredri isn't dead because he retains a part of Fredri's memory, but he's slower at breaking free from her influence than I am, so he currently lacks the ability to articulate these things.

"..."

How do you convey such a long message with just a moo?

And is this sacred land stupid or something? Regardless of gender or species, as long as one wears a white dress and paints their face and arms white, they can enter? Do they only recognize the outfit, not the person?

Oh, wait, you're "dream people" evolved from her memory, so in a sense, you are indeed a part of her. So letting you enter isn't exactly wrong?

"That's right!" x13

Just as Leon was trying to understand the old cow's words, a series of voices came from afar.

Under Leon's extremely grim gaze, Fredri's thirteen muscular brothers, also dressed in white chiffon dresses with waist fittings, with white dust smeared on faces and arms, turned the corner and lined up behind the old cow, casting sincere looks at Leon, and in unison, they pleaded:

"Pervert! Please save our sister!"

"..."

What the hell you want me to save!!!