Editing City Series:Volume5b Chapter14 (section)

===Beretta’s Journal: Today’s Entry #2===

This really got to me. I didn’t expect to be writing such a hopeless second entry after such an emotional first entry.

I am standing in front of the burnt-down remains of Herlde’s inn. The inn was built on an elevated area of ground with a nice view, so I am writing this by the beautiful moonlight. The dreary village of Herlde is visible down below. Based on the location of the lights, I can tell the houses were all built at least 200 yards apart.

The inn apparently burnt down after some gas from underground ignited last year. Only the inn’s foundation and columns remained, so it’s kind of creepy looking.

<Rosetta is trying to enter the burnt ruins out of apparent curiosity.>

I pulled her away.

Reading the “keep out” sign more carefully, I found out gas tended to build up belowground here and the village had started using that as a boiler. It was rare to use gas as a fuel instead of Phlogiston.

But this was no time to be admiring that. It was about 8 miles from Autun to here. It was 9 at night, but I wasn’t sure if we should head back or not. I hadn’t been taught about areas as remote as this back in ’98, so this really ruins my plans. I’m a little worried, but maybe we should just go to Rose Francisca’s house.

Should I head there and greet her as coldly as a daughter might after staying away for 14 years? Well, I have Rosetta with me, so it should work out. Rosetta is…

[[Image:City_v05b_061.jpg|thumb]]

<Rosetta is looking up at the moon.>

Come to think of it, Sein Fraus use spirit stones as components for their bodies. Until 1935 when it was discovered the moon was made of spirit stone, no one knew why spirit engines resonated so wildly with moonlight.

Spirit stones are made when ether (the substance that forms space) hardens without carrying a Live Message.

I’ve heard that so many monsters and gods have some connection to the moon because they were created from the combination of people’s imagination and ether. That is why they grow more powerful the more their form is feared or imagined and why they can manifest their own willpower as a physical force.

Humans can do the same, but our power is apparently extremely weak. But on the other hand, humans can use our own power on our own no matter the situation.

<Rosetta seems to find the moonlight strange. She is twisting around in the light breeze to see how the light hits her. She is also viewing her own shadow and checking the color of her hair.>

Does Rosetta exist in the realm of imagination as well? Humans are energized by the moonlight too, but she seems to be experiencing a bit of a high. She does not seem remotely tired from the journey.

This trait will remain even after she becomes fully human. As she evolves, the spirit stones will be absorbed into her body and their power will not be erased. They are a crucial part of ensuring her evolution does not fall apart.

<Rosetta turns back with an energized expression and asks a question.

“How about we go stay at Lady Rose Francisca’s house?”>

So she thinks that’s best too, huh?

But, Rosetta, if you respond to the moon and thus exist in the realm of imagination, it might be a truly incredible thing that you can evolve into a realistic human. You get the best of both worlds that way.

<nowiki><I</nowiki> hear a cry similar to a howling dog in the distance. It is a wolf.>

The mountains are cold and dangerous at night. We need to get moving soon.