章 9: Chapter Nine - Forming Hypothesis
Gaila, Globus and Granger were also dressed in armor when we met them the morning after the ceremony. Because of the nymph's gift, our armors changed a little as well. We didn't notice them last night because it was changed under my gown and their suits.
"We have something to give you." Globus said.
"What is that? A gift?" Brix asked.
"No. A purebred human dropped this while running out of the party last night. I'm not familiar with figures you are familiar with." Granger said while Gaila took a small rolled paper in the pocket of Granger's armor.
"When he dropped this, it seems he was in emergency." Gaila said.
"Maybe it's important. We should return it to him. " I said.
"We were talking with the high classes last night so he should be a low class man, right? A boy?" Brix asked.
"Well…"
"I believe he's a middle class."
"A middle class? But how?"
"Maybe he just went to see his child."
"But if he was, why is he running?"
"Yeah. Can I see that?" Reevahn asked. "There are lots of numbers one and zero.
"What is that? Debt? But, there's only two number figures."
"Let's ask the natives about that, then if they don't know, let's encode it."
"It's possible to be a binary system figures." Brix suggested.
"Let's ask Master Ren and her Highness first. They could help us."
We went to the living room where Master Ren, the dowager and the queen were chatting.
"Good morning. We came here to ask you something." Reevahn said. He gave the paper to Master Ren and they consult it.
"Isn't this a receipt?" the dowager asked.
"Receipt? What is that?" Master Ren asked.
"It's a receipt that the merchant or shopkeeper gives you after you pay as a proof that you paid for your purchase." The dowager replied.
"I haven't heard of that, mother." The queen said.
"But, if the queen and Master Ren don't have the idea about receipt, it means the Cazanette people don't know about receipts as well." I said.
"Considering Master Ren and the queen's position, it's more likely that they have no idea about it since they spent most of their time indoors while the dowager is usually in town of knowledge." Reevahn said.
"But if the people use receipts, the dowager should have one when she bought us swords. To add, isn't the way of trading here is by Barter system?" Brix suggested.
"You have a point." Reevahn seconded.
"Why don't you ask the people themselves? What breed dropped that?" Master Ren inquired.
"A human Purebreed, the said."
"Then, you should go where the human purebreds reside." Master Ren said.
"The town of knowledge?"
We told Gaila, Globus and Granger that we are going to the town of knowledge. Brix and Reevahn were surprised when Gaila suddenly grew her horn and spread her wings.
"So, the unicorn thing about Gaila is true." Brix said as he dropped his jaw in amazement.
"When I first did this, I thought of Nina as another me." Gaila said.
"That is the bond between partners." I added.
Granger suddenly grew his own horn and wings and Reevahn looked happy.
"Globus, why can't you do that also?" Brix insulted.
"You? My other half? Haha~ You are not kidding, aren't you?"
"Actually, you two have resemblance." Reevahn teased.
"Yeah. Your attitude towards things is the same." Granger said
"If Globus isn't in the mood to fly, let us just walk to the town of knowledge. It's not that far though." Reevahn said.
We walked to the town of knowledge passing through the cornfields and wide grassy lands occupied by farm animals – both purebreds and hybrids. I didn't think that the palace wasn't not so far from the town of knowledge. At far right from our position, we can see the glowing tower of the glowing castle. I thought that if I could go to the top of the tower, I could see the whole Cazanette.
"Doesn't the tower of the glowing castle look like a watch tower or a light house?" I started.
"Well, it is." Reevahn agreed.
"I wonder if that is the highest point in Cazanette. It's taller than the mountain range that envelops the whole Cazanette." Brix said.
"Remember the falls where we came from? I believe it's also a high point in Cazanette. When we were in Master Ren's mansion, we can already see the whole place. The riverbank at the falls is higher than Master Ren's mansion, what more can we see at the top of the falls?" Reevahn pondered.
"I also went to the coliseum above Harpies' cave and it's almost as high as the mountains." I added.
"Why don't we check them out later?" asked Brix.
"I wonder what's beyond that mountain and where the falls came from." I mumbled.
"I hear you. A previous king already saw what's beyond those mountains. It was written on his diary." Brix said.
"Since we are already going to the town of knowledge, why don't we visit the library?" Reevahn suggested.
"Library? Does Chaeldra, a bookworm, know about that thing? Maybe we should just go straight to her and consult about it." Brix said.
"Bright idea. Are you already in the mood for the mission? It seems that you are already using your intelligence this time. In fact, you are the honor student among us." Reevahn praised.
"It must be he has eaten well during the feast that's why he has that mood." I teased.
"Well, that is not impossible. If we do our duty properly, they will be saved, they will celebrate, we will have a feast then we'll eat!"
We laughed at Brix's reasons. At least, at this time, he will be very much of help.
We didn't notice that we are already sat foor at the town of knowledge. As they suggested, we went straight to the library to ask Chaeldra.
"Hello, Chaeldra! How are you?" Brix greeted.
"Oh, you came back! I'm alright. Do you need something?"
"Yes, we do, but if you have patrons, we will wait."
"Yes, I have. If that isn't something confidential, let me help."
"Are you sure? A middle class dropped this during inauguration and he seemed to be in a hurry when he dropped this. We have no idea what this is. The dowager said it is a receipt but the system of trading here doesn't need receipt." Brix explained.
Chaeldra consulted the paper and it looks like she was having a hard time analyzing the figures. This is my first time seeing the librarian. While she was analyzing the figures, I looked at her shoulder length blonde hair which was tucked in on the right side and tucked away on the left side. The color palette of her clothes which is pale yellow and peach designed with red lines at the hems embroidered with patterns in gold thread makes me want to eat marshmallows dip in strawberry syrup.
"I think I need to study it more. The people of town of knowledge don't use this figures as means of communication. We also rarely use the aliens introduced alphabet."
"Do you know the aliens' alphabet?" Reevahn asked.
"There have always written documents here. If you want to introduce some literature, you can ask for my help. The documents are located in the ZC section."
"Thank you. Do we need to log in?"
"No need anymore." She said. We were already going to enter the library but that Chaeldra called me. "Excuse me. You alone needs to log in here."
"I'm with them."
"I know but I don't know you. You also look like you don't like books. You shouldn't be here in that case."
"I will log in."
"How many books have you finished reading?" she asked. I was starting to get annoyed by this bookworm.
"I haven't finished reading any book yet. I'm sorry."
"Then, what is your purpose of coming here?" an invisible lightning sparked between a reader and a writer.
"I am here to research. It doesn't need to complete or finish reading a book as long as you understand what the writer wanted to say to it's readers."
Because of that answer, she finally permitted me to enter the library and help Brix and Reevahn research.
"What took you so long?"
"There was an opposite idealism between a reader and a writer."
"I see." Brix understands.
We took a long time searching for the meaning of the figures but we still can't find anything. Contradictory to the dowager's idea, the people don't use receipts for trading. I read the king's diary while we were thinking.
"I think you should visit the hybrid village. They may have their own form of alphabet for their privacy." Chaeldra suggested.
"Where is that?"
"It is located between the Forest of Alchemy and the Marketplace."
We left the Town of Knowledge to go to the hybrid village. I decided to visit the coliseum and show the laboratory to the team.
"Why do we need to go there? Isn't that the place where the flying monsters live?" Brix said.
"Did I already show you the photos I took using Reevahn's phone? I took those photos in the coliseum."
"You didn't show us anything."
"Really? Nevermind. I'm going to show that place to you anyway."
We brought them to the coliseum where Han Gin Hebi Mushis reside. The moment we sat foot on the place, we saw the HGHMs awake and playing with one another.
"Ho-ho-" Brix stopped us walking as if I too am a horse. "Are you planning to feed us to them?!"
Because of Brix's voice, we caught their attention as their snake eyes stare at us.
"Oh my. Do we need to run or to stand like a statue?" Reevahn asked.
Gaila immediately approached them and it seemed that she was introducing our companions to them.
"Uh-oh Gaila…" Globus whispered.
Granger followed Gaila to listen to their conversation and later joined them. Surprisingly, they played with Gaila and Granger. Globus also went towards them because of curiosity. They welcomed us to enter the place.
"Aren't you afraid of them, Nina?" Brix asked.
"No, I'm not. Why?"
"Because they are reptiles. They are giant snakes with insect wings."
"They look more like dragons to me even though they are a little slimy"
"Disgusting."
We went upstairs to show them the laboratory where I saw the samples and data of the Cazanette species.
"Look at this." I pointed at the FoxP2 data. "Isn't this what our teacher told us that we have this gene that gives us the ability to talk?"
"Yeah. But it doesn't mean we are still in our world, right?" Brix said.
"Why can you say so?" Reevahn asked.
"The people in Town of Knowledge are already intelligent enough before we arrive here. Since they look like us, there must be similar species like us in other dimension or in faraway planet."
"How could we be in a different planet?"
"Nina, remember the show you watched before that you told us? A baby was lost in Earth because of a wormhole which connected the two planets by extra dimensional portal. They even came from a tree if I am not mistaken. In our case, the portal is that cave."
"Well, it is possible." I remembered the arrow on the floor. "Look at that. Why is there an arrow that leads to the windows?"
"You know, fire exit." Reevahn said.
"Why are you arguing like that? Aren't you friends?" Globus asked, interrupting our brainstorming session which we always do.
"Of course they are. They are just discussing the possibilities in every clue and data they see. They want to go home to their world as soon as possible." Granger defended.
"Look at where the arrow is pointing. It's pointing to the sky. Look at it."
"It looks like two glass-like layers. The sky doesn't look high in here, huh." Reevahn said, "How can you explain it, Brix?" he added.
"This planet's or world's or dimension's frontier." He answered. "We have our own atmosphere on Earth and beyond that is space."
"If that is the atmosphere, it should enclose a sphere right?"
"Yes, supposedly, but do you remember another show you watched? They have a glass-like atmosphere because the place is like a ship looking for a planet to live."
"If that's the case, how can we go back?" Reevahn asked.
"Let's go out in space and be the pilot to lead them on Earth."
"Why don't we explore the ends of Cazanette?" Gaila said.
"Not a bad idea." Globus agreed.
"Ends of Cazanette? It seems like you are flat earthers. Do you believe that the world is flat? Or do you believe that the world is sphere?" Brix said.
"Wait." I remembered something. "Speaking of the ends of Cazanette, the previous kings already done that right?"
"Yeah. What is your point?"
"Remember what the two of them said? 'I was standing at an edge of Cazanette observing the world outside. It was endless water with horizon so far to explore.' and 'The mountain's earth is endless. It is like there is a way to reach the outer side of the globe –if we are in a globe.". Then in our case, when we arrived here, we were warped from the falls."
"Then, continue."
"As what Reevahn wanted before, we should check the geography, not just the Cazanette but the area beyond just like the kings did."
"How should we start?"
"Just like what Gaila suggested, let's fly to the sky then at the highest point of the atmosphere, let's fly to its horizontal ends."
"Fly? Ha` ha` I don't think I can." Globus said.
"Then, Gaila, can you ask the HGHMs a favor for me?"
"If it will help, then I will."
Gaila asked the HGHMs to fly Brix with us and Globus was flying alone. We started ascending to the sky and eventually see the glass atmosphere clearly. Still, the skies are the source of light in Cazanette. It looks like the outer layer is responsible for the illumination.
"Guys! After this, let's go to the hybrid village!"
"Say, Nina, do you think Globus and Brix already cared for each other? Globus can fly already even though they argue."
"Maybe they are both tsun-tsun then go dere-dere after."
"What's tsun-tsun and dere-dere?"
"It's an otaku term. Tsun-tsun is what you see in them right now but in fact, there is a dere-dere side which means they already cared for each other, you know, soft side."
"I think I get it." Gaila said.
The Han Gin Hemi Mushis' skins are slimy. Brix was trying to stay in his posture but he slides because of the skin.
"Yuck! I will fall if this takes longer!" Brix cried.
Globus is watching Brix sliding in HGHM's body. "That looks really funny! You look like a wide compass needle! Hahahaha!" Globus laughed.
Just after Globus teased Brix, the HGHMS suddenly startled with Globus' voice that made Brix fall.
"Brix!!!" We called.
Surprisingly, Globus rescued Brix with a blink of an eye. Even though they don't look friendly to each other, it was seen in Globus' eyes – his concern for Brix.
"Don't be too careless! That's why I don't want to be your partner because you will make me hurry always!" Globus lectured
"Thank you, Globus." Brix said.
"It was frightening but they look dere-dere now." I said to Gaila.
We reached the highest point in the sky above Cazanette's rotunda. We can see the Cazanette as one-and-a-half-foot-diameter rough circle from our location.
"Can we escalate further?" Reevahn asked.
"Why don't you try? There's still space." Globus said.
"Hypothesis: If we can rise further, this is a planet. We can see the space if it is." Brix said.
"If we can't, this could be a different dimension." Reevahn suggested.
"I want to explore horizontally before I say something." I said.
"Why?"
"Because in an anime that I've watched, there was an island with crystal sky which makes the moon violet in the eyes of the island natives. They can be reached via water horizontally." I explained.
"Everything is possible."
We tried to maximize our altitude and Brix reached the highest altitude among us. "Ouch!" we heard a clank sound along with Brix's voice. When we checked Brix, we saw the cracked sky – the crack I saw in the museum. The sky or the atmosphere really looks like double glass layers with diffused fluorescent light which is said in one of the king's diaries that the sky's light's origin is unknown.
"We are not in a planet." Brix said.
"Let's spread for the perimeters." Reevahn suggested. "Nina, did you bring the things you wished from the shrine?"
"Yes. Everything is in my bag."
"Can I borrow your slingshot? It might be useful."
"Yes. Here."
"Why don't we just use our powers? And you don't have ammo for that." Brix said.
"Power, you say?" I tried to make stones using the earth power that the nymph game me. "and here, ammo."
"O mean, use our powers instead of gadgets."
"We might alarm everyone if we do." Reevahn said.
"You have a point. Then, let me borrow the rope." Brix requested.
"Here. So let's meet at the hybrid's village?"
"Wait Brix. Let's change gadgets." Reevahn said.
Reevahn and Granger went beyond the glowing castle – northward. Brix and Globus went southward – the falls. With Gaila and the HGHMs, we cut the remaining team into two and explore eastward and westward.
Brix and Globus explored above the water where the falls come from.
"I have never been here." Globus said.
"I was inside it before." Brix said.
Globus' horn suddenly glowed. "I can sense a dead end."
"Why can't you sense the sky earlier? Whatever. Let's get down."
Brix and Globus walked along the river and reached the end. The river looks like it ends in the sea.
"This looks strange." Brix said. He noticed that the water flows to the falls. "This should be one of the highest point in Cazanette, yet the water ascends from those slopes to the falls. It is against the law of gravity."
"Maybe that was what the previous king said 'endless water'" Globus said.
Brix used the slingshot just for fun.
"What are you going to do?" Globus asked.
"If there is a sea, there is a fish. I could eat a Cazanettan fish while I'm still here. I hope there is no hybrid fish."
"I believe there is none."
Brix charged the slingshot and shot in the air. Suddenly a crashing sound of glass was heard.
"Is there any species that sound like that when shot?"
"No. I heard a broken glass. Let's check it out if you want."
"What could that be? I'm nervous!"
Brix rode on Globus and flew to the air. While looking for the source of the broken sound, Brix noticed the flow of the river.
"Aren't we higher than the main soil of Cazanette? Where does the river water come from?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, with the law of gravity, everything that free falls or freewheels is always descending in altitude."
"But I can fly."
"Of course you can because you are opposing the gravitational pull with the force of your wings but if you don't fly, you don't float, do you? If you're still on air, you will fall to the ground. Understand?"
"I think I do now. What did you see?"
"I saw the river's water comes from there which looks like they're from the sea that surrounds Cazanette and it flows upwards."
"Let's talk about that later with Nina and Reevahn. Let's check first the broken glass sound around here." Globus suggested.
Brix and Globus looked for the sound towards south. Suddenly, Globus stopped flying.
"Why? What happened?" Brix asked.
"I can sense a wall just in front of us. Remember the dead end I told you earlier? It's already in front of us."
"The sky is still open."
Globus looked at the invisible dead end from above them downwards.
"Brix, if you believe that the sky is still open, you should look down."
Globus descended so that Brix could see what he saw.
"Is that… from earlier… with the slingshot?"
"What do you think? In front of us is a wall. That is what I keep on telling you until now. Have you noticed already?"
"What is Cazanette really?" Brix thought.
"Let's go to the Hybrid Village."
Reevahn and Granger who are heading northwards passed the roof of the glowing tower and the mountain range. They are flying in the highest altitude of the sky and saw the endless waters as written in one of the king's diary.
"Granger, would you stop flying for a moment?"
"Why? Did you forget something?"
"No. I just want to try something." The gems on Reevahn's opposite shoulders glow and released threads of water. The water threads twisted together and gently form a sword on Reevahn's left hand. He took of the bundle of rope which slings on his right shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Granger asked.
"I want to test the depth of the water with my sword and this rope." Reevahn replied while tying the end of the rope around the sword's hilt near the pommel.
"I hope the sword won't float." Granger worried.
"I believe it won't. Remember, it is already part of our body so I have the ability to make it light or heavy." Reevahn explained while lengthening the rope. A few moments later, Reevahn felt the end of the sword touched the seabed.
"Come on, let's fly to its end."
They flew almost eight hundred meters away from the mountain range when Granger's horn glowed. Reevahn also kept on pulling the ropes from the point where he threw the sword in the water until now.
"Just a few distances from here, there is already a boundary." Granger said.
"Good. Let's go to that boundary. My sword isn't too deep also. The water was becoming shallow from halfway of our flight."
"I'll just fly slowly and carefully so that we won't hit the boundary accidentally."
Reevahn and Granger was just foot away from the boundary.
"Are you sure we're in front of the boundary?"
"Yes. My sensor says so."
"Would you move a little closer? All I can see is the endless water."
Granger moved closer to the said boundary while Reevahn extended his arms and tried to feel the boundary. The boundary is also like the wall that Brix broke. Reevahn touched the glass-like wall and knocked.
"It's a glass. How far does it extend?" Reevahn wondered. He knocked the wall and tried to peek beyond the glass.
"Can you see something?" Granger asked.
"Not clear but there's something moving. It looks dark on the other side." Reevahn described. "You can communicate with Globus and Gaila using your horn, right? Can you ask Gaila to tell Nina to peek beyond the glass with her flashlight?" he added.
"Of course. Wait for a moment." Globus closed his eyes and his horn emitted a blinking light – just like cell sites do.
Gaila's horn suddenly blinked. I wanted to sing her Twinkle Twinkle Little Star because of that blink. She was concentrating about something so that I didn't disturb her.
"I received a message from Granger." Gaila said. "Reevahn wants to tell you to check the boundaries in our direction and peek with your flashlight beyond the glass."
"Boundaries?"
"Yes. I think we must go further to find that boundary."
"If there is a boundary, this must not be a planet… Okay, if we reached the boundary, let's look for its ends."
We flew for almost a kilometer from the mountain range with half of the Han Gin Hebi Mushi's population. Gaila's horn glowed and all of the hybrids with me stopped flying. We stopped in the middle of the sea and all I can see is a horizon.
"Why did we stop?" I asked.
"We will collide a barrier if we do."
"Barrier? You mean, the boundary?"
"Yes, I think so. I've never been here so this is my first time reaching a boundary. Cazanette really has limits."
"What is this boundary? All I can see is a horizon. Is it a force or pressure that I can't feel?"
"Nina, try to concentrate and you'll find the boundary."
I felt ashamed when Gaila told me that. I think as worthless as a hungry Brix. I tried to concentrate and feel the presence of my surroundings. The moment I released my earth force, I was surprised that it suddenly bounced back to me from my front.
"It's just in front of us. Can we move closer?" I said.
I extended my hand and touched the barrier. "This is the boundary, isn't it?" I carefully get the flashlight out of my bag and peeked beyond the glass. I can see something moving. I mean many things moving. "Are those humans?"
"Gaila, I want to check if this barrier is connected to the skies. Would you tell the HGHMs to spread until they're a foot away from the barrier?"
"Okay." Gaila said. She seems to be talking to the HGHMs that are with us and later the HGHMs buzzed – that may be their form of sending signals to communicate to others. "Can we start now?" Gaila asked.
"Okay, let's lead until the highest point in Cazanette before we go to the hybrid village."
It took us almost thirty minutes for the HGHMs to be distributed to the walls. Surprisingly, I didn't know hybrid unicorns have special abilities.
"Nina, would you touch my head below my ear?" Gaila asked, so I did.
"Hey, Nina, can you hear me?" It was Reevahn's voice.
"Reevahn? How could this be… amazing…"
"This isn't that amazing for Granger and Gaila. I'm amazed in what I see."
"What is it?"
"Are those HGHMS who are forming a very steep arch? I can see them here from the North."
"Steep?" I inspected the formation. "What do you mean steep?"
"For your information, you and the HGHMs are forming an arch. The height is almost like of a space rocket. What are you doing?"
"I was just trying to find the limits of the boundary."
"Okay, let's go to the hybrid village and we'll talk about this with Brix."
"Alright."
"and take those HGHMs back to the laboratory."
Reevahn and I flew our ways to the hybrid village. The hybrid village is located South of Forest of Alchemy and West of the Marketplace.
We arrived at the hybrid village. Unlike the Town of Knowledge, which is a place for purebreds, the village doesn't have any walls, gates or fences. Brix and Globus were standing in front of a weird looking tree. The tree has very tall roots – almost ten meters tall, an absent or a very short trunk – which is not visible because the leaves are like of palm trees distributed randomly in multiple branches and bear fruits – which looks like big strawberries. I believe that this tree, according to its looks is the boundary of the hybrid village – or I can say that this is their symbol.
At a not very long distance, I saw Brix waving his arms and looks like he's saying something like, "Hurry up and you'll be dead meat!"
"There is no village here! I cannot see anything!" Brix shouted – which I couldn't hear.
"Gaila, may you tell Globus to shut Brix up? He will lose his voice if he does that continuously." I said.
Gaila giggled.
Suddenly, Brix waved at another direction – to Reevahn and Globus who are still flying. Before we can hear what Brix was trying to say, he sat down and waited for us, resting his chin of his left fist which the elbow is also resting on his left knee while he sat in Indian position.
"What were you trying to say earlier while I can't yet hear you?" I asked.
"Yeah. It looks like it was an emergency. What is it?" Reevahn asked.
"Let me rest for a while."
"While waiting for Brix to talk, we looked at the tree. While looking at it, I feel like the tree is looking back at me.
"Don't you think the tree looks enchanted? I feel like someone is watching me." I said to Reevahn.
"Maybe, there are spirits within." Reevahn answered.
"Haha… it looks like you've already missed your game, Reevahn. You are saying things." Brix laughed.
"And it looks like you are ready to talk. Start now." Reevahn answered back.
"In an instant? Okay. I said, I didn't see any village here. I was checking this place the moment I arrived but the only thing I saw is this tree! But they say, this is the exact location of the hybrid village."
"I think I know where the village is. There is a little similarity of this scene from the game I played."
"Okay, Nina has her anime and manga reference and you have your game reference. Then, what now?" Brix said
"Their village is in stealth mode and this tree is their control." Reevahn started.
"The question is, how can we turn the control off?" I said.
We inspected around the tree and were analyzing how to turn off Reevahn's hypothetical stealth control.
"Anyway, what happened to your missions?" Brix asked.
"I saw Nina and the HGHMs forming a very steep arch. They look like a rainbow made of living creatures." Reevahn said.
"It's because you told me to check the boundaries with my flashlight." I said.
"What? Boundaries?!" Brix shocked
"Yes. Boundaries. Why?" Reevahn asked.
"He broke the Southern boundary earlier using Nina's slingshot. There is a crack now."
"What?!!!"
"I didn't intend to break the boundary. I just can't see it. I thought I could catch a Cazanettan fish. Anyway, the water downhill rises uphill to that boundary then they meet on the river that leads to the falls." Brix explained.
"When Reevahn told me to peek beyond the boundary, I saw something. Lots of things were moving, maybe humans. Then we increased altitude, there was nothing beyond anymore. Then, Reevahn said that I was making a steep arch."
"Can we hypothesize again?" Reevahn recommended.
"I can say we aren't in another planet or world." Brix said.
"My first hypothesis will be, we are still in our world. We just need to find evidences in addition to the boundaries. This isn't another planet since there is no space above and there is a presence of boundaries. "
Suddenly, we saw Alnah flying towards us.
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