Malin checked its injured leg and finally decided to heal it—if the falcon had also been contaminated by Chaos, then healing it amounted to its Purification.
If it hadn’t been contaminated and had simply beco a spirit, it would be able to survive.
The reason Malin chose to save the falcon was that he was unclear whether the things he did while diving deep would affect the world in the future. With safety first in mind, Malin had no choice but to do this.
The Restorative Spell and limb regeneration healed the falcon’s broken leg without any discomfort. Malin retreated to a corner, wove a protective net with Spell Formation, and then ordered the young shoots to let go.
Fio and the others ca before Malin, forming the strongest shield wall.
Eventually, the falcon stood up again. It flapped its wings and, instead of attacking Malin, went to the side of the room to rebuild its nest.
Malin watched it and finally smiled. He picked up the sowhat frightened young and approached the bed.
The falcon turned its head to look at Malin, puzzled and sowhat fearful.
Malin thought for a mont, let Fio draw a drop of blood from his fingertip, sared it on the Acorn, and then tossed it to the falcon, which swallowed the Acorn in one gulp.
"Katerina, take good care of my pet. One day, I’ll co back."
After jokingly saying this, as it called out, Malin fell backward, collapsing on the sheets that felt like water.
Before even opening his eyes, Malin heard the falcon’s cries.
Upon opening his eyes, Malin found himself in bed, and the sound of the falcon’s cries seed still at a distance.
Sitting up, he shooed the young to a safe corner, pulled open the curtains, and saw the tall building standing amid the ruins in the distance.
On the massive open observation deck, a giant falcon perched.
Stepping out of the bedroom, Malin saw the young girls.
"Mr. Malin, did you see, that giant eagle," Clovis imdiately smiled upon seeing Malin: "Super big, even bigger than the legends say."
"Yes, this is Eagle Gorge, on the other side of the ruins lies the cliff. It’s the God-Eagle in the eyes of Farolians; it will never harm humans," Faye said.
Malin walked to the window and watched the giant falcon until it stood up, directing its gaze towards Malin.
Thinking it over, Malin grabbed a blanket, wrapped it around his wrist, and extended his hand out the window.
"Mr. Malin, will you ta it? That’s a Giant Eagle. They say it eats several yellow deer in one al."
Then the girls all saw the eagle they knew stand up.
Even from afar, they could see that the colors of the skin on its two legs were different.
Malin watched it fly towards him and began to smile.
How to explain this, could it really be? Did it rember him just as he had thought?
Under Malin’s gaze, the falcon grew closer and at the sa ti, smaller.
"It’s getting smaller! It has to be a Legendary being!" Lillim scread: "Too dangerous!"
"No, Lillim, it’s not dangerous. It’s getting smaller, not the behavior of a spirit when they attack," Matilda comforted Lillim.
Malin took out an acorn and tossed it toward the hawk as it flew over his head.
The hawk caught the acorn and swallowed it, then circled in mid-air; this ti, the small enough hawk landed on Malin’s arm.
"Are the lifespans of Spirits infinite?" Malin, stroking the hawk, then asked Faye.
"That’s impossible, even for a legend, a millennium is enough for most lives to have to face their end," Faye said.
Malin looked toward the building. "Have the Tech Hunters checked it out?"
The hawk on Malin’s hand chirped a few tis; although he completely did not understand what she was saying, unexpectedly, Malin understood her thoughts: "It says no."
A sentence went unsaid.
It also said that Katerina was waiting for his return.
"Co on, let’s go, ladies," Malin said with a smile as he opened the portal—the hawk in his hand had given him the coordinates to the tower’s observation deck.
The group stepped through the portal; Faye was imdiately attracted to the nest, where she saw giant feathers: "These are the Giant Eagle Feathers that alchemists speak of; many co to the ruins each year to collect them."
"They’re yours now," Malin said as he entered, then lifted his head to look at the searching eyeball rotating on the wall: "Good afternoon, Katerina."
"Good afternoon, guest. I was so worried when you fell into the bed; I really never expected that after so many years you haven’t changed at all," Katerina paused, then sighed like a person: "I’ve been guarding your pet here for a full eight thousand years."
"...I know, thank you." Indeed, if not for the technology from before the Great Destruction Era to treat this hawk, no matter how powerful it was, it could not possibly have lived for such an extended ti. Perhaps the hawk’s entire body had been replaced.
At this thought, Malin sighed: "Katerina, you must have seen everything that followed, right?"
"Yes, guest, I have seen humanity decline, watched civilizations cut off, and even had to lock your pet in the treatnt center to avoid those ghostly beings... I’m curious, curious why it all happened, and curious if I’ll never see humans again, until once more beings called humans appeared in these worlds, but they were no longer my creators."
This AI had completely exceeded Malin’s imagination.
It spoke a lot in one breath, and as it slowed down, looking at Malin, it ended with a question: "My lord, you call Katerina, how should I address you?"
"...Katerina, what’s wrong?" Malin sensed sothing off about it.
"The last energy cell has entered idle mode; it was the sensing of your presence that reactivated . In one minute, I will shut down. In these eight thousand years, I’ve been waiting for my creators, but... it seems they will not co anymore; hence, I want to know the na of the guest, during this long wait, I have always wondered what your na is."
"Malin, my na is Malin," Malin said.
Katerina’s voice held a hint of a smile: "Malin, guest, you have a nice na. This is the artificial intelligence Katerina of Castel Sanatorium, offering you my final greetings, and welco to the finest sanatorium in Italy."
Having said that, the scrutinizing eyeball began to close.
Malin’s hawk did not realize that the friend who had served it for eight thousand years was gone forever.
The ladies did not know either because they did not understand the conversation between Malin and that voice.
But they realized the voice was no longer there.
Malin sighed, "I have a very long story, and I hope you will like it. For now, let’s go back."
Let this place be left to the lady who was faithful to her duty for a full eight thousand years.
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