Chapter One: Thus Have I Heard

Yin Seventeen struggled to open his eyes, his head heavy and muddled as if an elephant had trampled it.

“Where am I…”

He gazed at the ruins before him, utterly confused.

He forced himself to recall—an old man, a city, a fall, thunder—fragmented memories surfaced one by one.

“Myself and the city beneath my feet… were transported by some unknown force to an unknown place?” Once he had pieced together his recollections, he reached a conclusion.

Not only that, he discovered the unknown force had not only protected him, but also altered his body.

He had reverted from a man in his twenties to a boy of about ten.

“No matter what, I’d better leave here first!” Setting aside the tangled questions in his mind, he made an immediate decision.

The place he stood was clearly the ruins of a recently destroyed village—the splintered beams were far too fresh.

The thought of how many dead lay buried here made his skin crawl.

“Wait—I should find some usable supplies before I go!”

He had barely taken two steps before stopping again.

The surroundings were desolate; without enough supplies, he wouldn’t survive alone.

He targeted a kitchen amid the debris of a home, and after digging around, found a bag of bread.

It was only luck—a pair of crossed beams had left a small space beneath, sparing the bread from destruction. Otherwise, its fate would have been sealed, and so would his.

Tap, tap, tap!

Just as he was about to leave, sudden footsteps broke the silence of the ruins.

Yin Seventeen’s heart tightened; he quickly searched his surroundings.

“Who’s there? Where are you?”

He searched the area, but found nothing.

Unbeknownst to him, the other party had been hiding in his blind spot, moving with his actions, always just out of sight.

Unable to find anything amiss, yet feeling the footsteps grow closer, Yin Seventeen grew uneasy.

“Could it be I hit my head and my hearing or vision is damaged? Or… did I encounter some kind of ghost?” His thoughts began to veer wildly.

He had never believed in the supernatural, but today’s strange experience forced him to admit: extraordinary powers and beings did exist in this world.

Suddenly, the footsteps ceased, and a murmuring voice sounded from behind him.

“No matter how I look, you’re just an ordinary child.”

Though there was no malice in the voice, for the tense Yin Seventeen, it thundered in his ears like lightning, startling him so much that he dropped the bread in his hands.

“Hey, young man, turn around and tell me—why are you here?” The voice asked calmly.

Hearing this, Yin Seventeen took a deep breath, forcing down his fear, and slowly turned around.

He dearly wanted to flee, but reason told him he could not.

From the stranger’s ability to move unseen, he knew this was no ordinary person.

Moreover, since no hostility was evident, running might provoke misunderstanding or unforeseen consequences.

No matter what, he had to steady himself before this unknown presence and think about the rest later.

As Yin Seventeen turned, his gaze shifted behind him, revealing a man clad in gleaming silver armor.

“What is this…”

The armor was strikingly familiar, leaving Yin Seventeen stunned.

If his memory was correct, it was the Sacred Cloth from the Greek Sanctuary.

Apparently pleased with Yin Seventeen’s astonished expression, the armored man nodded proudly. “It seems you already know my origin!”

“I am Moses of the Whale, a Silver Saint under Lady Athena, sent here by order of the Pope to investigate… investigate the fall of the meteorite.”

To avoid alarming a civilian, he quickly corrected himself.

“Now, tell me, young man, why are you here alone?” He fixed his gaze intently on Yin Seventeen.

Those commanding eyes felt like knives piercing his soul, and Yin Seventeen snapped back to his senses.

“Hm? What did you just say?” he asked reflexively.

Seeing that Yin Seventeen had been distracted, Moses twitched his mouth, a bit helpless, and patiently repeated, “Young man, why are you alone here?”

As a Saint of Athena, born to protect the peace of the earth, he would not quibble with a child over such a minor matter.

“I… I… I…”

“Waa—”

Momentarily unable to answer, Yin Seventeen seized the opportunity, collapsed to the ground, and wailed, clutching his head, buying himself time to think.

There was no doubt—this was no longer the earth he once knew, but the earth of the Saints, a world where myth manifested!

Though still earth, for him, it was no different from another world.

If he revealed he was not a native of this world, the consequences would be unpredictable.

Realizing this, he quickly came up with a plan.

“Hey, don’t cry! If you’re in trouble, tell me. As Saints of Lady Athena, we will do everything to protect everyone on this land!” Moses said, flustered by the crying child.

Facing a child’s tears felt harder to handle than facing evil itself.

“My… my family is all dead, buried beneath these ruins, sob sob—” Yin Seventeen ‘cried’ as he spoke.

The entire village was devoid of life; no one could verify or refute his identity.

As a survivor of this ‘disaster,’ there was no better cover.

“So that’s it? Truly a pitiable child,” Moses sighed helplessly.

Whenever evil rampaged across the land, human tragedies followed—this was not his first encounter.

Judging by the scale of the ruins, nearly a thousand people had lived here; all buried by the meteor’s impact, leaving only this child—a tragedy beyond words.

Seeing Moses believed him, Yin Seventeen wiped his tears and continued ‘sniffling.’ “Honored Saint… could you tell me… what terrible sin did our village commit… to suffer such divine punishment?”

“Have we lost Lady Athena’s favor?”

As an ‘ignorant’ ordinary child, faced with such disaster, he could only attribute it to divine wrath.

“No, no!”

Moses shook his head, hastening to explain. “Lady Athena loves this land and all who dwell upon it.”

“Even if someone errs, Lady Athena will forgive with her compassion!”

“She would never punish people with cruel divine wrath!”

As he spoke, his demeanor became that of a devout believer.

That was his faith.

He would not allow anyone to tarnish Lady Athena’s glory by attributing such calamity to her.

“Then… then can you tell me… why did we suffer such… such disaster?” Yin Seventeen asked, still ‘sniffling.’

Moses looked toward the sky and sighed. “It is evil from beyond this world!”