"That is strange. Usually everyone arrives in group in fall and summer only . " He stroked his beard looking at her.

"I don't know what to tell you . I am confused myself ."

"Ya ! That is quite natural alright ! It would be unusual if you weren't . Come along ." He chuckled as she lightly nodded her head .

The swampy mud traced hook of her wooden sandals as she struggled to keep her balance. Uncanny stench seeped in pores as she proceeded further on the cakewalk floor breaking so fast as if almost trying to drag her beneath the uneven surface engulfing in earth itself.

The tradition of presenting the newcomer with wooden sandals beside certainly making things even further incessant . But she knew quite well that if she tried to protest against this stupid tradition, then it wouldn't allow her to go deep inside the framework as she needed to be .

Her old professor of Philosophy's words still persisted like a tinnitus she couldn't get rid of .

"A trust is a double edged sword no matter what the cause . You might just die trying to earn it or you might just die breaking it .

We read and discuss about those betrayers so passionately, still unaware as to just how many of them were actively engaged in controlling an empire ?

All we know is simply a fraction of verified betrayers who lost but winners would have never surfaced up if they truly existed in first place .

Brew the pot too fast and you will have burnt meal . Stay too long and you will forget all you had to was to simmer the food ."

She couldn't advance until she had earned trust of these people but at very same time , she was also aware that she couldn't venture too deep and long enough to be filled with emotion to forget her mission itself.

Those very same words stuck in her mind that always felt like a rambling now remained the only piece of advice in this world for her.

"You are lazing around again , Moyoma ! You damn ..." A loud angry voice barked .

"Calm down ! Whoa ! Jintaro. I am actually on official visit this time ." He waved his hands pointing at her at which she looked up .

So he was the guy in charge here .

"So you are telling me that there is a single newcomer this time ? " Jintaro exhaled . " Great! There goes my plan for holiday . What is your name ? "

"Ariel."

"Nice ! You better go back and get to work , Moyoma . What are you standing around here for now ?" He glared at the latter.

"Sheesh..why do you have to be such a ? A new guest came after all . "

"I am going to count to three ." Jintaro smiled at which Moyoma scurried away .
"At least one trouble is gone . Now then you follow me ." He frolicked a keychain around his fingers.

"You must be having a great time wearing those. "

"Oh yes ! Indeed." She replied sheepishly.

"Just kidding . I am well aware how uncomfortable they are . " He laughed lightly.

"Yet you have made no efforts to change that tradition it seems ?"

"Well ! It can only be changed by head of household and they took me in when I was baffled out of my wits along with others. Considering all that , anyone can bear the strain for few minutes , don't you think ?" He squinted his eyes.

"Right."

Both stopped at pinewood house . Even though she was alive again in this world , she had barely felt the cold but seeing the structure of roof , dressing style and settlement patterns , it was not hard to figure out that the western civilization was majorly concentrated in cold region .

But there was also something much strange in itself. She could still tell that this town was nowhere in snow fall prone area and yet people had already felt the need to use wooden houses . So had the climate changed again over time or people here had just got used to building these houses in first place?

The interior of room certainly didn't seem appalling enough to be termed unsavoury. Even the bed was as comfy and if not more than her usual bed. Confounded by exuberance of such large distraction , all her thoughts mitigated .

"So you can stay here now until..."

"The Head decides .I get the deal . Ta-da ." She closed the door quickly leaning on it blushed.

"Hope that wasn't too rude . Oh well!" She fondled her cheek in delight as she felt the soft rug laid out for her .

"A nice bed in a nice place all for myself, no competition to go through every day and single mission with no immediate deadline. Oh ! Am I really in heaven then?" She smiled lying on an archaic bed with closed eyelids.

"Oh ! So you can get happy after all ."

'So you are back in my mind again .'

"You aren't surprised at all ?" Crezina smirked.

"At this point, anyone can invade my mind for me . So what do you want ?"

"Can't we girls be doing a courtesy call ?"

"All of sudden, you are fine with calling yourself a girl. Just what goes in your head , Crez ? Oops.. Jean might get jealous if he heard me call you that ." Ariel chuckled.

"No! In order for you to trust me , I had to reveal my identity so I don't intend to pretend that it never happened . That is all. For others , I still remain simply Crezina .

"I see . Well ..I still think there is no reason to hide your face but whatever you choose, Crez . "

"Good . Now as for your first assignment , you have to get close with...."

Ariel took a deep breath after the explanation .

"I will try my best but don't be surprised if I fail ."

"I am well aware of your worth. I won't ever choose if I didn't know you could do it so don't be nonplussed when you succeed." Crezina ended the connection.

"Ah ..I couldn't think of a perfect comeback . Just how fast that girl's brain work ." She hit the pillow burying her face in it . For someone who had been just unaccustomed to this world five days ao, she sure had been acting quite comfy . Maybe she was overthinking it all but she was certainly getting a lot time, too much time to introspect herself .

Whether that was intended for them by Ilahen or not, if it meant reverting back to her past , she certainly wanted to stay as far as away from those thought as she could be .

.......

Different kind of theories have spanned the human history each trying to explain just how psyche worked. Yet just no matter how far human intelligence rise, the conflict and complexity will always surpass their comprehension one way or another.

"You are telling me that you plan to destroy the very model that we intend to preserve ? My...my ...could it be that Jean finally broke you ?" Karl giggled.

"I have already explained my reasoning .It is of no concern to me if you aren't able to get it through your head, Mr Summer.Now then if you will excuse me ." Crezina pushed past him as Azane stared at the scene , her eyes brimming with concern.

"Any thoughts on how to ameliorate her mood?" Karl sighed .

"Now even you are assuming Crezina as a girl ." She pointed out.

"Huh... I guess I did .I suppose it is hard to refer to someone in third person all time without feeling a sense of being in front of corporate boss. "

"Oh ! So you worked in Wall Street or something .." Jean remarked coming in .

"You are free to assume anything you'd like . We are all long past that world now . What I was before is now of hardly any relevance to me now ..." His eyes glittered with an unparalleled contentment as he took his leave.

"Guess all got a past to hide here . Well! It makes sense as to why only nine of us were left here " Jean closed his eyes convinced .

"Mr Jean ! ..Jean. "

"What is it ?" He gazed at Azane 's glistening doe eyes .

"I didn't have that bad life....." She leaned closer. " but I hope someday you feel comfortable to share whatever is on your mind with me . It is just that the way you speak, I can't help but wonder just how was your life then ? ...I hope you can forgive for being presumptuous .."

His eyes fixated on her for a moment ." As if I would ever tell about my life to a kid ." He scoffed setting his overcoat up the neck at which Azane just smiled brightly.

....
"Send me there too ."

"Huh? What.." Crezina was lying on the bed ready to take off her mask . Being startled out of her wits was last thing she needed, considering how much time she had to think of a set up for perfect civilization.

"Chikao Tsuneoki! In case you forgot who I am ..."

No ! If it was really that simple , there would have been no need to get so startled . Just what did he even want right now ? Was he against her plan or something? It wasn't like she was expecting an unanimous agreement but still she had hoped that at least people would take some time to come to her .

"I know Ariel-sama planned it . Whatever instructions you have been given, you know you can share with me . I am well aware of her capabilities so feel free to discuss it all with me ." He smirked .

Ariel-sama? Wait .. she had definitely seen him in Ariel's memories? . wasn't he the guy following her persistingly convinced that she was some secret strategist .

This guy was definitely going to be one pain in neck to deal with ..

"Umm..you see ! Ariel wishes to be alone there according to the plan she had cooked up just like I shared with all . That is all ." She tried to wave him off.

"Tell me Crezina ! When is next shipment scheduled for ?"

"Shipment?" She puffed her cheeks confused.

"When will next consignment of humans go to Western civilization ? Sending me straight after Ariel"s arrival would raise nothing but suspicion both around me and her leading to failure in mission so I am going to blend in with those humans there ."

This guy .. She couldn't believe his nerve . It was like he was not even slightly worried about facing opposition from her in mixing with western civilization.

"Don't worry. I am not just going there for Ariel-sama only. Well she is the primary reason . I mean who would want to be away from such a being brandished with traits underlying right under everyone's nose, sleek as a lizard and .."

"Ok! Ok I get it . Ariel sama ..." She cursed herself . He even made her say it . Yup ! No wonder Ariel was in such a foul mood after meeting him . "I get it already. If you go there , you can provide her with additional support and could be useful key elements in brewing and ending conflict ."

"Exactly." He smiled proudly . "Though I am still bit perplexed about the world order though , Crezina . So.. would you mind explaining it to me bit again ?"

Seriously..

"Fine ! This world is divided into two empires. The Eastern Empire known as Eusador in which large forests in its vicinity has been occupied by two hundred people and the western empire known as Utopia .

The consciousness energy from male and female homosapiens starts to accumulate once they reach maturity i.e. around 17 or above until 40 in a reservoir in Eusador .

Once the consciousness energy from both meets a certain limit , a new human is conceptualized and assigned to each of the humans living who takes care of them until maturity . The limit has been set flexible so that all babies are conceptualized at same time making it more convenient to erase their memory after every periodic cycle of 2 year when they are shipped to Utopia .."

"Wait ! Wait ..why every 2 years only ? I mean how can babies take only two years to grow . I find it utterly incomprehensible . " Tsuneoki interrupted her .

"Humans are shipped at 16 year only so no ! It takes sixteen years . You are forgetting something significant here . I said large forests have been occupied by two hundred people . " She smiled .

He raised his eyebrows nonplussed.

"Right! There must he multiple reservoirs with multiple settlements scattered throughout Eusador alike Utopia . After all both are empires .. wow! Ariel-sama had it all planned out , didn't she?"

Even though she was the last person to whine over credit, she couldn't deny that it was bit annoying to hear all praise go to Ariel when she had done all the work .

"Right! I should probably stop worrying over such petty things." She told herself.

"Yes . Though what I have told you uptill now merely is a fraction of rules set for this universe. "

"Huh" He narrowed his eyes at her .

"Are you ready that shocked? It is to be expected only . We are talking about 'A perfect world' here . Trust me when I say this , brewing major conflict in this world is like finding needle in haystack. So I won't be really surprised if before even passing of one year , the deadline of next shipment, Ariel want to return and give up . "

She was slightly shook on noticing that Jean was leaning by edge of room intently listening to them but she quickly assuaged herself

"The only thing capable of breaking this Utopia will require a Dystopian mindset at its extreme.."

She had chosen her wager... unaware whether Ariel is capable of such dystopian mindset or not , she had wagered on it by sending her to depths of that desirable reality, haunting mankind for eternity.

Vehemence of love can never extricate one from pain.