"How long will it last...?"
"The suicides will stop after the eighth person."
"Hmm?"
"There are eight... no, eight bodies floating there."
"You went there, didn't you?"
"What kind of place is it?"
"The flow of time there is distorted, or maybe reversed. Human memory, or records, lag behind the actual flow of time in that ruin. Their memories of life haven't caught up to their time of death yet. As a result, only memories remain alive. Even when people die, as long as memories exist, they won't vanish into nothingness. It's like extinguishing a flame; the smoke doesn't disappear instantly."
"..."
"Tell me, Shiki. When you look down from a high place, what comes to mind? When you take in the entire world below you, the impulse you feel, even if you try to resist, overwhelms you like a violent realization, bringing the emotions of a bird's-eye view. That feeling is... distance. Looking down from a high vantage point is breathtakingly beautiful, even if the landscape is empty. The sheer vastness of the view creates a disconnection from the world. Compared to the narrow spaces we experience firsthand, the broad spaces we see with our eyes feel more like the world we inhabit. This understanding is accurate, but no matter how you reason it, there's no tangible sense of truly being a part of that vast world. Here, rational knowledge and experiential reality cancel each other out. One side begins to erode, consciousness grows chaotic, and then..."
"..."
"The concept of a 'worldview' isn't just the image perceived by the eye. It's the image understood by the brain. Our vision is protected by our common sense. People cannot live outside their limitations. Originally—"
<+>
Imperial Mage Academy, Grand Plaza.
In the bustling hall, the discussion between Ryougi Shiki and Aozaki Touko about the strange recent phenomena played on the television. The mages present wore puzzled expressions, clearly struggling to comprehend Touko's words. Some students from the Mental and Spiritual Studies Branch recognized the actor playing Aozaki Touko as Rosa, their Branch's esteemed Arch Mage. Yet, even they appeared baffled.
There's a word for this kind of storytelling: obscurity. Like a mountain shrouded in clouds, full of shifting weather and veiled mysteries, you may feel as if you see the scenery, only to realize you've seen nothing at all. Even when standing atop the peak, the mountain's winding paths and peculiar sights might overwhelm your senses.
Such is the narrative and storytelling style of The Garden of Sinners. Its twists and turns are enigmatic and impossible to grasp straightforwardly, yet it's not without meaning. Different viewers interpret the same story in various ways. Ordinary people find it entertaining on the surface; magic apprentices perceive its depth; top-level Arch Mages delve into its inner truths. Undeniably, such a story is a good one.
And a good story naturally captivates audiences and sparks discussion.
"Ordinary people can't see ghosts or illusions, can they? Ryougi Shiki, the protagonist this time, is definitely not ordinary."
"It's interesting how this movie has a female lead. Although Fate/Zero had an ensemble cast, Arch Mage Rosa looks so cool in that outfit."
"What's the point of discussing these things? Did you even understand what Aozaki Touko was saying? Why is time in that ruin different from outside? I don't get it at all..."
"True, magic related to time has never been significantly researched. But we could reference Fate/Zero. In that, Kiritsugu Emiya used Innate Time Control to create a bounded field within his body, altering his internal time flow. By analogy, that ruin could be a naturally formed bounded field, causing time inside to flow differently from outside. That's why Ryougi Shiki sees the dead even though they haven't actually died yet."
"Your point makes sense, but I still think this isn't magic. Leaving aside whether a bounded field that alters time flow exists, if you can foresee future events like those girls jumping to their deaths and save them in advance, what would happen? Wouldn't that fall under pseudo-prophecy?"
Indeed, after all the debate, this was the point most concerning to these mages. The so-called pseudo-prophecy resembled the research once conducted in the Academy's Divination Branch.
Under normal circumstances, most prophecy-related magic delves into the realm of causality, making it inherently incomplete—akin to fortune-telling or mysticism. In other words, it's often inaccurate, offering only vague impressions.
As debates over the existence of higher--level prophecy magic sparked by a renowned Arch Mage's claims about discovering a fifth--level prophecy spell intensified, the long-standing discussion of whether future-telling truly exists was rekindled.
Before the emergence of the concept of pseudo-prophecy, most mages adhered to the idea of absolute prophecy. This doctrine, rooted in the belief in a unified timeline, dictated that the past, present, and future were predetermined and immutable. It was a notion deeply influenced by fatalism, promoted by certain religious institutions since the dawn of human civilization.
However, by that time, the mage community had developed enough intellectual capacity to question the validity of fatalism. Naturally, the first to challenge it were the proponents of the Imperial Mage Academy Divination Branch, who represented the study of the future.
The crux of the argument was simple: if prophecy magic truly existed and one could foresee the future through it, any subsequent change to present variables might trigger a butterfly effect, altering the predicted future. If such changes rendered the prophecy invalid, then the future was not predetermined, directly refuting fatalism. In this scenario, prophecy ceased to be prophecy and became merely a tool to mitigate risks.
Unable to resolve these contradictions, the Arch Mage eventually abandoned their efforts to prove their theory and disbanded the Imperial Mage Academy Divination Branch. Yet, the Grand Prophecy Spell endured, though it was redefined as a means to observe possible futures. Traditional prophecies, which claimed absolute certainty of predetermined outcomes, vanished into history, akin to the perpetual motion machine of another world.
However, The Garden of Sinners seemed to challenge these intellectual constraints, reintroducing the concept of fatalism into the audience's reality.
Even though everyone knew it was just a story and that the director had stated that The Garden of Sinners and Fate/Zero shared the same fictional universe, the implications were difficult to ignore.
"Their memories of life haven't caught up to their time of death yet, so only memories remain alive. Even if people die, as long as memories exist, they won't vanish into nothingness—like extinguishing a flame, where the smoke doesn't disappear instantly. Isn't that an interesting theory? It's not prophecy, but rather an accelerated acquisition of facts. The true moment of time resides on the rooftop scene."
"The future that manifests ahead of time becomes the present, and the present that fails to catch up to the future is merely the past. Hypothetically, if someone could accelerate the flow of time for the entire world and leap far ahead, even if the timeline of the world itself fell out of sync with time outside it, the predetermined reality would remain unchanged."
At the peak of the Alchemy Tower, a group of Arch Mages had once again gathered, surrounding the lone television in Ska's office. One of them, a former researcher in prophecy magic, shared their thoughts on the story.
Even Hohenheim and the other Arch Mages nodded in agreement, having long understood the theoretical solution to such questions.
Meanwhile, Ska—the sole bewildered junior mage present—could only watch helplessly as these Arch Mages, despite having televisions of their own, chose to crowd his office for the larger screen. Resigned, he sat quietly, adopting the demeanor of a novice among veterans, knowing better than to interrupt.
Before he could even offer them water, yet another Arch Mage burst out excitedly, interrupting his thoughts:
"The rationality of knowledge versus the reality of experience... the image perceived by vision clashing with the truth bound by common sense... I get it now! This is why sixth-level illusion barriers fail! No matter how realistic the illusion, if the person entering it lacks the corresponding common sense, the clash between the perceived reality and their understanding of it will create fatal flaws! I finally understand!"
"Understand what, you idiot? Shut up and let us watch the film!!"
"Exactly! If you've figured it out, go research it on your own. Don't block our view!"
Clearly, the outburst from the Arch Mage, who specialized in illusions, had disrupted the others' viewing experience. While they sympathized with his excitement, they were not above teaching him the meaning of pain if it came at the cost of their enjoyment.
Realizing his faux pas, the flustered Arch Mage quickly calmed down and muttered, "To summarize, the sixth-level illusion barrier research has always been in a delicate state. The effects of the completed barrier often deviate significantly. Despite controlling variables extensively, we couldn't pinpoint the cause of these discrepancies."
"But this story, The Garden of Sinners, offered me an epiphany—an overly vast perspective creates cognitive dissonance. Essentially, within a ten-meter radius that one's body can physically sense versus the same radius viewed from above, both are part of one's world. Yet, the tangible sense of reality lies with the former. Instead of accepting the vastness our eyes perceive as our world, we cling to the narrow, physical space around us. No matter how expansive the world is, it never feels real. This leads to the illusion of unreality and void."
"In other words, the distinguishing factor is common sense, or perhaps the depth of understanding. Suppose someone firmly believes that humans cannot ascend to heaven after death and is a staunch atheist. Even if you create a 'heaven' as real as reality itself, they would remain utterly unmoved, unaffected even by the illusions."
"Ordinarily, as long as a person possesses sufficient common sense and conviction, they wouldn't experience an illusion of jumping off or 'flying up' when standing on a rooftop. However, these victimized girls share a commonality—they have no foothold in their real-world lives. In their original world, they were absolutely marginalized. Because they lacked the means to fortify their common sense, when they arrived in this heavenly 'other world,' they could no longer return to the ground, becoming permanent residents of this foreign realm."
"Ultimately, an illusion is but a realm of illusion. To create an illusion so realistic that it becomes indistinguishable from reality, one must begin by studying the individual human psyche. Humans possess a remarkable capacity for self-satisfaction. To break free from the chains of common sense, one must shatter an individual's self-satisfaction, crafting an illusion that forces them to succumb—just like in a dream."
"Arch Mage Rosa, I didn't realize your research into the human subconscious ran so deep. It seems I'll need to consult with your Mental and Spiritual Studies Branch more often in the future."
"..."
Rosa is now entirely bewildered by the illusion researcher's monologue, her expression shifted into something subtly awkward. Finally, she sighed and replied, "Please don't confuse the actor with the character. I was merely reciting lines from Grand Mage Durin's script. If you want to discuss it, you should take it up with him."
"What? That kid came up with this? Does he even dabble in illusion studies?"
The Arch Mage specializing in illusions was visibly stunned, and the other Arch Mages also looked surprised. Yet, amidst their astonishment, they each found new insights from the earlier discussion.
Indeed, as previously mentioned, The Garden of Sinners carried a unique air of ambiguity. "If you say it is, then it is. If you say it isn't, then it isn't." This paradoxical tone often made viewers feel as if it carried profound meaning, only for them to realize, upon closer examination, that it could just as easily be nonsensical.
Thus, the earlier segment wasn't just enlightening for the illusion researcher. Each Arch Mage present found inspiration within their respective fields. Though the story seemed elusive and inscrutable, its peculiar allure compelled everyone to eagerly continue watching the film unfold on the screen.
<+>
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