What Shiomi meant by considering the setting was simple: this was a ruin, and beneath it lay countless dead of unknown origin.
In other words, Ka'an was not merely the ruins of a city. It was also the gravestone of a Lostbelt human civilization that had once existed and was ultimately destroyed.
Fortunately, Scáthach had only been teasing Shiomi. She had no real intention of doing anything indecent here.
"During the fight with Camazotz just now, the number of skeletal warriors crawling out of the ruins must have been in the tens of thousands," Morgan said from where she sat atop a ruined wall with only half of it left.
While fighting in the form of the Unity God, her senses had been honed to the utmost extreme. With the Fairy Eyes further enhanced by the power of the Star's Eye, they had surpassed their original limits and could take in all the Mystery on the battlefield.
Most of the time, she still had to block out everything except the immediate target in front of her, but that did not mean she could not see it.
A single glance had been enough for her to grasp the rough state of the place.
"Tens of thousands..." Scáthach let out a sigh. "If it really was that many, then I'd have to maintain the [Gate] at full power just to suppress those remains, each one comparable to a Servant, and drag them into the Land of Shadows for burial."
They were only skeleton soldiers, yet the magical energy coming off their bones was shockingly high, far beyond what ordinary humans should leave behind after death.
"And that was only the number Camazotz called out at once." Shiomi leaped onto a stone pillar that had not yet fallen and looked out over the ruins of Ka'an, which were nearly blending into the surrounding sea of trees. "This city was probably even larger than Chichen Itza. At the very least, it could have supported a population of over a hundred thousand."
"A hundred thousand..." Scáthach looked slightly startled.
Mictlan's environment was extremely primordial, comparable to the era of the Seventh Singularity.
In such an age, a city like Uruk with tens of thousands of inhabitants was already the largest and most prosperous city-state in Mesopotamia.
Compared to that, Ka'an, which may have held at least a hundred thousand people in such a natural environment...
"It looks like Mictlan... no, Ka'an's productive capacity had developed to an unprecedented level," Artoria said, offering her thoughts. "It may even have rivaled the era of Proper Human History before the Bleaching."
"But if the people of Ka'an had such a magnificent civilization, why did they perish?" Skadi asked. "So far, all we've seen are the dinosaur-humans who call themselves Deinos, and the Ocelomeh that only took root in this Lostbelt a year ago."
Shiomi thought for a moment, then said a single word.
"ORT."
Even though it was only his guess, it still shocked the others.
ORT.
The ultimate objective of New Chaldea's campaign in the South American Lostbelt.
The obstacle that had to be overcome in order to excise this Lostbelt.
"Wait," Artoria said hurriedly. "According to Kirschtaria Wodime, ORT should still be dormant. Up to now, we haven't found any signs of ORT being active, much less confirmed where it is."
"This is only a hypothesis, but let me challenge that a little," Shiomi said as he jumped down and walked over to Artoria, answering in a gentle voice. "Kirschtaria did not hide anything and shared as much information as he knew. But he wasn't the person directly in charge of this Lostbelt, so his information was bound to be incomplete."
As he spoke, he turned to look over the ruins of Ka'an.
"For example, he didn't know where the ruins of Ka'an came from. We only learned the details from the Deinos and the Dinosaur King. So, can we assume one very extreme possibility?"
"What possibility?" Morgan asked with interest.
"That at some point in the distant past, ORT once woke up, destroyed the flourishing human civilization that existed then, and afterward fell asleep again," Shiomi said.
"It woke up, then went back to sleep?" Scáthach did not sound convinced. "We still do not know exactly what ORT is, but if it did awaken, then why would it go back to sleep? That part makes no sense either."
"That's why I said it's only a baseless assumption." Shiomi scratched his head helplessly. "Still, Camazotz, who carries the presence of a Beast Spirit Origin, deliberately occupies this place. He may know something."
At that, Skadi said, "Come to think of it, wasn't Camazotz also trying to use your authority earlier to revive the dead warriors of Ka'an?"
"That's another point worth paying attention to," Shiomi said. "What exactly Camazotz wants to accomplish by stealing my authority is something I'm very concerned about as well."
If this place had no connection to him, then there would have been no reason for Camazotz to spend such precious stolen authority as a disposable resource just to resurrect a group of humans who had died so long ago.
They were either comrades from the past, or enemies from the past.
There had to be some connection. Otherwise, it made no sense.
"Let me ask one question, then. If we recover all of the authority, would my husband be able to bring these dead back to life?" Morgan asked.
"No," Shiomi said, shaking his head. "Even if I did it myself, all I could do would be return them to the state they were in just after dying. Their souls, their minds, everything that made them who they were has already dispersed and returned to Mictlan's Maya. Unless I gave them entirely new souls."
Artoria's expression grew heavy. "But if that happened, wouldn't that mean they had become someone else? They wouldn't be the same people anymore."
"That's right." Shiomi looked out over the desolate ruins.
They walked through the rubble, trying to find patterns or writing.
But everything was too ancient. Time had worn it all away until not a trace remained.
Just how many years had passed, with no human hand intervening, for nature to erode the marks of a civilization until almost nothing was left?
"Still, there may be something we can do." Shiomi bent down and picked up a piece of brick. "We can take this back and have Storm Border's instruments analyze it. Run carbon-14 dating on it."
"So sometimes we do have to rely on science after all." Scáthach smiled. "Too bad neither version of Tezcatlipoca is willing to explain the specifics. We'll have to figure it out ourselves at Chaldea."
"Right." Shiomi turned to Morgan. "My wife, I have a favor to ask."
"Go on, then. No need to be so formal." Morgan's eyes were smiling.
"I want you to offer a memorial for this fallen country in my place." Shiomi held the fragment of brick in his hand. "Let's treat it as the price for taking remnants from these ruins."
Morgan looked mildly surprised, then smiled in understanding.
"In that case, it can't be helped. I'll mourn the dead here in my husband's name. After all, in your current state, you're not exactly dressed for solemn ceremony."
After that, Morgan, together with Scáthach and the others, performed rites for the ruins of Ka'an in Shiomi's stead.
And throughout the ruins, countless flowers slowly bloomed from the cracks in the stones, spreading across what had once been a city, quietly speaking of forgotten things in the wind.