The first mages. The ones who were said to have… created magic. I had heard of them from time to time, and the robe I was wearing was something of a holy relic that one of them supposedly wore—but to be honest, the existence of these so-called first mages was absurd.
The problem with treating it as history was the claim that they created magic. Did Newton create gravity? No, he discovered it.
But the first mages, judging by the stories and their very name, insisted they had created magic themselves. In other words, it was a tale that should be treated as myth, if not a fairy tale. The fact that Red Lotus seriously believed such a thing— Hmm.
The thought that they might actually believe it was a measure of just how insane they were. But to say they believed a complete fairy tale was questionable, especially since there weren't just one, but seven of them. If the members of Red Lotus truly believed that fairy tale, there had to be a reason.
A reason that made them believe.
"That's why you can't go up. It's for the best."
"Is that so..."
After venting his frustrations about the Upper World, Thousand Bloods tried to coax me with his sly words.
"Why are you trying to go to a place like that? Don't tell me you think something will change if you get there?"