"You're wrong, I have no idea what you're talking about," Mammon's bewildered expression only lasted for a moment before quickly returning to calmness. "Even if what you're saying can explain the current situation, you can't rule out the possibility that there are people with power beyond our imagination who secretly orchestrated all this."
"Furthermore, I don't really believe that you can actually get your hands on such a thing."
"If you really possess what you described..."
"Based on your background, it must have only been obtained from Agio and McNewdeau."
"So there's no need for Maria and McNewdeau to wait any longer."
"They must have already infiltrated Erisburg and taken Oedipus' head."
"But in that case, the reason for your presence here is worth pondering...isn't it?"
"Are you just testing us?"
Mammon furrowed her brow and carefully observed Merka again, realizing that her impression of Merka might need to be reconsidered.
"...What?" Merka asked.
"Does this thing work on Grand Duke Oedipus too?"
"How is that possible?"
"I never said that," Mammon smiled faintly.
"But you still haven't answered my previous question, how can you be sure that there are no other possibilities?"
"Well..." Merka said.
Merka picked up the newspaper on the table.
"I sensed a transmission magic on the newspaper just now."
"It warned me not to ask you about this thing."
"Although it's possible that someone left it there to mislead me."
"But I have noted the feeling of that magical fluctuation."
"Miss Mammon, I have yet to feel your magical presence."
"If you were to use magic in front of me now, the truth would surely become clear."
Samael looked confused as he watched the two people secretly struggling with their words, unable to grasp the situation.
The woman who had strayed further from the topic center began to panic in her heart.
"Isn't he talking about the 'Mechanized Divinity'?"
"Mammon, what are you going on about?" Samael interrupted the awkward standoff.
Mammon gave Samael a disdainful look, a helpless sigh escaping from her lips.
"What if Merka doesn't actually have the Mechanized Divinity?"
"What if he's just playing with our words? He just wants to confirm whether this thing actually exists?"
"After all, he's connected to Maria. Every move he makes is related to her."
"The Mechanized Divinity can't be showcased in front of us."
"And if he doesn't show us the Mechanized Divinity, he can say anything."
Mammon asked several questions with frustration in her voice.
"Ah, indeed!" Samael slapped his forehead as if regretting his thoughtless words earlier.
"Samael, you really..." Mammon rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
"But it's not your fault either."
"Who made our Mr. Handsome not only have such a trustworthy face, but also be so eloquent."
Mammon smiled warmly at Merka.
"Now we are like two fleas on a rope, Merka."
"In the truest sense."
--------------------------------------------------
Chapter One: The Fall of the Colossus
Eight Years Ago
A young Turing stared blankly at the setting sun behind the distant mountains.
The magnificent red sun looked like a runny duck egg yolk, casually dripping its salty goo onto the bleak white snow along a vertical line that seemed perpendicular to the ground.
Turing contemplated whether it was possible that everything in this world was disconnected.
The white snow didn't melt because of the sun shining on it.
The sunset didn't happen because the moon urged it to.
She wasn't mediocre because she didn't try hard enough to excel.
Her mother wasn't punished because she wasn't good enough.
"What's wrong, sis?" Diana leaned against a shovel sticking out of the snow, adult-sized.
Beside her was a large and adorable snowman they built together.
"Sis is daydreaming again."
"Should we try another skipping rope pattern? I think what our teacher taught us before was unreliable."
Diana reached into her thick coat pocket with her rosy and freezing cold little hand, and pulled out a long and thin red rope.
Carefully knotting both ends of the red rope together, Diana formed a circle with it. Blowing out a cloudy breath, she gently pulled the loose end and confidently took hold of the rope.
Turing looked at Diana's slightly trembling hand, tinted with a transparent pink hue at the joints, and wrinkled her brow with concern.
"Let's forget it, Diana."
"It's too late today." Turing turned to look at the kindergarten not far away, where warm and flickering lights illuminated the windows.
The smoke rising from the cozy fireplace, bathed in radiant light, seemed like a staircase to heaven. Its luxurious design and magnificent architecture were heavenly themselves.
"We should go back." Turing said.
"No... no, let's try again, just one more time." Diana persisted, wrapping the rope into a flower shape and presenting it to Turing.
Turing reluctantly took her hand out of her sleeve, but did not grab the rope from Diana's hand.
Instead, she placed her hand on the back of Diana's, using her own body temperature to comfort Diana's chilly hand oppressed by the cold wind.
Little did Diana know, she had been deceived.
The nursery teacher had told the children that if two best friends played the skipping rope game and consecutively skipped one hundred different patterns,
the evil constellation in the sky, the Colossus of Bemon,
would fall from the heavens.
In reward for their perseverance and wisdom, the gods would grant them one wish.
But this wish had to be a shared wish, otherwise the gods would make both wishes impossible to realize.
Turing knew from the beginning that this was a lie the teacher made up just to promote friendship among the children.
But Diana believed it all along.
As the most outstanding child in the Royal Kindergarten, everyone kept their distance from Turing due to his noble status and mature temperament.
Although Diana was well-liked by the other children, she couldn't find a friend to play jump rope with.
Because as they grew older, no child believed in this lie anymore.
So Diana had no choice but to challenge Turing to this legend.
Lonely Turing and innocent and lovely Diana got along perfectly and became partners in realizing their wishes.
In order to fulfill the conditions of being "best friends" and "successfully jumping over one hundred different jump ropes in a row,"
Turing and Diana were together all day, doing everything from going to the bathroom, eating, reading, and even sleeping.
Turing didn't know why he kept playing this silly make-believe game for so long.
Maybe deep down, she really wished for a chance to make a wish.
How great it would be if he was really a girl.
But this wish didn't even have a chance to be made.
Because a wish requires the agreement of both people.
