'Traditions are something that a culture shapes.'

That's the thought you'd have when you think logically about how traditions and customs are formed.

There are times when certain events happening in certain geographic zones leads up to certain rituals and actions by the community that happens in a certain part of the world.

There are times when these rites are shaped by abstract reasons, like dreams or premonitions of the nature.

In many of the ancient texts where the nature is represented as the supreme entity, the beings of the past came up with things that, being too simple and unrelated, somehow resulted in certain phenomena.

'That's how it is.'

You know what I think though? Be it traditions, customs, or whatever you may wanna call it, all of this comes from human minds at the end of the day.

There are times when the people around you will do certain things and that will lead to a certain other person coming up with responses that they would otherwise never produce.

'In the east of my previous world, there were a lot of temples. The priests in these temples performed certain rites on regular bases.'

Who do you think asked them to wash the idol of their god with milk and honey? Who would have asked them to place certain flowers before those rocks?

Why would you consider anything written in historical records if there is no proof of any of what had happened?

'Now it's not like I do not believe in the things written in those old texts at all.'

Some things happened and some things led to others. There is action and those actions led to what one sees in the present.

Some things evolved to have a different meaning than what was initially intended of them, and all these unique practices lead to things that you would not want to have in certain cases.

'But then again, why do you think I'm contemplating all those things?'

It's because of what I am seeing right now.

"It's your first time seeing something like this?" Reddy asked me as if she could tell just by looking at my face.

"Yes, thanks to that connection we have." But the reason for that accurate guess was the link that we shared.

And yes, she was right. I was seeing this kind of scene for the very first time…

"Hmmm… then let me explain to you what this is, hehe." Reddy chuckled sweetly and focused her attention to the front.

In the center of the plaza where the coffins were arranged in a certain circular formation, a distinct magic circle was formed with the magic of twenty one mages.

"That magic does not really need all those mages. However, in the past when the founding queen of the kingdom of Isis performed the [Ritual of Celestial Farewell] as the last rite for the soldiers who fell during the final war of independence, there were exactly twenty other mages present with her."

Everyone in the plaza was standing now, with a large magic circle present around the coffins.

Sir Quinn was floating above the coffins, twenty one mages were maintaining the magic circle below the coffins, and three spirit summoners had summoned their intermediate-rank spirits of fire, earth, and wind as well.

The sky above was clear today, and the people seemed to be chanting their final goodbyes to the departed.

"With the help of the three spirit summoners accompanying her, the founding queen used Telekinesis magic to raise the dead off the ground, overlapping a spell that sends them high up in the sky above it."

As part of the final rites, the coffins were not going to be buried underground. Instead, there was going to be a different outcome.

"The coffins that were raised up into the sky were sustained there for a moment as the spirit of earth bound them all together with earth attribute ropes, signifying their undying connection with the earth."

As Reddy described, the coffins were raised up into the air by the mages, however, before they were sustained into the sky, with a swift movement of his hand, the branch manager cut out a certain part of the coffins, the part that had the names and details of the dead.

That part was arranged right before their eyes as well, so, the closed eyes inside saw the sun for the final time before the earth spirit bound the coffins with a string of rocks.

"The flame magic of the fire spirit was used to burn and cremate the corpses alongside the coffins, and wind of the wind spirit brought these ashes across the lands as they slowly met the ground."

The flames that covered the coffins did not destroy them directly. They also did not start burning from the start.

The flames simply surrounded the coffins for a minute, the heat warming the body inside. Then, as the wood was warmed to a certain degree, the flame colour for each of the coffins changed.

"Over the years, the initial tradition has evolved slightly. Nowadays, the corpses are given a certain special color of flame that corresponds with the beloved color of the dead."

Traditions and costumes are bound to change. There is no helping it. There are times when we do not understand a few things, but as time passes, we become the ones to bring change to certain things.

The last rites are somewhat like that as well.

Be it here or my previous world, what is done to the dead body is always a big cultural question.

Why do we bury the coffins? Why do we burn bodies wrapped in white? Why are the dead presented to wild animals? Why are they left on a boat in a flowing river before they're set on fire?

The original motives behind these practices remains unclear, but over time, they do tend to experience some form of changes.

"The different colours intensify, the flames cover the bodies. Sustained in the sky, the bodies become ashes, and the souls depart to the afterlife."

As Reddy explained, the rites continued.

The families and loved ones prayed for the departed souls. They mourned their loss. Some cried and screamed, and some cursed those they could curse.

Life was not easy in this world. Dungeons were the mines we collected resources from, and these same dungeons were the monsters that threatened our lives.

"The people that we had seen just recently, those who helped us or asked us for help, those who we saw smiling just yesterday… to think we'd never get to see them ever again brings endless sorrow to me."

Reddy was not doing well.

She was holding herself back, the tears slowly drifting down her eyes.

She didn't like these things, I knew that already.

'Last night, we talked a little about all the times she had watched people die in front of her.'

The work of the city guards was difficult but not as dangerous as the adventurers. There weren't many deaths. They were guards who maintained public order and the city walls, not soldiers that fought on the front lines.

It was better, so she chose this path instead of becoming an adventurer like she had always dreamt of.

'In fact, she did get an adventurers license when she was much younger.'

She has a (Rank-7) license like me, but after she saw most of her party members die during a certain raid, she retired and decided to join the guards.

It did not take long for her to become the guard's captain. She was a creator unit from the start so, this way, she helped the city's adventurers with her great potions.

'However, she is still afraid of deaths and situations like these…'

The colourful flames became ashes and vanished leaving behind the remains that resembled glittering stars.

Winds covered them as the branch manager bowed his head along with everyone present on the ground.

The glittering remains of all those people become one, becoming an indistinguishable pile.

"In the end, the end remains equal." Someone from the crowd mumbled, their words wise and thought provoking.

We human beings aren't born into equal environments. We don't get anything equally. There is no balance of resources and power in this barely stable world.

Still, when we die, we are the same as any… noble blood or orphan origin, in the end, we cannot distinguish one from the other dispute having had a unique color that burned them to that state.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!

The winds carry the remains across the lands, taking them far and wide around this sea of clouds.

Some will meet ground, some will meet the rivers, some will fall into graveyards, while some will meet divine beasts that roam the world.

The souls have finished their journey and will return to the cycle of life and rebirth.

Their karmic values will return to them in a new form… or at least, that's what people here believed.

"Let's go."

The truth, however, was unknown to us, the living.

We will never know what happened to them after they died. We will never know what happened to their soul, we will never know what will happen to them after this point.

They aren't what they were for us… and that, that right there is the sad reality the most difficult to digest.

"Qwy…"

We are the living who will keep on living until we do not.

While they are the departed who are on their way to cross the river Styx...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.