Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  “Fina!”


  Fina hurriedly raised its head.

  Who was calling its name?

  The sound was so far away yet so familiar, causing it to miss it immensely.

  It looked around in all directions. The sound had vanished, and only the light wind blew past its ears.

  Where was this?

  Where on earth was this rubble-strewn, grassy wasteland?

  It did not recognize this place, but why had it come here?

  It was inconceivable. It should turn around and leave, so why could it not move at all?

  “Fina!”


  Fina suddenly turned its head, but all it saw was rubble and weeds.

  The westward-inclined sun pulled long shadows out of the walls in the ruins, and the sound seemed to come from the shadows.

  Its head hurt very much. It must be because it had been under the sun for too long.

  In this kind of hot weather, it should be lying in the hotel and taking an afternoon nap. Why was it that it had come to this foreign wasteland?

  “Fina!”


  It turned its head again but was still unable to tell where the sound came from. Its head began to hurt even more.

  Who was it?

  Who was playing this kind of meaningless game?

  If they wanted to play hide-and-seek, there was an obviously more suited party here.

  “Fina!”


  It suddenly opened its eyes wide, and this time it heard clearly that the sound did not come from one direction, but from all directions!

  The wind brought the sound to pass by its ears, the tone circling around its body, like it had missed her and refused to leave.

  “Fina! You’re back!”


  It must have been that sand had gotten into its eyes, because it suddenly wanted to cry.

  Who was it?

  It wanted to speak, but its voice seemed like it was stuck in its throat, and it could not make any sound at all.

  After trying a few times, it said something that was against its own will.

  “I……am back.” It opened its mouth and muttered, not of its own will.

  “Welcome back. Are you here to visit me?”


  It remembered this voice……this voice……

  Its head was hurting even more.

  D*mn it! Why was its head so painful?

  It was her! This was her voice!

  A drop of water fell from the sky, but it caused the dam to go beyond its storage limit, like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

  The door of memory was shattered by the floods, and the scenes from two thousand years ago appeared in front of it like a movie.

  The wind that had blown here two thousand years ago was this gentle too.

  Bastet’s Holy Temple!

  This was Bastet’s Holy Temple!

  This was its home!

  The torrent of memories took away the headache, but its body trembled violently.

  This was Bastet’s Holy Temple?

  What about the canals winding around the temple, elegant as fine gauze?

  What about the great gate that humbled mortals like ants?

  What about the tall walls around the temple and the ancient trees within the walls?

  What about the main road that had once led Bastet countless times to walk down during rites and to be worshipped by thousands of people?

  What about that palace that was full of precious jewels worth cities, and the place where it had made countless precious memories?

  And……what about her?

  Fina looked around blankly. The eternally unchanging wind was still there, but everything else that it knew had vanished.

  Everything, whether it was what it once liked, or what it disliked, hated, treated as ordinary……all of it had disappeared.

  All that was left was the ruins with their broken down walls and weeds.

  Since it was like that, why did it need to return here?

  Why didn’t it turn and leave?

  Anyway, there was no reason to stay here anymore.

  “Fina!”


  The voice sounded again.

  That was not right.

  Fina shook its head. This was a hallucination. She had already disappeared with Bastet’s Holy Temple.

  The wind whirled around it a few times and then moved forward again.

  It sent the wind off with its gaze, let the wind carry its hallucinations away.

  It was time to go.

  “Fina!”


  It raised a front paw, and it was about to turn and leave when it heard the voice again.

  What was going on?

  Why could it still hear the voice?

  “Fina! You just got here! Are you going to leave already?”


  Fina suddenly exploded in anger and yelled, “You aren’t here anymore, so what am I here for?”


  Its voice was very sharp and resounded in this barren land and sky for a long time.

  Another breeze blew past.

  “I’m sorry, Fina! I’m sorry!”


  The voice sounded again, full of never-ending regret.

  Fina choked and said, “You said you would come back. You actually said you would come back! I am back. Where are you?”


  “I’m sorry! Fina, I did not fulfill the agreement.”


  Apologies? But apologizing could not make up for anything.

  “Fina, I should not have left, but I am the pharaoh of the black earth. I could only leave. You understand, don’t you?”


  Yes, Fina understood.

  If it had been in her position, it would likely have left too.

  She had not wanted to leave, but she could only leave to protect the people of ancient Egypt, to protect the brilliance of ancient Egypt. She’d known that she had very little chance of winning and only managed to fight for ancient Egypt to keep a piece of soil between two large powers that were fighting.

  She’d tried her best, but she’d failed.

  The winner, the prince, the loser, the bandit.

  The grand and beautiful ancient Egypt was extinguished just like that.

  The magnificent Bastet’s Holy Temple was flattened.

  She, grandiose and talented, died.

  And now, foreigners roamed the land, enjoying the glory of the winner.

  She could have lived, but rather than living pitifully as a loser, she preferred to choose death.

  It understood. No one else understood her better than it.

  The reason why Fina felt so much pain and bitterness was not that she’d left or that she’d broken her agreement. It was because it regretted that it had not fought with her as a soldier until the last moment. It had been thrown into the whirlpool of time by a force that might’ve been stronger than the ancient Egyptian gods and appeared in the world two thousand years later.

  “Fina, don’t cry.”


  Fina raised its head, tears in its eyes.

  “I am not crying. I won’t cry because of a dumb person!”


  The voice sounded like it was laughing.

  “Fina, you didn’t change at all! I’m very happy that you came to visit me. I’m very happy that you did not change at all!”


  Fina shook its head.

  That was not right. It should have changed a lot.

  “Fina, are you well?”


  The voice gently questioned it, full of sincere caring.

  Fina’s thoughts were pulled back to the recent happenings, bits of events at the pet shop flashing before its eyes.

  Used to the quietness of Bastet’s Holy Temple, sometimes it would find that the pet shop was very noisy, but it did not dislike that.

  “So-so.”


  Fina chose those words to answer because it felt that if it answered that it was doing very well, it would harm her.

  “You……”


  It also wanted to ask her how she was doing, but she realized that this question did not have any meaning at all.

  “I’m also very lonely, so I’m very happy you came to visit me.”


  The voice sounded very happy, and even a bit mischievous.

  “But I’m not here. You know, this is Bastet’s Holy Temple, not the place where I choose to sleep.”


  Fina was stunned.

  “Fina, I want to see you. I miss you so much I’m about to go crazy. Can you let me meet you once?”


  Fina did not respond, and the voice stayed silent.

  It turned its head, looking to the west, the direction the wind was blowing from.