The carriage continued to move along the ride lane while passing by other carriages that went in the opposite direction from the other side of the road. They entered a lush green forest that caused dazzling lights to filter through the tree tips, creation an amazing scenery to witness. However, the real sight of wonder came when they exited the forest and came out onto an open field.

“Wow~!” Luna said in awe, pulling back the curtain on the glass-less window of the carriage to look outside. “This looks so cool! Alex! Check it out!”

“Luna, be careful!” Alex protested, worried about her safety and moved over to sit next to her.

“Alex, don’t be such a worrywart,” chided his teacher, Lucia. “Kids need exposure and that’s how they grow and besides, this is your first time leaving your home so enjoy the trip, will you?”

At her protest, he let out a sigh and leaned next to his childhood friend to look out of the carriage. The scenery outside was indeed beautiful; rice fields stretching further than he could see with rows and rows of fields that were growing various plantations. In every field, there appeared to be an igloo made of straws that somehow added more rich detail to the view.

“What a sight,” he murmured to himself but Luna heard him and smiled brightly.

“Isn’t it?!” She exclaimed excitedly.

“So, this was what was outside the forest bordering were we lived,” he thought to himself in wonder.

He clearly remembered in his past life he had put so much energy into studying hard from a young age and then went into seclusion to perfect his skills to become the greatest magician to ever live. However, all of it was naught as the world came to an end, and even with his superior powers, he could not stop it and had to come back through time to try and stop it.

Only now that he was not focused solely on studying that he began to take notice of the appreciation of the outside world. His world’s natural beauty, cultivated by the many people that work hard tirelessly to make a better life for themselves. All of it made him feel a heavy twinge of regret for missing out on such beauty in his past life.

“This is what the world used to be like without my notice… and before the destruction began,” he thought to himself. “This is what… I’m trying to protect…!”

As such thought came to pass in his mind, a small tear trickled down his face from the emotions veiling up inside of him. Luna sensed something and turned to become amazed at the sight of her childhood love shedding tears all of a sudden.

“Alex! What’s wrong?!” She exclaimed, reacting in shock and worry, turning to quickly fuss over him. “Why are you crying?!”

“What?! You’re crying, Alex?!” Lucia exclaimed, reacting in alarm and worry as she too moved to check him for injuries he might have sustained.

“No, no, no, no, no!” He insisted in surprise, trying to reject their touches and smiling as he wiped his tears away.

“But you’re crying!” Luna insisted, still looking worried.

“Did a bee sting you somewhere?” Lucia asked anxiously.

“No, and where in the world would a bee come from in this open paddy land?” He replied and asked with a laugh.

“Then, what are those tears for?” The two girls asked him curiously.

“These tears? These tears are…? They’re because…” he began and wondered to himself.

“These feelings whirling inside of me… what are they?” He thought to himself.

Alex looked out of the carriage window at the beautiful scenery passing by and in an instant, understood what the feeling was. It was something that he did not know he could feel from seeing something like this but now he knew, and he was very happy about it.

So, he stated by turning and smiling to them with, “These tears… are from happiness. I’m happy to see this wonderful view right now.”

The two girls remained silent for a moment before Lucia began chuckling while Luna smiled sweetly as she caressed his cheek gently.

“Oh, you’re so silly, Alex,” said Luna with a smile.

“I didn’t think you’re still such a child, Alex,” remarked Lucia with a grin.

“So rude!” Alex reacted, looking cross but he did not stay like that for long as he turned back to look at the view outside the carriage.

They did not know the hell that he had faced far into the future and so could not understand his feelings. But he knew these feelings and knowing them made him resolve something in his heart for the first time since being reborn.

“This is what I’m fighting to save! This view…! This beautiful world…! This… is my world, and this is what I’m fighting for and I swear… I will never let this get destroyed… no matter what!” He thought to himself with a firmer resolve than before.

With a firm resolve made in his mind and heart, he began to enjoy the scenery more as they continued to trundle down along the rocky road on their journey to the country of Huizhou.