Ethan arrived at the floating mountain with Illya. It was his first time there, and he found that the mountain was much larger than he had imagined.
Although it was a mountain, it had plenty of flat ground and even a huge lake formed by melting snow from the summit.
Ethan observed that the lake was not the water's final destination. Several streams and small rivers carried the lake water toward lower elevations. However, the water did not eventually pour off the floating mountain. Instead, it seeped underground at certain points, nourishing the entire mountain.
Thanks to the abundant water supply, the floating mountain was covered in various plants. Most of it was green, with only a small portion of the summit covered in ice and snow.
"This place is great!"
"It really is."
The massive floating mountain had a lake, grasslands, and forests. Anyone who wanted a closer look at the snow could simply go straight to the summit.
There were many suitable places to live across the mountain, and traveling up or down posed no difficulty. The floating mountain seemed to have been specially designed so that ordinary people could easily walk from the base to the summit. There were no areas that could only be crossed by trained climbers or powerful superhumans.
Ethan examined the lake again and discovered that the water depth varied along the shoreline. Some shallow areas even had broad beaches. Most remarkably, these beaches reflected different colors depending on the angle of the sunlight at different times of day.
The deeper parts of the lake formed natural harbors. Ethan remembered the ships he had collected. Perhaps they no longer needed to remain as miniature decorations on a table. He could release them and moor them on the lake, though even then, they would still serve mainly as decorations.
"There's a lake, grasslands, and forests. That stone platform nearby is also spacious enough. We could build a castle there."
"Wouldn't a castle be a little excessive?"
"You don't want a castle?"
Illya came from the Einzbern family and had grown up in a castle, so she had a special fondness for them.
"If you want a castle, there's no harm in building one."
Since this would be their home, Ethan saw no reason to force everything into a single unified style. Everyone could build whatever they liked. If Illya wanted a castle, then they would build a castle.
"It's a pity that platform is a little far from the snowy area."
Illya loved snow, but if she wanted to build a castle in the snow-covered region, it would be quite far from the lake and grasslands. Between the two was a relatively barren stretch made mostly of dirt and rock.
Ethan suddenly realized that this area was actually the most suitable place for a residential district. They could construct many buildings there without damaging the mountain's overall environment, and there was plenty of flat, solid ground.
"This must have been prepared on purpose."
Ethan had created the entire God Country, and many places had inevitably been shaped by his subconscious. At that moment, he realized that from the very beginning, he had wanted to place his home on a floating mountain like this one.
Ethan floated higher and looked around. Several slightly smaller floating mountains and stone platforms surrounded the main mountain, seemingly forming part of the same whole. These smaller mountains and platforms were not far away and were mostly concentrated at roughly the same height.
At that point, he made his decision. Their new home would be here.
The surrounding rocky mountains and floating stone platforms could be specially arranged for various facilities, such as training rooms, entertainment areas, or teleportation facilities.
There were plenty of stone platforms, so there was no need to decide on their exact uses immediately.
After returning to the ground, Ethan found Illya wandering around. She found the environment on the mountain very pleasant, but the lack of animals seemed a little strange to her.
"At the moment, there aren't many animals in the entire God Country, and the nature of a floating mountain makes it difficult for ordinary animals to reach this place."
"Then should we bring some animals here and raise them in the future?"
"That's up to all of you."
If everyone felt that having more animals would make the place livelier, they could bring some in. There would be no need to manage them closely. They could simply release the animals here, and there would be more than enough food and water for them to survive.
"Mm, we'll think about it later!"
"By the way, you're about to graduate from Hogwarts, aren't you?"
Ethan remembered that when he went to the Main God world, Illya still had two years left before graduation. She had said she came to see the God Country during her vacation, which meant she only had one year left now.
"Yes! Only one year left." Illya suddenly gave Ethan a meaningful look. "Hermione will graduate in a year too!"
"Cough!"
Ignoring Illya's remark, he instead asked about her and Leah.
These children who were still studying at Hogwarts were the ones he worried about the least, but they were still disciples he had personally chosen. It would not be right to never ask how they were doing.
"What is Leah doing?"
"She's learning swordsmanship from Arthur."
"Huh?"
Ethan also learned that Arthur had not gone to another world recently and was currently staying aboard the Venus.
"Leah plans to return to her own world after graduation."
"Oh, I see."
No wonder she was learning swordsmanship. Perhaps Leah wanted to keep a low profile, but her situation was rather special. Even if she tried to remain inconspicuous, it would be difficult for her to truly hide herself.
If Leah wanted to return to the Dark World, Ethan would need to make some additional preparations for her.
"What about Rin Tohsaka?"
"Scáthach called her over." Illya suddenly laughed. "Her teacher is much more dedicated than you."
Scáthach was quite satisfied with her disciple and offered guidance whenever she had the time. As soon as the vacation began, Rin Tohsaka was called over for extra training.
However, Ethan suspected that Scáthach simply wanted to train another powerful disciple so that she could once again fight an opponent she had personally raised.
"Oh, right!"
Illya suddenly took out a mobile phone. Ethan felt as though he had not seen one in a long time. These days, he either teleported directly to speak with people face-to-face or occasionally used other communication devices.
"Look at this!"
After tapping the screen a few times, Illya turned the phone around and showed it to Ethan.
Ethan wondered what it could be, but the moment he saw the screen, his face darkened.
There was no mistaking which game's card it was. It had five stars, a golden border, and separate attack and health values.
But that was not the main issue. The important part was the Berserker class and the name Ethan.
"..."
Ethan covered his face. Illya had once complained that she could not summon Ethan in this game. He had naturally known why. Now he wanted to ask how she had managed to summon him at all.
"Why is there a card of me?"
"Hehehe, I asked Scáthach for help."
"Huh?"
Illya did not think there was anything secret about it and briefly explained the situation.
It was simple. Scáthach had directly traveled to the world connected to their game, brought her spear with her, and had a "discussion" with the game's developers. As a result, Ethan was turned into a card and added to the summoning pool.
"You were a limited-time card in the last event! And besides Berserker, you also have an Outer God version, but I don't know when it will be released."
They had even created a special event specifically to release the "Ethan" card.
Illya not only showed off the card art for Berserker Ethan, but also personally demonstrated all of Ethan's attack animations.
"..."
Ethan covered his face again, completely unsure how to react. How had he forgotten that Illya had such a lawless personality? Since she wanted to summon Ethan in the game, she would naturally find a way to make it happen.
"I was originally prepared to spend money until I got enough copies for the maximum limit break, but our compatibility really is incredibly high. I only had to pull a few times before I maxed him out!" Illya continued talking nonstop, clearly proud of herself. "Leah was similar. She maxed him out using the Stones she had saved. Only Rin spent money and still got just one copy. Shirou and Artoria each got two with only a few pulls."
"..."
"Oh, and Hermione has started playing too!"
"Can't you teach them something more useful?"
"They've already learned almost everything they need to at school. When we have nothing else to do, we use this to pass the time." Illya explained, then continued, "It's just a pity this card isn't very strong. I told those people to make him extremely powerful! Whatever. I'm already prepared. I'm just waiting for your Outer God class to be released."
"..."
Sitting beside the lake, Illya showed off her in-game "Ethan" while chatting about trivial matters from school. Ethan listened quietly and occasionally threw in a sarcastic remark.
Illya did not get angry. She genuinely enjoyed spending time like this.
"Oh, right."
"What is it?"
"After I graduate from Hogwarts, I plan to use the potion."
"Oh?"
Illya was referring to the potion that would allow her to become an adult. Because of her special constitution, she had always maintained her current appearance.
"Have you decided?"
"Yes. I can't remain a child forever." Illya put away her phone. "Everyone has to grow up eventually!"
Standing up from the grass, Illya brushed nonexistent dust from her clothes. She was ready to go back.
"I promised Hermione earlier that I'd take her to see other worlds."
"Mm."
Ethan raised his hand and opened a portal. He watched Illya wave goodbye and leave happily, then remained seated on the ground in a daze for a while before getting up and returning to the core of the God Country.
He found that spending the day talking with Illya had greatly eased the frustration brought on by his work. He could continue now.
Sure enough, he simply did not like being alone. That was also the fundamental reason why, after understanding the function of the space-time orb back then, he had immediately begun thinking about finding companions everywhere.
(To be continued.)