Shiroyasha never, ever thought that she, a dignified Solar Spirit, would one day have someone say that to her.
I'm a damn Celestial Spirit myself! How could I not understand my own nature?
These scammers nowadays are way too arrogant!
Having confirmed the line, this was definitely not some test from the Halloween Queen. That woman couldn't come up with a play this abstract.
So angry she nearly coughed, Shiroyasha dismissed a concerned shop assistant who had heard the commotion, then sent a grim reply in the chat group.
Shiroyasha: "Has it ever occurred to you that I, in fact, am a Celestial Spirit?"
She was dying to see how he would try to talk his way out of this after being exposed.
Sure enough, the moment she sent the message, before Su Mo could respond, the others reacted.
Madoka: "Oh, um!"
Erica: "I see! No wonder she refuses to believe the Master's words!"
Kanae: "She's a Celestial Spirit herself? That explains why her tone was so certain."
Seeing these normal reactions, Shiroyasha finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Looks like this group isn't entirely full of brainwashed idiots. There are still some smart people who can see the problem!"
Even Erica, Su Mo's own subordinate, had spoken up. Didn't this mean that her own powerful, irrefutable evidence had shattered his lies and exposed the fraud for who he was?
Just as Shiroyasha was feeling smug and self-satisfied, thinking she had successfully saved a few lost lambs...
The group's subsequent messages left her completely dumbfounded.
Rin Tohsaka: "So, you're a Celestial Spirit, but you don't understand Celestial Spirits?"
Jibril: "Another joke who thinks they understand themselves... I feel like I've seen a similar plot with the Aeons."
March 7th: "Let's not be too harsh! Didn't Lord Su Mo say that knowing oneself is the hardest thing of all?"
Erica: "Indeed. Most misunderstandings aren't built on pure doubt, but on a fragile, unwavering conviction."
Kanae: "It's like how we humans don't understand ourselves. Without Lord Su Mo's wisdom, it's a common failing to make such judgments! The newcomer's situation isn't really that special."
Reading these comments, Shiroyasha realized that these people hadn't been woken up by her at all.
However, they weren't the kind of idiots who could be easily brainwashed; they hadn't completely dismissed her words.
On the contrary, they were believing her—believing she was a Celestial Spirit—and on that basis, still believing that her understanding of herself was inferior to that of Su Mo, who had never even met a Celestial Spirit.
This phenomenon was incredibly bizarre.
What kind of potion had that man fed them to make their trust in him reach such a blind level?
Unable to figure it out, Shiroyasha could only reply, exasperated.
"If you believe I'm a Celestial Spirit, why don't you believe my judgment?"
"Instead of believing someone can create a Celestial Spirit, you might as well believe I'm Jehovah... I'm not on good terms with the Abrahamic religions, but I know a few saints. I can probably make some introductions for you."
Hearing her words, the others in the group more or less understood Shiroyasha's mindset.
They didn't find it strange.
Those who have never witnessed a miracle will never believe that miracles exist.
Shiroyasha's skepticism was perfectly normal. In fact, it could even be said that she had a kind personality.
Kanae: "Miss Shiroyasha, I believe you're a good person, but please also understand that your knowledge of Celestial Spirits might genuinely not be as extensive as Lord Su Mo's."
Rin Tohsaka: "That's right. From our experience, you should never underestimate Lord Su Mo. In anything."
Shiroyasha: "..."
The white-haired loli, having been handed a "good person" card, was so frustrated she was speechless.
These people... why are they more difficult than the fanatical followers of the Abrahamic religions?
Shiroyasha: "So you're saying you still believe he can create a Celestial Spirit, even though Celestial Spirits themselves cannot be created."
Kanae: "I don't understand, but I choose to believe Lord Su Mo."
Madoka: "I don't understand, but I choose to believe Lord Su Mo."
March 7th: "+1."
Rin Tohsaka: "+1."
...
Shiroyasha: "..."
Looking at these replies, the more Shiroyasha saw, the more it looked like brainwashing.
Shiroyasha: "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"
Shiroyasha: "@Su Mo."
Giving up on persuading the others, she redirected her attack at Su Mo.
And this time, Su Mo's reply was as direct as ever.
Just to be clear, Su Mo wasn't being sarcastic; he was expressing genuine curiosity.
Make no mistake, he knew Shiroyasha's identity, he knew the common knowledge of the world of Little Garden, and he knew that her understanding was in line with that common knowledge.
But that didn't stop him from questioning that common knowledge with his own reason, questioning this so-called naturally occurring setting.
Shiroyasha: "...What is there to prove? The origin of stars has nothing to do with humanity, does it?"
Caught off guard by Su Mo's counter, Shiroyasha was momentarily choked up.
She didn't even know why such a basic fact needed to be proven.
Shiroyasha: "On the contrary, shouldn't you be the one to provide proof that the existence of Celestial Spirits is related to humanity?"
Though she had a boisterous personality, as a Celestial Spirit, Shiroyasha was actually quite intelligent and quickly turned the argument around.
If Celestial Spirits, like gods, could be artificially created, then one could talk about "creating" them.
But if they existed naturally and couldn't be created, then one absolutely couldn't.
The common knowledge in Little Garden was the latter, while Su Mo's viewpoint clearly supported the former.
Faced with Shiroyasha's counter-question, Su Mo didn't use rhetorical tricks to make her provide evidence; that would just lead to an endless back-and-forth.
He asked a direct question.
Su Mo: "In the world of Little Garden where you reside, how many Celestial Spirits exist?"
Shiroyasha: "?"
Shiroyasha: "Counting the demoted ones, those who have fallen to become gods or demons... probably less than a hundred."
Shiroyasha: "Why are you suddenly asking this?"
Although she was questioning him, she wasn't a contrarian just for the sake of it, so she answered his question honestly.
After receiving the expected answer, Su Mo countered.
Su Mo: "Let's not even talk about the size of the observable universe. In the Milky Way galaxy where Earth is located alone, there are between one hundred billion and four hundred billion stars."
Su Mo: "If the origin of Celestial Spirits has nothing to do with humanity, why are there less than a hundred of them in the world of Little Garden?"
A direct hit, right on target.
If human activity wasn't a factor, the Milky Way alone should have given birth to hundreds of billions of Celestial Spirits. If you included the Virgo Supercluster and the Laniakea Supercluster, the number would increase exponentially.
In the vast universe, the number of stars was so immense, as numerous as grains of sand. Why, then, in Little Garden, which connected to parallel universes, did only a double-digit number of Celestial Spirits exist?
Shiroyasha: "W-well..."
The white-haired loli was at a loss for words. She had never actually considered that question before.
Su Mo pressed his advantage.
Su Mo: "May I ask which celestial body you represent, and which bodies the other Celestial Spirits represent?"
Shiroyasha: "I am the Celestial Spirit of the Sun. Others like me include Algol, the North Star, Sirius..."
Her momentum crushed, she meekly listed the names of the Celestial Spirits she knew.
Su Mo: "Just as I thought. They are all beings that have been observed by human history."
Su Mo: "Of the hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way, only those that have been observed by humanity for long periods have given birth to Celestial Spirits. Based on that, you still think the origin of Celestial Spirits has nothing to do with humanity?"
Shiroyasha: "..."
The white-haired loli couldn't speak.
She stared blankly, starting to have an existential crisis.
Could it be true, just like the other group members and the Twin Goddesses said... that I don't even know myself? That I'm actually an idiot?
Su Mo: "Even considering just your name, 'The Sun,' have you never realized that this title itself is intrinsically linked to human history?"
Su Mo: "To put it another way, besides the part observed by human history, what part of you is special? What makes you different from the other hundreds of billions of unnamed stars?"
Su Mo: "Let's ask the most basic question. Have you truly not noticed this until now? Why is the so-called 'observable universe' centered on Earth? It's because every angle of observation is based on human history!"
Shiroyasha: "...Stop! Stop talking, Master!"
Shiroyasha: "I'm an idiot! I'm an idiot, alright?!"
Under the barrage of soul-crushing questions, the Celestial Spirit girl broke down.