"Oh, that sleep... How did I fall asleep last night?"

Early Saturday morning, waking up in a daze, Shard realized that he had curled up on the bed with a blanket haphazardly thrown over himself.

Climbing out of bed with a foggy head, he finally recalled falling asleep leaning against the headboard last night, and somehow he just drifted off:

"What happened, ha~"

With a yawn, he finally felt his mind clear up. Looking down at the cat Mia beside him, the cat was not lying on the pillow but unusually leaned against Shard. A small corner of the blanket, which Shard had probably pulled over himself at night due to the cold, was draped over the cat.

Mia was small in size, so the corner of the blanket could cover half of her body. Only when Shard got up did the cat’s small body partially emerge from under the blanket. She looked up at Shard and meowed discontentedly, then stood up as well, obviously realizing it was time for breakfast.

"The temperature sure is low this morning, did it rain last night?"

Shard muttered, looking up at the silver-white morning view of the city outside the window, seeing the snow flying in the morning sunlight, finally understanding the reason for the temperature drop:

"So it snowed heavily... huh? Snow?"

Startled, he grabbed the cat and went to the window, even opening it to make sure it wasn’t an illusion. Cold wind rushed into the warm bedroom, making Mia meow even more discontentedly.

As he still wore a shirt from the night before, he instantly felt the chill in the wind. Shard extended his hand out the window, snowflakes fell onto his hands, which were warm and tinged with color, and the cold snowflakes melted in his palm:

"Is it really snowing? Have I slept through an entire summer and autumn?"

He was greatly shocked.

[You fell asleep last night at 8:03, and now it’s 5:33 Saturday morning. You’ve slept for nine hours and thirty minutes.]

"She" thoughtfully and gently reminded him.

"Then let me confirm again, the current date and season are..."

He gazed at the city outside, adorned with silvery white. The rooftops of neighbors across Saint Delan Square were completely white, and the soft snow covered the square below. As it was so early with no pedestrians, it was neatly tempting to trot down and leave a line of footprints.

The statue of the young girl holding the water bottle at the plaza’s central fountain was also covered with snow on her head, shoulders, and the tip of the bottle. The feet of the statue were completely buried in the snow. This snowfall must have happened in the first half of the night.

[The current time is: Present World: Sixth Era, Common Era Calendar 1854, late spring, Rain-Prayer Moon 24th, Saturday.]

"She" informed Shard of the time, and according to Tobesk’s climatic features, it should never snow so heavily in this season.

"Wait, is what the Guardian of the Earth wants to discuss with me related to this?"

Not only is the climate in Tobesk unusual, but after having breakfast with Mia, Shard went to other locations on the Old Continent to check the situation.

Emerging from a cave by the sea cliffs of Coldwater Port, snowflakes were swirling towards the sea, and the port not far away was already draped in silver;

Exiting an old tower amidst the Sicarl Mountain, snowflakes had turned the mountain forest white, contrasting with the deep green of the treetops;

Pushing the door from the underground cellar of Huntington City’s White Valley Vineyard into the yard, where there was no snow, but the overcast sky and chilly breeze clearly weren’t normal late spring scenarios;

Walking out from the lighthouse basement on Heart Lake Island in the Pantanal Swamp, without even leaving the damp, corrupt-smelling lighthouse, he could see the pouring rain mixed with hailstones like pebbles outside;

Exiting the secret tunnel beneath the Night Shrine to the ancient sacrificial site on the cliff, overlooking the Randall Valley woodland covered in white, made Shard feel as if he had returned to an early spring adventure;

Arriving at the familiar Green Lake Hotel basement, he could hear the chefs discussing the floating snowflakes outside through the walls;

Finally, he brought Mia to Randall Valley, where the light shone in through the roof’s hole of the Church of the Forgotten, with snowflakes swirling around the light, like a rotating mist.

The church was still empty, and upon pushing open the church doors, the courtyard outside was indeed blanketed in snow. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Mr. Lathis, in the form of the Guardian of the Earth, was standing in the courtyard looking up at the sky. He turned around upon hearing the door open, then gestured for Shard, dressed in a thick coat, to come inside the church for a discussion.

"What’s going on? Why is it snowing everywhere on the Old Continent?"

Shard sat on the long bench beside the carpet illuminated by daylight, while the Guardian of the Earth stood by the beam of light:

"Not everywhere, about fifty-three percent of the areas are experiencing snowfall. Only a small portion like here are seeing moderate to heavy snow, with only the far north of the Old Continent experiencing blizzards, the rest are light snow."

He corrected, and Shard shook his head, indicating he didn’t mind that:

"Is the other issue you mentioned on Thursday referring to this?"

"Yes."

The Guardian nodded:

"There are anomalies in the climate, and the root cause is the changes in the seasons. This snow is just the beginning; the weather this summer will be very unusual. I have managed to stabilize the four seasons of the material world with the ’Heart of the Earth,’ but this year will still be a ’Year Without Summer.’

The Ancient God of the Earth, ’Mother Earth,’ holds the authority over the earth and the seasons, so the Heart of the Earth can also adjust the climate.

"Year Without Summer?"

The Guardian explained in more detail:

"Although it won’t snow frequently, it won’t have the temperatures that summer should have."

Shard frowned deeply:

"But why is this happening? It’s not right; didn’t we already successfully resolve the spatial anomalies in the Green Lake Region?"

"This has nothing to do with the Green Lake battle, or rather, it’s not that you failed to stop anything."

The middle-aged man gently shook his head, reached out to catch the snow in that beam of light:

"Disasters and collapse symbolizing the loss of control of the world’s order cannot be completely eradicated. Just like the earth’s changes, even if we stopped the earth’s complete twist in early spring, we did not completely eliminate the filth generated by the earth.

The First Chosen One appeared last summer when the world was still peaceful, so there were no signs of disaster. Now, more and more minor changes are accumulating, even if you prevented each disaster, the world is still affected. It’s not that you couldn’t do anything; it’s just that this is an inevitable occurrence."

Last year, when Shard and Luviya prepared the Chosen One Ceremony for Iluna, indeed, no other incidents occurred; all they had to do was help Iluna get revenge and defeat the ’Silver-Eyed One.’ When the Chosen of Darkness emerged, the ’Dark Turmoil’ affected Tobesk City; following the Chosen by Death, the interstice lost control, threatening the entire region; the Knowledge Chosen corresponded to the Pantanal Region disaster, with a broader impact range; then with Randall Valley and Green Lake, it further escalated into incidents affecting the entire world.

Suddenly, they had gone through so much, and the escalation of events one after another resulted in this:

"How can it be stopped?"

"It can’t be stopped, it’s a natural phenomenon. Besides, why stop it?"

He questioned Shard, who was sitting there:

"The earth is a keystone, which influences the four seasons. Now, the earth’s collapse has been calmed by me again; the season anomalies only cause this summer’s temperature to be abnormal. It’s not a disaster, it’s just a natural phenomenon. Even without the various disasters gradually leading the world into anomalies, wouldn’t a Year Without Summer possibly appear in normal years? Like the Common Era Calendar 369 and 1244."

Shard looked at him, opened his mouth, remembering how the other’s way of thinking indeed differed from his own.

He looked at the cat lying on his lap, knowing the other had a point:

"So, is this actually a good thing, representing that the accumulation of world anomalies only slightly influences climate, rather than causing more terrifying issues? But will these happen more frequently?"

"Considering the current situation, yes. The Year Without Summer is just the beginning; more and more strange natural phenomena will continue to occur, just like now, quite surprisingly, but not directly pushing the world towards extinction. Just that, but also not just that. This is destined to happen, no matter what you stopped, it will come. Simply, you made its impact lesser. Civilization will thank you, Shard Hamilton."

He paused his speech, giving Shard time to ponder everything. Shard’s thoughts spread outwards, reminiscing the bygone era, recalling everything he had experienced:

"Can’t be stopped, can it be curbed?"

"The powers of the Chosen Ones can somewhat curb those anomalies. Just like if I wasn’t here, sorry, I’m not bragging."

He smiled at Shard; only then could one see, "Guardian of the Earth," although composed of hundreds of souls, could actually express emotions:

"If the Chosen of the Earth wasn’t here, what we’d see today wouldn’t be just heavy snow."

"Do the Chosen Ones have the ability to maintain world normalcy?"

"Wouldn’t it be stranger if they didn’t have this ability?"

The middle-aged man near the fracture in the ceiling retorted:

"At least until all thirteen Chosen Ones appear, each one has its own role."

Shard immediately thought of the deceased Chosen of Darkness Ivan Daknis, the yet-to-appear Knowledge and Wisdom Chosen, the Space Chosen that couldn’t appear freely:

"But..."

"It’s okay; the most important Chosen is still present, so it’s okay."