Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1264 - 50: The City Cemetery

Chapter 1264: Chapter 50: The City Cemetery

Like the City of Knowledge, such a super-city not only gathered a large number of the living, but also a large number of the departed. Over the centuries, at least a million people had been buried within the confines of the City of Knowledge, sometimes even surpassing the number of the living. To accommodate these deceased individuals, the Holy City’s City Hall had designated five plots of land both inside and outside the city to serve as cemeteries, dedicated resting places for the dead.

Three of these cemeteries were located a few kilometers outside the western city district, amidst beautiful scenery and lush flora—a posthumous enjoyment for those who rested there. For the living, seeing their loved ones interred in such places offered psychological comfort. These three cemeteries were the public graveyards of the City of Knowledge. Any resident of the City of Knowledge or person who had died there could, through their relatives, apply for a plot of land of equal size in any of the three public cemeteries for the construction of a grave site—at no charge. Poor or rich, all were entitled to the same rights, and the size of the plot was the same for everyone. Many from the lower classes often joked that the dead in the Holy City lived better than the living, as they weren’t troubled by the city’s exorbitant land prices—accurately reflecting the true nature of the City of Knowledge’s cemetery system.

However, the graves in the three public cemeteries were not permanent. If a grave went thirty years without being tended to, the managing institution would exhume the entire stone burial chamber and transfer it to the fourth public cemetery, which was the farthest from the city and also the largest. This cemetery housed not only those graves considered ownerless after going thirty years without a visit, but also those lonely souls who never had relatives or friends apply for a public grave after their passing. For the residents of the Holy City, being buried in the fourth public cemetery was considered a tragic fate, as no one wished to end up there after death—it signified being completely forgotten by the world. Yet, over the centuries, more and more of the departed were slowly moved there, their names and very beings gradually erased by the inexorable flow of time.

Of course, each of the four public cemeteries was meticulously managed by specialized organizations, ensuring cleanliness and...safety. Even the forgotten fourth cemetery received regular cleaning, and rows of tombstones were neatly arranged; walking amongst them did not invoke a sense of fear.

As for the fifth cemetery, it was the smallest and the only one located within the city limits, known to people as the Urban Cemetery. This graveyard was situated in the heart of the Temple District and could be considered the resting place closest to the deities out of all the city’s cemeteries. Surrounded by various temples, the cemetery was filled with a serene and tranquil aura, granting inner peace to the living who walked there—one could imagine the Undead resting there finding eternal repose.

Clearly, such an important cemetery was not available for just anyone’s use, and indeed it was not. The conditions for being interred in the Urban Cemetery were very strict, with basically only one way to qualify: making an outstanding contribution to the Holy City. Regardless of whether one had relatives or not, or whether one was poor or rich, anyone who met this criterion could choose to be buried in the Urban Cemetery. Here lay the unrecognized carriage driver who had creatively resolved traffic congestion between the city’s districts 170 years prior, the sewer cleaner who improved the inadequate drainage system of the Holy City 220 years ago, the former wealthiest man in the city who single-handedly averted an economic crisis that nearly caused the collapse of the Holy City’s economic system 300 years ago, and the five master rune mages who spent a decade setting up a powerful defense Array for the city’s outskirts 130 years earlier. Of course, there were also the Demigods who, merely by their presence, could deter any malicious adversaries and maintain peace and tranquility in the Holy City. Those who had earned the right to be buried in the Holy City’s Urban Cemetery could share their place of rest with their wives after death, reserving a spot if the wife was still alive, to be together in the grave when she too had passed.

Apart from these public cemeteries, there were many affluent families with their own ancestral graves scattered in various locations around the city’s outskirts. Alongside the five public cemeteries, these family plots collectively constituted the burial system of the City of Knowledge.

The ordinary public rental carriage slowed down under the driver’s urging and finally stopped near the Central Garden in the Temple District. After the two passengers got off, the carriage started up again, making its way to the designated parking area for rental carriages where it would wait for the passengers to return. Once the carriage had left, only Freya, her arm linked through Pannis’s, remained standing there, gazing at the city cemetery not far from the left side of the Central Garden.

Rather than a city cemetery, it now resembled more of an urban park, with humanoid statues standing tall throughout. These statues served as tombstones, forever preserving the likenesses of those interred. Most of the statues depicted individuals, with only a few double or group statues, which were the exclusive privilege afforded to deceased city lords, allowing them to commission similar statues for their wives or wives to ensure their existence, too, was remembered. Aside from the space occupied by the graves and statues and the neatly paved stone path, there was hardly any bare ground in the city cemetery, as it was entirely covered by manicured grass lawns. Plentiful Rhea pines, a coniferous plant common in Neutral Land, filled the cemetery, providing greenery year-round and their fruits constantly emitted a calming scent.

Many of the faithful visiting the Temple District to pray, as well as the people who worked and lived in the nearby facilities, liked to treat the city cemetery as a leisurely park, especially in the summertime. For these individuals, strolling through the verdant world to enjoy the cool, while reading about the past achievements of ancestors inscribed on the statues’ pedestals, was considered a unique way to honor the memory of the deceased. Perhaps this was precisely the intention of the cemetery’s original designers when they conceived of the park-like layout.

"Actually, this is not too bad," said Freya, clad in a pure black gown with a black veil hanging low to shield her from the morning sunlight. Pannis, in a matching pure black suit, had his right hand resting on Freya’s hand which was hooked through his left arm. The couple leisurely walked along the winding stone path amidst the Rhea pines, and Freya spoke softly as she looked at each statue they passed by, "I think the departed souls would be pleased to see the scene before us, to watch the citizens living a peaceful and harmonious life due to their past struggles. Surely, everyone must be very happy with that."

"Like Christo?" Pannis asked with a hint of implication, "Just Christo?"

"You really are something," she said.