My eyes were wide open and my jaw was hanging. I bet my face looked comical to Elina.
I couldn't help but be utterly surprised. When she explained the situation of the 3 siblings, I was stumped. The only plausible idea was that the 3 were caught up in some strange spatial occurrence.
They couldn't have voluntarily chosen the life of barely starving every day. I didn't think there was a high chance of 3 planning or being aware of anything sinister.
Everything seemed to be manageable until she showed me a picture of the oldest girl. My worldview almost collapsed. Something that hasn't happened ever since I was continuously reborn with past memories.
Silver hair and red eyes, rare features but could still be found if one looked. The most striking was the baby's face with smooth skin and a petite frame for her age.
Her facial features were eastern. Specifically from regions such as China or Japan. There were a couple more but no need to name them.
There was an eastern region on this continent that had people with similar looks. There was a stark difference as the eastern people in the world had tattoos on their faces.
I had seen pictures and read about them in books. Without fail, every person in the eastern nations of this continent had face tattoos since birth.
She was clearly missing such a mark.
"Who took the picture?" I asked with doubt. Maybe there was something wrong with the device or the person taking it messed up.
"It was me. I snuck one in while she was working." Elina said, looking at me with bewilderment.
She had seen my expression from earlier. I had already adjusted myself so it was only there for a brief moment.
"So she didn't have any tattoos?" I asked again.
"No. Her face was clear, except for some dirt. Why does it matter?" she asked in return.
"You see..." I then explained to her the information I had learned while away at school.
There, we learned about the entire Evansia Continent. We learned about the climate, terrain, geopolitical situations, and special characteristics of the whole continent.
The Supreme Sword School had branches across the continent so they were more than qualified to teach us this.
We learned that in the east were 4 small territories that had people with a different appearance.
What they described were people with East Asian appearance with the difference that all of them had tattoos on their faces and bodies from birth. There were no exceptions.
There was not much else known about these people as they were all isolationists. They traded very few goods, one of them being luxury perfumes.
They also had a tight lock on information. They also didn't allow traders into their lands. They had places outside their borders where they would trade away whatever they wanted.
They didn't usually buy anything though, only receiving gems or precious metals for their goods. It seemed that they were self-sufficient.
I explained all this to Elina. She sat there and listened. She was taking all of this in.
"If they aren't from there, that only leaves other continents or other realms." Elina said after processing everything I said.
I was glad to see that she was finally expressing her understanding and conjectures.
"You're right but I don't think other continents are a possibility," I said.
"Why?" she asked. This had to do with something that was only known to major powers and royal families on this continent. I
The SSS was a major power so they were free to share this information.
"Our continent is spatially locked. There can be no teleportation to leave or enter the continent. One cannot enter to leave our continentsuing spells.
Only by the ocean is it possible. But even that is pretty much impossible. The oceans around the continent are filled with monsters beyond our imagination.
Current boats cannot traverse it safely. The only reason we even know that other continents exist is because of revelations from gods."
I revealed something that Elina should know since she had come from the future. This was information that the major powers were planning on making public.
They wanted to find ways to access or communicate with the other continents. This would take the collective effort of the entire continent. Elina should know this unless they didn't follow through.
"Was this information not made public in the future?" I asked her.
She shook her head and said "No. I don't think they needed to. The gods of our continent informed us that our continent wasn't prepared for contact with others.
We are too weak compared to them and would probably be conquered. It might be why there is a spatial lock in the first place. It might have been placed there by our gods for protection."
What she said made sense. The main gods who were worshipped so deeply wouldn't let their followers fight a useless battle. They must have had a reason to put us in spatial isolation.
That begged a new question.
"If the other continents are so much stronger, what were they doing during the realm war?" I asked her.
There was no way those other continents would bow down and let themselves be destroyed without a fight.
"Uhh...I don't know..." she stammered in response. Her expression was gloomy, having to remember the supposed horrors she had been through.
"The realm war came too fast. We didn't have any time to think about the others."
"Hmm. Are you sure? Did that guy named Gu Zeimin say anything that stood out?" I urged her to revisit the events that had occurred.
She fell into deep thought as she closed her eyes. A couple of minutes later she opened them. Her expression was of confusion.
"I remember him saying something strange. On the day we first met, he said this:
'I, Gu Zeimin have been to many vast realms. They were all strange yet beautiful. Your realm is the same. A small island floating on an ocean a million times its size.
A realm with one measly piece of land but engulfed by such lush waters. There is a strange beauty in that.
It is disappointing that I must end it.'
That's it. He then drew his sword and the first battle began. I didn't have time to dwell on his words then."
Elina told me what that man had said word by word. Her breath was shaky. Her gaze was filled with anger, frustration, and a range of other emotions.
"I'm sorry for having you revisit those memories." I said as I scooched closer to her.
I embraced her with one hand while patting her head with the other.
She leaned her head on my shoulder as we went silent. I know that I apologize often but it's necessary. An apology, no matter how small it might be helps her calm the nerves.
It's a trait of hers I noticed when we were younger. I genuinely feel bad about what she must have been through and having her think so deeply about it is hurtful.
But to protect the present, the past and the future are vital.
I don't know how long we stayed in the embrace but it felt good. It had soo long since we were last like this. I wish that we could have just lived the rest of our long lives like this.
Sadly, that wish won't come true until we get rid of everything that hinders us.
After what seemed like forever, yet wasn't enough for me, she jostled her way out of her embrace.
"Something happened to the other continents before he arrived in our realm. We shouldn't be the only continent. The gods don't need to lie about something like that." she said.
Gu Weimin, as she described was a man of his word. He had so much strength that he didn't need to lie about anything. He could just blast through anything that came his way.
He wouldn't say we were the only piece of land if he hadn't seen it for himself.
"True. We are ants when compared to the gods. They have no real reason to deceive us unless there is something that even affects them going on.
I can't really figure anything out without contact with the gods themselves. Only they would know what might have happened." I said.
The gods were lofty beings who often sent down blessings and items to the churches that worshiped them. They were so strong that they had left our realm and lived right outside of it.
They could crush a country with a sneeze. I see no small reason for them to lie. It could only be something extraordinary to make them do so.
It is unfortunate that we can't talk to a god directly, even if we could, I wouldn't tell them about Elina's regression. The secret to that is too dear to my existence.
I went quiet as I thought about what we should do about this. I quickly came to a conclusion.
Nothing. There was nothing to do, for now.
"Regardless, let's leave these big things for later. We have more immediate concerns. I'll go do something. We will know by tonight the origins of the 3 siblings." I said, preparing to leave the room.
I had a lot to do and it was time I got started. There was no time now for such complicated problems.
"Hmm." Elina nodded in understanding. The problems that had to do with other continents could be handled later.
According to her, there were 11 years left before the realm war started. That was a lot of time but also not enough.
I wasn't sure we could become strong enough to handle the incoming dilemma. We would just have to give it our all.
...
...
...
Ryan had left to begin what would be a lengthy process. We had to secretly push our continent to get stronger as a whole while also becoming stronger ourselves.
This was not an easy task by any means. We had 11 years until it began but will that be enough for such a monumental change?
My head was splitting thinking about the memories from the past. My emotions were a jumbled mess but his embrace had helped me relax.
His needless apology always brought me back to reality. It told me that we weren't on a perpetual field of death.
After my head was cleared, I realized something. Even if we pushed our continent and ourselves a couple of levels higher than in the past run, we still couldn't win.
If we were going to win, we would need the other continents. For that, we were going to need the help of a deity.
I knew a way to talk to one but this was a secret of my own. Ryan wouldn't approve if I told him about the cost of this method. He also wouldn't want me to tell the goddess about his involvement in sending me back.
I have a way to conceal that from the diety. I wouldn't do this if I didn't have a way to hide the secrets I wanted to hide.
"Emily!" I called for my cousin. She opened the door and walked in wearing her usual maid outfit.
"Yes young miss." she asked. I told her to call my Elina when it was just the 2 of us but she would never listen.
"Prepare the carriage. I want to head to the church." I said. Emily flinched a little when she heard this.
She wasn't expecting me, a person who has never attended church unless it was a religious holiday to suddenly suggest this.
"As you wish." she said after sighing.
Goddess Helena, called Goddess Helen by some, was definitely watching me right now. It was time I talked to her again after so many years.