Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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After defeating the massive marine monster, I swam up toward the surface, and Su and Shu were coming down with their swords drawn. Bright sunlight splintered into shards behind the two kids.

They were looking around with urgent expressions, seemingly on guard against the giant marine monster we had encountered earlier.

It was a pointless worry, but it didn’t make me feel bad. The fact that someone cared about me like this made my heart flutter a bit.

Since conversation was impossible underwater, I needed to get to the surface first. Holding onto the kids’ hands, I swam upward. Using the power of the Sea God, I manipulated the currents, and my swimming speed increased dramatically.

“Phew!”

“Emily!”

As I poked my head out of the water, the kids urgently called my name. I calmly tossed my wet hair back and replied.

“What?”

“Just now…! Just now, a giant monster…”

“We didn’t just imagine it, right?”

The kids must not have seen me defeat that giant marine monster. For good reason, as I had killed it in my inner world, not in the outside realm.

When a wizard’s inner world manifests, that space becomes an imperceptible area to the outside. Not just Su and Shu, but the divers who were swimming up as well had also missed witnessing the demise of the giant marine monster. Proof of this was that the three divers were crawling onto the beach with pale expressions.

“It’s gone. You can relax now.”

“Oh, relax…?”

“Could it be that it ran away?”

Why didn’t they think I actually defeated the monster? I gathered my hair in one place and squeezed out the water as I answered.

“It’s dead. I took care of it.”

“You…? That big thing?”

“Yeah, it was huge… It just chewed right through the cliff’s base in one bite…?”

Apparently, Su and Shu still doubted my abilities. I led the two kids toward the beach and continued speaking.

“Didn’t you believe the stories I told?”

The tales I shared with them included instances of my prowess. If they believed all those stories, they wouldn’t be questioning me now. It seemed I’d need to tell my adventure stories again tonight before they went to sleep.

“Um… we know you’re strong, but…”

“Emily, that thing was outside the norms. I’ve never seen a monster that big on Monster Island.”

“Outside the norms? But there are plenty of big monsters on Monster Island. There’s even a whale that flies!”

“A flying whale…?”

At my response, Su and Shu tilted their heads in confusion. It seemed our memories of Monster Island differed vastly.

“Didn’t you see Radon in the central valley of Monster Island?”

“Radon…? Isn’t that the name of a ship?”

What exactly had the two kids been doing there? Just as I was about to express my confusion at their answers, Bluemet came running from a distance, accompanied by the calm-faced Bersan.

“Lady Seris! Are you hurt? I heard a giant monster appeared…”

It seemed the divers who had fled without looking back had informed everyone of the monster’s appearance. I squeezed the seawater out of my soaked shirt and replied.

“I’m fine. I handled it.”

Squish—!

As I squeezed my clothes tightly, seawater dripped down like rain. While Bluemet looked stunned by my response, Bersan nodded as if he had expected it.

“I suspected that if anyone could handle it, it would be Lady Seris.”

“Huh…? What do you mean, Bersan? Didn’t those people say it was a monster much larger than a sailing ship? How could Lady Seris possibly handle such a huge creature? Moreover, it’s in the sea, not on land!”

“Of course… um…?”

Bersan opened his mouth as if to answer Bluemet, but suddenly seemed to realize something and turned to me, blinking in surprise.

“Lady Seris, you didn’t tell them the story, did you?”

I nodded at Bersan’s question, raising the corners of my mouth. I had no intention of hiding it, but I also felt no need to reveal it either. I was just keeping quiet because I didn’t see the need to disclose it until now.

“What’s going on? Bersan, do you know something?”

“Uh… well…”

Bersan stepped back, furrowing his brows in confusion. He shifted his gaze to me, as if seeking permission. I silently nodded.

I could have explained it myself, but such a method didn’t seem ideal. It would sound much cooler if my introduction came from someone else rather than myself.

“Lady Seris is not an ordinary swordsman.”

“What…? Are you saying the Adventurer’s Guild gave incorrect information? I clearly hired a Silver Grade swordsman named Seris…”

“She’s a disciple of Vice Tower Master Haiven from the Tower of Dawn and one of the most promising rookies…”

“Affiliated with the Tower of Dawn…? Are you saying Lady Seris is a wizard?”

Bersan didn’t answer Bluemet’s question. His explanation wasn’t finished yet.

“She’s called by the title ‘Starlight’ even at the young age of fourteen. And…”

“Is there more…?”

“She’s even a runner-up in the Mage Tower Competition, a remarkably talented wizard.”

I crossed my arms and frowned. While the accolades were nice, I didn’t like the last part. Being the runner-up in the Mage Tower Competition—back then, I couldn’t help but lose, but if I faced off again, I was confident I wouldn’t lose this time.

“Is what you’re saying really true…?”

“Why would I lie to a friend? I only spoke the unembellished truth.”

“Huh… I see. A wizard does sound impressive…”

Bluemet nodded slowly, still in shock from Bersan’s words. Once he seemed to come to his senses, he shook his head and turned to me.

“Then… why were you taking this request as a Silver Grade swordsman…?”

“I was just curious.”

“Curious…?”

“Yeah. I wanted to see if there really were ruins and, if so, from which era they originated. That’s why I accepted the request.”

Bluemet released various exclamations of surprise at my answer. Then he asked me.

“Was it really just for such a simple reason?”

“Yeah.”

“If you’d like to renew the contract…”

“No, I’m not interested.”

“Huh, huh…?”

What would I even accomplish by renewing the contract now? At most, I’d just get a slightly higher reward. Had I perhaps long exceeded the realm of humans? My desire for money felt significantly diminished.

What I really needed was something to fulfill my curiosity right now.

“Let’s continue exploring for the ruins. We just discovered a massive ruin at the bottom.”

Thus, the previously interrupted exploration of the ruins resumed.

*

That evening, the second day of exploration came to an end. A total of six team members busily went back and forth between the seabed and the land, salvaging countless materials.

However, there was nothing substantial to be learned. The materials Bluemet gathered contained no information regarding the ruins we had found this time.

“Hmm… this is strange…”

Bersan also tilted his head in puzzlement. I dried my head with a towel and approached him with a question.

“What’s so strange?”

“Ah, Lady Seris. I was just looking for you.”

“You were?”

“You must have felt it. No, even if you’re not a wizard, you would have realized this ruin was built by wizards. Looking at the tablets we salvaged from the bottom, along with the traces of magic circles and mana stones connecting the whole city, you can’t help but think that.”

“Well, that’s true.”

I nodded at Bersan’s response.

“Isn’t it really strange?”

“What is?”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the history books of wizards recorded in the Mage Tower. Yet, there isn’t a single passage about those ruins in that book. It’s a book covering all history regarding wizards, yet.”

I nodded with a grave expression, realizing that most wizards entering the Mage Tower must study that history book. I, however, had never read that book even once.

“Um… what do you mean?”

“My thought is…”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think those ruins were created by wizards from the Mage Tower.”

“Are you saying there’s another group of wizards outside?”

“I’m not sure…”

Bersan held his head in confusion. I felt equally bewildered. A civilization of wizards not even recorded in the Mage Tower?

In that moment, a possibility crossed my mind.

“Bersan.”

“Yes…?”

“Could it be that this continent… rose from below?”

“Excuse me…?”

“Sounds plausible, right?”

“No… that can’t be… the continent rising from below. Below is just the blue sky…”

“What if there’s another land beneath? If that place also has many creatures living there? What if there’s another civilization made by humans?”

“That can’t be…”

“Why are you so certain? Is it because no one has ever gone down and come back? Because there’s only blue sky below? Because you can’t see it with your own eyes?”

“Well…”

“I believe that if we go down past this blue sky, under the pure white clouds, another world awaits us.”

It was a statement I made not only to Bersan but to myself as well. I was confident that beneath us lay another world I didn’t know about.

“This continent is merely a landmass. It’s floating. Didn’t you find that strange? That there’s a sky beneath the ground?”

I crouched down and grabbed a handful of soft soil in my hand. Then, in front of Bersan, I spread my hand wide open.

Swoosh—

The soil in my hand couldn’t resist gravity and fell downward.

“Let’s contact the Mage Tower, Bersan. I found a clue about a new world.”