"You really are awesome, Dearest Sister!!!"

    Natalia-san latched herself on my sister''s arm and cooed in admiration.

    Ultimately, I couldn''t make the gate budge even a millimetre no matter what. I further questioned my sister about the mechanics, but the only thing that got through me was it was an intuitive sorta thing, while the rest of the jargon slipped past my head like sliding on a butter-coated slide.

    See, who wouldn''t be jealous of having such talents, right? Haa.

    Begrudgingly giving up, I followed the crowd and entered inside the tower with slumped steps. No?v(el)B\\jnn

    The first thing I noticed was a huge monolith erected at the centre of the first floor of the tower. The monolith appeared to be made of some mysterious material I couldn''t figure out, and scribbled on it was some text in some unknown language.

    Freya-san stood before that monolith and then glanced at us two siblings.

    "You''re to not disclose a word about what you would see ahead of it. It''s not a warning, but advice to avoid putting your safety in jeopardy. Do you swear on it?"

    Needless to say, my sister and I promptly nodded.

    "I, Allen (Roselia) Rovenne, swear upon my name that no second person would hear anything about the tower from me."

    Freya-san nodded approvingly, and began with the monologue.

    "This monolith is known as Rea Stone in our Dosperior family. The scribbling you see is the Sacred Text once utilised during the holy rituals in antiquity era at Levandra Sovereignty, a major power once used to reside in the continent of Little Nero. The Sacred Text contains the history. To be precise, it''s the bygone past of our continent."

    ...Huh, Little Nero Continent...? The only foreign power I had heard about outside of this Rondine Continent, in which Yuglia was situated, was Berentz Archipelago Nation. Though I did hear about Levandra. It was a nation that used to be in this continent in the far past, but it met a sudden demise. Now, what was left behind of the truth was some dubious tales that may or may not hold the answer.

    Freya-san''s voice was flat, surpassing any turbulence if there was in her tone, as she led the narration.

    "...The Original Five are called the pioneers of the continent. ...And to be the pioneers of one place, one has to start from somewhere. So... from the perspective of the residents of this continent—"

    Freya-san''s expression was replaced by a steep expression before she continued.

    "—We''re what they call invaders."

    ◆◆◆

    —The event dated back over 2500 years.

    It''s only hearsay, since It’s impossible for me to verify the truth as well, but It appears that in the east of this continent lies another continent by the name of Little Nero.

    The Little Nero continent was a land with far more advanced application of magic and magical engineering than what could be seen in this continent in that era.

    In extremely rare scenarios, Little Nero would see foreign visitors arriving from the western sea—which would be the eastern sea from our direction—though at large, the Rondine Continent continues to weather the passage of time without being spotted by anyone.

    A reason could be said that the ship building technology or the sailing technique were unripe for the time to counter the non-stop air current from the opposite direction. And another was the presence of formidable monsters in the foreign sea boundary.

    However technological advancement often only required time. And for Little Nero, that moment arrived 2500 years ago. At long last, they''d invented the ship building and navigation technique to allow long-term sail even while resisting headwind.

    Denying one''s history was no different than attacking their roots, their identity, so we had no sort of opinion over this matter. And you should follow the same path. It would only take a mere spark to burn the present that we know.

    To return to the subject, the Ria tribe, under the protection of the Dosperior family, was gradually making strides, especially around the Dosperior region. However, Dosperior didn''t take the front, except standing on their ground to support Ria tribe''s chief in his endeavor.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the power showed no sign of halting their ambition, and eventually the land began to see bloodshed, with a majority of them belonging to the natives.

    It''s said that the most grieved over the tragic history was the ''God''s Eye'' Aeolus-sama. At the beginning, Aelous-sama had only entered in the war as a mere soldier of the Rea tribe, it''s just... he had the habit to overdo things apparently.

    According to the traces of history left behind by children of Aeolus-sama, the predecessor of Dosperior family, while it wasn''t his intention, he had ended up making himself the eye of the storm with his rampage, and trapped himself in a situation where the throne could only have him.

    Aeolus-sama rejected the notion vehemently at first, since he wouldn''t allow anyone of the pioneer faction, even if it''s himself, to lord  over the people that had triggered the tragedy first. Alas, after his unintentional display of strength had been made, no one would accept someone else as replacement.

    For the safety and to prevent further discord, the Dosperior family took the governance of the nation in their hand for until the moment it could stand on its own.

    This tower was built during the same era.

    The records in the monolith was the testament from Aeolus-sama, to remind his descendants to not forget the benevolence Archbishop Scadi had received, that to forget they''re pioneers and keep their devotion for their god, and to uphold their pride which make them the Dosperior.

    Earlier I had explained that the clergyman had made up to be the pinnacle of hierarchy in Levandra, on the same topic, the governing body there was No.2 in hierarchy in fact. However as it stood, the grandchild of Aeolus-sama easily relinquished the right to throne.

    It might sound odd, but maybe it was just a bloodline thing that Dosperiors had never thought of their interest for the throne. We simply live by the customs determined by our ancestors.

    Well, a long era has transpired since then. The world has seen the seasons of changes, and so does the Dosperior family. The Dosperior as of today might not be a true reflection of traditions from the past, however we still held to the core values.

    Then again, it''s not as if others were knowledgeable about history when there was gag order.  Moreso because the original vision dictates that the one in care of god needed no worldly attachment, and all people were the same. Of course, the truth that Dosperior was at the position one above all was kept secret, else it was another matter that would put the kingdom into jeopardy.

    Then, after another long time, the nation that Aeolus-sama had protected as its emperor found itself in fragmented shape. And forgetting the fear carved into them by Aeolus-sama, the rest of Original Five rose up once again and attempted an extermination of Dosperior, trampling the secret agreement they''d once taken.

    Though this part of a history was something that anyone in Yuglia more or less had in grasp. I believe you should be aware of it as well.

    Many allied factions stood up to stand with us, including the Ria family too, but no amount of glasses could stop a stone when it crashed on them. However, while Dosperior was presumed that it would meet it that day, the god hadn''t forsaken us.

    What later ensued was a spectacle akin to ''an elephant squashing ants beneath its feet'', as the enemies had described.

    The Dosperior family was single-handedly brought from the verge of destruction by our esteemed ?Witch of Iron Fist?.

    With fist like iron, and speed akin to the descent of lightning, she quelled the entire rebel force and delivered her judgment to the fools.

    Later, the civil war between the Original Five was described as "an ant, an elephant, and the massacre."

    ◆◆◆

    At the end of narration, Freya-san took a pause.

    I raised my hand.

    "...Yes, what is it, Allen?"

    T/N - Happy new year guys! I seriously forgot the day of update and ended up being one day late. Hope you all have blast this year.