“That’s…” Marika was taken aback from the sudden inquiry. She had stalled giving away her identity for as long as she could. She dodged the question every time there were Renald or Rostav around. But now, face-to-face with one of the people who saved her life and nowhere to escape, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Alain leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms. “There’s a line you need to cross here if you’re gonna come into my life and my family, staying in my father’s house. I need to see if I can trust you,” Alain said.

Marika continued her uncomfortable silence. The woman visibly looked like she was debating something inside her head.

“Now that I think about it,” Alain leaned forward. “You overheard our conversation this morning, didn’t you? I thought your timing when you came down the stairs was suspicious. Are you trying to find information about me? Are you one of them, the Swords? Why are you pretending to be from The Domain?” He asked rapid-fire questions and scrunched his eyebrows.

“No! I’m not!” She shook her head repeatedly and waved her hand. “I mean...I did overhear your conversations this morning but I truly did not mean to do it! I just found it awkward if I were to suddenly come down the stairs, so I waited for the perfect timing. And Renald was the one who found me on the riverbank even before you found us, right? I wouldn’t even know you were going to come and rescue me. I truly am from The Domain! I really did float down the river,” She explained hastily.

Alain leaned back again. “Then tell me who you are, this is the final time I’ll ask, or I’ll have you find somewhere else to stay,” He said.

Marika made a complicated expression. Her desire to stay silent was being overruled by Alain’s incessant push.

She sighed all the air out of her lung and leaned back. ”Alright, but knowing the differences in our culture and society, I need to ask what do you know about The Domain before I can explain to you who I am,” She said.

“Hmm?” Alain raised his eyebrows. “What do I know about your home?”

“That’s right, it’s important you understand the overall picture of my nation before you can understand who I am,” She replied.

“Alright,” Alain stroke his chin to think. “I only heard from musings in taverns from traders. I know your traders often come here to import luxury goods like fabric, textiles, or alcoholic beverages. We also export some of our crops and sometimes Giantslayer equipment to your home. Although trade between us is quite rare since we are so far apart from one another and we need to pass some other settlements along the way, and we do prefer to export our goods to those nearest settlements. ” He said.

“That’s also what I heard before about The Sanctuary,” Marika nodded. “But what about our society? What do you know about us?” She asked again.

“From what I’ve heard your nation is absolutely gigantic, way bigger than The Sanctuary. I know your nation is operated similarly to the kingdoms of the times before The Final Curse. I guess I also know you have a noble ruling class and that you’re governed by some sort of King. I can’t imagine it, to be honest. It’s too different from what I know,” Alain answered.

Even my previous home was more similar to The Sanctuary, although there was a leader in charge he did not really oppress us that much. I’ve only heard about royal families in some stories from the distant past. Alain thought.

“What you have heard is correct, but let me tell you something else,” Marika replied. “We have never changed our king ever since the founding of our nation several hundred years ago. It has always been the same person.” She continued.

“W-what?” Alain was genuinely shocked to hear that.

What is this? Is he some sort of powerful immortal being? Alain wondered. He was shuffling in his seat nervously. Someone that powerful was too dangerous to be kept alive, he thought.

“It’s not what you’re thinking,” Marika replied as if sensing what Alain was wondering about. “He has officially ‘moved on to the afterlife’ all those years ago. But since he was someone chosen by our God, Mother Yavi herself, he is our eternal king, never to be replaced. He has passed on his will through our constitution doctrine or sometimes through divinations from high priests. ” She said.

Alain calmed down considerably hearing her reply.

O-of course. There’s no one that powerful. He thought. But his head was also getting dizzy imagining what that sort of society looked like.

“Then who has been ruling The Domain all these years?” He asked.

Marika nodded, seemingly pleased that Alain was engaged in what she had to say. “You see, the official name for our nation is ‘Mother Yavi’s Domain’ but as several generations go by we often shorten it to just ‘The Domain’, although we still use the full name in an official capacity. The King of our nation never produced any heir nor did he ever marry anyone officially. That means we have no royal family or people of royal blood to speak of,” She explained.

“I...don’t get it, who’s in charge?” Alain was getting more and more confused.

“Every few generations once the balance of power has been tipped, there are noble house wars to decide who shall be the ruling family,” Marika replied. “And the head of the ruling family shall be the Prince or Princess Regent, becoming the adopted child of The King and act as the sovereign.”

“I see,” Alain nodded, he was oddly happy to learn this new information. After all, it was not every day he has someone knowledgeable about another nation explain to him personally what that nation was like. The world Alain lived in was fractured and split apart, each settlement was relatively far from one another. One would need to venture into the dangerous outside world fraught with giants to meet other civilizations, to go outside is to risk your life so people would prefer just staying in one place all their lives. Cultures and customs were, therefore, developing independently from one another aside from some few instances of influences coming from brave foreign traders.

It’s just too different. It’s still hard for me to imagine. Alain thought.

Marika’s face suddenly turned dark and gloomy. “For the last fifty years or so, House Peacebringer has ruled over The Domain. They are ruthless, to maintain the balance of power, they actively eliminate any opposition that might stand in their way, even when they have not begun to make their moves. The current Prince Regent is Astrof Peacebringer, a terrible man with terrible habits. He treats his family like pawns, his enemies like target dummies, and the commoners like cattle. Many of his children are tortured, while some of them he thinks to have talents are favored and nurtured. ” Marika’s face was full of rage, her fists clenched white.

“Marika, you seem to know too much about this,” Alain blurted out with a worried face.

“Alain,” She said.

“Yes?”

“My full name is Marika Peacebringer,” She said, flashing a melancholic smile.

The two of them finished their breakfast and moved on to their next destination. What Alain heard was utterly shocking, the girl he and Renald saved turned out to be such an important person, she was one of the offspring to the ruling noble house of The Domain. However, she retold the stories of her family with bitter eyes and a traumatic veil, it was clear she did not want to remember much about her past.

Marika did not reveal any more information after that. Her face was fierce and full of resentment, resentment that could turn into a deep depression. Alain could not find it in his heart to push her further to find out what led her to be floating down the river unconscious with that severe wound she had. They were walking along the main road slowly, strolling.

Marika suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Alain turned around to see what she was doing.

“Look into my eyes, Alain,” She said.

“What?” Alain was confused but subconsciously did as he said.

It’s dark purple? He thought as he peered into her eyes. After a closer look, her eyes were not black like he thought it was but rather some shade of purple. He had never seen pupils like that.

“These eyes are indicators that you belong to a noble family in The Domain. For some reason, Mother Yavi created every person born in a noble family to have light purple eyes and white skin,” She said.

“But…” Alain looked up and down at Marika. Her description of a noble did not really match her olive skin color and her eyes were not exactly light purple, but a rather darker shade of it.

Marika sighed, her eyes were saddened by Alain’s gaze. “I am not a pure-blooded noble. That’s all I’m going to say for now. That’s why I don’t want to go back there, I would rather stay here and be happy, like you,” She said.

Like me? Alain was taken aback from her words. She said that as if she thought he had lived a good life here, but she did not know of his horrible past that he has constant nightmares about. But could she be right? Alain thought. Alain never considered himself to ever be happy. After his arrival here, his life had been relatively peaceful, but he could not stop thinking about vengeance against the Elder Giant that killed his family. He did have a roof over his head, a caring man that treated him like a son, and a bright prospect to his desired profession. Was he happy here? Alain could not find the answer.

“I mean you have your father who loves you and you seem to be on track to be a Giantslayer. From what I’ve seen so far,” Marika gazed at giggling children who ran past them chasing each other. “This is a happy place. You said it has its problems, but all places I imagine have their own issues. The Sanctuary I see right now is my ideal place. I want to live here,” She said with eyes full of conviction.

Alain’s eyes widened. He suddenly coughed and walked forward.

“L-let’s continue to the shopping district, we’ll buy you some clothes.” He said, fumbling his words.

Marika nodded and followed Alain. They continued on their tour of the first floor. Their first destination after breakfast was a clothing store in the shopping district. Marika had picked out some Sanctuary-appropriate clothing in order to fit in here, they were mostly leather clothing of plain colors. Alain then showed her where The Academy for fledgling Giantslayers was, she was quite interested to see the huge building built on top of the giant table, but they did not take the elevator up.

They toured around the first floor to see the Giantslayer guild building, the P.O.B building, and various other districts such as the school district or the entertainment district. Marika’s face was bright with joy as she studied the daily routines of the Sanctuarians. After they were satisfied, they took the elevator next to the giant staircase to go to the second floor. While they were moving up, they both saw some construction happening in the gigantic spiraling staircase.

“Are they building?” Marika pointed at workers assembling wooden foundations for buildings.

Alain nodded. “Yes. It seems that The High Council has decided to build some structures on the staircase itself since it has not been used in generations, it felt like a waste if it was not used at all,” He explained.

“Do citizens have a say in this...high council’s decision?” She asked.

“Somewhat. I think it was the citizens that voted to build more structures on the staircase. Our population has also been increasing so we’re planning to build more vertical structures. You’ve seen some buildings on top of tables or the kitchen island, yes? We are trying to build even more advanced structures like that to take advantage of The Sanctuary’s verticality,” Alain replied.

“Wow, it’s a bit like The Domain then,” She said as she leaned over the elevator’s railing to see a beautiful view of the first floor.

“Oh, you also have a lot of vertical structures?”

Marika nodded. “Our lowest floor where most of the commoners are, has a lot of vertical buildings or buildings built on top of something. We need to save a lot of space for them.” She replied.

Lowest floor? How big is The Domain, really? Alain thought. From what he’s hearing so far, that nation had the scale of something he had never seen before. But before he could ask Marika, their elevator had arrived on the second floor.

“Welcome to the second floor of The Sanctuary, this is mostly the residential district where most of the people’s houses are. I live in an apartment built on top of the windowsill there.” Alain said and pointed at his apartment in the distance.

“What’s that?” Marika pointed at the rays of sunshine coming from a certain area, it was obvious there was some sort of open area connected with the outside world in the distance.

“That’s the farming district in the balcony. It can get pretty dangerous when there are avian giants but it’s a nice place to be if you wanna relax outside without really going outside. There are also places there where the population can sunbathe safely with the protection of Giantslayers,” Alain replied.

“I see,” Marika nodded. “Then where are we going to go first?” She asked.

“Actually, I need to visit someone first, is that okay?” Alain said.

“By all means,” Marika of course did not mind as she was just following Alain’s directions.

“Hubert! I missed you!” A frail elderly woman hugged Alain warmly.

“I’m back,” Alain replied.

“How’s work in the factory? Your boss treating you well?” The elderly woman asked.

“Everything is fine. How about you, mother?”

“You know me!” The elderly woman laughed. “Everything has been the same around here. Please come inside! I made some delicious pies!” She motioned the two of them to come inside her humble abode, it was a small cozy wooden house. They both sat in the living room.

“I’ll prepare the pies, what do you want to drink?” She asked.

“Water for me please, mother,” Alain said.

“Ah, water too, please,” Marika said afterward.

The elderly woman nodded and left towards the kitchen. Marika had the most bewildered look showing on her face. At first, she thought this woman could be Alain’s mother, but she heard her calling him ‘Hubert’, could that be his family name? She thought.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Alain leaned back on the chair. “She’s not my mother. Her name’s Elena and I’m not related to her at all.” He said.

“Then who is she? Why is she calling you Hubert?” She was even more confused about why they were at a stranger’s house and why Alain was acting like this.

“Hubert is the name of her only son who died five years ago from a giant serpent attack on The Sanctuary. It was the same tragedy that took Rostav’s wife and son.” Alain explained.

Marika’s eyes widened in surprise. “Then Rostav is also not your…?” Her words trailed off realizing her mistake.

Alain shook his head. “It’s okay. I don’t really have a family here but I do cherish these people. In a lot of ways I’m also like you, I only arrived in The Sanctuary three years ago. But...I’ll tell you about that some other time.” Alain said.

“I see,” Marika made an apologetic expression. “But what about her? Why are you pretending to be her son?”

“I, uh,” Alain thought about what to say. “I was at a bad state when I first arrived here, or at least my mental state was. The Sanctuary at the time was still recovering from the serpent giant attack two years prior, people were still traumatic and buildings were being repaired. I had started staying at Rostav’s place but he was very busy with increased orders from his Giantslayer clients at the time who wanted to still pursue the elusive giant serpent who managed to escape somewhere after the attack. I was alone and,” Alain looked around the little house they sat in.

“This elderly woman came to me and acted as if I was his son, she went on about she knew I was still alive and that she had proven her neighbors wrong. I was utterly confused, and after asking around the area, I had come to find out I look exactly like her late son, same height, same face.” Alain explained.

“So you went on with it?” Marika asked.

“Yes. I would feel guilty if I needed to reveal to her that her son was truly dead. And also, she was the only person back then who treated me like a family,” He replied.

Marika showed a somber look. “But...at some point, doesn’t she need to know?”

“Yes. She does. But…I can’t—” Alain’s words were cut off as Elena returned from the kitchen.

“Here you go! My signature pies!” Elena set down two plates, each with a slice of pie.

“Thank you, mother. But we wouldn’t be here for too long, I’m afraid I need to go somewhere else after this with this person,” Alain said, pointing at Marika.

“And who is this?” Elena smiled. “Are you finally introducing your fiancee to me? It’s about time you give me grandchildren!” Elena laughed, showing her missing teeth in the process.

Alain shook his head. “This is Marika, she’s just someone from work. Anyway, mother, I need to tell you something. My team has a big project we need to work on so I’ll be gone for several weeks,” He said.

Marika turned to him confused, what was he about to do in that period of time? She wondered.

“Too bad, she seems nice,” Elena produced a disappointing sigh while looking at Marika. “But several weeks? Are you going somewhere?”

“I will just be too busy to even go outside of the factory for the project so I won’t be able to visit you for a while, I’m sorry mother, but I promise I will bring you some souvenirs next time I visit,” Alain said, making an apologetic face.

“I will be sad alone...but it won’t be the first time you’re gone for long periods of time so I’ll manage.” Elena’s face drooped down, traces of deep-seated loneliness emanated from her aura.

Alain sensed her sadness and quickly tried to shift the topic, “Anyway, let’s eat this,” Alain turned to Marika, she nodded to him. They both ate the delicious pies. While they were eating, Elena had told Marika about embarrassing stories about Hubert’s childhood. Alain had pretended to act shamefully about the past that was not his, about the childhood he wished could be his. But it was nice to picture himself on Hubert’s shoes, reliving those fake moments and memories. How cruel was the world to take such a bright young man with a loving family like that? Alain thought. But he had experienced the same thing and he had seen other people like that as well. It made him reflect on those you left behind when you die, those that are left to carry the scars and trauma.

“Thank you for today, mother,” Alain said while standing in front of the door.

“Oh, Hubert! Anytime! Please come again, and take her with you as well! It was nice meeting you. Marika.” Elena suddenly grabbed Marika and gave her a hug. Marika yelped in surprise but accepted it warmly.

They waved her goodbye and head off to their next destination. But suddenly, Marika stopped Alain from walking.

“Alain, what are you going to do that you need to be gone for several weeks?” She asked.

“I’m joining the nectar expedition team in four days,” Alain said, “We recently lost one of our nectar spots due to some incidents, causing a shortage. This expedition will be a joint collaboration between the Giantslayers and the Shields, the soldiers of The Sanctuary. We will basically look to the giant wilderness to find a new nectar hotspot to extract from. It’s going to be quite dangerous, and I don’t know if we’ll succeed, but The Sanctuary is in great danger if we don’t find refill our nectar reserves soon,” Alain explained.

Marika’s face fell into deep thought. She looked down for a few seconds while Alain was waiting for her response. Finally, she looked up with a clear conviction in her eyes. “I want to join the expedition,” She said firmly.