"Yeah, but he doesn't remember me anymore. I'm sure that was my brother, Eilan. I can't be wrong." Eilish said while gritting her teeth. She was frustrated.
"Okay, tell me what happened. How did you meet your brother here?" Souta said. He was curious and at the same time, he wanted to know the truth. The truth about Eilish.
Eilish hesitated at first. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "I know that we've suffered great casualties and I can't stay like this all the time but I can't help it. I couldn't focus. Every time I close my eyes, that scene always flashed in my mind."
"It's fine, I understand. Each one of us has our own issues and I think that you will not follow me without specific reasons. Just tell me everything. Let it out." Souta said to her.
Eilish looked down for a few seconds. She closed her eyes and slowly said, "Eilan is the reason why I wanted to come to Divine World Imperium. He's the sole purpose of my adventure."
Decade ago...
In a simple wooden house, the door opened and a beautiful young girl entered the house. She had short blue hair and smooth skin.
She went to the kitchen and prepared a soup. She brought soup to one of the rooms. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were full of gentleness.
In this room, there was a bed and a skinny young boy laying on it. The young boy looked exhausted and dry.
The young boy opened his eyes when he heard someone enter his room. He looked over and muttered, "Sister Eilish..."
"Eat this, Eilan. It would be bad for your body if you didn't eat anything," Eilish said as softly as she could.
"I'm fine, Sis. You don't have to worry about me." Eilan said weakly with a wry smile on his face.
"You're the one who shouldn't worry. I'll find a way to cure your illness no matter what." Eilish assured her brother.
"I will be fine," Eilan said to his sister.
Eilish simply smiled before she helped her brother eat the soup that she prepared.
The two of them were alone. Their parents died years ago, living them on their own. They helped each other and luckily, Eilish had great friends that helped them stand on their own.
They were living a fair life but something happened four months ago. Eilan was diagnosed with an unknown disease. Ever since then, he became bedridden and no medicine could help his strange condition.
Eilish watched her brother sleep before she exited the room. She washed the dishes and went to read some books. The books were all about medicinal herbs. She wanted to find something that could help her brother's condition.
"I will help my brother no matter what..."
Eilish swore to herself.
It was then that Eilish read about the legends of the Divine World, a world where gods live. According to the book, the gods were real and there were all sorts of mythical creatures living in that world. There were also various medicinal herbs with unbelievable effects.
This gives some hope in Eilish's heart.
If the Divine World was real then she would be able the unknown disease of her brother.
The only problem was where would she find this world.
Where to start?
Eilish closed the book in her hands and went out of the house. She gathered all sorts of books that could give her information about the Divine World in her village. Unfortunately, there was none aside from the book that she just read.
"You're reading about herbs again?"
Eilish turned her head and saw a young girl between 16 to 18 years old. The young girl had black hair and black eyes with a red hue around her pupils.
"I'm not, Friess." Eilish shook her head.
Friess was the name of the young girl and she was one of Eilish's friends.
"Then, what it is?" Friess asked.
Eilish smiled as she showed the title of the book to her friend.
"The legend of the Divine World...?" Friess was confused. She glanced at Eilish and asked, "Isn't that a children's story?"
"Oh, you know about it?" Eilish raised her eyebrows.
"Yep, I read one of that books in the city." Friess nodded. "What's wrong with that book?"
"I want to find the Divine World," Eilish said.
"Eh...?!" Friess was shocked at her friend's words. "Isn't that a fairy tale? Something that isn't true..."
She then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She forgot that Eilish haven't gone to the city before. She stayed here in this village and only go to mountain to gather some herbs.
"Who knows but... What if the Divine World really exists out there?" Eilish said as she stared at the vast sky with a longing expression.
"Wait a moment!" Friess raised her hand as she stopped Eilish from speaking further. "Let me call the others first."
"O-Okay." Eilish nodded.
Half an hour later, five girls gathered around the shade of a huge tree. The other three girls had the same age as Eilish and Friess.
The first one had short black hair that was tied on the back of her head. The color of her skin was brown and she had a pair of pitch-black eyes. Her name was Greesa.
The second one was a young girl with smooth and silky white skin. Her hair color was pink and it was tied into twin tails. She had a pair of fox ears and tail. Her name was Aileen.
The last one was a tall girl with short brown hair and eyes of the same color. Her skin was dark with a few scars visible on it. She was Jaebi.
The five of them were friends for a long time. All of them were village girls but they had great ambition. They didn't want to stay in this village for the rest of their lives.
"Eilish, tell them what you said to me," Friess said.
The other three girls turned their heads toward Eilish.
English smiled and flashed the book in front of them.
"The Legend of the Divine World...? Isn't that a fairy tale?"
The three girls were confused about why Eilish showed them this book.
"What if this book is real? What if Divine World really exists out there? Isn't it great! I will be able to find a cure for Eilan's disease!" Eilish said to them.
"Are you serious?" Aileen asked.
"Yep," Eilish nodded her head.
Aileen, Jaebi, and Greesa looked at each other. They didn't know what to say to their friend.
"So what are you planning to do?" Friess asked.
"I want to find it. As long as there's hope then I will pursue it to cure Eilan's disease." Eilish said as she raised both of her hands.
"Even if that is true, then how do you plan to go there with yourself? From the looks of it, there are mythical creatures that could easily kill you." Friess asked once again.
"I..." Eilish lowered her head. After a few moments, she raised her head and stared at Friess. "That's why I will grow stronger. I will grow strong so that I could cure Eilan and protect him from any harm. I will do everything that I could do."
It was at this moment that the girls realized that Eilish wasn't joking. They accompanied him to the city for the first time and learned various things.
The group of young girls aspired to become adventurers. They didn't complain as they trained themselves in various combat styles. In just half a year, they learned basic fighting styles through self-taught.
In the next year, they became official adventurers. Eilish also managed to build her first magic circle. The group explored various places to discover some clues about the Divine World. Also, they didn't forget to search if anything could help Eilan in their adventures.
By the time Eilish reached the age of twenty, the group became widely known adventurers in their city. Their efforts made them accumulate some wealth yet they didn't find anything that could cure Eilan's disease. It felt as if there was nothing that could cure that unknown disease.
...
Souta listened to her story without disturbing her. He knew that she was telling the truth.
So originally, Eilish wasn't from that sub-world where he first met her. She probably got stuck there and couldn't find a way to get out of that planet.
She was a One Shackle Realm at that time so her body was strong enough to survive that vacuum of space but she wasn't self-proficient. She still needed to eat and sleep so she couldn't travel in the vast expanse alone without any direction.
Her goal probably was the Council of High-Worlds. To acquire their information so that she could depart with a destination in her mind.
But where were her friends...?
Souta felt like he already knew what happened.
