Chapter 370 - A New Ally
The eight diplomats sent by Avancia looked at each other in worry. Lance's words echoed in their minds and now, they can't help but feel scared as to what may await in the East.
"No," Elliot shook his head. "It's not like Erin has a history of feuds with Alice, right? Erin may be older than Alice, but it's definitely not the case. I hope."
"The friendship between them is strong, but I don't know if Erin is actually in contact with Brandon. That guy is very toxic," Ed added. "If they really are together, it will most definitely break Alice's heart."
"After she overcame all her trials," Lance sighed. "Good thing Alice can rely on us if she ever wants us to help her by comfort or anything."
Lance made codenames so their conversation would be hidden under the radar. He composed of a story between Erin aka the Eastern Kingdoms, Alice aka Avancia, and "us" aka the ones from the East who reached out to them.
It was a good thing that the group understood their situation immediately. They were still having a hard time registering everything in their minds.
The tens of airships that convoyed them wasn't a sign of respect from the East. It was to show the Avancians that they are a threat. That if the East ever decides to attack the kingdom, they have no chance of winning.
They have machines, technology, and magic, while Avancia only has magic to rely on. When a war wages, it would be obvious who will win.
While the eight of them were sent to the kingdoms as diplomats, they will do their best to negotiate and stop a potential war from happening. Their goal was to convince the East that Avancia, or any Western kingdom wasn't a threat.
What Ilwoo gave Elliot was indeed very useful for him too. With his information about their history, he understood them better. He had a glimpse of their past that he can use with their negotiation.
Their kingdom started thousands of years ago. If Elliot wasn't mistaken by how the book described the years, the time may be longer or at least almost at the time of the Five Kings.
A man who bears the power of the Sun united the people of the East. He didn't say his name, but people called him the Sun Emperor. It was said that he could make light itself bend to its knees, make the fierce waves of the oceans calm, erupts volcanoes at will, and even defy death itself.
The Sun Emperor was indeed mighty and powerful, but the area the East covered was vast and large that it took the Sun Emperor several decades to completely unite the people. The book even said that the Sun Emperor openly tells people that even with his might, things will still take time.
The unison of the groups of people when the Sun Emperor chooses a maiden and bestows upon her a child whom he passed his powers to. They would later be called as the Twelve Sons. After giving birth, the maiden would die and her body would turn into a mineral, becoming a Crystal Maiden.
The book states that allegedly, three of those "sons" were actually female, but was forced to act male so their people would think of them as their father, strong and powerful, unlike their mothers who would only become the guardians of the soon to be kingdom.
It was obvious from Elliot's reading how the East treats their women. The book didn't hide the fact that the women were treated as flowers, soft and fragile. In the history, there wasn't any female warrior or leader who was mentioned.
The question of why Fredrick sent Florencia and Christina crossed Elliot's mind. Why did he do it? It started to clear things up as to why the people in the meeting were absolutely against the idea. Elliot worries that the girls would have a harder time in the East, but he swore to himself that he will protect them with everything he got.
Although Avancia was not entirely better when it comes to the equality between the two sexes, the female were allowed to at least become Adventurers. In the East, only men were allowed to do adventuring whom they refer to as Explorers.
The Explorers would receive their system, and train under each kingdom's protocol for three years. After their training, the top half of the trainees would become Explorers while the others would serve the kingdom until a certain level.
The bottom half's lives would end up in a circle. The Explorer system still had the same mechanics as the Adventurer system. It needs EXP for them to level up. And for them to gain EXP, they must kill beasts in the wild. Since the guards couldn't possibly hunt in the wild, their EXP would often get stuck and they would live out their lives as guards instead of becoming an Explorer.
Upon knowing all these, Elliot sighed in relief that he was born in the West. All the gold, the decorations, and overall aesthetic of the East were beautiful, but their strict policies was hard to take.
Their meeting didn't last long. It was decided that they would do their best to communicate, but will always be prepared in case the kingdoms were really plotting something to harm them. It was their best bet and everyone agreed.
Elliot was in the windowsill of the airship, watching the couds pass by. How the kingdoms of the East make such complex machine that uses magic to hover in the air and fly crossed his mind a couple of times, but he ignored the thoughts. He was busy thinking how he would solve the problem.
"You know, a cup of tea always helps."
Elliot turned to where the voice came from and he saw the man with the shield tattoo. Among their four escorts, this man was the most silent and bore the least intensity of glare.
He had a cup of tea in his hand and a plate of a muffin. Elliot smiled and held his hand out to receive the food, but the man retracted his hands closer to him.
"Who said these are for you?" the man asked, making Elliot chuckle and shake his head, thinking that the man was only joking. When the man kept a straight face, Elliot's face reddened in embarrassment.
"Oh, sorry," Elliot said, clearing his throat as if something was stuck in it. In his mind, he wanted the floor to open up and devour him completely. "I thought you brought those for me."
"I brought these for me," the man said. He sat on the sill beside Elliot and joined him in gazing the stars.
There was a weird but comfortable silence between them that Elliot didn't want to break. It was odd how he felt calm while watching the white cotton candies of the skies swiftly past their vehicle, but he liked it.
"I heard everything, the man said. "And for me who's not a complete idiot, I get what you mean."
Elliot's moment of silence vanished in an instant. He froze on the spot after hearing the man spoke. Words were caught up in his throat and he couldn't think of any excuse that would let him get out of the conversation.
They were busted.
"The East used to be so peaceful," the man continued, ignoring the obvious nervousness of Elliot. "I think it was just almost a decade ago that all twelve kingdoms were united in solidarity. Explorers were Explorers, guards were guards, freedom is free, and love is love. Yet, something changed."
"W-What changed?" Elliot asked. He was having hopes that the man would forget about his conversation with the others earlier. Although he was doubtful, he had hope.
"I don't know know when it started, but the kingdoms started to have small feuds," the man continued. "And I was there at that time. Twelve years old, young and free, happy with my father and mother. But another kingdom decided that the feud will end."
The man paused, making Elliot look at him. His eyes widened when the man's face was filled with nothing but confusion, anger, and sorrow. "W-What happened? Did he sent diplomats?"
"Diplomats," the man scoffed. "More like they sent an army, twice larger than ours. Our kingdom had no match for them. One by one, the bricks of our castle fell. The gold were melted, the gems shattered and the Crystal Maiden corrupted by an unforeseen darkness."
"Malice?" Elliot whispered. "Did it start with a black well too?"
"I heard it did," the man sighed. "You know, as I listened to your conversation, I have decided to join you. The spying wards are deactivated, so it's safe to talk."
"But what do you mean?" Elliot asked. "By all of your words, what do you mean by those?"
"My name is Guan Yin, and I will help you," the man said. "I was named after a goddess from our kingdom's myths.. And I was the princess of that kingdom."