“Why are you following us?” Jin said with some irritation as Nina walked behind him. The three of them headed towards the village along the edge of the forest, beside the river.

“Hmph! I came with Rei, not with you!” Nina threw herself onto Rei’s arm, clinging to him with a look of admiration and a big smile. It was no wonder; perhaps it was his handsome appearance, his radiant aura that spread optimism, or maybe both. But Jin’s thoughts were far from them, focused entirely on something else.

(If I’m going to enter this competition, I need to figure out a way to make Rei withdraw voluntarily, or even... force him if I have to.)

(Finally, after all these years, I’m this close, and I won’t let anything stop me.)

“That’s not what I meant. Didn’t Yuna tell us that only Rei and I should go this time to buy supplies from the village?”

Nina completely ignored Jin and continued humming as if she were singing, making Rei laugh. “It’s okay, Jin. Nina is great at shopping; she’ll help us a lot.”

Jin sighed sarcastically, “Yeah, like last time.”

Nina yelled angrily, “What did you say?”

Jin ran his fingers through his curly hair. “No, nothing.”

Rei continued laughing, which only made Nina angrier. She let go of him and walked ahead of them.

“Nina!”

“Wait!”

She didn’t respond and quickened her pace even more.

Since Jin arrived at Longrad Castle, and even before that, many questions had been swirling in his mind. However, he hadn’t had the courage to ask. But now, things had changed for him. He felt that he was on the verge of something big and needed to shed light on what he didn’t know to understand a little about what awaited him.

Without preamble, Jin asked directly, overcoming his nervousness, “I heard you came from another world. Isn’t that true?”

Rei didn’t hesitate to answer, as if he respected Jin’s frankness. “Yes, that’s true. It’s a completely different world where elemental spirits don’t inhabit human bodies, and there’s no Aether.”

“Hah! No Aether! That sounds very imaginary.”

Nina interrupted their conversation, “Isn’t it! I can’t imagine a place like that.”

Rei smiled and said, “Actually, this world is the imaginary one. If I told any of my friends in my world about what I’ve seen here, they wouldn’t believe me at all.”

Nina crossed her arms and closed her eyes, “Hmm, they must be fools if they don’t believe the truth.”

Rei’s clear smile turned more cunning. “Haha, that’s big talk for someone who hasn’t awakened their essence yet.”

After Rei uttered those words, the atmosphere changed, becoming gloomy. Nina’s mood shifted from cheerfulness to deep sadness, as if a deep wound in her heart had been reopened. Rei tried to break the tension he had caused but failed, and then she slowed her steps until she was far behind them.

Rei said in a regretful voice, “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”

“What do you mean?” Jin asked. “Isn’t it normal not to be able to use Aether at that age?”

Rei looked around and then leaned closer to Jin, whispering, “That’s not the issue. Actually, her sister Elanor was able to use her powers skillfully at the age of nine, and at fourteen, she joined the Royal Knights. I even heard recently that she reached an advanced stage.”

Jin glanced at Nina out of the corner of his eye. “You mean she looks up to her sister, huh.”

(That’s what worried her mother then.)

“Yes, she always says she wants to be like her. Not being able to use Aether yet has made her depressed, but everyone tries to console her and tell her that she can do it and shouldn’t give up. Maybe she seems the most cheerful, but it appears that behind that smile is deep sadness.”

“And what do you think, Rei?”

Rei looked down and said quietly, “It’s just... impossible.”

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Jin noticed the serious look on Rei’s face, and if not for that, he would have thought Rei was joking. “I didn’t expect you to say something so harsh.”

“Don’t misunderstand me. I care about her just like everyone else, and that’s exactly why I want her to stop trying. It’s only destroying her.”

Nina, who initially seemed childish, gradually revealed to Jin that she cared deeply about those around her and bore a significant burden, always comparing herself to her sister.

Jin slowed down until he was close to her. “Hey, Red Ribbon!”

“...”

“Hey, Red Ribbon!”

“What do you want? And my name is Nina.”

Jin tilted his head slightly to the side as he looked at her. “I think it’s my turn to ask.”

Nina said in surprise, “To ask?”

“Yes, the game wasn’t over last time. It’s my turn.”

Nina smiled insincerely. “Oh, you mean that? It doesn’t matter anymore. It was silly.”

“Really! Then... I won in the end.”

Nina closed her eyes and said, “Who said there’s a winner and loser in that game?”

Jin smiled and said, “Of course, as long as it’s a game in the end.”

Nina was silent for a moment, staring at Jin with cold features. “I know what you’re trying to do...”

“Really!”

At that moment, Rei placed his arm on Jin’s shoulder. “What are you two talking about without me? I can’t believe it. Are you talking about me? This makes me a little shy, haha.”

Jin lowered Rei’s arm and said calmly, “Nothing, I think it’s over.”

“Not so fast!” Nina said, grabbing Jin by his shirt.

“What is it now?”

She let go of him calmly and said, “Okay, go ahead and ask.”

Rei said in surprise, “What? What? It seems like I missed a lot.”

Jin really wanted to ask her about the name after Edward mentioned it, but he preferred not to do so in Rei’s presence. Jin took a deep breath, directing a long gaze at the white clouds in the sky. “Who are the Chosen Ones?”

Nina pointed at Rei with her finger. “They are like this person, people from another world who are summoned, four every five years.”

“And what’s the benefit of that? People who don’t have elemental spirits and know nothing about them? That seems pointless.”

Rei laughed loudly until he could no longer keep his balance. “To... I expected you to say something like that!”

Nina said, “You’re right. Usually, when a person is born, they’re born with the essence or core, which is either light or darkness, and an elemental spirit of one of the four: earth, water, air, or fire, which feeds on Aether from the core. Only one element, and it’s something that can’t be changed. It’s like a part of you. But for some reason, when these people come to this world, they have spirits of two different elements.”

“Nina, wait. Maybe it’s better if he knows the story from the beginning.”

She turned her face away. “I was going to tell him without you saying it.”

“A thousand years ago, the world was engulfed in darkness, wars, and bloody conflicts between countries that led to the spilling of the blood of millions of people. This continued for many years until they finally realized that no one would gain anything from all of this except for ruin and destruction. So, they decided to end it once and for all in the largest peace treaty in history that included the entire world.”

Jin interrupted her, saying, “And what does this have to do with the Chosen Ones?”

“Don’t be hasty. When they established that treaty, they knew it wouldn’t last because human nature always tends towards war and domination. So, there had to be a country that would judge conflicts, and its decision would be binding. And here was the problem... how would they determine this country?”

“Instead of fighting among themselves, they decided that one person from each kingdom would compete in individual battles, and the winner’s kingdom would gain that privilege. And to make it fair, there was the need to summon the Chosen Ones, people who knew nothing about this world. Using rituals found in ancient ruins, they managed to summon four people from another world, and this is only possible every five years when the four southern stars align.”

Jin placed his hand on his head and began to rub his hair slowly. “This sounds very confusing, but what I understand is that Rei has to compete in that tournament or something like that.”

Rei closed his eyes. “No. They canceled that condition because even if you summon someone to fight for you, there’s nothing forcing them to do what you say, and some are tempted by money and power to join another kingdom. This country already has two Chosen Ones, so now anyone the kingdom chooses can participate.”

“You mean...?”

Rei smiled and said, “Yes, there’s another person, and I’ve met him before, but I couldn’t get along with him.”

Nina laughed mockingly. “Heh, is it because he defeated you?”

Rei lowered his head in disappointment. “Well... that was a long time ago, but now I’m different from before.” Then he looked at his palm with eyes sparkling with excitement, making Jin realize that the competition wouldn’t be easy.

“So you mean he’s strong.”

Rei laughed and said, “Not just strong, but talented as well. He managed to become the captain of the fifth knight squad in a short time. If it weren’t for his bad habits, he could have competed for the second or even first place.”

“We’ve arrived!”