Finally, I stepped out of that building.


    I know that it was only a few minutes for me, but I''d like to account for that month I was in a coma. So, let me say this:


    "Freeeeeeeeedoooooom!!!" As I stepped outside, the salty smell and the cool breeze greeted me.


    At the taste of freedom, I let out a childish side of mine, which Livia found amusing.


    "Was that atmosphere so suffocating for you?" She asked, giggling.


    "Nope." I turned back to look at her with a grin. "It''s just that seeing so many aliens confirmed the new reality I have to face: One without humans! Why wouldn''t I jump for joy?"


    "True. So, you hate your fellow humans, huh? That explains your cooperation."


    I said that, but the only noticeable physical differences between humans and aliens were their hair and eye color. At first glance, I could easily mistake them for humans.


    Another feature of disappointment would be their buildings and technology. It''s similar to humanity''s. Despite everything resembling humanity, I didn''t know why, but it still felt unique.


    "Hey, Livia. I always thought if aliens were to exist, their technology would be far more advanced. At this rate, I won''t be able to immerse myself in science fiction and the fantasy concept." I didn''t hide my disappointment.


    "Unfortunately, you''re asking the wrong person. I''m nothing but a mere special-grade knight. If you want to learn the specifics of certain content, it''d be best of you to visit those factions," she suggested, walking ahead of me.


    There it was again, an X-grade knight. Not only that, but another unknown concept popped up—factions. Let''s first ask about the less obvious stuff. The more I asked, the less she''d be willing to continue explaining. Thus, I asked about the more complex concepts first.


    "Factions?" I asked.


    "Hey, doesn''t it smell salty?"


    She''s totally avoiding the question.


    "Yeah... what about it?" I sniffed the air.


    I guessed it would be better to just play along with her.


    "Why do you think so?" She asked, glancing at our surroundings.


    Now that she mentioned it, it was indeed strange that it smelled salty. It''d be more reasonable if it smelled fishy—but instead, it smelled salty—which made me question our location. Was that perhaps her intention? A place that smells salty...


    "Are we... near the sea?" I took an educated guess.


    "Close~ But if we were near the sea, how does that explain humanity never being aware of our existence?" She giggled, finding pleasure in wrecking my brain. Well, I''ll get her back later. I couldn''t afford to let my pride ruin this opportunity for me.


    I brushed my bangs to the back using my fingers, and then I looked up at the sky. It''s been a while since I was this deep in thought, but I realized that the answer was right under my nose.


    Humans were afraid of the unknown, so when we couldn''t explain something nor find a way to the answer, we would fill the blank with artificial yet convincing nonsense. In this scenario, it''d be: The reasons why humanity had no trace or evidence of the existence of aliens—instead of proclaiming them as non-existent—humans just threw in some random bullshit reasons such as their technology being so advanced, or that they lived on a different planet. Considering that this concept of ''aliens'' was initially fictional, it''d be safe to bring these bizarre and illogical ideas into the equation.


    "Are you perhaps using some advanced technology to conceal your presence from humans, or..."


    Let''s take this a step further.


    "Magic?" I glanced at her skeptically.


    I was also going to bring up the possibility of us being on Mars or something. It was possible because that high-grade alien didn''t understand our biology, thus it might be possible for their body to handle the pressure of Mars, but then again...


    I''m alive.


    To a certain extent, I could brush off my near-death experiences as coincidences created by my curse, but that wouldn''t advocate the fact that I biologically couldn''t survive on Mars. Considering that my curse always had to rely on coincidences and logic, it was not far-fetched to assume that it couldn''t defy logic or universal laws. Thus, despite my plot armor, I was incapable of surviving on Mars. So, it was out of the equation.


    "Magic, huh?" She looked up at the sky with me, trying to see what I saw. "It''s strange. Both of your answers are correct."


    "Both?"


    "It''s true that we''re concealing our presence using magic, but don''t you think that magic could be considered the next stage of technology?"


    Normally, I''d debate on that but simply concealing their appearance using magic wouldn''t explain how I was in an unfamiliar area. The difference between technology and magic would be the logic. If she implied magic to be advanced technology then that would mean that there was logic—to some extent—behind their concealment.


    That high-grade alien didn''t fight using magic, even until his very last breath. Every alien is concealed, despite some not being able to use magic. Does that mean the concealment can''t be something direct? Not to mention, I''m on land vacant from humans. But there''s also the possibility that a single alien could use a spell to conceal every alien.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Just one question..." I looked at her.


    "Hm?" She met my gaze.


    "Are we near humans?" I asked.


    There were two types of possibilities: Being physically concealed from humans while residing with them. The other would be concealing oneself by being out of everyone''s line of sight. Simply put, somewhere afar.


    Upon hearing my question, she closed her eyes and tugged a smile.


    "A human killed a high-grade alien. Whenever I look at you, I''m reminded of that fact. Until now—for an entire month—I remained under the assumption that our knight underestimated you, causing him to slip up and die. But after witnessing your critical thinking in person, I''m beginning to understand how you managed to kill him."


    After she brought up her doubt, she opened her eyes to face the truth. She wasn''t right, but she wasn''t wrong either. There''s a limit to how much your brain can help in a fight. I wouldn''t have won if I didn''t have this curse—this plot armor. If my instincts couldn''t keep up with his swift attacks, or if his slash was deeper inside my head than just my eye, I would''ve died.


    Well, whatever. Her not answering my question indicated that I was right. We weren''t near humans. That was enough information for me to pile a ''logical'' conclusion.


    "Those factions you spoke about before...would I be able to get further details if I visited the one responsible for the ''advanced technology''?"


    "Splendid!" She smiled in awe. "That''d be the Technio Faction. However, there''s no need to waste your time going there. I—Livia, one of the leaders of The Branch, residing in the Assault Faction, for this war—possess enough geographical information to humor your curious mind."


    To avoid collision with aircraft, we would have to be above it if aliens resided in the air. However, if we were above aircraft then that''d mean I wouldn''t be able to breathe, or at least not properly. Thus, our location was undeniably on the surface. I also eliminated the possibility of us being on a different planet. Earth, on the surface.


    And with that, the puzzle was missing one piece. I had that piece since this conversation began. And so, I placed it down, completing the puzzle. I could see it...


    "So, aliens are occupying the ocean, and this so-called Technio Faction is concealing alien territory from outsiders using a barrier. But if you guys are living on the ocean, then where are you getting resources? The ocean is slightly more than twice as big as the land. Assuming your population is two times more than humanity''s, we would''ve noticed a long time ago that something else was extracting our resources."


    Of course, considering our man-made structures and technology were alike, it was obvious that they occasionally blended in with humans to intrude on our territory. They were very much human in terms of physical appearance, with their hair and eye color being the only two distinguishable traits. Those could easily be brushed off as hair dye, eye contacts, and whatnot. So, even if they could intrude on our territory and steal our resources, the consumption rate wouldn''t make sense.


    "You''re really interesting, Cain. Unfortunately, I was only confident in the geographical concept. So, I can''t elaborate on what I''m about to say. You''ll need to ask Zenki, the leader of the Technio Faction. But I''m sure with your smarts, this would suffice: This planet is two parallel Earths existing simultaneously in two different spaces. Humanity''s one with 70% water and 30% land, and ours with 30% water and 70% land. This barrier, maintained by Zenki, distorts the space between our two Earths, allowing our 70% land to lap on your Earth''s 70% water. I don''t know the specifics, but we get our resources from your ocean, as in our space—in reality—it is 70% land."


    I won''t lie. Even I was confused, but what I wondered more than logic was: Who the fuck possessed such power to bend space and cover 70% of Earth with magic for all these centuries? What the hell was humanity up against? High-grade alien, my ass. What the hell was with that power scaling? So it wasn''t concealment magic, but something more absurd like distorting the entire alien territory into a different space.


    "But wait... if we''re in your space, on your Earth, then technically we aren''t on the ocean, so why does it smell like salt?" I asked, perplexed.


    "Bermuda Triangle." She smirked.


    "Eh?"


    "Distorting—manipulating space is more than just moving the location. You can also reshape it. Even our 70% land can be reshaped to only cover the Bermuda Triangle. This way we can make up for the lack of water by not occupying the entire space of your Earth''s ocean. Unfortunately, that was the limit Zenki''s power could manage. So, we still ended up with unwanted visitors now and then."


    So that''s why people disappear in the Bermuda Triangle.


    It was hard to understand when her explanation was so bad, but simply put, the smell of the salt—the ocean—was a side-effect of the two spaces residing simultaneously. We were basically in the Bermuda Triangle, surrounded by the ocean.


    "One more question," I looked at her seriously.


    "Good grief, you''re hurting my head. I wanted to talk about your love with Maria, not this brain-busting nonsense. If you want to know more, consult Zenki," she whined.


    I didn''t respond to her complaint. I simply remained hell-bent on my serious gaze. It didn''t take long for her to give in to my selfish curiosity.


    "Alright, I get it! Geez! What is it?!" She sighed.


    "What would happen if... Zenki died? No. If the entire Technio Faction was destroyed?"


    The atmosphere became eerie, and so did Livia''s expression. She stared at me with a blank expression and empty eyes.


    "That''d never happen. Enough with your curiosity. You''ll end up getting killed, you know?" She quickly and coldly responded.


    Was this seriously the girl who was smugly answering my questions a moment ago? I didn''t know why, but my instincts were telling me not to pursue the topic further.


    "Fine...let''s just leave it at that..." I averted my gaze, shaking.


    I sought death, and yet I...trembled at her threat.


    <hr>


    "Nom, nom." Livia indulged in some alien cuisine.


    After several hours of cooling off the atmosphere by having a date-like experience, we were on our way back to that building. If I remember correctly, it was called The Branch.


    "By the way, Cain. You don''t seem to mind that. Most people would freak out."


    "''That''?" I tilted my head quizzically.


    "Your eye."


    "Ah, it being silver? I was born with it, so I''m used to it by now."


    "No, no, not that." She waved her hand dismissively.


    "Then what?"


    "You know, having someone''s eye."


    What the fuck?! How could I forget?! I lost my eye in that fight against the high-grade alien. Was it because I passed out for a month shortly after? I only experienced the loss of my eye for a few minutes compared to the eighteen years I lived with both.


    "T-t-this is someone else''s e-eye?!" I panicked.


    "Bwahahaha! This is the first time I''ve seen you flustered and disgusted so badly!" She laughed.


    "Oiii! Tell me!"


    "There''s a miracle doctor here, but even regenerating a missing eye is too much for him. Our only option was either to leave you one-eyed or find an eye that matched your color. Y''know, even if we have various hair and eye colors, nobody had silver eyes except..." She smiled warmly, reminiscing something.


    "Except?" I asked.


    "Maria Haine''s father, the former king, Eros Haine! Even so, we wouldn''t do that, but..." She shrugged. "Maria insisted."


    I opened my mouth but no words came out. Instead, I walked away.


    "H-hey, wait! Where are you going?!"


    "That''s enough for today, don''t you think?! C''ya!"


    Come to think of it, Maria commented on my eyes when we met. Did she perhaps take a liking to me because I—my eyes—remind her of her father? Not to mention, she''s a princess.


    I surprisingly felt...disappointed.