"Of course… reincarnation would exist in a place like this," I muttered, my hands buried in my pockets as I walked down the hallway.
"Isn't that a given?" Anathasia replied with a shrug, casually strolling beside me. "You and I exist. Gods, goddesses… deities."
She glanced at me briefly before looking back toward the garden at the center of the building.
"The moment a world has those things, isn't reincarnation usually part of it too?"
"You watch too many isekais," I said flatly as we passed the long stretch of pillars lining the hallway.
Now that I actually paid attention—
The usual arching pillars. A fountain at the center of the courtyard. Students in robes, books in hand…
It checked every box a typical isekai academy would have.
Except—
This was our reality.
"We could always become teachers here, you know," Anathasia suddenly said, nudging my arm with a small smile tugging at her lips.
Then she stopped in front of a door—
And casually opened it, peeking inside.
"Miss Anathasia? What are you doing here?"
I immediately turned toward her—only to see she had already walked into one of the lecture halls.
"And that voice…"
My eyes widened slightly.
"She really had to pick Rania's class?!"
Without wasting another second, I stepped in after her, reaching out to grab her wrist—
"Yes," Rania's voice cut in calmly, "Miss Anathasia is the same Supreme Being mentioned in the scriptures."
I froze.
Too late.
Every student in the room had already turned to look at us.
"And… her?" one of them asked, pointing in my direction.
"That," Rania continued without missing a beat, "is Sir Kyle Veridielle Augthoria."
A brief pause.
"And she is a he."
Silence fell over the room.
"And he is the Absolute Stillness… or the Foundation mentioned in the scriptures."
An even heavier silence followed.
I let out a small breath, shaking my head slightly before stepping closer to Anathasia.
"…Why here?"
She didn't answer.
Her gaze drifted across the students before settling on a blonde-haired girl seated in the front row. Amethyst-colored eyes.
"Her," she muttered, just loud enough for me and Rania to hear.
Then she glanced at me.
"That girl's a reincarnator."
—
Rania's class ended early after that.
And now—
"So your name's Reina, huh…"
The four of us stood at the academy's training grounds. Practice dummies lined up ahead, each marked with red circles at their heads. A weapon rack rested near the walls of the main building.
Reina stood in front of us.
Head lowered.
Trembling.
Which was… expected, considering who stood in front of her.
"That… that is correct, Your Grace…" she whispered, giving a small nod.
Your Grace…?
"…Other students are starting to gather," Rania spoke calmly, her gaze shifting toward the pillars where several students were very poorly hiding.
"I'll handle them for now."
She turned to us.
"Sir Kyle. Miss Anathasia. You don't mind?"
Anathasia waved her hand dismissively.
"Yup. Do as you like, Professor~"
As Rania walked away, Anathasia's attention returned to Reina.
"Hmm… so," she leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her finger. "How much of Earth do you remember?"
Reina's eyes widened instantly.
Then, for some reason—
She looked at me.
Anathasia waited, her arms folded now, finger tapping lightly against her cheek.
Reina's lips parted once.
Twice.
No words came out.
Seeing how much she was trembling, shock written all over her face—I let out a quiet sigh, running a hand down my face before placing it on Anathasia's shoulder.
"Girl…"
She glanced back at me.
"Hm?"
"You really need to start being more self-aware."
I gestured toward Reina.
"You're terrifying her."
Her eyes narrowed, her hands falling to her sides.
"I just asked one simple—"
I casually shoved her behind me and smiled at Reina. Almost instantly, the color returned to the girl's face.
As expected.
After a moment, she finally began to calm down.
"Don't mind my wife over here," I said, gesturing behind me, my hand still firmly holding Anathasia's face in place.
"She's terrible at communicating with strangers, you see."
"No I'm not—! Mmph—!"
I cleared my throat, keeping my smile in place.
"Anyways, as I was saying…"
I looked back at Reina.
"Would you mind telling us how long you've been here… in this world?"
A hint of hesitation flickered in her eyes.
But after a brief pause—
She nodded.
Somewhere behind me, Anathasia finally pried my hand off her face and shoved it aside—
…but this time, she stayed quiet.
A few moments passed before Reina nodded.
"That… I…" she hesitated. "Sixteen years… I still remember the moment I woke up as a baby."
Anathasia stepped forward from behind me, leaning slightly to peek past my shoulder.
We exchanged a glance, then nodded.
"So… reincarnation and rebirth?" I rubbed my temple lightly. "What's the difference?"
"No, this is rebirth rather than reincarnation," Anathasia corrected, glancing up at me before straightening.
"It's still tied to the cosmic samsara I created with the Continuum Swimmers."
She crossed her arms, her gaze lowering as her finger tapped lightly against her chin.
"It's continuity-based. Her consciousness wasn't reset—it was transferred."
A brief pause.
"Most likely, a Continuum Swimmer consumed her consciousness along with other stray materials drifting through the cosmos…"
"And then deposited it here through their interlinked pathways."
Silence.
Reina stared at her.
I stared at her.
My expression flattened.
"…What the hell are you talking about?"
Anathasia blinked, tilting her head.
"What?"
"Girl… at least translate it."
Her brows furrowed like I'd just asked her to do something unreasonable.
Then she sighed.
"…Basically—"
She raised a finger.
"A big cosmic fish ate a tiny floating sphere."
"That sphere was her consciousness, drifting through the void."
She raised another finger.
"Then that fish dumped it somewhere else through invisible connections with other cosmic fish…"
"And it ended up here. In Aegea."
A beat.
"…Gets?"
She looked at us again. But her gaze lingered on Reina.
"Hold on," I raised a hand. "You're talking about her consciousness… does that mean—"
"She had to die first? That's usually how it works," Anathasia shrugged, her attention drifting toward the training dummy a few meters away.
"There are cases where someone's consciousness just… slips out of their body."
She glanced at me casually.
"Like when they're dreaming or asleep."
A pause.
"But that's hella rare. Like… thirty-two-leaf clover rare. So it's not really something to worry about."
Her gaze shifted back to Reina, then forward again.
"As for her case… it's most likely the former."
She snapped her fingers, and a small flame flickered to life at the tip of her finger.
"Poof~"
In the next second, one of the dummies burst into flames. The fire danced briefly at her fingertip before she blew it out with a soft breath.
She turned back to us, smiling.
"That's that."
Silence settled over us.
"Must be nice being a God, huh…" I muttered dryly.
Anathasia's expression flattened instantly.
"…Are you serious right now?"
I huffed quietly and reached out, ruffling her hair.
Then something clicked.
"By the way,"
"Hm?" she glanced up at me through her messy bangs.
"Didn't you say Reina was from Earth?"
She paused, brows knitting slightly.
Then we both turned toward Reina—
Who was still standing there.
Completely speechless.
"…Yeah," Anathasia muttered.
"I think I did."
At our words, Reina's eyes widened slightly, surprise flickering across her face.
"Pardon me, but—"
I waved a hand dismissively, offering her a small smile.
"You can drop the formalities. Don't worry."
She stiffened, her gaze shifting between me and Anathasia before she finally spoke.
"Okay…" she swallowed.
"So… Mr. Kyle and Miss Anathasia are from Earth?"
We both nodded.
Anathasia casually clasped her hands behind her back.
"More or less."
"We even finished college there," she added, glancing at me.
But when we looked back at Reina—
She just stood there.
Frozen.
Like a statue.
Anathasia's expression flattened.
"…What did I do this time…?" she muttered, turning to me.
"I don't think you did anything wrong," I replied, stepping closer and waving a hand in front of Reina's face.
No response.
I glanced back at Anathasia.
"…Yeah. Too much shock. She'll be fine."
"And it's not your fault. Not really."
I let out a quiet sigh, glancing toward Rania by the hallway. Probably busy dealing with the students who had been spying on us earlier.
"We should probably take her to the infirmary or something…"
We both paused.
Met each other's eyes.
And nodded.