The laughter of human children rang out brightly as they played with bubble guns among themselves, while the adults continued trying to restore their energy by feeding them breakfast consisting of meat covered in mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and boiled vegetables.
The morning sunlight shone upon thousands of figures from various races, now sitting in small groups on cloths spread over the ground that only moments ago had been the battlefield where their commanders fought against the strange human.
In the middle of them all, a table stretching for one kilometer was lined with food that was constantly being refilled by the ice clones cooking it.
Van stood at one end of the table, holding a small plate while looking toward one of the groups where Kalula and her companions were sitting.
Van’s hand trembled slightly as he used his fork to stab a piece of meat covered in mushroom sauce, which he immediately ate, letting it melt inside his mouth.
His mouth should have been calmly enjoying the meal, but instead his mind kept making noise inside his head.
Van let out a weary sigh even though he was eating delicious food.
His back was nudged by Beluga, who suddenly approached while carrying a large plate filled with pasta, grilled meat, meatballs, vegetables, and slices of melon on the side.
"Oi... why is the owner of the buffet sitting here all alone?"
Beluga lowered his diamond sunglasses to follow Van’s gaze toward Kalula’s group, then smiled faintly.
"Are you nervous? Want me to come with you? You know... I’m curious how your unlucky day will affect that discussion..."
Van chuckled while putting another piece of meat into his mouth.
"Nervous? Good grief... I used to attend my boss’s meetings. I mean, I didn’t understand what he was talking about..." Van nodded several times. "...but it’s basically the same thing, right?"
Beluga almost choked on the spaghetti he was eating after hearing what Van said.
"Are you crazy?"
Van chuckled while scratching the edge of his hairline and forehead with his slightly trembling fingers.
He looked around before whispering to Beluga in an extremely quiet voice.
"Actually... I really am nervous..." Van swallowed. "...I don’t know if it’s just my imagination or not, but when I think about it... it feels like I’m representing humanity in this conversation."
Beluga exclaimed while licking the bolognese sauce from his lips.
"That sounds cool..."
Van sighed and handed his small plate to an ice clone responsible for collecting dirty dishes.
Meanwhile, Beluga clenched his right fist and raised it.
Van sighed when he saw that. He clenched his right hand and pressed his pulse against the other’s. Beluga grinned broadly.
"I hope something funny happens during that meeting... don’t finish too quickly. I still haven’t tried all the food."
Van shook his head, ignored Beluga, and began walking toward where Elena and the others were sitting.
Even so, he was repeatedly stopped by humans praising his clones’ cooking. He also chatted several times with members of the other races after accidentally overhearing them enjoying the food prepared by his clones.
After a while, he finally arrived before them.
There sat Kalula, Elena, Dorn, and Bong, all looking at him.
Van smiled faintly and pointed at the cloth they were sitting on.
"May I sit down? How’s the food? Does it suit your tastes—"
Van’s words stopped when Bong, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly raised his massive hand as if he were about to crush Van.
Van reflexively covered his face, causing Dorn and Elena to laugh.
Dorn stroked his beard while Bong stopped before touching Van after seeing how frightened he looked.
"Hahaha... Bong says he really likes it. He’s asking if he can eat this food again tonight."
Van sighed, brushed back his golden hair, smiled, and sat down across from Kalula and Elena, while Bong sat on Van’s left and Dorn sat on his right.
"Good grief... I’m glad the elephant—I mean, Bong—likes my clones’ cooking... yes, of course you can eat this again tonight... they’ll cook something different too."
Van looked at Kalula.
"Of course... as long as everything goes smoothly..."
Kalula smiled faintly and nodded several times, while Elena hugged Kalula’s left arm, rested her chin on Kalula’s left shoulder, and whispered to her.
"Hey... he’s actually handsome, he’s a good cook, he’s funny... I think he’s my type."
Kalula sighed and tried to pull Elena’s arm away while pointing at her.
"She says you’re handsome and funny..."
Van blinked several times. He wanted to laugh, but then he remembered how Elena had melted his invisible space. In the end, he decided to give an awkward smile, feeling slightly traumatized.
"Ah... yeah... I didn’t expect that." Van shrugged. "I mean, this was supposed to be the unluckiest day of my life... but today, for the first time, I was called handsome by a dragon and an elf... and an elephant likes my clones’ cooking... hahaha."
Van closed his eyes, kissed the nail of his thumb, then raised his hand and pointed his index finger toward the sky.
’Thank you to the old man who trained me until all my bad fat disappeared... then passed Sunset Space on to me and sacrificed half of himself to awaken my potential.’
Kalula smiled faintly while Elena was still hugging her arm.
"So... where does this handsome human come from?" One of Kalula’s eyebrows rose. "You are human, right? Your appearance is exactly like a human’s..."
Van scratched his jaw.
"Shouldn’t you introduce yourselves first? I mean, I’m human... and you’re in the human world, but I don’t know where all of you come from... are you from a hidden civilization? The world’s core? Or outer space?"
Dorn laughed after hearing Van’s words.
"Your imagination is quite wild. It’s like you’ve never seen us before."
One of Van’s eyebrows rose as he looked at Dorn, who was sitting on his right.
"Because I really have never seen you in person... well, I’ve seen people like you on TV and in books."
Dorn stroked his white beard.
"TV? Books? What are those?"
Van’s expression turned blank. He froze after hearing Dorn’s question, unable to say anything.
’Huh? They don’t know what books are? Then what do they use?’
Van shook his head to clear his thoughts after hearing something that sounded completely absurd to him.
Kalula then spoke.
"I’m Kalula..." She then pointed at Dorn, Bong, and Elena, who was still hugging her arm. "That dwarf is Dorn... this beastman is Bong... and this elf is the Elf Princess... her name is Elena."
Van nodded several times as he looked at Dorn, Bong, and Elena after Kalula formally introduced them.
Kalula then pointed behind her, where Bartaz, Cheetah, and Ryu were still receiving treatment and were unable to join them.
"That bull Beastman is Bartaz... then that cheetah Beastman is Cheetah." Van’s expression turned strange upon hearing the name Cheetah, while Kalula continued, "And that brown-haired elf man is Ryu..."
Kalula brushed her waist-length black hair.
"We’re from Pangea..."
Van’s ears twitched when he heard Kalula mention where they came from. His brow furrowed at the familiar name.
’Pangea? Isn’t that the ancient supercontinent? How long ago was that... damn, I forgot, but it should be even older.’
Van scratched the back of his neck while looking at Kalula.
"So you’re from the past? What are you doing in the present—"
Kalula’s expression turned odd. She immediately cut him off.
"Huh? The past? No... we’re from another world."
This time, it was Van’s turn to be confused. He froze for a few moments. Since Van remained silent, Kalula spoke again.
"We’re from another world called Pangea... We came here through a portal created by our master."
Van’s expression grew even more confused. He scratched his golden hair while Elena chuckled at the sight of him.
"Pangea is another world? And you came here through your master’s portal?"
Van bit his lip.
’What is this now? That damn old man... he only referred to them as ’them.’ He never said they were from another world.’
Van looked at Kalula, Elena, Bong, and Dorn.
’
So... basically, they’re aliens? ’Van glanced at their massive floating wooden ship. ’Is that what a real UFO looks like? Good grief...’
Elena laughed softly as she watched Van’s confused expression.
"Are you still confused? Want me to tell you about Pangea... or would you rather see it yourself? Well, it’s a bit chaotic right now... but I don’t think my father and mother would mind holding a wedding ceremony now. What kind of wedding do you want? A human-style wedding is fine too—"
Elena’s nonstop talking was finally silenced when Kalula covered her mouth with one hand. Even so, Elena kept trying to speak.
Bong looked at Van seriously. Then he placed a hand on Van’s shoulder, making Van even more confused since Bong didn’t say anything. Dorn, who saw that, spoke instead.
"Bong says he agrees with your marriage... He’s wondering what kind of food will be served at your wedding."
Van slowly smiled before bursting into loud laughter at how quickly the atmosphere had changed.
Kalula finally calmed the increasingly uncontrollable situation while Van kept laughing at Dorn speaking on Bong’s behalf.
"Anyway... the point is, our master sent us here..."
Van, now exhausted from laughing, finally tried to listen to Kalula with what little energy he had left.
"We were told to retrieve the Artium that chose to fall into the human world..."
Van stroked his chin as his gray eyes narrowed.
"Chose?" That’s a rather strange word to use for an inanimate object."
Kalula nodded several times in agreement.
"It does sound strange... but that’s exactly what our master said. We don’t know what it means either. He only said that the Artium would help us fight the sea monsters and the disgusting black liquid polluting our seas and marine animals... He also said it was preparation for a future catastrophe."
Van blinked several times. This time, he fell silent because what Kalula said sounded strangely familiar.
’Collecting Artium? Monsters? Disgusting black liquid? Preparing for a future catastrophe? That sounds like...’ Van scratched his forehead. ’...my mission.’
Van looked at Kalula, who continued eating while everyone else waited for his response.
’Good grief... I’m going to go bald if I keep thinking about things I don’t understand.’
Van let out a long sigh.
’Let’s take it slowly. Basically, Pangea is currently experiencing what this world will face in the future? Sea Gates releasing Black Fluid and monsters while polluting the ocean and marine life... Then that great catastrophe is the same as the Great Event?’
Kalula looked at Van, who remained silent while the world around them buzzed with conversation and the fragrant aroma of delicious food. She finally spoke.
"So that’s why we came here, and who we are... Now, who are you? Our master said that humans at this point in time shouldn’t have any power..."
Kalula pointed all five fingers at Van.
"...but you make our master’s words sound like a lie."
Van sighed and smiled faintly.
’Yeah... I’ll think about it later. I mean, that’s still two million years away, and right now I’ve met some amazing fantasy races.’
Van raised his right hand bearing the Sunset tattoo and pinched the air in response. From nothingness, three books with three different covers slowly appeared.
Dorn frowned while Van handed the three books to them.
He gave the book with a silver-haired woman and three dragons on the cover to Kalula.
Then Van handed the book with a human man posing alongside a long-haired elf archer and a dwarf on the cover to Elena and Dorn.
Lastly, he gave the book featuring a lion together with four human children to Bong.
Van chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"Could I get your signatures on the first page of those books?"
Kalula, Elena, Dorn, and Bong looked at Van strangely. They then felt the texture of the books as if it were their first time touching one.
Dorn even lifted his book and examined it from every angle.
"So... this is what’s called a book?" Dorn opened the fairly thick volume and looked at the writing he couldn’t understand. "This is fascinating... I never thought of stacking sheets of paper together like this."
Van opened and closed his mouth several times. He was genuinely shocked to hear Dorn speaking as if he had just discovered the technology called a book for the first time.
Meanwhile, Kalula gently stroked every fiber of the book. Her red reptilian eyes scanned the words she couldn’t understand. She looked at the illustrations, seeing for the first time images printed on sheets of paper this small.
Her ears continued listening to Dorn’s amazement and Van’s explanation about the object called a book that she was holding.
She then shifted her gaze toward Van, only to observe everything about him, including what he was wearing. She noticed his pair of sandals, different from the others. She noticed Van’s kimono, different from the linen clothes worn by the other humans. She even remembered the image of Mount Fuji on his back, which seemed completely out of place.
The clinking of tableware and the fragrant aroma of food drew her attention to the one-kilometer-long buffet table. She even saw bubbles floating through the air, fired by children playing with their toy dolphin bubble guns.
Her ears twitched as she listened to the humans speaking words she couldn’t understand. The only thing she recognized was that they kept mentioning Van’s name.
She then looked at her own palm and touched the horns on her head. She remembered how Van had continuously marveled at them for being different and spoke as though they shouldn’t exist in this era.
She also remembered Van asking whether they had come from the past.
Kalula laughed after piecing together everything she had seen and heard. Her laughter made everyone else look at her in confusion, while her red reptilian eyes reflected only Van.
Kalula smiled broadly, revealing her fangs.
"You... you’re not from this era, are you?"
Van fell silent for a few moments before shrugging.
"I never said that."