CHAPTER 273: CHAPTER 271: THE SECRETS OF THE WORLD

Vinya spoke of the origin of her journey.

Aiven’s attention had already automatically focused on that great adventurer, who was ahead of the entire human world.

Exploring beyond the limits of the known world’s map, which is exactly the foredream of his father, Ferman Garrott, to find the World’s End.

"An adventurer pioneer from the Old Continent? Overcoming various dangers and horrors at sea, taking his wife to explore the boundaries of the known world map, how powerful and... romantic!"

Seeing the leisurely yearning on Aiven’s face, Vinya was not surprised and continued with a smile:

"Hehe, yes, that Mr. Jelos is indeed a powerful and charming great adventurer.

However, his wife doesn’t seem to be ordinary either; many secrets of human kingdoms were told to me by her."

She paused, and then said a name to Aiven, for whom it was as shocking as thunder.

"It’s a beautiful lady with the surname ’Phaletis’, oh, if I’m not mistaken, that surname should belong to the Royal Family you serve, right?"

For any national Royal Family, having the nation as a surname is only found in the current king and direct relatives, the scope is actually quite narrow.

"A beautiful lady with the Phaletis surname accompanying the great adventurer?"

Upon hearing Vinya’s seemingly inadvertent description, a shadow instantly flashed in Aiven’s mind, and he hurriedly asked, "Miss Vinya, may I ask, what are the features of that lady’s appearance?"

"Oh, appearance... lake-green eyes, strikingly bright golden-red hair, a beauty mark at the corner of her lips, truly a great beauty that even women would be fascinated by."

Upon hearing the lady’s appearance, Aiven instantly confirmed his suspicion.

’That’s right, the lady with the Phaletis surname is very likely the rumored eldest princess who ran away with the "wild man"!’

Based on age and similar appearance traits to the Second Princess Liweina, this is the most likely guess.

As for the official announcement of her accidental death four years ago, it was evidently just a smokescreen or... a cover-up?

The eldest princess’s actions were impressive!

The time she eloped with the adventurer should be much earlier than the official announcement, possibly when it was really uncontainable, leading the official to announce her "death" four years ago.

Whether she is still alive or not, it signifies her complete farewell to the heir position of the Phaletis Kingdom.

’What impact would this news have if it spreads back to the country?

Moreover, the Second Princess Her Highness Liweina is my liege. Does she need to be informed about her sister still being alive?

What is their true relationship? Did Her Highness already know about the eldest princess’s survival?

And possibly the adventurer currently advancing the exploration of the world map at the fastest pace!

How significant is this to a nation?

What does the Royal Family know about Jelos, the competent husband of the eldest princess?

A bit of a headache!’

However, the issue of the eldest princess can be set aside for now; whatever storm follows is something the Second Princess needs to deal with.

Aiven has many personal questions he wants to ask this young lady; it’s now or never.

The other side of the sea, the legendary kingdom, humans exploring the boundaries of the map... each term makes his "adventurer’s blood" boil within him.

So he asked the question he cared about the most.

"Then, nearly two hundred years ago, why did someone emerge to make a deal about the ’Golden Compass’ with a group of adventurers?

Do you know who the mysterious person is? What is the purpose? What secret does the ’Golden Compass’ conceal?"

Hearing Aiven’s question, Vinya revealed a smile of great interest:

"Oh? Hehehe, Mr. Galliot, what are you planning to do with inquiries about that person?"

Keenly noticing Vinya’s slightly emphasized tone of ’Galliot’, Aiven immediately realized that this young lady might know more than he anticipated.

And could someone who knows the distant past of the "Divine Gift" secret just be an ordinary mortal girl? Though aware of Vinya’s inscrutability from the start, Aiven still has no clue about her depth.

Hence, his reply was much more cautious, he pondered before saying:

"As a descendant of a family influenced by the ’Golden Compass’, I feel I have the right and responsibility to explore the secret behind this object. Even wanting to meet the mysterious person who dealt with my ancestor."

Vinya elegantly finished her last bite of caramel pudding, rising gently and gesturing to Aiven:

"Let’s go for a walk. Even just discussing that name here might have irreversible effects on ordinary people.

I do know the identity of this ’mysterious person’, but whether you qualify to meet Him depends on your capability."

"Name? Him?"

Aiven slightly stiffened as he rose to follow the movement; in Alliance language, this terminology’s pronunciation is different, and he easily discerned Vinya’s word change.

Rising solemnly to follow the young lady out of the restaurant, the two walked side by side along the river’s cobblestone path.

While walking, Vinya also told Aiven about the legend of "Him", or rather a mythological tale.

"Since the beginning of recorded time, the great gods have ruled the ’Golden Kingdom’...."

In Vinya’s narration.

The "Golden Kingdom" is not on the Old Continent where the ancestor Galliot once thought it to be; it is not on the boundary Peacock Islands of the Eastern Sea; it is not on the New Continent that is currently being developed with much fanfare in this era.

Nor is it in the Broken Star Sea, which countries have just begun to explore, filled with countless mysterious islands, secret realms, and mysteries where mysterious powers are extremely active.

Rather, it is at the far end of the Broken Star Sea to the west, where the Stormy Sea Route begins. It is also the last barrier between the Humanized World and the Natural World, the known and the unknown!

There, the original appearance of human civilization from millions of years ago is still maintained... where humans and gods coexist.

God and humans made a covenant.

The great gods act as rulers and guardians of the kingdom, while humans serve and worship the gods.

This relationship has sustained for an era long enough to cause the historical records of the Old Continent to break off several times.

There are two gods ruling the "Golden Kingdom."

One is the Sky Goddess "Kurutena," a born Wind Spirit, a goddess of freedom who can never be bound.

The other is the Ocean Goddess "Thetis," who carries the innate duty of protecting the world’s ultimate secret, which has also bound her since her inception.

The "Golden Compass" is related to this Ocean Goddess.

After guarding the secret for ages, she hopes that a suitable person can solve the mystery and, upon finding the "answer," also free her from this immensely heavy duty.

So, at the beginning of humanity’s Age of Navigation, Thetis came down in her incarnation to the Old (Source) Continent, which has the largest population, the most prosperous economy and culture, and the best representation of humanity in this world, and sent out her token.

When a compass has ventured far enough and the progress of exploration in the world meets certain conditions, after crossing the New Continent and entering the Broken Star Sea, it will guide its owner to a path leading to the "Golden Kingdom."

Furthermore, according to Vinya.

In reality, there are thirteen pieces of the "Golden Compass," with the first one in the hands of Jelos, the first Great Navigator and adventurer to reach the "Golden Kingdom," the husband of the Eldest Princess.

The remaining ones are scattered across the world, held by explorers and significant powers.

When the thirteen Golden Compasses are gathered, they can open a door.

The door through the "Golden Kingdom" leads to another realm, possibly the same unexplored world beyond the "World Wall" that divides east and west at the center of the Old Continent.

As for whether the world’s greatest secret truly exists there, Vinya doesn’t know.

Because even the god protecting the secret, "Thetis" herself, has never been there.

However, although nearly two hundred years have passed since she sent out the first compass,

the god has enough time and patience to wait for an answer that can only be responded to in terms of history or even civilization.

However, compared to the Ocean Goddess prioritizing her guarded secret, the Sky Goddess is more concerned about whether the ordinary people living in this kingdom would have their peaceful lives disturbed by outsiders.

Under the goddess’s will, Vinya embarked on her journey to the continent.

After Vinya had said what she intended to say, no matter how Mr. Aiven probed, she wouldn’t disclose any remaining secrets...

"Mr. Aiven, that’s all I can tell you. Perhaps the rest you can explore for yourself.

But, Mr. Jelos is already well on his way to collecting the thirteen Golden Compasses, so your time is running short.

In front of the two goddesses, his power may seem insignificant, but he is an existence that you currently cannot possibly resist!"

The girl stood on the viewing platform connected by a stone bridge in the middle of the river, turned around to face Aiven:

"This is the last piece of advice I’ll offer for answering my queries. I am about to return to my homeland, the ’Golden Kingdom.’ It’s quite regrettable that I couldn’t visit your and that lady’s homeland of Phaletis, which was supposed to be the last stop of my continental journey."

Aiven, anxious, blurted out: "Why not go now?"

Vinya smiled faintly and said:

"Do you want me to stay?"

However, there was not the slightest allusion in their tones; they both understood the meaning behind their words.

Aiven was not someone who was bewitched by a beauty and couldn’t move on; what he sought was Vinya’s understanding of the world, which far surpassed everyone from the Old Continent.

One can imagine, if a modern person with profound knowledge of the world’s geography, even without any titles of doctor or professor, merely a middle school teacher or a world geography enthusiast,

returned to the Age of Geographical Discovery on Earth in the 15th-17th centuries, following a map, new lands, major sea routes, world-famous gold mines, ocean currents... the pace of exploration and colonization would accelerate at the speed of light!

This knowledge is truly invaluable for the continental countries currently exploring the world at great cost!

Vinya, naturally, understood the same; honestly, the two of them were only "strangers" who had met twice. Her initial approach to him was because she sensed the aura of the "Golden Compass," and her intent was never simple.

Now, after revealing so many secrets about the "Golden Kingdom" to him,

any ambitious person would not overlook their value.

However, "Vinya" was evidently... fearless.

The mild subtlety between the young man and woman vanished, and the atmosphere suddenly became slightly delicate.