Death... and me

Well, they didn't really know if that was her real name or not. However, mentioning her without even using a name was annoying to them, so they gave her one. After that, Rean simply got the two girls to look after the baby every now and then. Since the cave rooms were protected against Spiritual Senses, Rean wasn't afraid of Wano seeing Calina or Malaka disappearing in midair.

With Sister Orb's help, they became quite attached to the kid. Surprisingly, Rean and Roan didn't mind it. After all, that meant less work for themselves. Well, Roan rarely ever did anything for the baby to start with.

'Sana's sleeping right now. She was just a newborn baby when I found her, so she still sleeps a lot.'

Calina nodded. It's just that she was worried about something else.

'What is it?'

Calina then looked at Rean and couldn't help but ask.

'Things are still fine since she's only several months old. But what if we end up staying with her for several years? Are you going to keep her inside the Dimensional Realm forever? Isn't that bad?'

Rean pondered for a bit and shook his head.

'There isn't much we can do about it. After all, we can't have her come out in a place like this. I guess she will have to grow up in the Dimensional Realm for now.'

Calina then added.

'That's not the only problem. She'll eventually start forming permanent memories. What will you do when you bring her out when she's old enough? Will you ask her to keep the Dimensional Realm a secret? I don't think it's that easy.'

Rean had to admit that Calina was right.

'So, what should we do? Just bring her out when she reaches two years old or more? Well, if we do that, she won't remember the Dimensional Realm.'

Calina nodded as she replied.

'In fact, I think we should do it right now before she really starts to understand anything at all. Let's separate for a bit and then come back with her in our hands later. We can simply say we went to the closest city and found her by coincidence.'

After pondering for a bit, Rean shook his head as he spoke his mind.

'No, that won't do. There are several flaws to this plan. First of all, we are discussing the matter of keeping her out of the Dimensional Realm forever. That means we will need to take care of the girl while we head out for training, just like what we're doing now.'

'Second, I don't think Wano would believe it that easily. It would be a different story if he wasn't here, but that's not the case.'

'Third, she would be a big burden when we go into battle. Your idea is to keep her outside so that she won't remember the Dimensional Realm. But if things go south, we can only do that anyway. That would only make things more annoying.'

'In the end, we should just let her grow in the Dimensional Realm for now. She has us and Sister Orb to entertain her. After we leave the natural formation, we can find a place to leave her behind. My Varen Tribe would be a good place.'

Calina couldn't help but ask.

'Would you just leave her like that after so many years?'

Rean nodded without even thinking.

'I would. Don't get carried away, Calina. You should know very well what kind of future is ahead of us. We can't possibly carry a kid around. I saved her, which is already the most of what I can do.'

Roan then intervened.

'Rean's right.'

Rean and Calina's conversation wasn't exactly private. Because that decision affected everyone, they also allowed Sister Orb, Malaka, and Roan to listen in.

'We can't stay with her forever, nor would I allow it. We will need to leave her somewhere else at some point. It is better for you all to not get attached to her too much. As for her knowledge about the Dimensional Realm, that's not an issue. We can simply tell her that we had to move out to a new home or whatever. Even if someone asks us, we can simply deny everything. First of all, who would really believe in the existence of the Dimensional Realm? Remember, she's only staying there temporarily. That's all.'

Malaka couldn't help but feel a bit sad about that.

'Ain't that a bit cruel? We might end up living with her for several years. Then you're telling me that we will simply leave her somewhere and vanish like that? I don't like it.'

Roan's expression went dark as he said.

'You're not her parents, idiots. I will not hear any other complaints. Once we find a place for her to stay, she will leave. If you want, you can go back there to visit her some other time or whatever. This decision is final.'

Although Rean thought that Roan's words were harsher than his, he sided with the ice block this time.

'I agree with Roan. It's not good to have Sana follow us. For her own future, she needs a safe place to stay.'

Calina and Malaka nodded. As much as they didn't want it, they eventually thought that it was for the best.

Roan was already outside, waiting with Wano.

Unlike Rean's group, Wano only had himself to take care of his cultivation. Unexpectedly, he didn't seem to care about that. Every now and then, he would go out and come back with a few injuries. It was obvious that he was carrying a training regimen of his own. There was even a time where he went missing for two days. When he came back, he brought several clothes with him. It turned out that he had gone to the closest city to take a look.

Thanks to that, Roan understood that the Lakure Race members had retreated after wiping out the people in the cities. It looked like most of their experts were in the valley, protecting it.

Nevertheless, this is the first time Wano was going out with everyone to train. After all, Rean's group had been entirely focused on cultivation so far.

"Oh! Congratulations, Illia. You're finally in the Late Stage of the Core Formation Realm."

Calina, whose alias was Illia, smiled at Wano.

"I can feel that your cultivation has improved quite a little as well. It seems like it won't be long before you reach the Late Stage of the Core and Soul Fusion Realm."

Wano laughed in response.

"Hahaha! That's quite good to hear. Unfortunately, it won't be that easy. The higher the realm, the longer it takes. Anyway, I'm looking forward to what you can show me today."

Roan nodded.

"It's good that you understand. Indeed. I don't want you to intervene unless it's extremely necessary. Of course, you can go out and fight the other Core and Soul Fusion Realm enemies if you want to."

Wano agreed with Roan as he replied.

"That won't be a problem. You're planning to take one of the Red Crystals for Kentucky, right?"

Wano then looked at the slumbering bird on the side of the cave.

Roan didn't deny that.

"Our demon beast is quite good, so it's a good idea to help it improve its strength."

"Indeed. I'm even more curious about what kind of race it is. Well, then. Shall we depart?"

Everyone nodded in response. Rean then woke Kentucky up before they departed.