"The special race called those from Bermuda are occasionally discovered in unspecified regions outside the territory. The Nargus Sea known for its low-pressure maritime areas, islands near the Leata Sea, sinkholes that occur in polar regions or crevasses formed in glaciers, inside moulins. The Nomitea Islands above 66.6 degrees north latitude called the 'Gap of the White Night,' and so on. They are rescued from remote places distant from civilization and are incorporated as citizens under the protection of various nations every year."
Within the northern grounds of the Council's Central Branch, the arena that occupied the largest area. It was a stadium-type space with an even more overwhelming scale than the Grand Conference Hall or courthouse, which were classified as large-scale buildings.
Today, this place was in the process of conducting an annual Council history briefing and large-scale lecture by summoning members ahead of the league's opening.
It was an important occasion with the participation of not only senior commanders including Hugo, but also many upper-level personnel. Hugo sat with his fingers interlocked on his thick thighs, leaning back against his seat, and stared at the speaker with an impassive expression.
The content of the lecture continued in this order: the rules of the league and the Council's role during the hosting period, strengthened security and maintaining public order, the spirit of service and dedication that should be possessed as a fence for the people. And education for conducting the league without discrimination by advocating 'fairness,' the core value of the Council.
The purpose of the education was focused on introducing and making members aware of various types of participants based on the league's major premise that anyone with 'human' blood could be a league participant, regardless of race, ethnicity, status, or ability.
Among these, the part with the highest concentration was undoubtedly the briefing about those from 'Bermuda.' Hugo felt his chest grow stuffy every year when this moment came.
"The time when they first appeared is difficult to specify based only on the information from documents decoded to date. The reason is that the existence of other continents outside the Ellasilion continent where we live was not revealed very long ago in human history, and before that, when there was no communication between continents, it was difficult to distinguish between continental and Bermudian races."
This world was one where different races lived together harmoniously, and even within that, there was a division between mainstream and non-mainstream. Differences in skin color or language were merely 'differences' between mainstreams that distinguished detailed races. Only when there was something non-human mixed among ancestors, or when they had distinctive appearances, or when they could only survive by consuming substances that ordinary humans wouldn't eat, could they truly be said to possess non-mainstream characteristics.
However, there were endlessly many opposing points that could serve as standards for discrimination if they were to discriminate against them one by one for being different. Eventually, prophets among the population who did not acknowledge differences gradually realized that this was a meaningless ideology that created conflicts between groups.
Therefore, if it helped their survival and national prosperity, they repeatedly acknowledged a certain degree of 'difference' and accepted them as members of the group, achieving at least superficial harmony.
That is, until the core non-mainstream force that completely overturned the existing paradigm, those from 'Bermuda,' appeared.
"The word for those from this 'Bermuda' first appeared in ancient documents presumed to have been recorded about 1000 years ago. Although the exact meaning of 'Bermuda' is not described, the document refers to them as 'beings that seem different yet similar to us, an unknown race born from the cracks of the world.'
Additionally, in earlier records where similar groups appeared, they are defined as 'high-intelligence collectives' and 'messengers of judges who will annihilate this rotten world.' While this cannot be said to have defined the actual reason for existence and value of the Bermudian race, it was certainly a provocative and surprising discovery that would have caused great ripples in human society at the time."
Among those from Bermuda, there were quite many who showed exceptional intelligence or demonstrated prowess in supernatural abilities such as mana, sorcery, and sword energy. Not only that, but those with abnormally long lifespans, or who presented new hypotheses that could overturn academia, continued to appear. Even without supernatural abilities, they consistently showed extraordinary aspects from multiple angles.
During the process of the Raina Logia Empire evolving into a product of brilliant and sacred civilization development over a thousand years of history, they were with them at every moment, accumulating vast achievements.
So some people ended up believing the praise-like sentences found in old records at some point. They would distinguish them as a 'superior race' and show admiration, or sometimes reveal a sense of crisis about their own existence being classified as an 'inferior race.'
"Some argue that they are descendants of Tenebrissia, a lost ancient continent, or derivative tribes of the ancient Lumineson civilization that was destroyed by the fall of a star. However, no claim has presented convincing evidence, and fundamentally, they could not explain why these Bermudians are only found in the form of young children or elderly people on the verge of death.
The existing humanity's aversion toward those from 'Bermuda' stems from this fact."
How children and elderly people emerged from that group where no adult women capable of bearing life and adult men with developed reproductive functions were found at the time of rescue. Why the intermediate layer was not discovered, and why they had all completely lost their memories just before being rescued.
The more facts related to Bermuda were organized, the more questions accumulated. Even the academic world, which advocated evolutionary theory most closely related to science, could not easily accept this phenomenon.
Some raised speculation that their birth might have been achieved through methods other than natural providence. In short, like black magic that creates life through imperfect methods. They suggested that those from Bermuda might be clone-like beings created by a massive dark hand.
Prejudice and ostracism had always been humanity's easy means of survival, and the hypothesis quickly gained power. Since those from Bermuda were mainly rescued as children in need of protection, they inevitably had to be under the control of existing humanity. The hypothesis that they were not 'the same humans' reduced their position to that of livestock.
Base slaves, playthings for entertainment, subjects of exploitation, test subjects. The epithets for calling those from Bermuda became increasingly diverse.
However, those who had mixed into the cracks of humanity and gradually continued to grow developed wisdom and strength to rebel against their controllers and eventually annihilate several civilizations. As the world seemed to flow according to what was written in the records, the leaders of various nations who felt threatened expelled those from Bermuda entirely from their countries. They applied the thorough frame of being a different race and continued intense ostracism and contempt.
However, on the opposite side, there were also leaders who showed different courses of action.
They defined those from Bermuda as refugees, accepted them as their own citizens under thorough censorship, and repeatedly conducted ideological education to make them dedicate themselves and serve the nation with loyalty.
One of the leading nations that officially chose the latter was Raina Logia, which had been the leader of the Ellasilion continent.
"However, over the long years, another peculiarity was discovered in those from Bermuda. Specifically, they strangely easily accepted, understood, and blended into the customs of existing human society without any sense of discomfort. Although they couldn't remember who they were, they were found to fluently use the language of specific nations from a young age, or show strong attachment to certain regions and cultures. This had many aspects that were difficult to dismiss as merely being due to outstanding empathy or high intelligence.
Even among those from Bermuda themselves, it was common for them to have different skin colors or appearances, use different languages, and have incidents where their thoughts and ideologies opposed and divided.
Society felt a sense of kinship from the conduct of such Bermudians, that they were very 'human'-like and not very different from themselves. This lent weight to the hypothesis that they might not be a special race, but individuals derived from existing humanity. Of course, during this period, theories that they were messengers of gods appearing in theology, or mutants created from the mating of monsters and humans were also steadily raised. The regions where those from Bermuda were found in particularly large numbers were also generally areas where monsters appeared."
While the speaker continued, the gazes distributed around Hugo occasionally turned toward Loren, the 2nd Battalion Commander sitting beside him.
Loren sat with her arms crossed, her shoulders and back straight, staring only straight ahead. Hugo did not look at Loren, but he vaguely felt the burden she bore from receiving so many gazes.
At the same time, he was overwhelmed with such guilt that he couldn't look at her.
It felt as if the being called Loren was acting as a shield, enduring all the gazes that should have been directed at him.
Perhaps it was because, unlike her who faced the fate of being from Bermuda with dignity, he was living a shameful life.
The Duke of Agrizendro in this land, even if he was the illegitimate child of the previous duke, must never be from the base Bermuda. He had faithfully carried out such family wishes since childhood.
Covering the sky with both hands, hiding his origins.
Even by deceiving the world.