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Chapter 193




After a while, Frey finished talking.
Then Snow, who had been silent for a while, said.
“…Um. So Frey, should I call you Mr. Lukas?”
“You don’t have to.”
“Um. Under… stood.”
Snow tried to act like usual, but it was obvious that she was a little uncomfortable.
This was natural.
After all, she was talking to the greatest of the heroes over the past 4,000 years. Called the Pioneer and Father of Magical Science, the only person in history to ever be given the title ‘Great Mage’.
Lukas’ reputation and prestige had even been pounded into her, who was focused on swordsmanship. That was why it wasn’t easy even for her, a noble elf queen, to speak informally to him.
“4,000 years. It must have been really boring. You really suffered, Frey.”
“…”
Snow couldn’t help but look at Ivan in shock. The others were the same.
Ivan had the same attitude as before he heard the story. And it seemed he didn’t even realise what he’d done as he made a strange expression when he saw their gazes.
“What are you looking at?!”
“…nothing. I’m just praising your insensitivity.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Something like that.”
“Hmm.”
When Ivan nodded as though he found her answer satisfactory, Anastasia couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Haha! This guy is fantastic! I like him!”
Frey cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“…you don’t need to think of me as Lukas. I don’t even want such treatment. The most important thing right now is for us to find a boat and head to our destination.”
Everyone nodded.
If anyone else had claimed to be Lukas Trowman, they would’ve scoffed at him. However, they had all been long curious about Frey’s calmness, behaviour, and speech that didn’t match his age.
In addition to that, the words of Anastasia, who had Schweiser’s memories, added credibility to the statement.
Of course, they might not all have been completely convinced, but they decided to be quiet. They had already received enough answers for the day.
* * *
The next day, they headed to Hitume Ikar.
Ivan looked at the others while packing food for himself.
“Aren’t you guys going to pack your own food? I’m not going to share even a single bean.”
“Unfortunately, Golems don’t need food.”
“My body is similar to the Golem’s.”
Dro muttered, looking down at his hand.
Ivan’s eyes turned to Frey.
“I already put them in my bag.”
He also didn’t need to eat food, but he decided to hide this fact for now.
Ivan nodded unconcernedly.
They then gathered in a clearing in the Trowman Rings’ hideout.
Frey took out a map and said.
“The closest city to Hitume Ikar is ‘Genix’. It belongs to the ‘Prima Kingdom’ and is a port city. We should be able to get a boat from there to Lesha.”
“Can’t we fly over?”
Ivan’s question was natural, but Frey shook his head.
“If we do that, they’d be alerted. The best method would be to go by ship.”
“Hmm.”
“Let’s head over first.”
Shuk.
As he said that, Frey used Warp to take the group to a forest near Genix.
Anastasia looked around and said.
“Luka-… Frey, have you been here before? It seems you already had an idea of the coordinates.”
“I came here yesterday at dawn.”
“You prepared quite thoroughly. But how?”
“I flew.”
After giving that brief answer, Frey turned and began walking towards Genix.
“Ivan, do you have identification?”
“I have a Mercenary badge.”
“What’s your rank?”
“A.”
If Ivan really wanted to, it would have been no problem for him to obtain an S rank or higher badge, but he didn’t seem too interested in increasing his rank.
As an A rank Mercenary, he had sufficient authority to vouch for three other people, including Frey.
Although Frey had a mercenary card of his own, he did not feel the need to use illusion magic.
However, it was much easier to pass the checks than Frey initially expected. More precisely, no checks were done.
A guard was standing outside the city gates, but he simply glanced at Frey and the others for a moment before lifting the bottle in his hand to his mouth once again.
“This is too lax. Are all the cities in the Prima Kingdom like this?”
“I don’t think so.”
Nevertheless, the strange feeling only intensified the deeper they got into the city of Genix. It was as though no energy could be found in the city.
“It doesn’t feel like a port city.”
Frey agreed with Ivan’s murmur.
Although it wasn’t as much as the Kastkau Empire, Luanoble Kingdom, or Silkid, it seemed that this place had been affected by the Demigods.
First, they headed to the docks. There weren’t many boats settled on the pier.
Frey called out to a nearby sailor.
“Excuse me.”
A middle-aged man with a sleepy expression turned to look at Frey and asked in a blunt tone.
“…what do you want?”
“Are there any boats heading to Lesha?”
“The Island of the Great Medium?”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm. Unfortunately, there aren’t any boats sailing anymore.”
Frey tilted his head at those.
“Did something happen?”
“A sea monster appeared. It’s wreaking havoc on the area.”
“Is it the Kraken?”
This was the name of the sea monster known as the Disasters of the Seas, but the middle-aged sailor shook his head.
“The Kraken doesn’t live in such shallow waters.”
“Then…”
“It’s a sea snake.”
“A Sea Serpent?”
“Mm… it looks similar to that, but…”
The man furrowed his brows before sighing.
“…it’s probably not. I’ve never seen a two headed Sea Serpent destroy a ship in all my decades on the sea. Plus, it could breathe fire, and its body was large enough to reach the clouds. Huhu. You probably think I’m talking nonsense.”
After saying this, the middle aged man laughed.
“After all, it’s a monster that shouldn’t exist.”
Frey seemed to think of something as he removed the map from his bag.
“When did the monster first appear?”
“About a month ago.”
“…”
A month ago. Then how did the Lucid Swords avoid this place?
Was there another way to get to Hitume Ikar other than traveling by ship?
Frey looked at the middle-aged man again, deciding to not think about his previous question any longer.
“Can you tell me where the sea snake appears?”
“No matter which route you choose, it’s impossible to completely avoid it. All the sea that you can see from this port is part of its territory.”
“That’s fine. Please tell me.”
The middle aged man gave Frey a strange look before drawing a line on the map with his finger.
“Here, I’m not sure if this will help you.”
Frey’s eyes shined slightly.
He humbly gave the man his gratitude before turning and showing the map to Anastasia. Then, he pointed out the sea snake’s territory according to what the man told him.
“Look at this.”
“I’m looking.”
“Do you feel anything?”
“Uh. I feel that this is excellent parchment paper.”
Frey sighed.
Anastasia chuckled softly before saying.
“I’m kidding. Right. The sea snake’s territory is a bit strange.”
“Is it? I can’t tell.”
Ivan tilted his head as he looked at the map, but Anastasia was right.
Frey turned to look at the coastline.
“It seems to be protecting Hitume Ikar.”
“Two heads and a huge body said to reach the sky. My guess is that it’s a Demigod.”
“It has their stench.”
A Demigod was blatantly protecting Hitume Ikar.
This fact alone increased the probability that Hitume Ikar had some kind of deal with the Demigods.
“Maybe we’ll be able to get some clues about that Jenta guy from him.”
“To do that, we’ll have to hide our identities. If he hides in the sea, it will be difficult to find him.”
If they knew that Frey was the one who wiped out Agni, then it was very likely that the Demigod would hide if he appeared. In other words, the option to fly to Lesha had become even more difficult.
“Then we’ll need to take a boat.”
“Didn’t the guy say that no boats are sailing?”
“Then we’ll just have to buy one.”
“Do you have money?”
“Of course.”
Frey removed a gem from his back.
Anastasia’s eyes narrowed.
“This gem seems pretty familiar. Is it just me?”
“Probably. Most gems look similar.”
“Haha. Is that so?”
The expression Anastasia, who had been laughing a moment ago, suddenly froze.
No matter how she looked at it, it was definitely one of the gems from her dungeon.
“…ca-, calm down… put that back. You don’t know what kind of treasure that gem is. It’s a natural esoteric gemstone that was hand-carved with the best magical engraving techniques. Those sailors who spent their entire lives at sea would never know the true value of such an item.”
“Alright. I’m going to get a ship.”
After saying that, Frey went and bought an old medium-sized ship before returning.
Then he gave Anastasia the change.
“…”
He ignored Anastasia, who was shaking with her head bowed, and boarded the ship. But they couldn’t leave right away.
Frey, Ivan, nor Anastasia had any knowledge when it came to sailing a ship, and naturally, Dro was the same.
It would only be a short voyage, but they would still need a navigator.
Frey searched for someone willing to go with them but didn’t have any luck. Then, a young, brown-skinned man spoke to him.
“Old man Frank is the only sailor who would willingly leave this port now.”
“Frank?”
“The old man sitting on the beach over there.”
Following his finger, Frey saw the middle-aged man who’d first explained the situation to him. (TL: knew it)
“Every day, he sits there staring at the sea, thinking about all the troubles that have happened recently.”
“…”
“In any case, you can try to persuade him.”
Frey nodded before walking over to Frank.
“Excuse me.”
“…do you want to ask something else?”
His tone was still as blunt as before.
Frey shook his head.
“We have to go to Lesha. I was told that you are an excellent sailor, so may I ask you to guide us?”
“…well. I am the best sailor left in Genix.”
Although it was said in a soft tone, there was unmistakable pride in his voice. Then he looked at Frey’s clothes as he thought about something.
“Did you say you’re going to Lesha? Hmm… if you use a longer route… we might be able to avoid the sea snake. If we’re lucky. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a dangerous voyage and I’m risking my life.”
Frey didn’t tell him that his purpose was to meet the sea snake. Instead, he watched as Frank hesitated before continuing.
“How much money can you give me?”
“How much do you want?”
“…30 gold. N-, no. 20 gold…. If you give me just 15 gold, I’ll get on your ship.”
Frey went back to Anastasia, collected 30 gold, and gave it to Frank.
When he saw this, Frank’s eyes shook.
“O-, oh my God, thank you…”
“…?”
Frank shed tears while looking at Frey’s puzzled expression.
“M-, my daughter is sick. But because of the treatment cost, I would have needed to give up…”
Frank wrapped his rough hands around Frey’s.
“Thank you so much. You are my benefactor…”
Frey shook his head.
“I have paid you to do a job. What you need to do isn’t express your gratitude but safely take the ship to the destination.”
“Of course I will! With my pride, I could take you to the other side of the continent without a scratch.”
After saying this with a firm expression, Frank boarded the boat after a few preparations.
“But how did you manage to get a boat? No smart person would lend their boat out with the sea snake around.”
“I bought one.”
“…I, I see.”
Frey looked at him with a perplexed expression.
Then Frank said he’d need a few more sailors since the boat was larger than he expected.
This was natural. After all, it was impossible for him to control a boat of this size on his own.
“How are you going to get the sailors?”
“I know some people. My friends all know my navigation skills, so as long as I am at the helm, they won’t mind coming aboard… as long as you’re willing to pay, of course.”
“Please.”
When Frank left, Dro walked over to Frey.
He looked into the sea and muttered softly.
“You are right. I can sense a strong divine power here.”
“Are you sure it’s a Demigod’s?”
“Right. But I don’t think that’s all.”
Dro placed his hand over the left side of his chest before continuing.
“I can feel the presence of my people in this sea.”