The Goddess Statue and the Eagle's Fury
The sea was thick with an ominous foreboding. "This one's pretty big..."
We'd inferred as much from the treasure map the captain had checked in his cabin, but sure enough, a fairly large island—much like the one where those villagers had lived last time—greeted us. The Chronicle Continent was vast enough on its own, comparable to China and America combined, and the farther we sailed out to sea, the more landmasses dotted the horizon in every direction. If someone truly wanted to live quietly, holing up on one of these islands might be the way to go. Of course, there were fatal downsides: constant harassment from pirates and the unpredictability of whatever calamities the ocean might throw your way. Something worth pondering.
"..."
Kidd, still lost in thought, chewed on his lower lip as if mulling something over, tapping his harpoon against his shoulder with rhythmic thuds. Whatever. Prince Castella spread his wings and flew back to the imperial ships, linking up with the navy. They anchored off the sandy beach and began landing troops.
We, on the opposite side, kept a safe distance and decided to send only a small team ashore, leaving most of the crew behind. The captain had already passed on the elf's Wind Spirit tale to them. The admiral had intel on elves roaming the area too, but he admitted it was shaky—hard to trust. He swept a hand over his face, muttering that it would be better if it were all a lie; after all, wasn't this worse than the storms we'd faced at sea? A natural disaster on legs.
"The Pirate King might try to pit us against each other. That man's cunning as they come."
"Or he might even propose a deal."
The captain warned the admiral to stay vigilant—betrayal was par for the pirate course. The admiral chuckled, pointing out they'd never exactly been allies before, then headed back to join his navy in searching the island. Securing supplies was part of it, no doubt, but they were after the treasure too, just like us. Fortunately, we had that treasure map; still, combing such a sprawling island was a headache.
"An elf with superpowers... We'd be dead on sight, huh?"
"Let's pray we don't run into one."
Birds wheeled overhead, crying out as they flew by. Hyacinth sniffed the air, scouting lightly with his spyglass for any sign of the Wind Spirit approaching—or even present on the island. Kidd and I drew our weapons, ready for any monsters that might lunge out, and pushed into the forest.
"No signs of anyone else recently visiting the island."
Hyacinth pointed out the only traces: small animal tracks, droppings, muddy prints, and grass flattened by frequent beast traffic. Since this was a forest too, I sidled up to the trees—out of Kidd's sight—and asked directions a few times to get our bearings.
"Trees don't move, so how do you know the way?"
"I asked them about people who passed through long ago."
"No way—does that mean some of these trees are over 300 years old?"
They had no natural predators or reason to move, so they hadn't evolved into monsters; they just stayed ordinary trees. Even these plain-looking ones had endured centuries of sea winds and storms, roots driven deep to hold firm. The landscape was a chaotic theme park of boulders and trees jumbled together, rivers snaking through undulating hills—a perfect spot for venomous snakes, poisonous bugs, and other monsters to lurk in ambush.
But none approached us. The forest's blessing parted the animals' paths for me. Every living thing here revered me; trees bowed their branches in homage, flowers showered down in tribute. I couldn't help scooping some up—they poured even more insistently, so I stashed them in my inventory. One bagful took just a single slot.
"You have subspace storage too? That's awesome! Skill or magic bag?"
"Gonna use it to hide and carry the treasure. Keep it secret, yeah?"
"Got it, got it. The old lady sure picked a solid crew! Or wait, did the All Gods Temple hook us up right?"
As we resumed exploring, Kidd snapped back to his usual energetic, gung-ho self, marveling at the subspace by shoving his arm in experimentally. He grumbled about how the forest teemed with animals, yet not a single monster attacked, slinging his harpoon over his shoulder and muttering nonsense.
"Hey, not getting attacked in a forest is a good thing... Fighting's fine, but what if we get poisoned?"
"I'm Deynos—poison's no biggie for me."
"Ugh, your race is so unfair. I can handle poison too, y'know? Upper-tier species!"
"Me? I die normally."
Humans poisoned? Straight-up dead. Though with the spirit medicine in my veins, who knows. At that, Hyacinth and Kidd sandwiched me protectively as we moved. Kidd apologized profusely for forgetting humans were fragile without special traits—bowing his head and all—insisting we stick to safe paths, even escorting me like a gentleman.
"You've got manners. If I were a girl, I might fall for you."
"Heh~ Big bro Kidd's popular~"
"Fuck off, you assholes—quit teasing!!"
The guys tossed jokes whenever they could, but we soon reached a broad river. Edging carefully behind the cascading waterfall revealed a treasure chest, prettily placed deep in the cave.
The men stared in dumbfounded awe.
"Mimic?"
Kidd prodded it with his harpoon. The lid twitched but wouldn't budge. Hyacinth inspected it—locked with a key. "Locked boxes can't be mimics," he said, pulling lockpicking tools from his pouch. His Lockpicking skill—[Lockpicking]—clicked away at it.
"You picked that up too?"
"Might come in handy? Ah, got it."
A sharp click, and the chest sprang open. Inside gleamed a pristine white statue. Marble-like, with a glossy sheen, it was a headless, armless torso with wings on its back—an angel or goddess figure, perhaps.
We exchanged glances: You know what this is? Roughneck guys like us couldn't appraise it worth a damn.
"Grabbed it—let's bounce."
"Whoa! A holy relic!"
Just then, Prince Castella hopped in from behind the waterfall, snatching the statue from Hyacinth's hands. He examined it like an appraiser—condition, craftsmanship, preservation—before handing it back with careful reverence.
"Gods rarely have wings, and for a goddess? This has to be Lady Anemolos, goddess of wind and storms. You know her?"
"Nope."
"First I've heard, and I live by the sea."
"No clue."
He shook his head at our synced ignorance, smirking with exaggerated gestures like we gave him vertigo. Playing the expert, he spun tales of its value.
"Buncha ignoramuses! Get some culture! Well, I only know 'cause I'm Aran. It's the deity worshipped in Phosphoros, the paradise sky-city of the Aran."
"Sky-city? The one floating up there? You been?"
"Can't fly that high!"
"But you got wings?"
"Wings don't mean I can reach it! You're Deynos, but you can't dive to Montagu Kingdom in the deep sea!"
"Just a shitty race limit?"
"Hmph—even without the bloodline, I'm royalty!"
"Disowned prince, though?"
"Lizard-brained treasure-blind idiot!"
He'd flown after us while we trekked. Not that invested in the treasure, probably just here to bicker with Kidd. They devolved into snarling, fists clenched.
Hyacinth shoved them out: "Fight on the ship if you're gonna!"
Kidd, red-faced and fuming like he'd breathe fire, got a smug chin-tilt from the prince: Go ahead, hit me.
"Hmph, your grandpa's tale's got nothing to do with you anyway. A Pirate King wannabe hung up on that? At least aspire to steal the throne and avenge him on the side."
"Aw, he followed 'cause he's worried. Nice guy, bro."
"Aren't they both just simpletons?"
"Tch, I was sugarcoating it. Bro... geez."
"Damn it all... Yeah, it bugs me. Didn't know what kinda guy he was, but turns out he's legendary? It's just... I hate overlapping with someone else. 'Looks like the dead guy's back'—that'd piss off any living person."
Kidd spat that he wanted fame on his merits, not compared to anyone—especially not as "legendary pirate's grandson." Sounded like sailing a preset route. The prince nodded approval.
"Right on. Screw rotten nobles, crumbling empires, brutal throne wars. I wanna forge my own path to grand swordmaster!"
"Exactly! Now you're talking!"
"Thought you were some wastrel picking fights on sight, but you've got romance in ya."
From mortal enemies to bro-handshake in seconds. We left them yapping life stories and reached the beach with Hyacinth.
We'd probably anchor a few days to stock supplies too. "Born a prince, he could've dreamed of kingship, changing the kingdom. Kinda unique, huh?"
"Nah, Aran are all-or-nothing once decided. Some obsess over using a needle—or chopstick?—as a weapon. So from the moment he chose grand swordmaster, thrones and nobles meant zilch."
"I see..."
Races had traits that bordered on quirky. No compromise once set—that was Aran nature. And they couldn't lie because of it? Vaguely recalled hearing that; no encounters, so it'd slipped my mind. If it clashed with the party leader's call, he'd straight-up refuse? Awkward. If we recruited him, best think carefully.
"Huh...?"
"Yeah?"
The duo, lost in their world, halted too. There: two ships prepped to sail now. As we appeared, the captain and admiral bellowed, "Get aboard—quick!"
We scrambled on; Nepuneus hastily pulled away. Just as it cleared the island—BOOM—a massive sword plunged from the sky.
"Holy Eagle Kingdom! All hands—evacuate!"
Far off, a white-glowing warship charged us. Frigate? Spyglass revealed triple-barreled cannons aimed our way.
"No—it's a warship."
Us on a brigantine, them on steel? Unfair. No sooner said than explosive shells arced toward us in a barrage.