Sightseeing in the Sea of Namdo (2)
A massive undertaking was underway on the exotic island of Namdo.
The island's name had simply been decided to be Namdo.
About midway through the island, a river that looked like an umbilical cord flowed down, and at its end, they were building a dock.
They'd made rafts on the river to load materials on, making it easy to bring everything in. They hauled stones and gravel and dropped them into the water to dam it up reasonably well, then poured in lime mortar brought from the mainland.
"The kids work hard."
"They sure do. Doesn't it tire them out?"
"Wait, they came here to play, and all they do is work?"
They'd been at it like this for two months now. Whenever the ships got bored on the mainland, they'd come over, unload mountains of mortar, and leave.
"At this rate, you could land a whole fleet there. How much are you planning to build?"
What were they trying to make? Were they building a fortress all the way out there? Why were the kids doing it? Shouldn't actual laborers be coming? Or at least hire local workers?
Ah. Never mind — the locals were diligently ferrying stones on rafts too. Apparently they were over the moon whenever you gave them food.
"Tell them to take the rest of the construction slow and have fun with it."
"Okay~"
These stubborn rascals. The moment they finished one thing, they started building a villa. And what a villa it was — built right on top of the sea.
Its overall shape was a 'U'. It rose straight out of the water, with one side left open so you could head straight out into the ocean.
And in the very center was a ceiling. They were truly ahead of their time — kids who understood romance.
*Splash*
"Wow, coming in under the shade is perfect!"
"No! You have to go in with your clothes ON!"
"Why? It's just us here, isn't it?"
The kids had been working in the water for so long, maybe that's why? Everyone else was off on land drinking with the natives and playing ball games, after all.
"You should take yours off too and come in. It feels amazing."
"I don't want to. It feels empty down there."
And what she was wearing wasn't even a proper swimsuit — just that square cloth they often used as underwear with two strings? And even that was so short that her sides and her chest were popping out top and bottom? Hilarious!
And those pants — what even were those? They were square-cut, but the waistband was so low that they barely covered half her belly.
"Hang on? Teacher? Look at your clothes! Does that even count as wearing something?"
"Says the one wearing nothing at all."
Heh heh. This was just too funny. Maybe I'll go in the water. The sea was truly gorgeous.
"I'm going to take a little swim."
"Don't stay under too long!"
"Okay."
The turquoise sea of Namdo was so, so beautiful.
All around the shallows of the shore grew corals of every color — green, blue, red, yellow.
And swimming among them, countless fish.
Hmm, how interesting~
The fish were swarming right around me? If I reached out my hand, would they climb on top of it?
Whoosh-whoosh
The fish spun round and round, brushing against my body, and I almost burst out laughing from the tickling.
Let's go, my minions!
You could almost call it a school of fish. How on earth did one of every single kind show up?
Flip-flop-flip
Hm? Where are you all going?
"Eee-bee-bee kkyang~ kkyee~"
All the fish are running away? Is a shark coming?
Oh! Dolphins!
Haha. The dolphins showed up, so all the fish bolted. Probably scared of getting eaten.
"Eee-bee-bee!"
Hi there~
These guys don't bite, but they poke at you with their snouts something fierce.
Hey? Get out from there! That tickles!
Swish, swish
One of them wedged itself between my legs, hoisted me up, and started swimming. Fish are really something else — so fast!
Where to? You're not planning to jump like this, are you?
Feels like I'm about to get launched.
*FOOSH*
"Aaaeeek!"
Sure enough, it flung me into the air.
*Sploosh*
"Eeebee!"
Am I a ball to you? These dolphins, batting me this way and that, having the time of their lives. Little devils, every one of them.
I'm dizzy. Stop it! But why do you keep trying to carry me?
They couldn't even build up proper speed against my resistance? Fine, fine, I'll just hold on.
"Eee~"
Oh! We're off! The dolphin finally hit its stride. Going back up to the surface, are we?
*FOOSH*
"Keee-hahahahaha!"
This time I didn't get launched — I stuck on tight and went into the water with it!
*Big splash*
Ah, this is so fun!
I thought only four-legged animals liked me, but turns out fish do too?
Hey? How far are we going? We're way out now.
And so I zipped around the blue sea with the dolphins for ages. But these guys had terrible service. They dumped me right in the middle of the ocean.
*Oooooo — woong —*
"Hm? What's that sound? Kind of scary."
I was debating whether to just fly back. The water had gotten deep, and the pitch-black depths were a little frightening...
It felt like a ghost might drag me down.
*Gurgle-gurgle*
"Hm? What's that?"
Air bubbles were rising all around? Was a volcano about to erupt?
There was nothing else in the water, though? Hmm? When did there get to be so many fish? Wasn't this supposed to be the deep sea?
*Gurgle-gurgle*
"Oh? The bubbles are getting more numerous too?"
This is weird.
*Bwoom*
*FWOOOOOAAASH*
"Eeek! What is that?!"
Buildings were suddenly rising out of the water! What IS this?!
*FWOOOSH*
Things that looked like buildings had shot up out of nowhere, spraying water in every direction — and there were an enormous number of them!
"Aaaaeeeek!"
Of course, I was being helplessly swept this way and that. Ah, my form's ruined.
"Pweeeek?"
Whoa! You startled me!
I came face to face underwater with one of those building-like things.
Whoa? A whale? Black back, white belly — it looked just like the ones I'd seen all over the internet back in the day. Wow. Today I'm seeing everything.
So the fish gathering earlier must have been hunting behavior.
*THUNK!*
Hoof!
It swam up close, gave me a little nudge with its snout, and drifted leisurely past — the whole pod of them. They glanced at me with their eyes as they passed, so apparently I was the strange one to them too.
Wow. Whales are gigantic, huh? They're probably about the same size as our ships.
"Pwuuueeeng~"
The whales' song rang through the water. Honestly, for all their bulk, it was kind of a dainty sound. Hehe.
*THUNK*
"Haneuuul-niiiiim!"
"Aaang! You're too loud!"
Chaos the moment I got back. It was a little late, sure, since the dolphins dragged me off sometime in the afternoon and I'd been out roaming.
Ahem. I did play a bit too enthusiastically.
"We told you to come back early!"
"When you're having fun, you forget sometimes. Honestly, so noisy!"
"People were worried!"
"I said I'm sorry!"
Goodness! All volume, no substance. My ears are going to bleed.
After washing up and getting dressed, I went out to find the islanders apparently waiting to hold a welcome ceremony for me. Ah... someone could have warned me in advance?
*Dingga-dingga doonga-doonga tak-tarak*
They welcomed me with their own instruments and their own dances. They'd waited this long because I'd been out at the ship the whole time.
"Heh heh. Thank you, but what should I give you in return?"
"Nothing is needed. We have received so much help from you."
"You speak our language!"
"Yes. We have been learning many things."
Turns out expanding territory early really is the way to go, doesn't it? This way, we can get along peacefully like this.
"Let's stay friends, all right?"
"Yes. May our friendship last forever!"
Even if they go on to found their own nation someday, all we'd need to do was ask for territory to build a port.
"If you ever need help, just say the word."
"Your medicine has saved countless lives. You will always be welcome among us."
Ah, the medicine. Right, that's important. Though that disease might have been one WE brought over... Sorry about that!
We decided to share our culture with them and teach them basic knowledge. And in return, we received a free-use pass to their ports.
* * *
Having acquired the resort destination of Namdo and returned home, there was — of course — more work waiting.
"Isn't Namdo a loss for us? All we ever do is give, give, give."
"For now, sure. Later on it'll pay off."
You all don't know yet how vast that ocean is, do you? When you find out, you'll be in for quite the shock.
And an island that beautiful? We absolutely have to have it!
"If it ever gets to be too much for you, Ji-won, just tell me. It won't be too late to stop then."
"Yes. Understood."
Anyway, word is the kids have been up to something strange lately. Apparently they've been crawling up along that frozen sea.
"Tell those kids to stop going up there!"
"There's nowhere else worth exploring..."
"But didn't they say their ships keep breaking on the ice?"
"That's why lately they've been swinging around the outside and building ports along the islands, apparently."
So these guys kept breaking their ships pushing up through the sea east of Sakhalin, and now they're following the islands around the outer edge.
Talk about resourceful. Even in modern times, you'd need an icebreaker to get through there.
"Why do you even want to go to that frozen sea?"
"The sea was there, so..."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Really."
Do they have adventurer's blood or something? A wanderlust trait built into them?
"Hold on. Wait — is this the Intelligence Bureau kids?"
"Oh? Yes. That's right."
"I've been all over, and I swear there's nowhere those kids haven't gone. How many did you recruit?"
"They recruited themselves, apparently?"
What is this? Weren't they a government agency? They handle their own staffing and run themselves autonomously?
"So how many are there?"
"Well, I'm not quite sure... the one thing I know for certain is that there are an enormous number of them."
"Isn't it hard to get in, though?"
"Everyone trains really hard."
I designed it thinking special forces, and it turns out to be a bandit crew, with me as the boss...
Well, they do say in the Age of Exploration there was barely a hair's difference between explorers and pirates...
"That place is genuinely dangerous, though. How do they all survive and come back?"
"If someone falls in, the water does get in, but they quickly transfer to the ship beside them and come home."
Ohohoho. No, they just get wet. Next to drifting ice floes, the water's cold enough to freeze you to death...
They probably can't make it all the way to Alaska, right? If they actually got that far, it'd be a true victory for humanity.
"If they get really bored, tell them to head over Seolju way and check out the north. See what's there."
"They go there a lot too."
Ah. So it's not just foreign countries? There really is nowhere they haven't gone?
Is that why the population growth rate has slowed?
"Then tell them to keep traveling for fun. I'm sure they'll turn up something good."
"Yes, ma'am."
Fine, I give up. Give up and be at peace.
"Next door, that Zhou country — they're rebelling every other day, aren't they?"
"Yes. Not a single quiet day."
"You guys aren't going to rebel?"
"Frankly, we'd kind of like someone to."
Why is everything so quiet around here? Is something going on that I don't know about? The kids go out raising all that havoc abroad, so is that why the house is so peaceful?
"Are you really sure you won't be king? I think you'd be good at it."
"Where exactly do you think you're running off to alone? I already said no. For! The! Last! Time!"
Not falling for it.
"Then help me find someone to dump it on so we can both bolt."
"Hmm? Not a bad idea?"
It's a win-win, after all.
"First order of business: we seal Haneul-nim in the temple?"
"Wait, why me?"
"Your hair and the Holy Water. We can't have you running loose."
"You'd just have to go reform the currency yourselves!"
Like you could actually seal me in? You clearly don't understand my power. Granted, I haven't had occasion to use it in a while.
"People wouldn't stand for that."
"Couldn't we just undo the seal on the temple?"
"Gold is what we use because we can't get your hair, remember?"
Oh. Right, that doesn't work. Either way, if anyone does rebel, I suppose the story is they'd be chased out, locked up somewhere, and have their head lopped off?
"Let's just get back to work."
"Yes. Just live like this, as you are."
"Okay."
What a conversation with neither dreams nor hope in it.
This rascal? They knew all along and were teasing me, weren't they?
"You were messing with me, weren't you?"
"Heh! Only just figured it out? You kept saying such absurd things, I couldn't help myself."
Even a derisive little snort? Aren't you being a bit too bold? Keep it up and you'll get smacked.
"What did I ever do to you people?"
"You're just too good to us, that's all. If anyone didn't love you in the first place, this country would be a hard place to live."
Oh! Goosebumps! Chills, actual chills!
"Then why won't you let me rest in peace?"
"We all pretend not to notice when you slip out now and then, don't we?"
I fly out where nobody can see me. What on earth are you talking about?
"How do you even know where I go?"
"How far do you think the Intelligence Bureau children have managed to plant themselves?"
Huh? So it's those brats? All that hiding around and peeping, and it's been so they could file reports on me?