De Marinda's Navy
Bagan marched alongside the Silver Eagle Legion as they advanced toward Tarib Village. Even burdened with heavy armor and weapons, the soldiers moved at an impressive speed. Bagan had known the Silver Eagle Legion was an elite unit, but seeing them press forward without a single complaint of fatigue was still remarkable. Of course, the journey posed no hardship for Bagan either. In fact, he—a mage—had yet to break a sweat, which prompted Gruon to remark,
“Bagan, you certainly have excellent stamina.”
Conversation and sleep were the only things that could waste time during a march. “Do I? I thought I’d gotten weaker lately since I haven’t been moving around much.”
Recently, Bagan had been feeling restless in his body. He had visited the Urvurt estate and exercised whenever he had spare time, but something still felt lacking. “Aren’t you a mage? Yet you train consistently.”
Since they were both mages, Gruon likely already knew the answer, yet he asked anyway. “I get stiff if I don’t. Besides, there’s no rule saying mages can’t exercise. I think it’s good to keep it up just in case.”
“Mages need to build stamina too. That’s sound reasoning. I used to do the same in the past.”
“Especially since closing the distance is the key strategy when facing warriors.”
Gruon nodded at Bagan’s words. It had been a long time since he’d discussed strategic matters so openly with someone. Feels like the kind of talk you’d only have in a game community.
Bagan had cared about such things back when he experienced this world through games—especially how mages should handle warriors, the reverse, and even special situations. For example… When facing multiple opponents. Or when a single powerful foe has to be taken on by a group. Endless theorycrafting, really.
“Someone like you wouldn’t have any trouble dealing with warriors.”
That was Gruon’s assessment of Bagan. Yet Gruon himself was a 6th-circle mage. The strongest human mage, Radamel Arcpropa of the Bolton Empire—one of the Seven Great Heroes—was an 8th-circle mage. He had never crossed the wall to 9th circle, but he stood at the highest level humanity could reach. “Even Radamel Arcpropa, one of the Seven Great Heroes, would have his share of worries, wouldn’t he? Same goes for me.”
“Hahaha! You might be right.”
“Still, I’m a magic swordsman who wields a sword too. I’m confident in close combat.”
At Bagan’s words, Gruon scanned him as if confirming something. “……I don’t recall ever seeing you carry a sword.”
He had been checking Bagan’s armament. In response, Bagan manifested a mana sword in his hand. Ziiing!
Gruon’s impression upon seeing the mana sword was simple. “Whoa, that’s an enormous wavelength. Honestly, I’m more surprised than I’ve ever been.”
As a 6th-circle mage, Gruon could gauge just how much mana was condensed into the sword Bagan had created. The truth was, Bagan’s mana sword had surprised more than a few people. “You pulled a sword out of your hand? Is that aura?” “Don’t tell me you’re carrying an extradimensional pouch?”
Whispers reached Bagan’s ears from all around. Feeling the growing stares, he dismissed the mana sword. Even Daphne, walking behind Gruon, showed keen interest—her eyes gleaming—but she didn’t ask. She didn’t want to interrupt their conversation.
“Does the gap in skill come from understanding both the mage’s and the swordsman’s perspectives?”
Gruon was trying to grasp Bagan’s style. In truth, Bagan’s knowledge and fundamentals came from game play, but since Gruon didn’t know that, his assumption was understandable. “I should try putting myself in a warrior’s shoes when facing one.”
“Good idea.”
Bagan gave a half-hearted reply while joining Gruon in his contemplation. Then a sudden thought struck him. “By the way, Dragonians have a trump card they don’t even need to worry about that, right?”
Bagan knew the Dragonian race inside out. He considered them the most perfectly balanced species of all. As a race connected to dragons, it went without saying that their specs surpassed every other race, and their unique trump card was practically romantic in nature. “You mean Dragon Blood. We usually call it drawing out our true form.”
“Yeah. In that state, couldn’t you make dozens of those Yggdrasils you used before?”
“That’s true, but we can’t use it unless it’s a truly critical moment. Especially Razetta and I—we didn’t inherit much of that power.”
Bagan found that part regrettable as well. Dragon Blood literally meant undergoing dragonification, becoming close to a dragon for that brief instant—hence the term “true form.” However, the reason it couldn’t be used except in dire moments was because it shaved away one’s lifespan. No matter how much lifespan one had, losing it was still a painful penalty. Razetta in particular had almost none to begin with, and even Gruon hadn’t inherited much, so the difference in power when he drew out Dragon Blood wasn’t that great. In comparison, King Pelion, Montihall—the lord of De Meca—and Bidion, one of the Seven Great Heroes, had been born with far greater portions of that power. When they unleashed Dragon Blood, they became overwhelmingly strong. The first two had protected the Seiros Kingdom with that power in the past, even if their current state was unknown.
“Bidion is called one of the Seven Great Heroes because his power is that strong.”
Gruon was, technically speaking, Bidion’s uncle. That might have been why he thought even more highly of Bidion’s fame and strength. “Bidion was just strong on his own. I had a mock battle with him without him drawing out his true form, and I almost lost.”
“You almost lost?”
Hearing something he hadn’t known, Gruon clicked his tongue. “Even if it was just a mock battle, who goes around saying they almost lost to one of the Seven Great Heroes? Hahaha!”
“W-well, I guess so?”
Bagan realized he might have misspoken. But Gruon was even more impressed that Bagan had landed a hit on Bidion. That was why his laughter wouldn’t stop. And perhaps he was starting to think Bagan might be stronger than the Seven Great Heroes. In other words— “An anomaly.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
Gruon played it off while Daphne quietly chuckled behind them.
***
As the conversation flowed, time passed quickly, and just as expected, they reached Tarib Village before sunset. The atmosphere was rather cheerful for a march to the battlefield, but excessive tension was bad for one’s health, so it wasn’t a bad state to be in. Upon arriving at Tarib Village, the first person they contacted was the village chief. Gruon met the chief under the guidance of Johan, the 3rd Assault Captain of the Silver Eagle Legion.
In truth, the Silver Eagle Legion only needed to board ships at the village’s pier, so they weren’t causing much trouble. Still, there was a big difference between informing people and not. They had to consider the villagers. If heavily armed soldiers in gleaming armor suddenly appeared, the villagers would naturally find it strange—even if the unit was the famous Silver Eagle Legion. So Gruon asked the chief for understanding. They planned to pass through the village and use the pier, so he requested that the chief inform the villagers and calm them down.
“Understood. I pray that you will vanquish the foreign invaders without difficulty and bring peace to the great Seiros Kingdom.”
The chief was quick-witted and already knew they were heading to war with the Sog Kingdom. That was why he offered his blessing. “I was wondering why the 3rd Assault Captain had such fine character. It must be because of this village. Your blessing has been fully received by the Silver Eagle Legion. Once the war is over, we will pay compensation in De Pruna.”
“Oh my, I can only thank Lord Gruon and Lord Pelion for their generosity.”
Gruon responded with a smile to the chief’s words and left the chief’s house. Now the Silver Eagle Legion only needed to move to the pier and wait for the ships. Johan didn’t forget to earnestly warn the chief to be careful, nor did he forget to visit his parents.
“Johan, you grew up in a good village. A place overflowing with blessings.”
“Thank you. That’s why I like this village too. The reason I enlisted in the Silver Eagle Legion was because I resolved to grow stronger and protect this village.”
“Mm, admirable. As I said, once the war ends, we’ll give out compensation. Come down to the village and hold a festival or something.”
Johan bowed his head in thanks and returned to the assault unit he led. Gratitude was one thing, but now they truly had to head to the battlefield.
Bwooooo!
Right on cue, the ships began to arrive. They entered the pier with loud horn blasts. A total of six ships arriving side by side was quite a sight—especially the unfamiliar type of vessel. “That monster is pulling the ships?” “Isn’t that De Marinda’s insignia?”
The soldiers, who hadn’t known which ships they would board, let out exclamations and comments. Even Bagan couldn’t help but be surprised when he saw the ships from afar. To think they’d use Leviathan to pull ships.
Razetta must have put a lot of thought into it while he was away. Bagan had never seen or even imagined ships of this design. Who in their right mind would think of using a sea monster to tow ships? It was fortunate they hadn’t sunk due to its ferocity. Bagan examined the structure closely and couldn’t hide his amazement.
Among the first three ships to arrive, the largest one carried Selena, as expected—she was the Navy Grand Admiral, after all. But he hadn’t expected to see the person who appeared on the next ship. “Bagan, isn’t that Protavist?”
Even Sally spoke up after confirming. “Yeah, it is.”
It was Protavist, Cyron’s right-hand man, who had brought Leviathan. When did he get a job as a ship captain?
Bagan had nearly killed him once, so their relationship wasn’t exactly friendly. Protavist was also wary of Bagan. But what did that matter? Bagan resolved to get closer to him this time. “I should at least greet Selena first.”
It wasn’t their first meeting in a while, but they were reuniting nonetheless. Bagan was glad—it was a good connection. All six ships docked cleanly at the small pier. Ships of this era couldn’t anchor so neatly, which was why Tarib Village’s pier hadn’t been recommended. But if Leviathan was directly pulling the ships without relying on wind or other propulsion, the story changed. Leviathan precisely maneuvered the ships into perfect docking.
Selena disembarked first from the arrived fleet and sought out Gruon. “It’s good to see you again, Lord Gruon. I am Selena, Navy Grand Admiral of De Marinda.”
“Mm, you’re the one I saw at the banquet last time. Your sister didn’t come, I take it?”
“Yes, Lady Razetta is busy.”
Gruon had naturally expected she wouldn’t come. “Shall we depart right away?”
“Yes. As you can see, since we’re not relying on wind, if we leave now, we’ll reach Hardwin in the Sog Kingdom by tomorrow morning.”
Bagan couldn’t help but be surprised at those words. The Sog Kingdom boasted a larger territory than the Seiros Kingdom. Yet reaching its most distant border region in just one day was practically flying. Even if they were using sea routes, this was extraordinary. Incorporating Leviathan into the ships seemed to have been quite a successful experiment. Gruon agreed and ordered the Silver Eagle Legion to board. The soldiers looked more tense than ever as they approached the ships, but since Leviathan merely lifted its head without threatening them, it seemed manageable. Even though the ships were large, they would feel cramped if overloaded, so about a dozen soldiers boarded each vessel. Since the total headcount didn’t exceed seventy, splitting them up worked well. Bagan and his companions, along with Gruon and Daphne, boarded the ship Selena was on.
Once aboard, Bagan watched Selena head to the commander’s position. She still hadn’t glanced his way, so he waited until she spoke to him. “Depart!”
Selena soon finished giving the departure order and turned to look at Bagan. Following her command, Protavist ordered Leviathan to head for Hardwin territory. “Whew, now I can finally catch my breath. It hasn’t been that long, but it’s good to see you again.”
Selena seemed somehow more confident than before. “Yeah, I can tell.”
“Bagan, I have something to show you.”
“What?”
“Look at this.”
Selena approached Bagan and carefully drew up her power. A faint aura began to emanate from her body. “You mastered it?!”
“Yeah. Pretty good, right?”
She subtly lowered her head as she spoke. It was a request to be patted. Bagan reached out and stroked her hair. She really was praiseworthy, so he did his best. “Well done.”