Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Tidal Threat
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Luna turned back toward me, her mouth opening slightly.
"Should I grab her by the hair?"
No. Hold it together, you idiot. She's still my fiancée, after all.
Still, it was getting under my skin a bit.
"Young Lady, I really don't want to associate with someone who likes to toy with people in the palm of their hand."
Her smile faltered slightly at my words.
"Hmm... I thought you'd like it."
"What?"
"When Grandfather first brought up the engagement."
Her smile softened gently.
"Grandfather was determined to make the engagement with you happen, no matter what."
She circled around me, looking up at me with wide eyes.
"He's not the type to force political marriages on his family, so everyone was surprised. Especially since it wasn't even the Empire—it was nobility from another country. Naturally, that made me curious. Right?"
I was fully reflected in her eyes.
"I didn't plan to say it, but I found out that House Cascadia holds a grudge against the Kraken. But if the Mielephons took it down here, I figured you'd be pretty disappointed. Or am I wrong?"
I had no response to her question.
I'd been played like a fool in the palm of her hand, but if the Mielephons slew the Kraken right here...
My revenge would go up in smoke.
"I technically had the right to refuse, but since Grandfather praised you so highly, I got a little interested and did some digging. It's always best to see and judge for yourself, isn't it?"
I stayed silent as she flashed a carefree smile.
Fine. She'd figured out I wanted revenge on the Kraken, so it made sense she'd look into me.
Misha the maid had told me she often acted more like a rascal than a proper duke's daughter.
If she was simply telling me this to help with my revenge against the Kraken...
Yeah, I could accept that gratefully without issue.
As long as she wasn't approaching me with some other agenda.
I nodded.
"I overreacted. Sorry, Young Lady."
"No, it's fine. I'll consult you next time."
She beamed innocently.
I glanced slightly toward Luna, and I could see her staring at Isna with a complicated expression.
"Luna?"
"...It's nothing. No malice, so don't worry about it."
She said nothing more.
That was when it happened.
"By the way, I've always been curious, but you and Miss Luna don't seem like just healer and patient. What's your relationship?"
I pondered her question for a moment.
Our relationship was clearly that of healer and patient. She was also a guest of House Cascadia, a precious one at that.
And maybe close enough to call friends.
But when I tried to pin it down to one thing, it didn't quite fit.
"We're healer and patient, but also just friends."
"Really? You two make such a great pair."
That wasn't something you'd usually say to your fiancé.
Isna's unexpected addition hadn't changed what I needed to do.
"Grandfather basically chased me out of the temple, didn't he?"
Catshi seemed to have permitted her participation in the subjugation, but the Sword Saint still didn't fully trust her.
Just in case, I asked.
"Uh... any particular reason you got kicked out?"
"Well, they said there were these delicious fruits growing in a cave near some cliffs around here. Hehe, I went to get some, but I slipped and fell into the sea... and then the Kraken attacked."
Luna and I exchanged a quick glance before turning back to her.
"By yourself?"
"Grandfather, seriously. What was he so mad about?"
"......"
I was at a loss for words.
How do you get lost alone and end up attacked by the Kraken?
She was probably swimming around in the ocean. Was she fearless, or did she have some ulterior motive?
Either way, she'd nearly died, and seeing that must have convinced Sword Saint Osberg Mielephon she couldn't be trusted.
In my eyes, Isna Mielephon didn't fit the Mielephon family mold at all.
"First things first, let's make one thing clear."
"What?"
"No solo actions whatsoever. If I catch you going off alone, I'll report it to the elders immediately, and you won't be teaming up with the Young Lady."
This girl was even more reckless than that deviant sword clan's outlier from Bata Kingdom who called me 'hyungnim'—the mage Farrell Berlly.
In other words, she'd die alone somewhere if left to her own devices.
"Got it. I'll be careful."
She accepted it readily, but I didn't drop my suspicious gaze.
"I'll trust you for now."
"Hey, Young Master, what do we do first?"
"......"
Did she even hear me?
Luna's mouth opened slightly again.
Grab her by the hair?
No, hold back.
"More importantly, you said the Kraken attacked you?"
"Uh... yeah. I didn't meet the Kraken itself, but a massive tentacle popped out from underwater."
The Kraken was an enormous creature, and even a single tentacle had the power to crush and shatter a large galleon.
Surviving an encounter with it—especially in the water—was nearly miraculous.
"How exactly did you survive?"
Or maybe she had some plan.
"A huge shark got hooked instead?"
"Ah..."
She was just ridiculously lucky.
But this confirmed it.
"The Kraken's not in a normal state."
"How can you tell?"
"A healthy Kraken would've hit you with a mental attack so you couldn't even escape. Killing a single person with its mental assault is child's play."
Isna flinched slightly at my words.
It was a subtle reaction, but it painted a clear picture in my mind.
If someone important in the Mielephon family had been exposed to the Kraken's mental attack?
I stared intently at Isna Mielephon.
Recalling everything from our first meeting.
Yeah, you don't see eccentricity like that every day.
Hmm, seems likely.
Even a Sword Master wouldn't last long against the Kraken's mental attack without preparation.
So if the Mielephons were dead set on hunting it, there must be a survivor in their ranks who hadn't died yet.
And if that person was alive because the Kraken's mental attack was faulty, it made sense why the family was so desperate to kill it.
And that target... well, it wasn't far-fetched.
"Ahh. Now the pieces are falling into place."
"Hmm, you look like you're thinking something really unpleasant."
I ignored Isna's odd expression and climbed up to the cliffs near the rock formations, placing my hand on the ground.
Then I prepared to activate the new power transferred from the Hall of Sages.
"So, what are you doing here?"
"I'm going to check the Kraken's lair directly. For the plan later, we need to secure a path anyway."
"Where's the Kraken around here?"
As Isna tilted her head, I pointed straight down.
"There's a natural cave underground in this area. The Kraken will have made its nest there for sure."
Krakens in spawning season had specific conditions for nesting.
First, close to land.
Second, a natural cave accessible only through water, with air inside.
There were other minor conditions, but based on the intel I'd gathered, this was the only suitable spot.
It wasn't for nothing that they fixated on one location for spawning.
"Using that heart's power?"
"You've been curious. Time to show you."
Luna had been quite interested in the authority of my heart.
And honestly, it was that impressive.
I focused my mind and issued the command.
[Heart of the Machine God]
[Resonance]
That was the moment I tried to resonate with the Heart of the Machine God.
"T... Tsunami!!!"
Screams erupted from the village.
At the same time, a fairly large tsunami surged in from far out at sea.
It was only about 50 centimeters high, but even that could cause unimaginable damage.
And it was heading straight for the village.
If left alone, the fishing village would be inundated in an instant, leading to a massive disaster.
There weren't many permanent residents, but factoring in the subjugation force, hundreds could be swept away in a blink.
Had it sensed the subjugation team?
The Kraken was a cunning sea king with strong territorial instincts.
During spawning season, it wouldn't tolerate humans gathering to hunt it.
Unable to control nearby lifeforms with mental domination, it was trying to sweep them away?
But with Sword Saint Osberg there, couldn't he stop it?
As if reading my doubt, Luna added in a slightly tense voice.
"Grandfather... looked serious while investigating something and left his post."
Luna frowned slightly.
"If we leave it, everyone gets swept away."
She called herself a fallen angel, but her compassion was nothing like the destruction-loving demons from books.
The village had spotted the tsunami late, and people were scrambling in panic.
This wasn't good.
I halted my actions.
"Leon."
"Saving lives comes first. Let's head to the village."
Having lost family to the Kraken, I couldn't just stand by while others fell victim to it.
I hadn't expected it to strike first, but if it had noticed us and attacked, we needed to block it before casualties mounted.
Causing chaos here instead of fleeing meant its spawning prep was nearly done—it couldn't run now.
Luna, Isna, and I quickly left the rocky area and rushed toward the evacuating fishing village.
The Mielephon knights and dispatched mages were hurrying to prepare, but stopping a natural disaster wasn't easy.
Even for me, a 6th-circle summoner, blocking that size without casualties was normally impossible.
"Uwaaaah!!!"
"Save me!!"
Seeing the subjugation team and villagers panic at the unforeseen event, I made a snap decision.
If the Kraken couldn't use mental domination, this tsunami might be its attempt to clear the area entirely.
But the Kraken didn't seem that calculating...