[No title provided]
“Drink!! Drink!!!”
“The birth of a new Archipelago King!”
“Kid, it’s not king—it’s empress!!”
“Kahaha! You’re right!!”
Kron Island, one of the quietest isles in the Garam Archipelago, was rowdier than usual, the noise dragging on late into the night.
The massive chunks of Kraken meat were more than enough to feed over a thousand people.
“To the Archipelago Empress!!”
“To the great white shark!!”
Eating the ancient tree revered as sacred might have felt taboo to some, but these pirates devoured the Kraken without hesitation.
“It hasn’t even been a full day since the Archipelago King died. These guys sure have strong stomachs.”
“Booze and food. The perfect bait to reel in pirates.”
Rania gazed down at the pirates’ feast from the sole castle on the Garam Archipelago, built by the Serpent family.
“You did well too.”
Standing beside her was Bucket Serpent.
“I didn’t do much. While docked at Kron Island, I repaired the pirates’ ships and loaded them with explosives... but they all blew up before that anyway.”
Bucket spoke in a low voice.
“Sea demon stones...”
“We’ve been rooted here on Kron Island for years, but even I had no idea they existed.”
“No need to blame yourself. Adel—that kid always does things that defy expectations.”
Rania looked at him.
“The sea demon stones did damage the pirate ships, but the explosives you loaded made sure we crushed them completely.”
“That explains why the flames spread so fast... Sir Bucket’s aid, I see.”
It was then.
Adel walked out onto the terrace where they stood, coming from inside the castle.
“Care for some?”
He held out boiled Kraken leg to Rania.
“...Pass.”
She clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“How can you stomach that? It just reminds me of the Archipelago King’s face.”
Crunch.
Adel casually chewed on the boiled Kraken leg.
“I got some help.”
“I ended up dragged into the fight against my will. If anything, thank you for not blowing up my ship.”
Bucket picked up a Kraken leg from the plate and popped it into his mouth.
Rania grimaced and shook her head at the sight, but his expression remained utterly impassive.
Different vibe from Harun.
Adel studied him.
True to form as Harun’s father, his build rivaled even the execution squad hunters here.
“I’ve heard about the Serpent family’s talents. Making ship cannons, right?”
“Just a worthless skill. What use is it for a family exiled from the duchy?”
“Eh, I’d still like to see it. My gut says you’re cooking up something massive.”
Bucket merely chewed on the leg in response to Adel’s words.
“Who knows. Maybe you’ll find answers in the desert that the sea can’t provide.”
Gulp.
Only the sound of him swallowing the leg piece filled the air.
“This was my first time out at sea. So I’m clueless about naval engineering and not really up for deep talks... but sailing made one thing clear.”
“What’s that?”
“Cannons can’t aim freely. You have to turn the whole ship first.”
Twitch.
Bucket’s impassive brow trembled ever so slightly.
“Well, that’s just how it is... Not my field as an engineer, but I think I can solve the other issue.”
“The other issue...?”
Rania eyed Bucket warily as he showed interest in Adel.
“I used sea demon stones in this sea battle. Handle them right, and you could make something way stronger than regular shells.”
“Impressive foresight, Sir Adel, finding the sea demon stones. As you say, they’d be far more potent than gunpowder. But...”
“They’re too heavy, so you’d need a much sturdier barrel for shells.”
“Exactly.”
Bucket nodded.
“Say... something like dragon bone.”
“...?!”
Not just Bucket—Rania couldn’t hide her shock at Adel’s words either.
“If something like that existed, would it catch Sir Bucket’s interest?”
“W-Well...”
“Adel. Do you have dragon bone or something?”
Feeling Rania’s glare, Adel smiled faintly and shook his head.
“No way, sis. Just testing the waters. I’m a hunter—who knows, maybe I’ll hunt a dragon someday.”
“Hmm...”
“Not dragon bone, but something just as intriguing for you, Sir Bucket. They said to pass on that he’s waiting at the edge of Kron Island.”
Everyone present knew exactly what that meant.
Even the stone-faced Bucket couldn’t stay put knowing his son was here.
He quietly excused himself.
“Sneaky. Didn’t you give the archipelago to me? He’s the only decent one among its trash.”
“Who’s the one who tried to behead the Archipelago King despite our deal?”
Adel grinned cheekily at Rania’s words and popped another Kraken leg into his mouth.
“Jeez... You’re impossible. Now I get why Hul bro acknowledged you.”
She shook her head.
“You really planning to challenge for the desert throne? Merka and Syrin bro won’t go easy.”
“I know.”
“I owe you a debt, but I’m not becoming your patron like Hul or Syrin bro.”
She stated it firmly, like driving in a nail.
“Fine by me. Taking the desert throne with someone else’s help would mean nothing.”
“Kek... Dismissing the faction-building bros, huh? Bold, bold. Just like you.”
“Just one request.”
“What?”
“Turn the archipelago pirates into hunters. For the sea battle coming in a year.”
Rania tilted her head, not quite following.
“Sea battle...?”
Nothing but pirates lurked around the Garam Archipelago.
“Sir Bucket will build better ships soon enough. Exiled from the duchy or not, he just fled a political marriage.”
The Serpent family was renowned for engineering even in the duchy.
“A love elopement? No matter how you spin it, he’s just a cheater with a wife back home.”
Rania snorted.
“Won’t nitpick his morals. I need his skills. Just added a bit of backstory.”
“Hmph...”
“What if that marriage was forced?”
“...What?”
“The Serpents have top-tier engineering, but they’re not native to the duchy. Their talent made the duchy wary instead.”
“Why? Shouldn’t a kingdom rejoice at great talent?”
She asked, puzzled.
Adel smiled faintly at her confusion.
“Continent kingdoms aren’t as straightforward as our desert. They feared the non-native Serpents might leave someday.”
“Fear proves their weakness.”
Rania nodded.
“So they forced a tie to the ducal house to bind them.”
“Right.”
“Fine. Say he fled to the archipelago for good reason—even then, he’s heartless for offering his son as Kraken bait to survive.”
Outsiders joined the archipelago by sacrificing to the Kraken.
Bucket chose Harun.
“But Harun survived. Hell, he became a desert tribesman. Could see it as Bucket helping him escape, not a sacrifice.”
“Just luck?”
“Maybe. But consecutive luck might be a plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kraken habitats are the opposite of the desert—hunters rarely go there. Yet Nazan from the continent’s south saved Harun that day he fled across the sea from the Kraken.”
“Hmm...”
“Nazan happens to be in the south right when Harun escapes the Kraken and crosses the ocean alone? Maybe Harun wasn’t abandoned from the start.”
“Tricky...”
“Only they know. No need for us to meddle.”
“True.”
“If so, it was all to save Harun. Bucket had to gamble.”
Adel smiled faintly at her words.
“The archipelago’s dangerous, and the desert forges the strong.”
“But he lives branded as the man who abandoned his child.”
“He was prepared. Their honor returns in the coming sea battle.”
“Coming sea battle? You don’t mean...”
She felt uneasy, sensing Adel knew something she didn’t.
But as he said, Harun’s story wasn’t the point.
She’d grasped the intent behind his words.
“You really mean to wage war on the duchy.”
“Yes. The archipelago’s prep for that.”
Shiver.
Rania couldn’t help trembling at the sudden chill running through her.
“How do you plan to fight them?”
“That’s a secret. Gotta leave some curiosity for the deal, right?”
Adel pressed a finger to his lips.
“You’re not my patron yet, sis.”
“Ha, haha...”
“I won’t demand ‘a life for a life’ like tribal law. I need your strength more than your life.”
“I hunted the strait for years to devour the archipelago. But you did it in days.”
Rania said.
“A year of prep means it’s no small thing. Fine. I’ll help. But...”
She pointed to Kron Island’s harbor.
“This mess wrecked most pirate ships. I can beat the pirates into hunters, but rebuilding—even for Sir Bucket—takes more than a year.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Adel answered as if he’d anticipated the question.
“Just train them into hunters, sis. I’ll handle the ships.”
“...How?”
At her question, Adel stood on the terrace, gazing west toward the coast.
“By opening the sea path.”
Clink.
A small key dangled from his hand—the key to Pola that the Archipelago King had held.
“Right. Sea folk relic.”
After dealing with the Archipelago King and butchering the Kraken corpse, Adel had secretly pocketed the key from the king’s body.
The next day after the feast, he quietly gathered his party to inspect it.
“Good.”
Oddly, once the key touched Gonu’s hand, it began emitting a faint blue glow—unlike with the Archipelago King.
As expected, this wasn’t some trinket for controlling an ancient tree.
As he said, the blue light flowing from the key hadn’t appeared when the Archipelago King held it.
The key only reacts to sea folk blood, it seems. Hmph, Pola’s still too soft.
Still lending power to the folk who sided with Abyss out of lust for strength long ago.
Kalderet eyed the glowing key and snatched it from Gonu’s grasp, setting it on the floor.
Spiiin...
Like a compass needle, the key began spinning rapidly.
“Pointing a direction?”
Right. It’s the key guiding to Pola’s hidden temple beneath the sea paths.
“So that’s what it meant.”
But this alone won’t unlock the sea’s true power. The ocean belongs to two gods, after all.
“You mean Abyss, god of the abyssal sea? But where do we find the other relic? Lucky we had sea folk for Pola’s key, but...”
Abyss, god of the deep sea, had no followers.
The sea’s blue above, but dark below. Pola was praised by many, but Abyss was the opposite. Lonely bastard.
In a way, Abyss fit the deep sea best.
That may have bred jealousy, luring away Pola’s beloved sea folk.
“The deep sea...”
“Abyss’s lock. Not certain, but I know a likely spot.”
It was then.
Adel turned at the voice.