First Outing to the Kaline Shore
Ian climbed the stairs to his room and carefully tucked the radiant blue top-grade mana stones along with the Lapian gold coins—worth a full two hundred gold—into the very bottom of his cloth bag filled with clothes. He then emptied the coins from his usual cloth pouch and counted them one by one.
‘Yeah. Still got twenty-eight gold left.’
He decided to leave the Lapian gold coins untouched as emergency funds and start rebuilding his savings from these twenty-eight gold pieces, one careful step at a time.
Yet once his wallet had a little breathing room, the motivation to rush off and take on more errand-boy jobs mysteriously evaporated. His body had recovered quite a bit, and today he felt like becoming a proper tourist and exploring every corner of Gelion.
‘Especially the seaside! Kaline Beach!’
The moment the thought crossed his mind, a complicated and bittersweet emotion surged up from deep inside Ian’s heart. He had lived in Gelion for over a month—a city wrapped around a massive harbor and a dazzling sea—yet he had been so busy just trying to survive that he had never once properly heard the sound of the waves.
He had only ever brushed past the city’s famous Central Plaza and the dazzling commercial streets lined with theaters and luxury shops, never once stopping to truly take them in.
‘Ah… This is just too unfair. Today I’m going to enjoy Gelion properly. Starting with the beach!’
Ian sprang up from his chair, hurried out to the main road, and hopped onto a waiting six-seater carriage. It was heading straight for Kaline Beach.
The fare came to a whopping one gold, but Ian—having resolved to be a “tourist who spends a little money today”—paid without hesitation and climbed aboard. The rattling vibrations of the carriage felt thrilling, like the start of a real journey.
Leaning his shoulder against the window frame, Ian couldn’t tear his eyes from the scenery flowing past outside. Thanks to the carriage racing smoothly down the central thoroughfare, the stately five-story stone buildings lining the avenue and the shops with their colorful signs flashed by in a dazzling blur.
Before long the carriage crossed the white stone bridge over the Hamel River that cut through the city and turned onto a side road beside the Flora Maris Central Plaza. An enormous garden bursting with exotic flowers he had never seen before and a massive fountain shooting towering jets of water in the distance instantly captured his gaze.
At the center of the fountain stood exquisitely carved statues of graceful women holding flowing silk banners, so lifelike they seemed ready to begin dancing at any moment. And floating in the air above them was a mysterious aurora-like mass scattering soft particles of light, drifting gently like a colossal ornament for the entire city.
As he stared at the wondrous sight, a fragment of this world’s basic knowledge surfaced in his mind for the first time in a long while. That glow was a sacred symbol representing the chief god of this world, the God of Light. What he saw before him was an artificial form created by magic, but according to legend, when a true god descended, an intense light stronger than the sun would fill the entire land.
While he was lost in thought, the carriage passed beside the Grand Cathedral of Gelion, where the God of Light was worshipped. It was a beautiful structure whose pure white outer walls gleamed brilliantly under the midday sun.
Leaving the cathedral’s majesty behind, the carriage traveled briefly through a lush forest path before finally arriving at the wide-open Kaline Harbor, carrying with it the salty scent of the sea. Ian stepped down from the carriage and paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. After savoring the briny sea air that filled his lungs, he gazed with somewhat unfamiliar eyes at the large galleons docked in the harbor.
These were not the massive metal ships of the modern world, but medieval sailing vessels with multiple masts that seemed to pierce the sky. Their rugged yet majestic presence was overwhelming just to look at. Beside the galleons were slightly smaller carracks and the smaller smack boats used for fishing, all lined up and gently rocking on the swaying seawater.
The wide harbor area was bustling with workers hauling cargo boxes piled like mountains and oak barrels packed full of fish. Beyond the lively commotion, a market selling freshly caught seafood spread out across the opposite side of the harbor.
At that exact moment, a long growl echoed from Ian’s empty stomach.
‘Ah, that’s right. It’s already lunchtime.’
He clutched his hollow belly and cast a regretful glance at the long stretch of pure white sandy beach beyond the harbor. He wanted to step onto the sand right away, but enjoying delicious local cuisine was also one of the greatest joys of tourism.
‘Alright! There’s a saying that even Mount Geumgang looks better after a meal. Let’s fill our stomachs first!’
With much lighter steps, Ian strode briskly into the seafood market where mouthwatering aromas wafted through the air. The moment he stepped inside, the overwhelming vitality of the place left him momentarily speechless. The market, thick with the fishy yet salty scent of the ocean, unfolded with exotic scenes completely different from the seafood markets of the modern world where he had grown up.
What first caught his eye were the enormous water tanks the size of small houses. Fish with sparkling violet scales as large as a person’s upper body thrashed their tails vigorously inside the cramped tanks as if protesting their confinement. On the stall beside them, fish that were either vivid blue or bright red lay buried in thick piles of coarse salt, radiating strange colors.
But what truly left Ian’s mouth hanging open were the crustaceans piled up like small hills and trapped inside transparent protective barriers. King crabs larger than an adult’s face were heaped on top of one another, their legs tangled together. Every time they twitched their pincers, it created the illusion that a living red fortress was moving.
The familiar clamor of a marketplace mixed with the vivid otherworldly vitality of another realm. Ian savored that strange sense of dissonance as he slowly walked on. He passed various fish shops and stalls selling cooked fish dishes.
“Ian oppa!”
A clear voice cut through the market noise.
When Ian turned his head, his eyes landed on a familiar little girl. It was Jane, his very first client. Her complexion had improved dramatically since he last saw her. She now rolled her wheelchair forward with noticeably stronger hands.
“Huh? Jane!”
A bright smile spread across Ian’s face at the unexpected but welcome encounter.
“Wow, you look so much healthier. Jane, how have you been?”
“I got a job!”
Ian barely managed to swallow the groan that rose in his throat. The fact that a girl who was barely ten years old had entered the workforce instead of studying still felt foreign and heartbreaking to him as a modern person.
But Jane’s face was filled with healthier vitality than ever, brimming with the confidence of someone who was carrying her own weight. The child had already found her own path in life and was walking it with determination. Ian decided to respect those mature steps.
“That’s amazing! You’re way cooler than me.”
“Ehehe.”
At Ian’s sincere praise, the girl smiled bashfully like a child should. Only then did Ian relax into a more comfortable smile and ask,
“Can I ask what kind of work you’re doing?”
“Of course!”
Jane seemed eager to show him where she worked. She turned her wheelchair and began heading deeper into the market.
“Right now I’m helping clean and mend the nets that the black fairies ruined by shooting filth into them underwater.”
“Really? That means you have to keep bending over and straightening up. Isn’t that hard on your body?”
“Nope! The aunties I work with are really considerate. They got me a table that matches my seated height and mostly give me the smaller nets to work on.”
“I see. You’ve met some really good people.”
“Yeah, I really have!”
Ian was smiling even brighter, about to ask after the mystic cat Ella, when a piercing scream suddenly erupted from the side path.
“Oh no, this is bad! The black fairies have been released—!”
Before he could even turn his head, a swarm of black fairies with pitch-black wings and vicious expressions came hurtling straight toward Ian and Jane. Ian moved on instinct. He pulled Jane into his arms, lowered his head, and offered his back to the oncoming threat.
Wiiiiiiiiiing—! Psssh, pssshhh!
Fortunately the black fairies shot past the two of them, but they began spraying foul-smelling filth in every direction. The dirty liquid created from their tiny hands instantly swallowed the market’s lively energy.
“Aigoo! You damned things! Why were you keeping them instead of throwing them back into the labyrinth? Look at this mess!”
“Aaaagh! Not on the blue moon tuna, you bastards! Do you know how valuable that fish is?!”
The market turned into complete chaos in an instant. The black fairies scattered their ear-piercing laughter everywhere, caused a huge commotion, and then vanished somewhere with triumphant energy.
When Ian finally lifted his head, he couldn’t help but rub his forehead. The fresh fish that had been sparkling with every color and the once-clean market floor were now covered in filth and completely ruined. But the tragedy wasn’t over yet.
“Oh no, what do we do? What if the nets we already prepared got hit too?”
“This is terrible. Let’s go check right away!”
Jane and Ian hurried toward the net repair shed. When they arrived, both of them let out simultaneous sighs. The nets that had been carefully hung out to dry in the sea breeze were all completely soaked in filth. The aunties in the repair shed stood frozen in shock at the unexpected disaster, staring at the ruined nets with devastated expressions.