Chapter 378

I got chills.

The young and small things that had been chattering, laughing, and making noise simultaneously erased their expressions and glared at Ivan with stiffly hardened faces. Ruben’s signs of nervousness were also evident, and the Baroness next to him tightly bit his lip and tensed his body as if he’d rather faint.

Nevertheless, Ivan asked again in a calm tone.

“Did the blue turtle not congratulate that wedding?”

[Why do you say such a thing?]

“I heard it woke up from its sleep not long ago. If it’s the blue turtle, it’s kind and gentle, so I thought it would have congratulated anyone’s wedding.”

[…It woke up?]

[The blue turtle?]

Buzz, buzz. Commotion arose like small flowers blooming.

However, when one of the Sylphs let out a deep sigh and shook its head, the rest all copied it completely.

[The blue turtle has not woken up.]

“Is it still sleeping?”

[…]

The Sylphs one by one dusted their skirts and pant hems that didn’t have a single speck of dust on them and prepared to leave. I had truly seen the sight of various spirits flocking around playfully among themselves a lot during the journey so far. So the unsmiling faces of the Sylphs were even more exceedingly unfamiliar.

The guys exchanged glances with each other, then opened their mouths simultaneously.

[It’s a secret.]

And they all disappeared.

It felt like being bewitched by a ghost. Flustered, I called the Sylphs a few more times, but the spirits didn’t return. The wave that surged in with a swoosh had reached my feet before I knew it. Afraid my shoes would get wet from the white foaming surf, I stepped back a couple of paces.

Then Ivan placed his index and middle fingers on the nape of his neck and counted numbers.

I looked at him suspiciously wondering what that act was about, but Ivan, who had counted his pulse on his fingers, nodded his head.

“I am alive.”

“…What?”

“No, well, your momentum looked like you were going to kill a person, so I thought just in case.”

What kind of gall is that? Astounded, I stared at Ivan fixedly. Ivan bowed his head toward Ruben with the most polite attitude so far and apologized.

“I am sorry. I misspoke, so.”

“No, it’s fine. I had already heard everything I needed to hear, and… there are also things I learned from the spirits’ reactions.”

“What did you learn?”

When I, unable to hold back, asked, Ruben quietly covered and grasped the back of my right hand.

I don’t know if the child can’t hold back his anxiety, or if he’s trying to cover where the trace of the Sylph remains. Ruben explained methodically in that state.

“The Sylphs of this sea could communicate with us, right? That means there was an entity that taught them language, Mika. But… a certain Sylph said that ‘I don’t have a human friend’.”

“…That’s.”

Gasp, I swallowed an empty breath.

Marianne had already told me several times before that it is natural for spirits to be unable to speak. Because spirits are just Mana, and just nature.

Since there were many guys among the numerous spirits that had followed us since meeting the God of Oasis who knew how to speak, it was a fact I had forgotten until now. The spirits of Oasis had said it was the God of Oasis who taught them language.

“Are you saying… a god taught language to the spirits here too?”

“Probably. It could be that a spirit higher than Sylphs taught them, but… usually spirits don’t converse with language among themselves. Because the boundaries between them are so faint that they can understand each other’s thoughts just by looking at their eyes.”

“Boundaries are faint, you say.”

“They say if you’re next to a crying Nereid, tears come out even if you don’t want to cry, right? Spirit scholars often call such a phenomenon emotional transference.”

Ruben sighed once, and continued his words again.

“And there’s a saying that spirits… do not fear death.”

“Yes? …Yes.”

“That means they do not fear ‘their own’ death. Spirits are essentially lumps of Mana, and they know very well that life and extinction are connected. But… they react sensitively to the deaths of people around them. Just like learning language, they learn death too.”

“…”

“What do you think happens to the spirit a spirit summoner possessed when they die?”

“…Wouldn’t it return to nature?”

“No, most spirits spend the rest of their lives at the spot where the spirit summoner’s body is buried. Spirits don’t have the concept of death, and they don’t fear death, but… if you stroke them they smile, if you sing they sing along, and they cheer for small furniture imitating humans.”

“…”

“Because spirit summoners usually love spirits very much… A spirit that lost its spirit summoner learns loneliness and sadness too.”

Spends the rest of its life at the spot where the body is buried. I asked again.

“But aren’t spirits… entities that live forever as long as there is Mana?”

Ruben did not answer but I read the answer in his silence. A spirit that lost its spirit summoner grieves eternally as long as Mana allows. I looked at the spot where the Sylphs disappeared.

A wave surged in once again, but my feet were dry. The wave scattered foam from a much further distance and retreated.

“I think the blue turtle might be the seventh or eighth god.”

“…”

“The golden island is…”

Ivan, who had been calmly listening to that sound, opened his mouth and closed it again.

He hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth again.

“It was not an island fully loaded with gold and silver treasures; it was just an island with some golden light. Thanks to that, I could think of taking civilians and launching a boat for a sightseeing tour. Since I would be able to stop a crazy person blinded by greed from jumping into the sea.”

“…When you said my thoughts would change if I see it directly.”

“I can neither feel nor see Mana, can I? I was curious how that island would look to a Mana user. But among the civilian tourists, there was no one who had awakened Aura or Mana.”

“…”

Ivan extended one arm toward the stairs again as if guiding the way. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Our group walked back the way we came, treading on the white sand beach. I wanted to confirm it with my own eyes directly. Was that really a part of a god, or something else?

Why on earth did the intermediate spirits of the deep sea cry so much, and what again is a secret wedding.

If we find out, will we even be able to help with our strength.

We boarded a merchant ship of the Eldos Merchant Guild and sailed toward the direction Ivan pointed.

Ruben didn’t get seasickness because the center of his body was well balanced. Even so, Ruben’s white face turned even paler white. I was curious what the child was thinking with that smart head, but not wanting to pointlessly upset him, I held it in. He’ll tell me when necessary.

Instead, standing side-by-side on the deck with Ruben, I intertwined my hand into the child’s hand.

Did the voyage continuing in a straight line cutting through the cold sea wind last about three hours? The sun rose high and the deck heated up enough to be hot.

Would the God of the Sun be watching us? Since I believe the God of the Sun well now, I wanted him to take a good look and tell me anything.

At that time, a singing sound was heard from afar.

It was a sound not of a human. However, the melody was puzzlingly familiar to the ears.

I reflexively looked back at Ivan, the guy was looking this way too. He examined my expression once, and cast his gaze to a distant place beyond the deck.

When the guy gestured, the sailors wearing Mana defense artifacts at their waists became busy.

They lowered the anchor, folded the sails, and stopped the ship. We looked in the same direction.

A golden hill rising as if pushed up above the sea was seen first. It’s round, drawing a gentle line. A song similar to the melody the seaside woman hummed pierced my ears, my chest, my whole body. The deep sadness they spun out made my breath catch.

Ruben gripped my hand strongly.

Ivan’s guess was right; Ruben’s guess was right too. That island… was made of Mana. A divine power like the thrill I felt when I first saw the stone statue of the first goddess’s head was pooled on that gentle hill.

I couldn’t quite tell what shape that island took underwater, but I felt like I knew the reason Ruben gripped my hand tightly. Even if he isn’t a Sword Master, Ruben is also a swordsman who has reached a certain stage. It is natural his eyesight is better than an ordinary person’s.

On the deck stopped leaving a safe distance, a scenery Ivan couldn’t see the entire time was visible to us.

Dozens, hundreds of Nereids were clinging around the island.

Crying, singing, they used all their might pulling the island down, down with their arms, with their whole bodies. Every time that massive island bobbed up and down, white spray rose around it.

We stood blankly watching the waves rising higher and higher, the pleas becoming more and more desperate, the spirits crying with scream-like sounds.

This is a matter that shouldn’t be taken as a spectacle.

I was about to say let’s return with a miserable heart, but suddenly one Nereid looked this way. It didn’t look at me; the guy’s gaze headed to Ruben.

The eyes of the guy with disheveled hair, wearing waves like mourning clothes, opened wide and soon distorted like an evil demon.

Their gazes turned this way all at once.

“Ivan! Everyone, along with the sailors, go below deck… No, into the captain’s cabin!”

Ivan didn’t ask back, he immediately led all the sailors and entered the highest cabin on the ship. Paaang, I felt Mana trembling finely. It seems he activated a defensive magic circle or something.

I drew and gripped my sword in my right hand, hugged Ruben’s waist with my left arm, and pulled him close. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Ruben didn’t hesitate, clasped both hands together, and hugged my waist. He tightened with a strong force as if he would never fall off.

A wave rose.

A very high wave.

I was not afraid. Haven’t I already split something of this size? I knew how to split a Sandworm in half. By steadily training even after that, I became able to handle this new power very delicately. The me right now is confident I can cut the wave without splitting the deck.

Right now, my worry is only one thing.

If I slash vertically, the water will be pushed to both sides, the ship will sink deep, rise, and pitch, and if I slash horizontally, the water that lost its power will pour from above and we’ll be soaked to the bone. If I hold out with strength, there is no worry of being swept away by the water, but no matter how I think about it, I didn’t have confidence our bodies wouldn’t get wet.

Ruben… would he have packed clothes to change into?