Water Magician

Vol 4. Chapter 719: Departure

It was sheer coincidence that Ryo left the royal castle at that moment.

It absolutely was not because he had heard talk in the royal castle dining hall about “a delicious crepe shop that just opened” and thought he might go buy some.

Yes, it was not. Truly.

When he came out, three people and one box he recognized were at the castle gate.

Apparently, an old man in red clothes was complaining, while a young man and woman watched him with wry smiles, and the box remained silent.

The guards were not acting high-handedly either. They looked terribly apologetic, but impossible things were still impossible.

Basically, the guards at the royal castle were serious people.

So, to save both sides, Ryo decided to intervene.

“Um, Merlin?”

“Hm? Oh, darling of the Fairy King... No, forgive me. Since we are at the royal castle, I should call you Duke Rondo.”

“No, Ryo is fine. More importantly, has something happened?”

“Indeed, something has happened. I told them I wished to meet King Abel, an old acquaintance of mine, but the gate guards will not let me in.”

So Merlin said.

Behind him, Roman and Nadia remained wryly smiling.

Probably because they knew perfectly well that one could not meet the king so easily.

“As I said, we have already contacted our superiors, so please wait a little longer. Your Grace, please tell them to wait as well.”

Apparently, another guard had already run to a superior, whether to request mediation or make a report.

If they waited a while, they would likely be allowed through, but...

“Ah... Then shall I take responsibility and bring them to Abel myself? I know them, and they’re people Abel would tell you to let through.”

“Is that all right, Your Grace?”

“Yes, leave it to me. Please tell your superior that Duke Rondo brought them to the king.”

Ryo nodded to the guard.

“Oh, I am grateful.”

“Sorry, Ryo.”

“Thank you, Ryo.”

“As expected of the one who sealed me.”

Merlin, Roman, and Nadia thanked him, while Regna inside the coffin expressed admiration.

It was a secret that the guard was startled when a voice suddenly came from inside the box.

And so, Ryo guided the three people and one box to the king’s office.

Since Ryo had returned after leaving five minutes earlier, Abel looked suspicious, but when he saw the three people and one box following behind him, he understood.

However, he tilted his head at Merlin’s request.

“King Abel, could you take me to the Western Countries as well?”

“To the Western Countries, Merlin?”

Abel glanced at Ryo.

Ryo hurriedly shook his head.

Of course, he had not told Merlin and the others—or anyone yet—that Abel intended to board the Skidbladnir and go to the Western Countries.

The reason Abel had looked at Ryo was to ask whether Ryo had told them.

“I heard that a ship for investigation had come from the Western Countries. If it is for investigation, does that not mean it will return to the Western Countries? I would like you to let me board it.”

“I see.”

Abel nodded at Merlin’s explanation.

Indeed, rumors about the Skidbladnir had quickly reached the royal capital as well, spreading among the people of the capital with tremendous speed.

The Kingdom government had not made any particular public announcement, but such topics tended to spread on their own.

“To be frank, letting you board would not be difficult. But are the two of you all right with that?”

After saying that, Abel looked at Roman and Nadia behind Merlin.

The two of them had fled from the Western Church, so they could not return to the Western Countries.

Perhaps it might become possible someday, but as expected, things had not yet cooled down...

“We want Merlin to stay, but...”

“Merlin’s resolve is firm...”

Roman and Nadia both shook their heads slightly.

“I have seen the two of them married. I have no regrets left. And besides, getting in the way of newlyweds is...”

Merlin said.

Yes. The two of them had gotten married while Ryo and Abel were blown to the Eastern Countries.

Since they were treated as ordinary people, they apparently held a small ceremony in the city of Rune.

“Besides, my dungeon has been left open all this time. I should go back once in a while, or the dungeon will sulk.”

“Dungeons sulk?”

Whether it was a metaphor or not, Merlin said it, and Ryo, who heard it, muttered in surprise.

“Originally, I intended to borrow this coffin’s power, just as I did when I sent the darling of the Fairy King here. But this thing refused to cooperate.”

“Naturally. If it is cooperation with the one who sealed me, then I do not mind. He has that much right. Or if it were the Demon King’s words, I might consider listening. But red-clothes, I have no obligation to cooperate with you.”

“This is what I mean. It follows me around all this time, yet when I need help, it refuses to help.”

Merlin was indignant at Regna’s words.

From an outsider’s perspective, they were both as bad as each other.

“If you asked Nadia, since she is the Demon King, to put in a word with Regna...”

“I refuse.”

“Huh... Why?”

“Because I refuse.”

Merlin rejected Ryo’s proposal.

Nadia was smiling wryly.

Roman was also smiling wryly, which meant...

“A grandfather who doesn’t want to show weakness in front of his granddaughter...”

Ryo muttered in a voice so small no one could hear.

After glaring at the coffin, Merlin turned toward Ryo and said,

“Darling of the Fairy King, undo the seal on this coffin.”

“What?”

At the sudden proposal, even Ryo let out a wildly confused voice.

“I shall show this thing my power and make it submit.”

“Interesting. Try it if you can.”

“No, you can’t. The royal castle will be annihilated.”

Merlin had thrown down the challenge, Regna had picked it up, and for some reason Ryo was the one who said the most sensible thing.

Abel, who had stayed silent until now, opened his mouth.

“It would certainly be troublesome if you fought here. Instead, it would be best to permit Merlin and that box’s... Regna, was it? It would be best to permit both of you to board the Skidbladnir. Departure is in ten days.”

The king’s arbitration.

The three bowed their heads.

“That nearly became a terrible disaster.”

In the king’s office, after the three people and one box had left, only Ryo and Abel remained.

Abel was, of course, the master of the room, and there were plenty of documents he had to sign, but...

“I had heard Merlin was a gentle Demon Man...”

“He said he’s sleep-deprived, so perhaps he’s irritated.”

“Sleep-deprived?”

Abel tilted his head at Ryo’s explanation.

“Apparently, Demon Men are people who sleep and wake in cycles of hundreds of years. But Merlin says he hasn’t slept in thousands of years. Jean-Jacques the devil said so before. He said Demon Men get weaker when they’re sleep-deprived. So right now, Merlin is supposedly in a weakened state.”

“He did not look weak at all. Demon Men really are something.”

Abel shook his head slightly.

“That is why you should sleep properly too, Abel. Sleep deprivation is not good.”

“It’s fine. Since coming back from the Eastern Countries, I’ve been securing proper sleep.”

Abel’s answer.

To Ryo, it was shocking.

And he became certain.

“As expected, Abel, you’ve gone soft!”

“Hm?”

“In the past, you would have devoted yourself body and soul to government affairs. So much that you had no time to sleep.

But now... How deplorable!”

“I feel like I’m being criticized for some reason.”

“The people of the Kingdom work and work, barely managing to overcome their daily lives. Yet Abel, as king, is slacking off constantly.”

“No, I am not slacking off. You were the one who said sleep deprivation was bad in the first place, Ryo. I answered that I’ve been securing sleep, and somehow I’m being criticized. That makes no sense.”

What Abel said was perfectly sound.

“King Abel should be a very busy king, buried in documents, spending every moment signing them.”

“What is this? That sounds like a miserable image of a king.”

“That is precisely what earns the sympathy of the people of the Kingdom.”

“I don’t know about sympathy, but it’s true I have more time compared to before I was blown to the Eastern Countries.”

“Because the approval system changed while you were gone. Former King Stafford and the others sign documents now too...”

“Exactly. That is why I can go to the Western Countries.”

“So that was your goal after all!”

“Goal?”

“Perhaps you were even blown to the Eastern Countries by Garwin for that very purpose. It was all King Abel’s conspiracy!”

“Yes, that’s far too much of a stretch.”

Abel easily denied Ryo’s delusion.

“Putting that aside, Abel, Former King Stafford and Chancellor Heinlein may have given permission, but did Rihya truly, truly permit it?”

“You mean going to the Western Countries?”

“Yes. Even just being blown to the Eastern Countries meant you couldn’t see each other for a year...”

“W-well...she permitted it.”

Abel answered that way, but his gaze wandered.

“That’s a lie! The eyes are as eloquent as the mouth. Your eyes just slid away.”

“No, it isn’t a lie. As I told you the other day, she permitted it on the condition that you guard me, Ryo. But...once I return, she made me promise to inspect the Kingdom with her and Noah, the three of us together.”

“As expected of Rihya... She knew she couldn’t stop you anyway, so she presented a condition in exchange. She’s far better at negotiation than some King Abel.”

“I think so too.”

Ryo was impressed, and Abel nodded.

But then Abel thought of something too.

“What about you, Ryo? Are you all right?”

“Me? About what?”

“Sera.”

“She asked me to bring back souvenirs.”

“O-oh.”

“Sera apparently went to the Western Countries long ago. So she told me various things.”

“Elves really are something.”

Abel nodded in admiration.

Elves apparently lived far longer than humans.

Neither Ryo nor Abel knew their exact lifespan.

But they knew that Sera’s grandmother, the Great Elder of the western forest, had lived for over two thousand years.

As for her exact age...

No one had asked.

Ten days later, Witnash.

The crowd was large enough that one could mistake it for an opening-of-the-port festival.

At noon today, it had been announced that the Kingdom’s ship currently in port would depart for the Western Countries.

And King Abel the First would board it to visit the Western Countries.

The previous delegation sent out through cooperation among the Central Countries had improved relations with the Western Countries.

This would push those relations even further forward.

Even among the people of the Kingdom, the feeling had begun to emerge that the Kingdom would go as far as the Western Countries in the future.

The country’s future was bright!

Giving the people hope was also the role of a nation’s leader.

As king, Abel was fulfilling that role perfectly.

In one corner, where members of the Kingdom government had gathered, a man in a white robe and an elven woman were speaking.

“You are going all the way to the Dark Continent, aren’t you? I have never gone there myself, so I am jealous.”

“Then someday...once an official sea route is opened, let’s go together.”

“Really? Absolutely? You promise?”

“Y-yes, of course.”

Though startled by Sera’s pressure, Ryo promised with a smile.

In another corner, the captain and others of the Skidbladnir were being introduced to King Abel the First.

“It is the greatest honor to welcome the renowned King Abel.”

“Captain Paulina, I will be counting on you.”

Abel greeted the female captain, whose short, dull-blond hair and striking black eyes left an impression.

Captain Paulina continued by introducing her subordinates.

“This is First Officer Yaya. In any situation, either he or I will be in command of the ship.”

“I am Yaya. Your Majesty Abel, please leave the Skidbladnir to us.”

“I’ll be counting on you, First Officer Yaya.”

He was a male first officer around Paulina’s age, a little shorter than her, but with an energetic and lively impression.

Finally, Captain Paulina introduced the chief navigator.

“This is Rokya, the chief navigator. ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) She will be central in opening the sea route between the Western Countries and the Central Countries.”

“I am Rokya, chief navigator. It is an honor to be involved in opening a route between the Western Countries and the Central Countries that will continue for decades, even centuries, into the future.”

“Yes. Rokya, for the sake of the ships that follow, I ask you to choose a safe route.”

Ordinarily, a chief navigator handled much of the practical work of navigation, but on the Skidbladnir, which also served as both a trial voyage and advance observation mission, opening a new route was part of her role as well.

Behind Abel, who was exchanging those greetings, stood Queen Rihya and Prince Noah.

Noah was still only three years old, but he watched the figure of his father, King Abel, as though dazzled.

Rihya smiled and stroked his head.

There were many things demanded of members of the royal family, and at times some of them were inhumane—such as having no freedom to choose their occupation.

Even so, there was a warm family there.

From another corner, two company commanders of the Kingdom’s knight orders watched those scenes.

Ordinarily, a company in the Kingdom’s knight orders was made up of fifty knights.

However, the king’s guard for this mission consisted of twenty-five elites chosen from each company, for a total of fifty.

And there were two company commanders.

Zack Cooler and Scotty Cobuck.

The two company commanders, who were also Abel’s school friends, would lead the knight orders to the Western Countries as the king’s guards.

“I will not betray Sera’s trust!”

“Zack, Sera has nothing to do with this mission, does she?”

“Even if she doesn’t, that is still true!”

“I no longer understand what that means.”

Since the royal capital disturbance, Zack had been carrying an unrequited love for Sera.

Of course, he had never told Sera about those feelings.

He would become a knight worthy of standing beside her.

With that resolve, he spent his days as a knight.

His friend Scotty watched over him with lukewarm eyes.

He had noticed that Sera and Ryo loved each other.

Because of that, his feelings were complicated, but...in the end, he only shook his head slightly and said nothing.

Their superior, Captain Dontan of the Kingdom’s knight orders, placed his hands on their shoulders from behind.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Leave it to us!”

“Even at the cost of our lives.”

Dontan encouraged them, Zack nodded, and Scotty bowed his head.

In the final corner was a rather strange combination for government-related personnel: three people and one box.

“Roman, Nadia, live happily together.”

“Please take care of yourself too, Merlin.”

“Please come visit us again.”

Merlin, Roman, and Nadia were reluctant to part.

They looked completely like a grandfather and his married grandchildren.

The coffin watched over that scene in silence.

To put it mildly, it was a strange sight.

After those scenes unfolded, at last King Abel was to board the Skidbladnir.

Naturally, the king boarding the ship was a ceremony in itself.

He would show himself to the people of the Kingdom and give them hope for the Kingdom’s future.

Such was his role as the nation’s leader.

He did not board by a rope ladder dangling from the ship, but by a gangway—a temporary set of stairs.

King Abel ascended while waving to the people who had rushed to the harbor.

“Your Majesty!”

“Long live King Abel!”

“Have a good trip!”

Sent off by such feverish cheers, the Skidbladnir, carrying King Abel and the others aboard, departed for the Western Countries.