The Water Magician

The USS Neil Anderson set off from the sandy beach.

There was no problem in launching from the beach, as it could shoot out a water jet from the back.

Zabon!

The USS Neil Anderson and its two crew members plunged into the sea.

"I'll switch to water jet propulsion using alchemy," Ryo said, deliberately vocalizing his actions.

Creating the right atmosphere is important, after all...

However, Abel hardly heard it.

Because he was captivated by the underwater scenery he was seeing for the first time...

Since the water was still shallow, the sunlight illuminated the depths.

Schools of fish swimming around.

Something sparkling at the sea floor.

Occasionally, when the sun was obscured, he could see large creatures swimming above.

Surrounded by the submarine made entirely of ice, a mysterious and spectacular sight unfolded, even giving a sense of buoyancy.

"Wow..."

Abel couldn't help but let a word of admiration slip from his lips.

Hearing such praise, Ryo nodded with satisfaction and deliberately advanced the USS Neil Anderson slowly.

After enjoying the scenery for a while, Abel asked Ryo.

"These fish swimming around us aren't going to run away... They're not dangerous, right?"

"Yes. The fish are normal. If we make a move, the entire sea will turn against us, though."

Ryo replied, recalling his past blunders.

The first time he dived into the ocean, it turned into a terrifying experience due to his reckless actions.

"So you're saying that eventually, monsters will come near?"

"No, ordinary creatures won't come near. We've activated the monster repellent."

"Is that so? But it seems we don't have any 'sea monster repellent' on board..."

Abel said, looking around the interior of the submarine.

Since it was a transparent submarine, it was easy to see what was inside.

...Nothing.

Not even a single magic stone.

...Not a single magic stone?

"Wait, Ryo... How is this ship moving?"

"How is it? It's moving by shooting out water."

"No, I mean... you don't have any magic stones on board, right?"

"Oh, you mean the power source? Of course, it's my magical power."

Ryo replied with a bit of pride to Abel's question.

Ryo was the captain, the helmsman, the sonar operator... and also the fuel tank.

Abel shook his head slightly.

This ship seemed to deviate from the common sense he knew.

No, to begin with, it had already become something he didn't know just by being a ship that moves underwater.

"Oh right, we were talking about monster repellent. I remember that in the Central Nations, it's quite a large piece of alchemy tools, right?"

Ryo recalled a 'sea monster repellent' he had seen before.

"Yes, the bigger they are, the better their performance."

Abel nodded in agreement.

"I haven't seen one at Kenneth's place, though..."

"In the kingdom, everything related to the sea falls under the jurisdiction of the ministry of ocean affairs. The 'sea monster repellent' is also under their jurisdiction."

"Even though it's alchemy?"

"Yes. It seems that in the past, the administrative jurisdiction was too vertically divided, leading to various issues. Decades ago, they established the ministry of ocean affairs and consolidated everything related to the sea there."

"Even after overcoming the issues of vertical administration, they became too large and lost their innovativeness... The difficulties of administration, indeed."

Ryo sighed lightly in response to Abel's explanation.

"Innovativeness?"

"Yes. It seems that in the Western Nations, 'sea monster repellent' is transitioning from alchemy tools to magic formulas."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that a magic formula has been devised — or rather discovered — that makes sea monsters dislike and avoid us..."

"No way..."

"There are magic formulas for both wind magic stones and earth magic stones, and combining them with magic stones yields quite high effects. With a magic formula, you can even draw it directly onto the magic stone. In essence, as long as you secure space for one magic stone, the ship won't be attacked by monsters."

"That's amazing..."

Abel was genuinely astonished by Ryo's explanation.