The Water Magician

"To be honest, I don't feel alive right now."

On the deck of the Rondark.

Surrounded by an ice table, three men are sitting on ice chairs.

Ryo, Abel, and Captain Gorik.

It was Captain Gorik who honestly expressed his inner thoughts.

Of course, he spoke in a small voice so that the other crew members couldn't hear.

"It's all Abel's fault. I apologize for the trouble."

"Why is that?!"

Ryo was trying to place the blame on Abel but was failing.

"Ah, no, it's not that I'm troubled or dissatisfied. We are a warship. If told to go, we will go anywhere. Moreover, if it ultimately saves many lives, we will gladly dive into the jaws of death. Right now, it’s simply uncomfortable."

Captain Gorik chuckled wryly.

The reason he felt uncomfortable was ahead of the Rondark.

In front of the Rondark, there were thirty ships of the grand duchy fleet.

Including the Rondark, which was following from the rear, the fleet was progressing eastward.

They had set sail from the Free City of Kubevasa in the morning and the sun was about to set.

"According to Duke Helb, we should arrive in that sea area before noon tomorrow..."

"Before we arrive, Abel and I are supposed to transfer to that ship, right?"

"Yeah. He said he would approach the island with only one ship protected by sorcery."

"Well, I would have been fine with my 'Neil Anderson,' but if Duke Helb is willing to show his hand, then that’s even better."

Ryo grinned, making a rather mischievous face.

"What's this about showing his hand?"

"Because Duke Helb is definitely an enemy. I think we are destined to fight each other in the end."

"Yeah, I have no idea why Ryo can assert that so confidently."

"That’s the pathos of things."

"Here we go again, the pathos of things..."

Ryo made a declaration, and Abel responded in an exasperated tone.

"What if... what if Duke Helb were to die on that island...?"

"We would be attacked by the people around him... right?"

"That’s likely. At that time, forget about us, just take the ship and break through to escape."

Captain Gorik stated the worst-case scenario, Ryo responded with something plausible, and Abel added a comment.

For now, Duke Helb guaranteed the safety of the Rondark and its crew... but it was not certain that this guarantee would last.

For Captain Gorik, it was already a situation where he could not afford to let his guard down.

Captain Gorik was called away by First Officer Mostara, leaving the two behind.

"By the way... that dragon corpse is quite a nuisance."

"Ah, was it called a Death Dragon?"

"Abel hasn’t heard of it either."

"I heard of it for the first time."

"It's a bit negligent for his majesty the king not to know, isn’t it?"

"Just because he's the king doesn’t mean he knows everything, right?"

The first duke criticized the king’s negligence, but it was deftly sidestepped.

"Isn’t it more important for the first duke, who should support the king, to know about this?"

"I-I'm busy practicing water attribute magic and learning alchemy..."

"You didn’t just say ‘playing’ just now, did you?"

"I'm contributing to the country in that area. I believe mastering diverse talents is crucial for the nation's development."

Abel countered, and Ryo somehow dodged.

Though they may look like this, they are the king and the first duke, number one and number two of the kingdom.

Both are always thinking about the country.

...Though that might not be how it appears.

"The Death Dragon will likely be dealt with by Duke Helb, but I wonder what exactly he will do."

"Well, he did say he was gathering magical power for that. Can magical power even be stored?"

"Who knows? I doubt it's literal magical power... Isn’t it something that feels similar?"

"What do you mean 'something that feels similar'?"

"Because magical power is... no, let’s save that discussion for another time."

"That’s quite suggestive..."

What is magical power?

Ryo has some basic hypotheses formed but explaining them to Abel is impossible.

It would probably be futile even to explain it to Ilalion back in the homeland.

He even thought that perhaps Demon Leonor would understand it better...