The Water Magician

“Technological advancements are trying to connect different cultural or economic spheres.”

“Hmm?”

In the usual royal office, the first duke is passionately speaking while his majesty the king drinks coffee.

It is a very rare sight.

It is rare for the first duke to be so animated… usually, he’s sprawled out on the sofa, reading a book.

It is also unusual for his majesty the king to be drinking coffee… as he is usually busy signing documents.

There was an era on Earth known as the Age of Discovery.

Many technologies made that possible, but perhaps the most significant technological advancement was the compass.

With its practical application, one could find direction even on the vast ocean.

Whether day or night.

Even if the sun, moon, and stars were not visible.

In this world of Fai, there is magic. There is alchemy too.

These could serve as a substitute for a compass.

However… there are difficulties beyond that.

Sea monsters.

Thus, preventing attacks by sea monsters became the core of the technology for crossing the seas.

“That being said, it’s just monster repellent after all.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s not a technology that can defeat a kraken.”

“That’s true.”

“The dominance of the sea is still in their hands!”

Ryo asserts resentfully.

Yes, Ryo has not forgotten.

The tragedy of the Rondo-class first ship Rondo being sunk by a kraken.

To avoid repeating that tragedy, the Rondo-class second ship Neil Anderson was built, and revenge was taken.

But that was only a victory in a one-on-one situation.

There is still no guarantee of winning against a group of krakens.

The dominance of the sea does not lie in human hands.

“It’s not just the sea; there is no human dominance in the sky or on land either, right?”

“Eh?”

“Leaving aside the wyverns of the sky, you can’t defeat griffins, can you? And on land, you can’t defeat behemoths or dragons, let alone vampires, right?”

“Y-You're right…”

“Moreover, against demons too… hey.”

“While it’s inevitable underwater, we must train harder on land.”

Receiving Abel’s words, Ryo nods with a determined expression.

“Train harder?”

“If you train hard, people can become stronger.”

“Well, to some extent. But if you ask whether you can become strong enough to defeat a demon…”

“You won’t know unless you try!”

“Is that so? I think you can understand without trying…”

“You’re just pretending to understand. First, let’s have the Royal Knight Order train continuously for twenty hours a day for seven days. After that, we’ll consider the training schedule moving forward…”

“Yeah, stop that, or they’ll fall apart.”

Ryo's spartan training method was halted.

“Then, to show that it can be done, Abel will do the continuous training…”

“Why me? Ryo should do it to show it.”

“I-I am busy with my alchemy research…”

“I’ll make an exception and allow you to train while researching.”

“I don’t need such an exception!”

It seems that people wake up when it falls upon them.

“Well, about the Royal Knight Order…”

At that point, Abel sighed.

“What’s wrong? Has the knight order become as useless as before?”

Ryo tilted his head and asked.

There was a time when the reputation of the Royal Knight Order significantly declined.

However, after reconstruction, they should have regained their status as the admired knight order of the citizens once again.

At least, to Ryo’s knowledge, the core captains should only comprise decent people…

“Of course, they are decent. It’s not that; it’s about Dantan regarding my overseas trip…”

“Dantan, the Royal Knight Commander? Of course, he would oppose that.”

“He said he would support if Ryo went along, but naturally insisted on bringing knights for protection…”

“Ah, I see.”

Ryo nodded.

From Ryo’s perspective, that demand seems reasonable.

Because among the roles of the Royal Knight Order, “to protect the king” should be included.

“However, he says to take a hundred people, you know? We can’t fit a hundred just for protection on that ship.”