Book 15 Chapter 43
To the city of water,
What, give me back my body (4)
The True Iron Archipelago consists of four large islands. Four families, which governed the True Iron Archipelago, each ruled these four islands.
Among them, the eastern part, <Granat>, which faces the fairy land of the Idea Peninsula, was naturally the fairy domain.
In short, all members of the family representing <Granat> were fairies.
The current head of the Grande family, Parmena Grande!
She focused on the mainland fairies living bound by rules, transforming her family's stronghold into a pleasure sanctuary.
In this place called a casino, all kinds of magical engineering were concentrated, allowing for the systematic enjoyment of over 30 types of gambling.
In short, it was a place where the desires of the fairies, twisted and suppressed by playing the role of the chosen people, could be released!
"Khahahahat, jackpot! Money is multiplying!"
"Gah, I lost everything!"
"Do you perhaps have no more money, guest? If you have no money, you are not a guest, so please get out."
As two humans appeared in such a place (after knocking out all the guards at the entrance), everyone's wary attention was inevitably drawn.
"How dare a Samigle come here, I am here to remove the gnats that fly into this place─"
"─No, I'm just looking around for a bit, okay? Who said I'm stealing? Don't fairies have altruistic hearts? Fireball."
"Gah!"
Madman!
"D-Deputy Manager! Some Samigle mage suddenly appeared and is causing mischief…!"
"Fireball."
"Gah!"
Crazy madman!
"You don't even know I'm the deputy manager here, I'm an executive-level officer of the Grande Legion…!"
"Fireball."
"Gah!"
Utterly crazy madman!
"What I have to say is as above… Gah!"
"Fireball."
"Gah!"
"Fireball."
"I haven't said anything yet… Gah!"
However, when the next two individuals appeared, it would not have been strange for the casino building itself to fall into a panic.
"You scoundrel, stop right there! Did I not say this was my mission!"
It was none other than Shimian, the Wandering Sage, and his escort Paladin Liven!
"Th-that's a Sage! The youngest Sage to follow in the footsteps of the old Elsara!"
"Crazy, if a Sage is coming, you should tell us!"
In fact, if such dangerous individuals were to arrive, the human alarm network spread throughout the island would activate, allowing all casino customers to evacuate.
But it didn't activate.
The signal being delivered by the boatman was cut off halfway by a mysterious archer (Kies) who was drinking ale somewhere in the city!
"…?"
Wondering who was talking about him, Kies, whose ears suddenly tingled, dug them with his pinky finger and motioned for a waiter, ordering his 73rd ale. On the slip, he drew Friede's face.
"R-run! There's a Paladin too!"
Meanwhile, as if not caring about the chaos that had struck the casino, Lin cooked the rushing guards with a single fireball, pushing forward in pursuit of Rudiyen.
1st floor…
2nd floor…
3rd floor…
As the floors went higher, the quality of the customers' clothing and jewelry multiplied several times, and the size of their ears also grew longer.
"Don't think you'll act alone. This is my duty to protect and serve Lord Shimian! I have no intention of owing you anything!"
From the 3rd floor, Liven took the lead and swept away the guards, allowing Lin to reach the top floor, the 4th, without significant resistance. To the manager's room, that is.
*Boom*…!
Lin, who kicked the door open as if to break it, soon saw three Rudiyens perched on a bookshelf somewhere beyond, flapping their wings, and smiled brightly.
"So, you were here after all."
Cecil, who barely managed to catch up, gaped in astonishment.
Above the bookshelf Lin was heading towards, on the 2nd-floor railing of the duplex structure, he spotted a beautiful fairy glaring at them fiercely.
Parmena Grande. The one whose whereabouts the Special Operations Department couldn't even find, despite a month-long infiltration mission…!
'…Lin, you really are!'
Shimian and Liven, who had dealt with the guards and belatedly entered the room, also spotted the target and their expressions hardened.
'I can't believe it, but she really was here…!'
'The strongest soldier of humanity, Rista Alter Schirfäng, indeed someone not to be underestimated…!'
Parmena Grande looked down at Lin, who was approaching the bookshelf, and elegantly furrowed her brow.
"May I ask something? How did you know I was here? I pride myself on not leaving any traces that could be tracked."
Lin pulled out 『A Study on the Language of Creation』 from the bookshelf and replied. What emanated from him was a confident demeanor, as if to say, 'You are no match for me!'
"Hmph, if I only have the source of magic, I don't need traces."
Rudiyen would find it on its own… He didn't bother to complete the rest of the sentence out of annoyance.
'Lin, you really are…!'
Cecil Duren once again gave 120 standing ovations in his mind.
'To be able to pinpoint and find a target with just the source of magic, when this is revealed to the magic world, the horizon of tracking magic might change!'
Shimian and Liven, aware that their opponent was an extremely dangerous individual, immediately adopted combat stances.
Liven stood forward as if protecting Shimian, and Shimian began to unroll a scroll of scripture.
"Parmena, traitor of the realm! As I, Shimian, the Wandering Sage, am here now, your wickedness ends! Prepare yourself!"
Liven briefly put down his spear and clapped, boosting the Sage's spirits.
"You are supreme, you are magnificent, truly an excellent choice of words! That villain must already be feeling penitent."
Suddenly, Parmena began to laugh.
It was a laugh unlike her, who always maintained an elegant manner regardless of facial expression, her entire face twisting in a wicked way.
"Sage, Sage Shimian… to anoint a brat like you as Sage, those old elders must truly have rotten brains."
"What did you say?"
"The fact that the Sage's final selection criteria are not based on skill but on faith and mindset is wrong from the start. It's the same for Paladins. Condensing a pool of about 10 candidates and then letting the Sage choose? You too must have become a Paladin as a reward for serving that little brat Shimian since childhood."
Liven trembled in indignation.
"Does a loser like you know what efforts I made to even be considered a candidate!"
"Shut up! Lucky ones like you, chosen by the world, will never understand 'us' in a lifetime. It was 'us' who should have become the Sage and Paladin this time!"
"Have you said all you have to say now, you loser!"
The moment Shimian and Liven were finally about to resort to force, suddenly the darkness of the deep sea (深海) surged forth.
As the darkness drew four lines across the first-floor space, and the first and last lines connected, the darkness formed a square, isolating them.
Paladin Liven thrust his High Holy Lance, Linzabel, forward, but the transcendent pressure of the deep sea firmly repelled his attack!
"Heh, heh, heh-hehehehehe! No, it won't work! That power is a force manifested from the statue of an ancient noble, buried and sealed under the seabed in the age of myth! How could a half-baked Paladin like you possibly break it!"
"You bastard…!"
"Even a brat Sage like you must know that this True Iron Archipelago itself was created by <The Ones Who Came> to suppress the darkness of the deep sea!"
Indeed.
Shimian, the Wandering Sage, was still young, frail, and inexperienced, but he was a being who had thoroughly understood all truths related to the 'myths' and 'legends' required of a Sage.
That is why he understood the urgency of the current situation better than anyone.
"What are you doing right now! Committing such a dangerous act with [King's Flesh]! What will you do if that power awakens! Now that the two Divine Dragons have left for the Demon Realm!"
The ancient nobles boasted truly extraordinary power. Each of their existences was a calamity in itself.
The Lord of the Deep Sea was said to have eight subordinates known as the Eight Fierce Seas, but it was not humanity that defeated them, but <The Ones Who Came> and their subordinate Holy Elmine Knights.
Although the Elmine Knights, called Ascenquarriers, were said to have overwhelmed even those Eight Fierce Seas, the Fae-quarriers and Paladins, who were mere imitations, did not possess that level of power.
"Shut up! The qualities required of a merchant include the ability to anticipate and prepare for inevitable dangers. I'm telling you, I made all my preparations thinking that guys like you might show up. Now you will die in the darkness of the deep sea. You fake Sage, fake Hero, and fake Paladin!"