Episode 58. The Youngest Daughter of the Witherspoon Family (4)
Inside the room.
“Ugh… I’m dying from exhaustion.”
True to the joke that cats are liquid creatures, Tina was dripping from the edge of the ship’s bunk.
A slightly protruding tongue, tired eyes that seem to have lost their strength.
Rubin sympathized with Tina’s feelings. He too felt pain in his ears when dealing with the imperial noble lady who kept talking nonstop.
Even Kuze, who had been listening to her from the side, desperately tried to get away to help the icy maid cook.
“If I could just get over the kitchen threshold, it would have been less of a hassle… … .”
Naturally, Kuze was not allowed to enter the kitchen.
“But the cooking was amazing. You both admit it. My ears were numb because of that girl, but it feels like it washes it all away.”
Tina smiled cat-like and licked her tongue as she recalled the dish Celesne had presented.
The first meal on board the Blue Cat was a sumptuous feast, to the point where Tina’s words were not an exaggeration. Cozy and Warak gave their heartfelt praise, saying that although they had been sailing the Blue Cat for a long time, this was the first time they had had a meal like this.
Chloe’s personality, which I was worried about because she talked too much, wasn’t all bad.
‘Thanks to Chloe, I was able to learn a lot of things.’
Rubin recalled the conversations he had had with Chloe.
Chloe was the youngest daughter of the Witherspoon family. She said that the reason she wanted to become a magic student at Capotini instead of the Americana School of Magic was because of the exchange between the magic schools.
Although it was expressed as ‘exchange’, there may have been a hidden meaning. It is possible that Americmana is trying to bring Capotini into its sphere of influence under the pretext of exchange.
Of course, that was none of Rubin’s business.
“Well, that’s fortunate. They said they were transferring at Philimond.”
Philimond was the port Rubin had chosen to settle in order to resolve the issue of his bloodthirsty siblings.
Once they reached the city, Chloe said they would disembark from the Blue Cat and transfer to the Poniark.
Chloe was supposed to board the Poniark, the exclusive ship for Capotini magic students, from the beginning. However, she changed her entire schedule for the sole reason that she had wanted to board the famous Blue Cat for a long time.
It wasn’t just their schedule that changed.
“That great Ponyark has to anchor in Philimond because of that chatty girl’s stubbornness.”
“That tells you how scary the Witherspoon family is.”
In any case, if he could break away from Philimond, that alone would be a blessing for Rubin.
“Don’t let them know that our final destination is Capotini. I already told Warak and Anjou.”
“If the noble lady gives us a chance to talk, we won’t get caught.”
At that moment, Kuze paused and changed the flow of conversation. A serious expression appeared on his face, calming the playful atmosphere.
“But, you know… … .”
Rubin guessed what Kuze was trying to say.
“You felt something from Chloe?”
“You felt it too, Master?”
“I felt it too!”
Rubin, Tina, and Kuze. All three were assassins with a 4-star or higher dark power. That was something all three of them felt in common.
“But what is that… I can’t express it.”
Rubin nodded. He felt something, but he couldn’t describe it.
Rubin sat across from Chloe, listening to her endless stream of knowledge bragging, trying to figure out what it felt like: something that was quiet on the outside but stirring inside.
But it was no use. The assassins’ shadowy presence was detected, but that was it.
“Isn’t that the magic of that family?”
“Like defensive magic, something like that?”
It could have been. The assassins couldn’t possibly know all the wizards’ abilities. It could have been some kind of device to protect Chloe, like the barriers wizards create.
But it was too gloomy for that.
Rubin had no shortage of experience dealing with wizards. Even before his return, he had fought battles risking his life, and had also had friendly conversations with some wizards.
But when he thought back to all the wizards he had met, none of them had anything close to the gloomy aura he had felt from Chloe.
“It seems like they themselves don’t know.”
Neither Chloe nor Celesne noticed. It was impossible to gauge Celesne’s level of skill, but if she was the only one in charge of protecting the princess, it would not be awkward to be called a great wizard.
At least a 5-star, maybe even a 6-star. Even Celesne seemed oblivious to the gloomy aura that Chloe was giving off.
‘Is this really the Witherspoon family’s defensive magic?’
I couldn’t think that comfortably, because I felt like this gloomy atmosphere was growing bigger and bigger.
It felt as if it was going to explode at any moment. However, only Rubin had this ominous feeling, and Kuze and Tina did not take it that seriously.
‘I guess I should act more friendly.’
Until safety was confirmed, there was nothing we could do. Observing Chloe more closely was the only way.
And an hour later.
As it turned out, an opportune opportunity presented itself to Rubin.
* * *
“Gentlemen, we are now reaching the Ash Strait.”
He came to the cozy guest room and announced that he wanted us to prepare ourselves mentally, as the Gray Strait was famous for being wild.
“The waves will be rough at least until dawn. So I plan to stay at the entrance of the Gray Strait from this evening until dawn.”
The cozy side was completely different from what I had seen at the port. Before boarding, she had fought a desperate battle with her brother over ownership of the ship. Now, she was a seasoned sailor who reassured passengers and handled the ship responsibly.
Acook came closer and asked.
“Master Luden, would you like to watch us work? Everyone who knows our ship wants to see it.”
It’s a face that exudes pride.
Rubin was hoping for that too. I was personally curious, but Chloe would definitely be there too.
“If you could show me, I would appreciate it.”
“Follow me.”
“Can I go too?”
Kuze asked while the cat was sitting on his chest. Of course, their purpose was not to observe the work of the Blue Cat, but to find out about the gloomy aura they had sensed from Chloe.
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“Of course. Since you are Prince Luden’s party, feel free to look around. But there’s also a cat… … ?”
“Meow, meow.”
“The cat might be scared, is that okay?”
“He’s a very fearless guy, so he’ll be fine. He might even be surprised.”
“Then, please make sure that you don’t attack me or Warak while we’re working.”
He didn’t necessarily say, ‘I thought you looked a bit fierce earlier,’ but his expression clearly said so.
Rubin and Kuze snickered and walked down the guest room corridor, guided by Ahn Ki-woo.
At the end of the corridor, a previously closed door was open. It was a passage leading to the bottom of the ship.
As if it was built to fit a giant in a gigantic state, each step was quite high. As I came down, almost landing on each step, I saw Chloe and Celesne, who had arrived early and were waiting for me.
“Luden, come quickly!”
Chloe was very excited. As she approached, Celesne nodded.
“Warak? Where is it?”
There was no sign of Warak. He was holding the rudder for the underground compartment, which was located in the same position as the ground compartment, and was controlling the movement of the ship.
“It’s over there. See that big thing?”
Chloe pointed to the back of the underground room. There was a giant statue made of thick iron.
When I first saw it, I thought of a golem, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a golem. It looked similar to a golem, but there was a large empty space on its chest.
It wasn’t big enough for a person to fit in. It was big enough for a giant tyrant to sit in. There was a worm sitting there, chewing on something.
“Why is there something like that at the bottom of the boat?”
“You’ll soon find out, my lord. I don’t show it to just any passenger.”
A playful and curious Warak. It’s not something he’s done once or twice.
Soon, the body began to grow larger. Heat began to spread around the body and steam rose up.
Pssssssssss.
Chloe approached her with shining eyes, seeing the giant clan grow bigger for the first time. It was Celesne who carefully grabbed her shoulder.
“Miss, be careful. If you make a mistake, you’ll fall.”
The back wall of the bottom of the ship, in front of the giant that Warak was riding on. There was a small crack there, and seawater was rushing in.
Structurally, seawater that entered the ship was designed to flow straight back out, but if you made a wrong step, you could get caught in the current and be pushed overboard.
That was when.
“Luden, look over there!”
Chloe was pointing to the basement wall. At first, the entire wall was made of wood, but some parts of it suddenly turned into transparent film. It was as if magic had been used.
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
Judging by Chloe’s admiration, it didn’t seem like magic. It was like a glass window that could look into the ocean. But it definitely wasn’t glass. It was too thin and flexible to be glass. It was more like transparent fabric.
“Do you see it expanding?”
Chloe said in an excited voice, pulling Rubin along.
The transparent membrane was perfectly able to withstand the water pressure. It was able to withstand it without allowing even a single drop of water to seep in from the outside. I had never seen such a material before the return. It was a phenomenon I had never seen before. It felt like something that was not in the realm of humans.
‘No way this is… … .’
“That? It’s a water dragon’s scale. Do you know what a water dragon is? It’s the ancient dragon that created lairs in the deep sea.”
Chloe explained excitedly.
“It was written in the ‘Imperial Ship Inspection Book.’ The Water Dragon’s Scale is a special treasure found only on the Blue Cat.”
“How did the giants make ships out of dragon scales?”
Pure curiosity. Looking at the armored titan, it seems that only a giant could operate this ship. However, looking at the unique structure of this ship, it was clear that something more than a giant was involved.
Chloe shook her head. There were only theories, but the exact reason wasn’t even in the book.
“I don’t know if it’s cozy or not. But most scholars speculate that it might have been given as a gift by the Goryong. I don’t know why.”
Well, that would be the most convincing theory.
Rubin looked out through the transparent membrane. The lower part of the ship was half-submerged, so the view beyond the membrane was unmistakably the sea.
Hundreds of fish swam past, gathered together. A fairly large orca even stuck its beak close to Rubin and Chloe, as if it were curious.
“Wow! I’m glad I took the Blue Cat.”
This experience must have been precious to the youngest daughter of the Witherspoon family. Chloe kept exclaiming in front of the transparent screen.
“It’s just beginning, miss.”
“Cozy, where are you going?”
“I’m going up on deck to do the rest of the work.”
Cozy, in her gigantic form, stood in front of the stairs. Chloe had to crane her neck back as far as possible to make eye contact with Cozy.
“Can I take a look?”
“Of course.”
Rubin followed Chloe’s enthusiastic lead. Behind Rubin, Kuze and Tina followed, and of course, Celesne was there too.
After climbing onto the deck, Acook took a deep breath. What are you going to do?
Soon she was pulling up the broad sail that was hanging from the mast.
As Rubin watched the sail being dragged down, he noticed that it reacted differently to the sunlight.
“Is that also a dragon’s scale?”
“Yes, Master. Now I will unfold this wide. Like a blanket.”
Spread out like a quilt? The sails were folded over several times, and if spread thinly, they could easily cover the entire Blue Cat. Theoretically, that’s true, but…
“Are you going to cover the stomach?”
“That way it will be completely waterproof.”
I didn’t think she could get any more excited than she was, but at that moment, Chloe seemed to get even more excited. Her golden hair tangled and she was squirming.
“You’re going to dive? Finally!”
Submersion. Rubin didn’t immediately accept the concept of a ship submerging. However, judging from Chloe’s reaction, it seemed like this was a special operating technique unique to the Blue Cat.
“Then, please wait a moment.”
It was an ordinary gesture, like a fisherman casting his net, but she was a giant. It felt like something enormous was about to happen.
As expected.
Clang! Clang!
With his mouth shut, the water dragon’s scales spread out widely as he expanded the muscles of his entire body. At that moment, in front of the eyes of everyone who had come out to watch, the transparent scales spread out like a rainbow and covered the sky.
“Wow!”
Kukukung.
It was the sound of the dragon’s scales falling on the ship and crushing the hull. For a moment, the ship’s deck became like a balloon. The dragon’s scales covered every space.
“Don’t worry, folks! It won’t leak water, but it will allow air to pass through!”
A loud roar was heard from the underground compartment. A cozy smile appeared as he watched the passengers exclaiming in admiration.
“I’ll go down and finish the work. These scales will act as a ceiling, so you can look outside without worry.”
He bowed his head and strode down to the basement. The ship’s direction changed as if he was adjusting the front rudder.
Soon, the screams of the siblings in the basement could be heard clearly. The sound was so loud that it made my skull ring.
“Wow!”
“okay!”
Warak began to exert strength, his forehead veins rising. The giant man riding on it slowly moved and released the enormous pulley. Then came the sound of a huge anchor sinking deep into the sea.
Clang. Clang.
The ship shook heavily, making a similar but slightly different, much duller sound as when the scales of the water dragon were spread.
“Going down!”
As he said, the Blue Cat began to sink deep into the ocean. It felt like the whole world was falling apart. Chloe jumped up and down as if she was having fun.
“Going down!”
As the Blue Cat quickly descended, the sky disappeared in an instant. The sunlight, the clouds, everything. Instead, an emerald seascape began to unfold.
“Wow!”
For a moment, the pressure of the air felt different. My ears and eyes felt stuffy.
But it was bearable. I could breathe and walk without any problems. This was probably also an effect of the dragon’s scales.
A quickly passing underwater landscape.
Fish species that exist only in the deep sea fled far away, surprised by the unexpected intruder. On the other hand, some species approached closer. A huge fish with hundreds of teeth the size of long swords approached with a transparent screen, and showed off the beads attached to its forehead.
“Really, it’s amazing… … .”
Kuze didn’t hide his admiration. Tina and Rubin, who were in Kuze’s arms, were the same.
I had lived for 30 years before returning, and I thought I had experienced enough of the mysteries within the Assassin’s Blade, but at least at this moment, I couldn’t deny the goosebumps running down my spine. I felt the same way as Chloe, whose eyes were sparkling beside me.
‘So that’s why only these big shots are specially qualified to operate cruise ships.’
Kukukukukuku, thud.
After a few minutes, the Blue Cat, which had been sinking along the anchor, stopped descending with a loud noise. It had reached the deep sea floor.
The deep sea floor, where there is almost no sunlight. It is completely silent. It feels like being in the middle of the universe. The one who broke the silence was, of course, Chloe.
“I have to write it all down!”
Chloe, who was excited, opened the parchment book and quickly wrote down what she had witnessed and experienced. Naturally, she didn’t use her hands. She was using magic to record her thoughts. Who would think she was a young lady of a magical family?
Rubin also watched that scene with interest.
“Miss, look at that!”
Was there still something strange about this sight? Celesne called out loudly to Chloe. It was the first time since boarding that she had reacted like that.
