By Zephyria We arrived at Songbrue Port with the sunset.
As soon as Ivan dropped anchor, he immediately rounded up every single person in our party and herded them into a nearby inn. Washed clean, changed into new clothes, and having eaten and drunk their fill, everyone fell into a deep sleep as if they had experienced nothing at all.
While everyone else rested, I was paired with Paul to patrol the rooms, under the charge of being the vice-leader of the Eldos Merchant Guild.
Were any people missing? Was anyone suffering from lingering aftereffects? Were the doors properly locked? I even covered them with blankets and then pressed the locks from the inside again…
Then, I ran into the captain in the hallway. The captain, who was tending to the sailors just like me, offered an awkward greeting and went into his room. Only then did Paul, who had been silently helping me by repeatedly opening and locking doors with keys borrowed from the innkeeper, make a casual remark.
“You got married well.”
“…You’re only finding that out now?”
“Yeah. I’m finding that out now…”
“Spread the word to the others, too. He’s the one who saved your life, so tell them to stop being so territorial.”
“Who’s being territorial towards Ivan? What son of a bitch is?”
“Oh, dear.”
When he came to his senses, this guy would have been the most terrified. He woke up soaked in saltwater, Ivan, equally soaked, had his arm dangling, and a rope tied to his ankle was wrapped around him. And in that state, both of them were tied to the mast, unable to move an inch…
The fact that the first thing Ivan said to him was a joke, “I’m marking this down as a debt,” wasn’t even funny. Was it a joke? Or was it serious? He always says it with a straight face, so how could I tell if it was serious or a joke?
Thinking about it made me angry again, and being angry made me laugh, so I let out a few chuckles.
“But where is that Ivan now?”
“…Right? He wouldn’t have washed up by now.”
A sense of inexplicable anxiety washed over me, and I stopped. Seeing my expression, Paul laughed loudly for no reason and patted my back, trying to comfort me.
“He’s not a child, he must have had somewhere to go.”
“Fuck, he’s barely recovered. Where could he possibly go from here?”
“…Is he still eating? He wasn’t in his room.”
“…Is that so?”
He did eat a bit less than usual. But it was too late at night now. Ivan was a big eater, but he didn’t usually enjoy late-night snacks. While I was quite puzzled, I went down to the inn’s first floor once more.
Ivan was there. With a strange woman.
I froze in surprise. What? Who is she? Did he pick her up here? While I was spacing out, Ivan, who noticed me from afar, beckoned. For me to come closer? …Should I go? No, you idiot. Of course, I should. What was I thinking?
I approached his side in a daze. The woman sitting across from Ivan at the table nodded.
“Hello, Baroness Vikoff.”
“…Yes?”
“Please understand that we cannot exchange full introductions due to the circumstances. Your identity was confirmed 12 minutes ago. We heard you personally experienced a strange phenomenon. You will be moved briefly for mental assessment and a health check-up. You can expect to return in about 2 hours. Do you have any identification or essential belongings you need to bring?”
“…Yes?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just go and come back immediately. Since the person who went in with me is also here, the three of us can go together.”
“This person?”
The woman’s gaze briefly swept over Paul from head to toe. I saw Ivan give the woman a simple hand signal with his right hand. What was that? No, seriously, what is this? Is this that thing? The Empire’s Nobility Yearbook? No, but this isn’t the Empire, it’s Yulan.
I wasn’t the only one bewildered. Paul, whose eyes had doubled in size from shock, turned to me and asked with his eyes, “What is this?” So I replied with my eyes, “Fuck, I don’t know either.”
We entered through a small side door next to the inn’s kitchen hearth. After about twenty steps, we reached a long corridor lined with magic lamps on both sides. The soft light illuminated the surroundings. As we walked down the long corridor, there were occasional doors, but Ivan and the woman passed them without looking back, so I just followed.
Wanting to hear some explanation, I gently tugged on Ivan’s sleeve. Ivan turned to Ikyun with a troubled expression and placed his index finger to his lips. I guess I had to be quiet. I decided to obediently follow. Even Paul, who was quick-witted, kept his mouth shut and walked with his footsteps muffled.
After about twenty minutes like that.
Finally, one of the doors opened. Inside was complete darkness. Ivan immediately took my hand. The woman opened the door, let us in, and then closed the door without entering herself. I felt Paul, who was scared, grip my other hand and suppressed a hollow laugh.
Following Ivan, we walked a little further until we reached another door. Opening that door, we stepped into a white room where a wizard of very small stature was sitting. He looked at the three of us intently, then stumbled to his feet and brought us a chair.
Just one.
“Sit in order.”
“Yes, please take care of us.”
Take care of us for what?
Ivan sat down first, as if to show off. Then, the wizard brought a round object to Ivan’s forehead. He took out a flat object and placed it on Ivan’s tongue, took out a square object and placed it on Ivan’s chest, carefully checked both hands, and removed his shoes and socks to examine his feet.
Ivan, having completed everything sequentially, told me and Paul to do the same. I sat in the chair Ivan had vacated and did the same. It was easy, as I just had to sit still, open my mouth, or show my hands or feet.
The wizard, who placed the items that had touched our bodies into separate petri dishes and cast some unknown magic, sighed, “Huh,” and tidied up the scattered items. Ivan, who had been standing silently watching them with a somber gaze until then, suddenly asked.
“How is it?”
“It’s fine. There are no lingering mana fragments, nor any thoughts or anything like that. It’s not Black Magic, at least. You haven’t directly contacted anyone other than these three?”
“Yes. Only these two were brought in, and only one person here has never been affected.”
“Huh…”
“Have there been similar cases before?”
“Well, no one who survived has ever been able to tell. And besides, we…”
The wizard trailed off, but Ivan nodded as if it were obvious.
“We plan to stay in Yulan for a while. We will report immediately if we gather any relevant information, so please lend us a magic defense artifact.”
“Let’s see, what circle is the one you’re holding now?”
“The Professor made it, so I’m not sure about the circle. Please check.”
“7th Circle. We don’t have many artifacts of this caliber ourselves. I can lend you three more…”
“That’s enough.”
“…Alright, just wait a moment.”
The old man, who tapped his back and stood up, opened a side door that I hadn’t even noticed and went into the next room.
Now, only the three of us are in this room. Wondering if I could ask something, I tugged on Ivan’s hand again, but Ivan smiled apologetically and shook his head again.
Not yet, I guess.
I don’t know anymore. I took the bundle the old man gave me, signed some document, took the bundle back, and was guided by the woman who had been waiting at the door back to the inn. I just kept my mouth shut and meekly followed.
Clack*, the door closed.
Paul, who was awkwardly standing with me and Ivan in what was supposed to be a master bedroom, scratched the top of the door with his fingertip. He was curious, but it seemed awkward to be there. However, Ivan, completely unfazed, placed the bundle he had brought onto the table and let out a shallow sigh.
Then, he cut to the chase and stated the conclusion.
“Yulan’s first base of operations will be Songbrue.”
“…Yes?”
“Hmm. Shall we sit down and talk? Paul, you sit too.”
“Ah, yes.”
The explanation that followed was half as expected and half unimaginable.
Ivan said it was true that he came to this inn because he saw the mark of the Empire’s Nobility Yearbook. He had written related information in a coded note during dinner and delivered it to an informant, and the informants, upon confirming the contents, had arranged this meeting to personally check our physical condition as a measure to protect Imperial citizens.
Only Ivan and Paul had actually fallen into the water. Paul had been affected twice, and Ivan once by a strange, unknown magic, so if both of them were fine, it was judged that the health of the other laborers would naturally not be bad. Based on this, the Nobility Yearbook had agreed to give only the two of them health check-ups. However, Ivan had specifically requested that I, Baroness Vikoff, also receive a health check-up.
“What does that… have to do with the base of operations…?”
“Originally, we were going to move directly to Palmir, the capital of Yulan, to sell the items we brought and establish connections with the kingdom’s nobles, weren’t we?”
Was that so? Let’s assume so.
“Ah… yes.”
“But the Empire’s Nobility Yearbook had no information about the strange phenomenon we experienced.”
“…Yes? Why would that…”
“As far as I know, before us, there were at least two more ships that departed from Yeldidus this year alone. Not a single one of them managed to pass through Indus Bay and arrive at Songbrue. It seems they suffered the same fate as us.”
Slowly, a chill crept up my spine.
He said that magic defense pendant had a 7th Circle magic circle inscribed on it. For merchants like us, it was extremely difficult to even get acquainted with a 4th Circle wizard. If Ivan hadn’t been there, we would have become fish food the day before yesterday.
“As a duty as an Imperial citizen, I want to investigate as much as I can.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“It is dangerous. But.”
Ivan placed his hand over mine on the table. My heart pounded uncontrollably at the warm touch covering the back of my hand. Ivan looked at me intently with kind eyes, then smiled sweetly like caramel and tilted his head. His softly spoken voice was unnecessarily rich.
“I think the returns will be quite substantial. My intuition has never been wrong about these things.”
“…”
Already completely smitten by my husband’s smile, I nodded without a moment’s hesitation.
Seeing this, Paul bravely raised his hand and asked.
“Is there any authority to refuse…?”
“You have it, but Paul does not.”
“I see. I will follow obediently.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
This was why the Eldos Merchant Guild’s Yulan expedition had taken up residence in a mansion at Songbrue Port.