By Zephyria 
“They say one’s own children grow slowly, while other people’s children grow quickly. That saying is quite true.
Usually, I would check Ruben’s complexion thirty times a day. I continued to do so for a long time even after the baby fat left his cheeks. Even after I knew he was someone who could deliver stern commands with a cold expression, I would fret and fuss, desperate to cradle him in my arms the moment our eyes met.
Rubel is already twenty-one… while Sierren becomes an adult at fifteen.
Once, this child told me he would change the law so he could marry me when he turned twenty-five. Back then, I couldn’t fully believe him, even if I wanted to, and dismissed it as a joke. I suppressed the greedy thought, ‘That would be wonderful,’ considering it a wicked desire.
But now Rubel is by my side, and he still harbors the warm affection he holds for me.
Someday, when the time comes…
I don’t know how much longer I can afford to procrastinate. Perhaps I am merely chasing a phantom, hoping for something I have no intention of giving. The futile desire brought on by the dawn thrashed within my breath, crying out, ‘I am here.’
I let out a laugh. Reaching out, I let my gaze sweep from top to bottom over Rubel’s eyes, which were watching me, before closing them.
Hmph. The child gasped in surprise. The tips of his eyelashes trembled against the rough skin of my palm.
“Please sleep.”
“…Yes. Mika too… Sleep well.”
“Yes.”
But sleep was impossible.
I covered the child’s eyes completely until he fell asleep. Occasionally, his trembling eyelashes would brush against my palm, tickling me. I was so restless that I couldn’t fall asleep at all.
❖ ❖ ❖
The scent of the sea grew much stronger.
I had thought that even in Palmire, the salt smell clung to the walls, but it was nothing compared to this port city. The cries of seabirds could be heard intermittently in the distance, and the fishy smell of seafood pricked my nose through the closed window.
Ivan let out a short yawn and opened the carriage window, letting in a rush of pleasantly sharp wind that swept across my cheek. Ivan’s wife rubbed her face with dry hands, as if trying to shake off sleep.
Fearing that the child who slept late might cough from the cold wind, I gently swept my hand over Rubel’s cheek to cover him. But the child immediately opened his eyes, making me feel needlessly embarrassed. Rubel looked at me intently and then smiled sheepishly.
Rubel seemed fine, but Ivan’s wife coughed a few times. However, it would be troublesome if I took care of him and caused any misunderstanding. Thinking his wife would attend to him, I didn’t say anything further.
I simply asked Ivan,
“Have we arrived?”
“Yes. This is Songbr now.”
It was a beautiful city.
All the buildings were low, single-story structures, and their roofs were round and low, like young mushrooms.
Of course, it was natural for buildings to be taller closer to the capital where many people gathered, and shorter in the country’s outskirts. However, the sight of buildings, clinging to the ground like seashells to withstand the fierce sea winds, shimmering white, was truly magnificent.
As if it were the most natural thing, the carriage headed towards a house near the coast among those seashells.
A tanned woman, hanging laundry on a line and tidying up used nets, saw the carriage and waved with a bright smile. Did she know us? The courtyard wasn’t wide enough for the carriage to enter, so it stopped in front of the gate.
Before the coachman could open the door, Ivan hopped out of the carriage first. Then, he offered his hand to his wife.
“…Yes? No, but Baron…”
“Those friends will get down on their own.”
“…”
Watching his wife fluster, unsure of what to do, I let out a laugh that rumbled in my throat, finding it absurd and amusing. By her original status, she should have attended to Rubel first, but she knew, as I did, that Rubel wouldn’t rely on my hand when he could borrow Ivan’s.
After waiting for Sienna Bicov to take Ivan’s hand and disembark, I too assisted Rubel in getting out of the carriage. I simply nodded to Sienna, who was still anxiously watching us, to let her know it was alright.
The woman drying the nets pulled her straw hat down low and grinned mischievously.
“The boss is here!”
“Yes. We have a tourist today who wants to hear the story of the Golden Isle again.”
“How did you arrive right on time? Please wait a moment. Won’t you have breakfast with us too?”
“Of course.”
The woman gave us a curt nod and returned to her work.
Standing idly and waiting, I blinked in confusion. Ivan explained,
“People who visit these small fishing villages also like to watch us hang and dry nets. They find it fascinating. So, in our free time after finishing our chores, we chat and tell stories.”
“…Has this happened more than once?”
“Well, a merchant sells whatever they can, don’t they?”
“…”
Ivan took out a money pouch. In Sierren, when one had to gift currency to someone, it was customary to place gold or silver coins in such a fine silk pouch and hand it over.
“I’m like an intermediary. Of course, I give her a certain share. But since she’s showing us her home where she lives, out of consideration for us, it’s good to show some courtesy.”
“…Mm.”
“Of course, you two don’t need to worry about etiquette.”
Her hands, hanging nets from a distance, moved with practiced skill. It was close to dawn. When did she go out to cast the nets, when did she retrieve them, and when did she hang them to dry like this? My gaze lingered once more on her diligent life.
She’s strong, too. The woman, skillfully spreading the nets wide to dry, waved us over with a large gesture.
We left the coachman waiting in the carriage and followed Ivan through a small door. The entrance was so narrow and low that we all had to bow our heads to get through, which worried me. Fortunately, the interior was high enough that we didn’t have to stoop.
Ivan followed up with another explanation.
“Most buildings along the coast of Yulan are low to block the sea winds. Instead, they dig into the ground to achieve the indoor height. It’s quite cozy, and it’s good because it retains the warm geothermal heat from the west all year round.”
“…You sound quite like a tour guide, Ivan.”
“Similar.”
“My husband has gone to sell the fish he caught this morning. He would have been delighted to know guests have arrived, which is a shame. He truly loves people… Children, guests are here. Say hello.”
At the woman’s call, three young children poked their heads out from inside the room. The oldest looked about eight, and the smallest about four. We bowed and said hello, then smiled shyly before they scampered back into the room.
The woman spoke with a friendly demeanor.
“Come, come. Sit here. You want to hear the legend of the Golden Isle, right?”
“Yes.”
Even among the two quiet men sitting around, the woman spoke readily.
She placed a cup of tea, with its clear and refreshing taste, in front of each of us and began her story without hesitation. Her voice was as cheerful as the tea she served.
With a voice like that, she could lull children to sleep every day reading fairy tales, or attract many customers reading books in the marketplace.
“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a blue turtle.” That’s how the story began.
In the vast ocean lived many beasts as large as the sea itself.
The blue turtle was exceptionally large among them. The blue turtle was as enormous as two sailing ships combined, so other turtles feared it and kept their distance. Whenever the turtle felt lonely, it would swallow the sea in gulps and then spit it out. Then, waves as large as the blue turtle’s shell would crash.
Mermaids, battered by the waves, would flock to soothe the blue turtle. They persuaded it to make friends so it wouldn’t be lonely.
The mermaids captured passing sailing ships and presented them as gifts to the blue turtle. The blue turtle would swallow ships half its size and spit them out. Because of this, many humans sank into the sea.
One day, one of the captured humans offered gold and jewels to the blue turtle, begging for his life. ‘I will give you what is most precious and valuable to me. If you have many precious and valuable things, you won’t be lonely anymore,’ the human lied to the blue turtle.
From then on, a rumor spread that if you gave the blue turtle gold and jewels, you could cross the sea alive. People, one after another, set sail carrying beautiful gems and heavy gold. Every time they were captured by mermaids, they offered gold and jewels to the blue turtle, begging for their lives.
A great deal of gold piled up on the blue turtle’s back.
The blue turtle, now a golden turtle, was still lonely.
The golden turtle began to swallow the sea again. Two gulps, three gulps, then five, ten gulps, it swallowed and spat them out. Waves a hundred times larger than those the blue turtle had created crashed, devouring this land. The center of the land, which was originally round, caved in, becoming the Indus Bay.
Only then did the Goddess see the golden turtle. And she soothed the turtle with a gentle voice.
‘You have found your friends in a long dream, so close your eyes. You have found your lover in the deep sea, so dream sweet dreams. Let us wait together for the blue turtle that will be in your embrace when you wake from your deep slumber.’
And so, the golden turtle fell into a very deep sleep. The longest sleep it could manage.
After finishing the story, the woman, on a roll, also taught us the song used to lull the golden turtle to sleep.
It was a simple melody. It was merely a hummed tune, with little in the way of lyrics, with similar notes. It was a tune that even young children could easily follow, and it held no trace of any magical effect.
A sense of tightness formed in my chest, and I asked, as if to challenge her,
“…Wasn’t that deceiving the turtle?”
“It was, wasn’t it? But it’s just a legend. My son cried so much when he first heard this story, saying he felt sorry for the golden turtle.”
The woman smiled refreshingly and pushed her chair back, rising from her seat.
“Since you’re here, please have a meal too. I’ll serve you a Yulan-style breakfast. People in Yulan wake up very early and move diligently, so they eat a hearty breakfast.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Is there anyone who doesn’t eat fish?”
“No, we all eat it well.”
“Then please wait a moment!”
Was this just another ordinary legend?
We had met a god twice. And now we were inquiring about the location of divine objects that could be used to fight gods. No legend seemed insignificant. I glanced at Rubel, lost in deep thought, and then at Ivan, his face as indifferent as ever.
Ivan shrugged.
“After we eat, let’s go see the Golden Isle. Once you see it, your thoughts will change.”