"By the way." Zane raised a hand to shield his eyes as he stared out across the endless ocean. Then he patted the cabin wall and turned around to ask, "This boat isn't from Jinzhou, is it?"
Compared to calling it a boat, it would've been more accurate to call it a speedboat.
Its streamlined body, silver paint job, and the constantly roaring engine all screamed brand-new model. No matter how you looked at it, it definitely didn't resemble an official transport vessel.
Rover, who was steering the boat, spared a moment to glance back at him.
"Because of the Tacet Discord resurgence in Jinzhou, there've been signs of Tacet activity all over the world. Most large ships have basically all been borrowed away…"
As she spoke, Rover suddenly flashed a mysterious smile.
"I confiscated this from Aalto. Apparently it was one of his private treasures."
"This thing?" Zane raised an eyebrow in disbelief and patted the hull again.
"According to Aalto, he went through a lot of trouble to buy it at the New Federation World Expo. Sounds like it cost him quite a lot too."
Since there was absolutely nothing out on the sea, there was no need to worry about crashing into anything, so Rover's driving style became noticeably more aggressive.
"Never thought Aalto was this rich." Zane ran his fingers lightly across the hull while silently planning how to squeeze a fortune out of Aalto later...
Maybe he'd make Aalto pay ten thousand Astrites to ransom the boat back.
Since Aalto had already programmed the auto-navigation route, the group would soon arrive at Ragunna in Rinascita by simply following the preset course…
Right?
Just then, Rover's brows suddenly furrowed. At some point, a grayish fog had spread across the sea.
"This is… sea fog?"
Zane stroked his smooth chin. As everyone knew, sea fog mainly formed through the condensation of water vapor, the presence of condensation nuclei, temperature differences between sea and air, and stable airflow conditions.
Its core mechanism was warm, humid air cooling below the dew point over cold sea surfaces or where warm and cold air currents met.
"So what does that have to do with the sea fog over here?"
Sitting by the edge of the boat, Stelle yawned while lightly kicking at the seawater with her smooth little feet, clearly having a great time.
"Well, that's a long story…"
But before Zane could continue, a strange and piercing cry suddenly rose from the vast ocean beneath them.
"Watch out!"
Someone shouted amid the chaos, but before anyone could react, the next second, accompanied by towering waves and a deep roar, an enormous whale with a single horn burst from the sea and slammed directly into the underside of the boat.
"Mama mia, we didn't just hit the jackpot… we hit a giant whale!"
Compared to this monstrous beast, their tiny boat was like a drifting leaf, instantly sent flying.
Caught completely off guard, Rover was hurled high into the air before crashing heavily into the water.
The violent impact made her let out a muffled groan.
But the situation gave her no time to recover. Strange currents from the depths of the ocean continuously battered her body, warning her that something enormous was rapidly approaching.
And that was indeed the case.
Alarm bells rang wildly in Rover's mind. The moment she opened her eyes, a massive maw glowing with eerie blue light was already right in front of her.
'...Damn it!'
At the critical moment, a streak of white light shot across from the side, grabbing Rover and yanking her out of danger.
The giant whale missed its target and continued swimming forward.
But before it could turn around and attack again, an icy burst of pain suddenly exploded somewhere across its massive body.
Rover was not the type to endure an attack without striking back.
The instant she escaped danger, before she even saw who had saved her, the Swiftblade in her hand flashed with diffraction light and plunged directly into the whale's body.
The power of diffraction erupted instantly within the whale's flesh. Even a creature as enormous as it could not withstand Rover's furious blow without suffering damage.
Accompanied by a low, miserable cry, the whale's instincts drove it rapidly toward the ocean surface.
Then it leapt high into the air, attempting to shake off the tiny "parasite" clinging to its body through the violent force of crashing back into the sea.
Rover, tightly gripping her Swiftblade while hanging onto the whale, was instantly carried into the air along with it.
But before she could steady herself, the whale's body spun midair. The tremendous inertia struck her chest like a massive boulder, forcing even the hand gripping the Swiftblade to loosen.
Her petite body was flung straight into the sky.
But Rover was still Rover. Years upon years of combat experience had long since been etched into her bones.
In less than a breath, she adjusted her posture midair. Her glider instantly unfolded, catching her falling body.
Only then did she finally get a chance to look around calmly.
And with that single glance, she noticed something strange.
On the whale's tail, a spider lily seemed to be slowly withering away.
She recognized that flower. It seemed to have been in Jinzhou…
At that moment, an impassioned voice suddenly rang out, interrupting her thoughts.
"Even without the god-given reins, the swordsman crossing the seas shall still tame these raging waves!"
In Rover's line of sight, a figure dressed in Rinascita-style clothing suddenly swung down from above on a rope. Along with lines that sounded strangely similar to opera dialogue, an enormous ship emerged from the sea fog.
No, rather than a ship, it would've been more accurate to call it a stage built atop the back of a gigantic turtle.
Before Rover could figure out where this huge vessel and bizarre man had come from, the pistol in the man's hand suddenly fired, targeting the giant whale that was still thrashing its tail.
Whether it was his impeccable aim or because the spider lily on the whale's tail had fallen off, the roaring whale suddenly quieted down in an instant. Dragging its enormous body behind it, it slowly disappeared back into the sea.
With the mysterious man's help, Rover quickly found the Doctor and Stelle in the water. Then, with Jue's assistance, they hauled everyone aboard the ship.
"My name is Brant, captain of this vessel. As you can see, we are a 'traveling theater troupe,' and also..."
But before Brant could finish introducing himself, Jue, standing beside Rover, suddenly turned deathly pale.
"The Magistrate… Zane is missing!!"
Looking at the panicked Jue, Rover slowly produced a "?" expression.
Before falling into the water, she clearly remembered Zane being close to Jue. So why...
As if sensing Rover's confusion, Jue's small body immediately trembled. Like a child who had done something wrong, even the ahoge atop her head drooped down.
She glanced around nervously, saw everyone staring at her, realized there was no escaping it, and stammered out an explanation.
"O-Originally… Zane really was beside me… b-but later I saw the Magistrate about to get swallowed by that huge thing…"
"So in a panic I… threw him…"
The moment Jue said that, Rover suddenly remembered something. A vein instantly popped on her smooth forehead.
"You're telling me that to save me, you threw Zane out there?!"
Without question, the one who had pulled her away from the whale's mouth earlier had been Zane after getting thrown by Jue…
Seeing the strange expressions on the girls' faces, Brant assumed they were worried about their friend and quickly tried to reassure them.
"This place is very close to Ragunna. Your friend will definitely be alright."
Hearing Brant's reassurance, Rover and the Doctor exchanged glances and let out deep sighs. Then they slowly turned to look at Brant with sympathetic expressions.
'Poor fool, do you think we're worried about Zane?'
'We're worried that some Husky Threnodian is about to tear Ragunna apart.'
———
At the same time, somewhere else, a certain someone slowly woke up inside an unknown cave and stared at the object placed in front of him, falling into deep thought.