Chapter 121. Golden Sea Chart
An irregular asymmetric polyhedron. Its dark indigo-purple body gleamed with golden edges, making it look like a treasure to anyone who saw it.
I had brought it back after visiting the place where my main body is located a short while ago.
“You, why do you have that?”
“What’s the big deal?”
“The Abyssal Polyhedron is a weapon of the Outer Gods! More precisely, it’s a tempting treasure used to cultivate their apostles. Don’t tell me you made a contract with it?”
“I did make a contract with the Abyssal Polyhedron before, but it was released after the Heaven and Earth Resonance.”
“Hoo… You should consider yourself incredibly lucky. If you make a contract with it, it feels like you’re getting stronger at first, but gradually you can’t escape the call of the Outer God, and eventually you become an apostle. Your body would’ve been covered in tentacles by now.”
“Ah.”
“What do you mean ‘ah’! You! You’re reckless! Completely reckless!”
Kaiman grabbed his head and spoke.
“So, what did you see inside it?”
“I saw something like black tentacles writhing.”
“Hrmatan. The Calamity of the Ocean. An ancient Outer God with forty-eight thousand tentacles that devours the entire sea. So that’s his Abyssal Polyhedron.”
“How strong is it?”
“It’s strong enough to swallow the current you in one bite. Be thankful it got reset because of the Heaven and Earth Resonance.”
It didn’t look dangerous at all, so I had no idea it was that risky. I had taken it from Ogh of the Rising Tide, but if I’d kept using it, things could’ve turned really dangerous.
“Anyway, you’re unbelievably lucky.”
“The Abyssal Polyhedron has a storage function inside, and it’s so convenient that I was thinking about making a contract with it again. Good thing I asked.”
“Absolutely not! Never!!”
“Then what should I do with it? Just throw it somewhere?”
At Yul’s question, Kaiman shook his head vigorously.
“As far as I know, there are two methods. One is to hand it over to a Ktazar merchant. Since they travel across dimensions, they’ll buy an Abyssal Polyhedron for a high price.”
“Oho.”
“The other is to purify it using equipment imbued with high-level sacred power. For example, the Altar Hammer.”
“I’ve never heard of the Altar Hammer.”
“Do you know about the Three Primordial Gods? They’re probably famous on land.”
“The religion humans believe in, right? I know roughly.”
It was a belief widely spread across the continent. The Three Primordial Gods—three deities: the God of Faith, the God of Law, and the God of War. Yul had occasionally seen their churches in the Kingdom of Frangia and the Kingdom of Britain. He’d heard the faith was spread throughout the entire continent, though he had never actually visited one.
“The order of the Three Primordial Gods should possess a divine relic called the Altar Hammer.”
“But you said you were dead for quite a long time. How are you so sure the Altar Hammer still exists?”
“The order of the Three Primordial Gods already existed thousands of years ago. From what you said, it sounds like the order still exists, right?”
“Now that you mention it.”
Yul felt a slight chill. Just how old were the gods humans believed in?
“If the order of the Three Primordial Gods still exists, then the Altar Hammer definitely exists too. If it didn’t, the order would’ve collapsed.”
“That serious?”
“Yes. If you were to do the order a favor or something and gain the chance to use the Altar Hammer, you could obtain the Abyssal Polyhedron while removing its ‘side effects.’”
“So it doesn’t have to be the Altar Hammer specifically?”
“Right. But among equipment imbued with high-level sacred power that I know of, that’s probably the only one.”
“Do you know where a Ktazar merchant might be?”
“I don’t.”
“Aaaaaaargh! Then it’s useless right now!?”
Yul decided to stop looking for a way to make use of the Abyssal Polyhedron for the time being. It might come in handy someday.
“Anyway, I’ll be going now. I’ll contact you when Syrendron wakes up.”
“Alright.”
* * *
After parting ways with Kaiman, Yul briefly inspected the Island of Boundaries. The number of sea elves had already surpassed two thousand. They were increasing at an incredible rate, but it was still far from enough to fill the island.
“Beru, try staying on the Island of Boundaries for a while.”
He let Beru roam freely on the island for the time being. Beru was independent enough to live well even without Yul taking care of him, and the islanders liked him quite a lot, so he would probably do fine.
If any problems arose, he would come back.
With that decided, Yul left the Island of Boundaries.
While flying, he looked up at the sky. As he gazed at the Sky Island, something suddenly occurred to him.
“Huh? Come to think of it, that one isn’t connected by a chain.”
He enhanced his eyesight and examined the Sky Island soaring high above the Outer Ocean. At first, he had assumed it was the same Sky Island that could be reached through the Island of the Brown Sage.
But it wasn’t.
Its position was different, and there was no chain visible. It was a different type of Sky Island.
“I think I could reach that one if I went with the main body.”
It was more like a feeling than a calculation. For some reason, he was certain that he could reach that particular island—if not the others.
So that meant he had now discovered two Sky Islands.
After flying for a while while looking up at the Sky Island, he changed direction and headed for Skillg Brig Island.
After diving into the sea, he changed clothes and made himself presentable before landing on the island.
‘He’s not watching through my vision right now. Should I surprise him?’
Lucian was still holed up in his room, apparently working on something. When Yul approached and opened the workshop door, he found Lucian working without even realizing Yul was behind him.
What is he making this time?
“Lucian?”
“Gah! Yul, you’re here.”
Lucian jumped in surprise and stood up.
“Why are you so startled? Were you reading a dirty magazine or something?”
“N-N-No way. Wh-what I was making is this.”
At the mention of a dirty magazine, Lucian’s face turned bright red as he held out his hand. Resting on it was a compass.
“A compass? Why are you making that?”
“It’s for recording the Golden Sea Chart.”
“Golden?”
“Ah, I haven’t told you about what happened recently. Not long ago, I visited Labellum Bookstore again.”
Yul’s face stiffened.
“The place where the angel is, right?”
“Yes. I found out from the Headmaster’s ancient book that he was calling for me.”
“I see. Wasn’t that guy dangerous?”
At the time, Yul had probably been somewhere in the Archipelago Ocean. Given the distance and timing, it would have been difficult for him to accompany Lucian.
“Back then, he gave you a book in exchange for karma, but he gave me a book in exchange for ducats, remember?”
“…Ah? Right. That did happen.”
He had said the price was up to him.
“Since then, he seems to have been somewhat favorable toward me. Whatever his hidden motive may be, I thought it would be worth meeting him at least once.”
“And?”
“The bookstore owner handed me a sea chart. A chart showing the route to the Humanity Disc. He said you can only reach it if you follow a specific route using a specific method.”
“Why would he give you that?”
“He said he’s curious about what lies beyond the chart as well. He just asked me to come back and tell him about it at the bookstore after I eventually reach the Humanity Disc.”
“What a strange guy. Why doesn’t he just go himself?”
“That might be impossible.”
'Is there some kind of restriction?'
“Maybe. For example, he might not be able to leave the bookstore for some reason.”
“Yes. So I’m currently recording the route of the Golden Sea Chart into this compass. I measure the route precisely and input it into the compass. Like this.”
When Lucian rotated the compass, it pointed not north, but toward the first route.
“Where does it start?”
“From the open sea of the Outer Ocean. From there, it continues across countless islands and seas, eventually heading far to the west.”
“Far to the west…”
The orcas had mentioned there was a continent there.
“Anyway, why are you making that compass now?”
“I’m planning to take a leave of absence from the academy.”
“Huh? From Weimar Wigma? You only have one year left.”
“Yes. To be honest, I’ve already learned most of what fourth-year students study, and the royal commission I applied for has come through.”
“What’s that?”
“You could call it a captain’s license directly appointed by the Britain Royal Family. I’m officially a captain now.”
Lucian showed Yul a new document. It appeared to be an official government appointment, bearing the Great Seal of Britain.
“You got this in your third year?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
Yul didn’t know the exact details of Lucian’s academic life, but he hadn’t realized Lucian had prepared things this thoroughly.
“A captain can officially recruit crew members. I can either recruit sailors trained by royal institutions or post recruitment notices in port cities.”
“Why the rush to go now? Couldn’t you just graduate first and then go?”
“There’s nothing more for me to learn at the academy. And I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Now that a decisive clue has appeared, I can’t just sit still.”
“Is the Golden Sea Chart real?”
“If the Golden Sea Chart given by an angel is fake, then there may be no route to the Humanity Disc.”
“…What about your friends?”
“We’ll have to part ways, but we’ll see each other again.”
Frenda was probably part of that story too. It was Lucian’s decision, and Yul chose to respect his partner’s will.
“I don’t mind. Professor Quentin already confirmed that I’ll be automatically graduated anyway. I don’t even attend the academy classes.”
In truth, there wasn’t much reason for him to stay at the academy anymore. He only checked in occasionally.
“Then I’ll make it my goal to return before you graduate, Yul.”
“Alright. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So, about that, Yul.”
“…?”
“Lend me some money.”
“….”
* * *
The full-scale preparations for the voyage began. Lucian signed an investment contract at the Royal Bank of Frangia, and with the money he borrowed from Yul, the final amount came to roughly 150,000 ducats.
It was a sum that included the cost of Rune Frame production, construction of a new vessel, and crew hiring expenses.
Yul had already heard the entire plan from him beforehand.
“I'm planning to repay the investment through voyage profits.”
“…Voyage profits?”
“Looking at this map, I noticed there are sections where the route repeats. There’s even one between the Outer Ocean and the continent. It’s the Kingdom of Aragon, right?”
“Huh? You're right.”
On the Golden Sea Chart Lucian pointed at, there were quite a few places where the route overlapped several times.
“I think we could make money through trade by traveling back and forth between these islands. And in the meantime, I plan to manufacture Rune Frames and sell them as well. To the royal court.”
“On the ship?”
“Yes. As long as I have the materials, it’s possible. I’m planning to build my workshop inside the vessel.”
“Security will be important then. But what about the ship?”
“I’m thinking of a displacement of about 1,400 tons. I plan to install automated devices inside.”
“A frigate? That would reduce the crew size.”
“Exactly. I think 250 to 300 sailors should be enough.”
Yul had heard that a frigate usually carried around 400 crew members. Cutting a hundred people was a significant reduction.
Lucian added further explanation while sketching roughly over the blueprint.
“Sail control will be replaced with magic-powered pulleys and automatic winches. The manpower needed to deploy and furl the sails should be cut in half. For the cannons, I’ll install reloading assist mechanisms, and connect a magic lifter from the magazine to the deck. That way we secure both speed and safety. The steering system will be reinforced with a mechanical auxiliary rudder, so under normal conditions one or two people will be enough.”
“Okay, I get the general idea. Guess we should start recruiting crew.”
“Ah, about that. Could you help with the sailor interviews?”
“Me?”
“You know… that thing you do.”
Lucian frowned slightly and stared at something in the air.
“…Ah. That?”