Chapter 268 (Patreon)

Kana finally understood why the others had looked at her so strangely when she mentioned swimming in the sea.

Apparently, according to everyone else, the ocean near the port was not the friendly stretch of water she had imagined. During this season the sea was painfully cold, cold enough to make an unprepared person shiver within moments of entering it. On top of that, the waters near the harbor were deceptively deep, dropping sharply not far from the docks. Fishermen often warned travelers that careless swimmers could easily disappear beneath the waves.

And then there were the fish.

Not the small harmless ones people imagined when thinking of rivers and ponds, but larger sea creatures that were known to grow bold when food was scarce. According to Suri’s dramatic explanation, some of those creatures would not hesitate to bite if a human foolishly splashed around in their territory.

It was apparently common knowledge.

Kana remained skeptical.

In her mind, the ocean was meant to be swum in.

The idea felt strangely natural to her, almost instinctive, like breathing or running. Somewhere in the back of her thoughts lingered a faint image she could not fully grasp. A memory that felt both distant and vivid at the same time.

She could almost see it.

Blue water rising in smooth rolling waves.

A figure cutting across the surface with effortless balance.

For a brief moment she even had the absurd impression that she had once ridden those waves instead of simply swimming through them.

Kana blinked and shook her head. That thought made even less sense than the others.

Inside the wagon, however, the mood had grown noticeably lighter.

Thanks to the small lizard, Thorne, the little girl seemed to have forgotten much of the fear from the attack in the forest. Tin sat cross-legged on the wooden floor of the wagon while Thorne scurried in circles around her hands, occasionally flicking her tail or puffing her throat in an oddly dramatic display.

The creature seemed to enjoy the attention.

Tin giggled each time Thorne attempted some new trick, though most of the tricks were simply the lizard tilting its head or climbing awkwardly onto her sleeve.

Even Kana had to admit the sight was oddly comforting. For a child who had likely witnessed something terrifying only days earlier, laughter returning so quickly was a good sign.

Eventually the wagon rolled to a stop in front of one of the largest stone buildings in the district.

Kana glanced up. The familiar wooden sign hung above the wide entrance, swaying slightly in the sea breeze.

The Adventurer Guild.

The symbol carved into the wood had been painted many times over the years, yet the design was unmistakable.

Tommy gently lifted Tin down from the wagon before stepping onto the street himself.

“Thank you for bringing us this far,” Tommy said sincerely, brushing dust from his coat as he faced the group. “We should report what happened to the guild immediately.”

Kana nodded. If magical beasts had truly attacked travelers near the main road, the guild would definitely want to know.

Tommy then pointed toward a nearby row of houses not far from the guild building.

“Our home is just over there,” he explained, gesturing toward a modest stone house with a narrow chimney. “You should visit sometime. We owe you more than simple thanks.”

He smiled kindly,“My wife is an excellent cook. She will insist on preparing something special for you.”

Suri’s eyes lit up instantly,“We’ll definitely visit!” she declared with cheerful enthusiasm.

Then she turned toward Kana with a grin.

“Right?”

Kana slowly nodded, though it looked less like agreement and more like quiet surrender. She had already learned that refusing Suri when food was involved rarely worked—never worked.

Tommy and Tin gave them one last grateful bow before walking toward the guild entrance.

Kana watched them go, her mind still turning over the strange details of their story.

She had tried several times during the journey to ask Tommy more about the magical beasts that attacked their wagon. Every time she asked, however, she encountered the same problem. Tommy had never actually seen the creatures. He had only heard them.

Heavy footsteps. Snarling.

The sound of something tearing wood apart.

But never a clear look. Kana rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully. That missing detail bothered her.

Still, she already had a list forming in her mind. Several types of magical beasts were known for their ability to hide themselves from sight or suppress their presence.

Creatures that preferred ambush over direct confrontation.

Kana quietly wondered if it might be worth hunting them later.

A small spark of curiosity flickered in her thoughts. And another idea soon followed.

If they did track down those beasts… Would it be possible to bring the students from the Holy Kingdom along?

The king had never specifically forbidden it.

Kana folded her arms as she looked around the port city.

A strong breeze rolled in from the ocean, carrying the scent of salt and seaweed through the streets. The wind was constant here, strong enough that the rooftops of most houses were sharply pointed so the air could glide over them instead of tearing them apart.

Unlike many inland towns, most of the buildings here were made of heavy stone rather than wood, clearly designed to withstand years of ocean storms.

The entire city had been built along a gradual slope. From where Kana stood, the houses rose slightly behind her along the hill, while the streets ahead slowly descended toward the harbor below.

And far in the distance…

Beyond the final rows of rooftops…

The vast blue ocean stretched out beneath the bright sky, glittering in the sunlight like a massive mirror made of restless water.

The main port district was alive with motion and noise, far more chaotic than any town the group had traveled through before. Waves rolled steadily beneath the wooden docks, bumping against the thick posts with dull, rhythmic thuds, while dozens of ropes creaked as ships shifted gently with the tide. Sailors shouted instructions across the harbor, their voices rising above the constant calls of seabirds circling overhead.

The scent of salt hung thick in the air, mixed with the sharper smells of tar, wet wood, and freshly caught fish laid out in baskets along the nearby stalls.

Suri stood near the edge of the dock with wide, shining eyes, completely absorbed by the enormous vessels floating in the harbor before them.

“How are they able to float?” Suri asked with unrestrained excitement, pointing toward one of the larger ships swaying slowly in the water. “They look so heavy and big!”

The ships truly were massive from their perspective.

Towering masts rose high into the sky, ropes stretched in intricate webs between wooden beams, and enormous folded sails hung like giant sheets waiting for the wind to awaken them. Some ships carried stacks of cargo crates tied carefully to their decks, while others were clearly fishing vessels with nets hanging from their sides.

The four of them stood together at the dock, staring openly at the ships like travelers who had just discovered an entirely new world.

Anyone walking past them might have assumed they were country villagers seeing the sea for the first time.

Which, for most of them, was not entirely wrong.

Except for Kana.

Kana stood slightly behind the others with her arms loosely folded across her chest, quietly observing the ships with a faint crease in her brow.

Instead of wonder, a strange sense of familiarity stirred in the back of her mind. She had the uncomfortable feeling that she had seen ships much larger than these before.

Much larger.

For a brief moment, an odd image flashed through her thoughts. A vessel far larger than any wooden ship in the harbor, its body not made of timber at all but something smooth and metallic, gleaming beneath the sunlight.

And yet in that hazy memory…

The metal ship floated just as easily as the wooden ones before her. Her guts were telling her those ships made of unknown metal were better.

Kana frowned slightly.

“It’s because of buoyancy,” she said without thinking.

Suri blinked and turned toward her.

“Boya— what?” Suri asked slowly, struggling to repeat the strange word.

Kana opened her mouth as if ready to explain.

Then she paused. Her expression slowly shifted into confusion. The word had come to her naturally, as if she had used it many times before. But now that she tried to think about it…

The meaning felt strangely empty.

“Nothing,” Kana said after a moment, rubbing the side of her head in mild frustration. “I’m not even sure what I meant.”

She was certain the answer existed somewhere in her mind.

But the knowledge itself felt just out of reach, like trying to recall the final line of a story that had suddenly been erased.

Suri stared at her suspiciously for a moment before eventually shrugging.

Boris, meanwhile, had been scanning the harbor with narrowed eyes, clearly trying to focus on the task they had come here for.

“So how exactly are we supposed to know if they’re already here?” Boris asked, glancing from one ship to another.

Kana stepped forward slightly and squinted toward the distant vessels.

“The ship should be fairly large,” she said slowly, recalling the instructions given to her earlier. “They told me there would be some kind of cross banner hanging from it.”

Adam raised his hand and pointed toward one of the ships anchored near the middle section of the dock.

“That one over there?” he suggested.

The vessel he indicated was indeed larger than most of the surrounding ships, though it was not the largest in the harbor. Its sails had been neatly tied down, but hanging clearly from its central mast was a long white banner marked with a bold blue cross.

The cloth fluttered strongly in the sea wind.

Kana nodded.

“That’s probably it,” she said after studying it for a moment. “Looks like they arrived here before we did.”

The group began asking nearby dock workers and fishermen about the passengers who had disembarked from the ship earlier.

Most of the locals seemed more interested in returning to their work than answering questions, but after asking a few different people they eventually pieced together the information they needed.

The travelers from the Holy Kingdom had already left the ship earlier that morning.

Apparently they had rented several rooms in a nearby inn not far from the docks.

Following the directions given to them, Kana and the others began walking through the narrow streets of the harbor district.

The area was packed with small taverns, storage warehouses, fish markets, and inns squeezed tightly together along the sloping roads that descended toward the water. Sailors and merchants moved constantly through the streets, carrying crates, pushing carts, or shouting prices to potential buyers.

After several turns and more than one moment where Adam accidentally blocked half the walkway with his enormous frame, the group finally arrived in front of a modest but respectable looking inn.

The wooden sign above the door swayed gently in the wind, its painted letters slightly faded from years of sea air.

“This should be the place,” Kana said quietly.

Boris stepped forward and knocked firmly on the door.

For a moment nothing happened. Then the door slowly creaked open.

The man standing inside immediately looked like a soldier.

Polished armor covered most of his body, though elegant white sleeves flowed loosely over the metal plating in a style that looked more ceremonial than practical. Embroidered across the center of his chest was a carefully stitched blue cross.

The symbol of the Holy Kingdom.

The man’s eyes moved across the group one by one, studying them with quiet suspicion.

He examined Boris’s massive frame. Then Adam’s relaxed stance. Then Suri. Finally his gaze settled on Kana.

“Who are you people?” the man asked cautiously.

Kana stepped forward.

“We’re here to escort the students from the Holy Kingdom,” she said calmly.

The knight’s eyebrows slowly lifted.

“I was informed that royal knights from the kingdom would be arriving to guide us safely to the capital,” he replied.

His gaze moved across them again, clearly evaluating what he saw.

Then he frowned slightly.

“But…” he said slowly, “aren’t you all a little too young to be royal knights?”

Post note:

Classes that are common and rare in some kind of Holy Kingdom?

Have a great weekend!

Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂

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