Quinie had apparently already talked with Arald, because even the demons, including him, obediently boarded the ship.
As I watched them, Quinie said,
“Sorry.”
“Hm?”
“Well, I mean... I feel like this all happened because of me.”
She scratched her head awkwardly.
“If I hadn’t shown that WizerView footage to the Empire... maybe things would’ve turned out differently.”
Ah. She meant the time when I defeated Belphegor.
Hearing that, I replied,
“Even now, when I think back on that day, everything still goes black before my eyes.”
“Ugh.”
“I couldn’t lift my head for days.”
“B-But still, it was something to be proud of! I just wanted everyone to recognize a hero of the Empire...”
Quinie mumbled in a tone that didn’t suit her usual confidence.
I smiled.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“Thanks to you, the war ended faster—and with less loss.”
Because Quinie had shown that WizerView, the shepherds of Manggot and their troops lost morale and surrendered.
It wasn’t as if I didn’t know that.
Of course, back then, I’d felt humiliated, ashamed—and worst of all, it had put the Empire’s spotlight on me.
But I couldn’t deny it: when people looked at me differently afterward, when they praised me, part of me had been elated.
“There’s nothing you need to apologize for, Quinie.”
“...Still.”
“Our enemy is clear.”
Odin.
If not for his interference, none of this would have happened.
Maybe Quinie thought I became a target because she’d made me famous in the Empire. But if you think like that, no one could ever do good.
If something only counts as a good deed when every outcome turns out perfectly, who could ever dare to act?
The enemy is clear and unmistakable. It’s so simple it feels refreshing.
“I’m going to bring the gods down.”
“......”
“When that time comes, you’ll see—me leaving the Empire was necessary after ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) all.”
Quinie just stared at me without answering.
After a few blinks, she asked,
“So... you really won’t join my family?”
“Are you asking me to abandon Roach again—”
“That’s not what I meant!”
While we were exchanging that lighthearted banter, a voice called out from afar.
“Lord Frondier! Everyone’s aboard!”
At those words, a faint loneliness passed over Quinie’s face.
“Then go, Frondier.”
“Is this where we part?”
“Want me to come with you?”
I closed my mouth, unable to answer.
Quinie gave a crooked smile.
“Kidding. I can’t leave the Empire anyway. My company and my family are here.”
“...Right.”
“But when you come back, I’ll be even stronger. So, I’ll be looking forward to that day.”
“I’ll look forward to it too.”
Her eyes, as always, were bright—and filled with firm resolve.
“When that day comes, no one—no one—will ever dare speak nonsense about you again.”
“......”
“Never.”
I nodded.
If it was Quinie, I had no doubt she’d make good on that promise.
“Then, I’ll be off.”
“Yeah. See you later.”
She waved, as if we’d meet again soon.
I waved back and stepped onto the ship.
Everyone was already prepared and waiting.
Their eyes, filled with expectation for my command, made me feel a little self-conscious. I cleared my throat and spoke.
“From this moment on, we set foot on unknown lands.”
The western land—Agoris.
We only knew it existed. Not its exact position, not its distance—just that it lay somewhere west of here.
“Arald, can this ship sail due west?”
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
His confident voice was reassuring... though I wasn’t entirely sure how much I could rely on it.
“The demons flew from Agoris to our continent. If we think about that, it shouldn’t be an impossibly long distance. I want to believe that... but we don’t know for certain.”
When the demons had first appeared from the west, they’d always been seen flying on their wings.
Demons don’t use mana to fly, but they still consume stamina—and they’d need food during travel.
So Agoris couldn’t be that far, I reasoned. But maybe they’d stopped somewhere en route, or used some method I didn’t know.
“We’ve been exiled from the Empire. We must head for Agoris. But before we can live there, we’ll face trials. Just reaching that land will be one.”
I didn’t know what sea monsters lurked beneath the waves, how strong they were, or if this ship could survive the journey.
'And above all... when it comes to the sea,'
I couldn’t swear there wouldn’t be divine interference again.
“There’s nothing certain. We’re heading straight into danger. I just hope everyone understands that clearly.”
At my words, everyone nodded firmly without hesitation.
Our path had been set from the start; our resolve long since made.
I grinned.
“Well then—”
I meant to declare grandly, “Set sail!” but—
Craack!
Suddenly, a deafening thunderclap split the air.
And right on cue—
Ssshhh—
Rain poured down.
Perfect weather for a maiden voyage.
Not a light drizzle, but a hammering downpour that smacked against our faces. In seconds, our hair and clothes were drenched.
“...Set sail.”
“Yay.”
My voice was flat, and so were the responses.
Ding—
At that strangely fitting moment, my smartwatch beeped.
It had been so long since I last heard that sound that I reflexively checked the screen.
[World Quest Start.]
[‘Agoris.’]
“...I should really smash this stupid watch.”
The last time it had chimed, it was to announce the end of the Etius World Quest.
Since then, not a single alert for any Main or World Quests had come through.
'So it was always set in stone that I’d head for Agoris, huh.'
I’d thought before—
'If the World Quest ended, shouldn’t we move to the next ‘world’?'
Apparently, I was right.
Only, the one moving to the next world... was me.
Everything I’d done until now, from the watch’s perspective—stopping the demons, taking Lirih and her kind under my command, being expelled from the Empire—had merely been downtime.
'Then what exactly was Etius?'
I was leaving the Falind continent now, and this alert triggered as I set course for Agoris.
So—was Etius Falind itself? Why were the names different?
'Was Etius the old name of Falind? Or...'
The smartwatch was giving me more confusion than help these days.
Still, regardless of my thoughts, the ship began to move, slowly cutting through the waves.
***
I’d half expected it from the moment we departed—
But our journey started off disastrously.
Ssshhh—!
Crasssh!
The rain grew heavier by the minute, bringing roaring winds and waves, joining into a mad symphony.
The sea tossed the ship skyward, then slammed it down. Wind, rain, and spray clawed through every crevice, as if trying to bury us.
The world spun. I couldn’t tell which way we were heading. It was chaos like I’d never known.
Still, up to that point, it was manageable.
Arald, perhaps foreseeing something like this, had come prepared.
“This ship will keep heading west no matter what! We’ll never lose our course!”
He said proudly, showing me a strange artifact.
“It’s built on magnetic principles! You see, in this land there’s a natural magnetic field, and any floating metallic object will—ah, that’s too complicated. Simply put, this always shows a fixed direction, so—”
“The red side points north?”
“...! Y-Yes, exactly!”
“Good. Easy enough. And it stays level?”
“...! Y-Yes, yes it does.”
What he showed me, of course, was a compass.
Come to think of it, in my previous world, compasses were invented for navigation.
Here, with so little sea travel, I guess the concept came late.
'They’ve got cars, WizerView, even holograms in Constel’s training rooms—but no compass until now?'
Then again, in a world with magic, maybe calling “holograms” advanced technology was the real mistake. Perhaps a compass was the true innovation here.
Still, Arald’s foresight was impressive. Too bad I already knew what a compass was, so I couldn’t muster much awe.
Especially since he was looking at me with such proud, expectant eyes—it was a little awkward.
Anyway, thanks to Arald’s compass, this ship would stay on course westward. With its added magical enhancements, there was no chance of confusion.
And there was one more thing.
“This ship can’t capsize.”
Before I boarded, Quinie had boasted to me,
“It won’t flip?”
“Yep. It might break apart, but it won’t turn over.”
“...Unyielding spirit, huh.”
Then she’d enthusiastically explained the ship’s design.
Honestly, it was basically the same principle I already knew—that ships rarely capsize due to their weight balance.
But with additional magical reinforcement, it wasn’t exaggeration—this ship truly couldn’t flip. No matter what.
Of course, if it were smashed to bits, the point would be moot. But its durability was extraordinary too.
'If the ship split in half and only one side flipped, would that count as capsizing or not...'
A random paradox popped into my head, and I shook it off.
In any case, with those two safeguards, I wasn’t too worried about the storm.
The ship was unbelievably sturdy—so much that even massive waves didn’t make it creak. Honestly, it didn’t feel like it was made of wood at all.
Next, I checked how everyone else was holding up.
Lirih and Arald, being demons, were naturally immune to seasickness. Selena had endured harsher motion in training. Elodie wasn’t completely fine, but she could heal herself—or just float above the deck.
Mei seemed immune too, actually looking entertained by the swaying.
As for me, I handled it pretty well, and like Elodie, I had plenty of ways to adapt.
So really, everything was fine—
Until one of the demons ran up shouting,
“Captain! Emergency!”
“I told you, I’m not the captain.”
I sighed. For some reason, ever since we’d boarded, everyone kept calling me Captain.
Elodie found it amusing and joined in, and before long, it had become my official title aboard this ship.
The demon ignored my protest and continued,
“We found a stowaway!”
“What?”
My expression hardened.
A stowaway on this ship? Could it be someone sent from the Imperial Palace?
'Right. They might not face us in open battle, but infiltrating and sabotaging from within—yes, that’s possible.'
If they couldn’t beat us by force, they’d try from the inside. Maybe someone from the Shadows? That would fit.
“Where is he?”
“We’ve tied him up. I’ll take you there.”
“Good.”
I followed the demon.
Most of the crew had already gathered there—Selena, Elodie, everyone.
Yet their faces looked... troubled. I frowned in confusion.
And when I stepped forward to see the intruder—
“...What are you doing here?”
I stared in disbelief at the man bound before me.
His face was pale, sweat pouring down. His eyes were unfocused, his features twisted in agony—as if he might die any second. Classic seasickness.
“S-Spare me, Senior...”
The man croaked when he saw me.
I looked down at him coldly.
“Pielot. How did you even get here?”
It was Pielot von Livanche.
He’d snuck aboard without saying a word.
