As Seol talked with Julia about Santos, the viewers watching were thrown into chaos.

- Huh? Who’s Santos again?

- I don’t know… He’s never shown up before.

- Then how would Snowman know him?

- Maybe he’s… delusional?!

- But Julia also knew about him.

- Maybe she’s… also delusional?!

- If you’re that stupid, I pray that you get the proper help…

As Santos suddenly appeared, without any prior reference, the viewers began discussing how this could have happened.

- What the hell? Is he a closed beta tester or something?

- Explain yourself! Explain yourself! Explain yourself!

- He can’t see our messages… he can’t explain anything LMFAO

- So, who’s Santos?

- Julia’s ex-boyfriend.

- Oh shit… my bad.

- Are we sure he isn’t abusing something, though? How else would we know about it?

- I didn’t think Snowman would be the type to do that, but I guess he’s a bug abuser…

- He didn’t do anything like that, though… Are you sure you guys aren’t just blowing this up?

- We should do that thing again… what was it called again…? Ah, make a claim! Yeah, we should make a claim!

- We don’t have any numbers to call, though…

- Debating between ourselves isn’t going to do anything! We can’t do anything!

- Sir, if you want to learn something, read a book.

- Name 10 books.

Suddenly, one of the viewers gave a reasonable answer.

- Maybe… this is related to that Fate thing?

- Fate? Ah… that quest?

- Yeah, maybe he received additional information from that quest we couldn’t see?

- ^^^^^^^^^ I was thinking the same thing lol

- ^^^^^^^^^ This is probably what happened.

- You guys were going crazy for no reason, LOL. It’s not like Snowman was the only person who got the Fate thing.

- Yeah, multiple people got it.

- WTF? Then it really was a big nothingburger?

- I wrote down the names of every person who claimed Snowman was cheating. I’m going to hand that over to the authorities.

[‘Your Honor’ has donated 1500 Madness!]

[I have been used. I am simply a brain in a vat. Someone had sent me an electrical signal to doubt Snowman, so I did. It was not my will. I hope you will keep this in mind during the trial.]

- I am also a brain in a vat. I am in the one right next to him.

- And I’m in the vat below him.

- And I am Value-Added Tax.

- I fucking hate you.

Seol didn’t have much time.

In order to complete his plans, he had to go as far away from Laven as possible.

- Don’t tell me you were planning to do it inside the city...? Not that I care.

‘What would happen if we did?’

Ur chuckled a bit before answering.

- Everyone would die.

Whether Ur was joking or not, it still sent a chill down Seol’s spine.

Every now and then… No, Ur is frequently openly hostile toward humans.

‘It might be because he transcended ordinary humans.’

Likely due to his different way of thinking, Ur openly treated humans as bugs, ready to kill them without a second glance.

In fact, it reached a point where Seol began to think that if Ur wasn’t under his control, he could be committing mass murders without a second thought.

Regardless, Seol continued to deliver his intent.

‘I told you, we’ll be leaving here.’

After that, Seol unfurled a map of the sea he had purchased and pointed out a location.

‘If they want to chase after Princess Riona, they’ll have to pass through here.’

- Hm… Why?

‘The tides outside of this path are irregular and could push them into harsher waters. If that happens, it will take a lot of effort to get back on course, which would also mean losing Princess Riona. Unless they've completely lost their minds, they'll come here.’

Seol then pointed at somewhere else on the map.

‘Here. Princess Riona will have to pass through this bottleneck here. It’s crowded with a bunch of rocks, so large ships like Julia’s need to go slowly. This place will probably be the last opportunity the Church of Eternal Life has to catch her.’

- And if they don’t chase her?

‘They will. They wouldn't stupidly give up on the Joy of the Fallen for no reason. If they know its true value, there's no way they would.’

- Oho… Is that sculpture really that incredible?

‘Not really the sculpture, but… essentially, yes.’

- Then they’ll continue to chase after her. They’ll go after her and the others while they’re stuck at the bottleneck.

‘That’s why I decided to stay behind.’

Ur thought for a moment before asking Seol a question.

- Are you planning to use yourself as bait?

‘Yeah, I am.’

Seol looked over his shoulders for a second before explaining the rest of his plans.

‘I learned earlier that a large slave ship is setting sail soon. I’m going to get on that boat.’

- So that’s why you’re here.

Turn…

As Seol slowly turned his head, he spotted an angry old man with numerous scrolls and documents.

“Load them quickly, you damned freeloaders!”

“Urm… Sir, there’s a slave with bedsores already. What should we do?”

“Why are you hesitating? Throw them overboard. Haven’t I already told you that throwing them out is cheaper than healing them? We don’t want any diseases to spread either.”

“Yes, then… Ah, what should we do about those items? Should we load them after we load the food?”

“What were they again?”

“Warm clothes for the crewmates in case it gets cold, drinkable water, and a few fruits and vegetabl—”

“Load them whenever.”

“Yes, sir.”

Seol then saw a few options.

[[You plan to sneak into a large slave ship. How do you do it?]

1. Notify the captain that you intend to purchase some slaves.

2. Bribe a crew member to sneak you onto the boat.

3. Pretend to be a slave and get caught.

4. Threaten the captain.

……]

Seol quickly hid behind the crates the man earlier stated as the one for warm clothes.

As the captain and his crew members turned away for a second, Seol spotted the oak barrel used to store drinkable water.

He then spotted an oak barrel filled with fruits right after.

‘That one.’

After putting the fruits into his inventory, Seol hid in the barrel.

Creak…

A few minutes later, the crew members returned to roll the barrels onboard.

“Argh… It’s so fucking heavy.”

“We’re going to quickly eat through it anyway. It’ll be light when we take it back offboard.”

Creaaak…

Thud.

Seol was loaded somewhere onto the ship.

Lift…

And when the crew members left, he immediately snuck out to investigate.

‘This is the captain’s room.’

Seol then recalled the stern captain’s face from earlier.

‘He doesn’t seem like the type to just rest in his room the entire time…’

Step…

Creaaaak…

There wasn’t anything of importance in the captain’s quarters.

‘Is that why the door was left unlocked?’

The captain seemed to be the type who left his door unlocked, not because he could trust others but because he always carried all of his valuables with him.

‘I’ll just wait here until they set sail.’

Seol inspected the room once more as he waited for the ship to move.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

A while later, darkness approached Laven.

It had already been a while since the slave ship that Seol had snuck onto had left the harbor.

Looking at the direction in which Seol had sailed off, Shuro laughed.

“I bet you think you’re safe now, huh?”

Kuku…

Shuro couldn’t stop his laughter.

Pause…

Sensing something strange, Shuro quickly turned around. He noticed an alluring woman in a flowing dress staring at him.

“Shuro, you’ve grown a lot in the time I haven’t seen you.”

“Miss Bria, my eternity!”

“Yes, come here. I’ve missed you.”

“Me too… I really wanted to see you too, Miss Bria…”

The two greeted each other as if they were mother and son.

“Kukuku… I knew you’d survive, Shuro,” said a chubby man who appeared more toad than human.

“Kezin!”

An extremely thin man followed up by placing his hands on Shuro’s shoulders.

“So I really was wrong, Miss Bria. Seeing Shuro fine like this is making me feel like I was worried for nothing.”

The thin man’s name was Zakun.

He was the man who claimed that an archmage had joined the princess’ party.

With worried eyes, Bria asked Shuro a question.

“I was worried about you, Shuro. Could you please tell me what happened?”

“I’ll tell you everything! First…”

Shuro then slowly explained everything that had happened to him. He began with his plans to catch the princess by going through the smuggling route and ambushing them at night.

“There was no one noteworthy with the princess. They were all definitely someone I could easily defeat, but… something unexpected happened.”

“I already heard about it,” said Bria. “An archmage joined them, right?”

“An… archmage…?”

Shuro confusedly tilted his head, trying to understand what she meant.

Seeing that, Bria slowly began to explain.

“Was there not an archmage in the princess’ party?”

“Ah… there wasn’t. I didn’t see an archmage at all.”

“...Really?”

“I did see a summoner, though.”

“A summoner…”

“Yes! He was incredibly strong. Strong enough to defeat Shuro!”

“Hm…”

Bria and Zakun exchanged glances.

They were unable to comprehend the situation. If Shuro hadn’t fought an archmage… then who scrambled the flow of mana?

“Okay, what else?” asked Bria.

“I tried ambushing him one more time, but… I was caught. He then… crushed my head.”

Bria, Zakun, and Kezin all had perplexed expressions.

If Shuro had his head crushed… then who were they talking to right now?

Shuro shyly laughed before continuing his explanation.

“I survived having my head crushed. I’m practically immortal now.”

“Oh my god…”

“This is all thanks to the Eternal Life’s blessings.”

“Zakun, check it.”

“Yes, Miss Bria.”

Zakun then placed his hands on Shuro’s head as if to check something.

Hummmm…

A few moments later…

“Oh my god… there really are traces of his head being destroyed.”

“...What happened?”

“His talent has blossomed into something else entirely! This… is incredible.”

“Perhaps…”

Kezin clicked his tongue, holding back his words.

“It is a good omen. The Church of Eternal Life has been blessed.”

“It really is. If we could perfect this, Shuro would surely become someone amazing in the future.”

As they began to talk hopefully about the future... the mood began to shift, as if the situation ahead of them were child’s play.

“You did good, Shuro. So, where are they?”

“The princess set sail early in the evening. They’ll be approaching the bottleneck area soon, so we should be able to quickly catch up!”

“It’s exactly as Zakun said.”

“But… the summoner boarded another ship, headed toward—the same direction. Why do you think he did that?”

Kezin laughed.

“Bwahaha… He talked so much, but it seemed that he was terrified of Miss Bria.”

“But then… Why would he go in the same direction…?”

“Maybe there weren't enough spots on the ship?”

“Hm… Regardless, they escaped through the western harbor. The scent I marked them with is fading, but… I can still roughly tell which ships they are.”

Bria then asked Zakun a question.

“Zakun, what do the stars say tonight?”

“Didn’t you say my astrology was a mess, Miss Bria?”

“Still, I just wanted to ask. There’s nothing bad about getting additional advice. So, what do they say?”

“Hm…”

Zakun looked at the night sky.

“It… isn’t good.”

“Why not?”

“The unlucky star is extremely bright tonight. Unfortunate circumstances happen a lot during nights like these…”

“A mess like always,” said Bria. “Now, let’s get ready to leave. Have you prepared all of the ships?”

“We have four medium-sized ships reformed for battle and one large ship that could be used as the main vessel.”

“I see, get ready. Even if we have to go all the way to Zonia, we have to get her! No, even if we lose her, we have to get the statue, no matter what!”

Believers radiating with aura followed behind them as the red, unlucky star cast its light upon them.

* * *

Woooooooosh…

The winds continued to blow fiercely.

“Haaaaaaah… Hooooooo… Haaaaaaah… Hooooooo…”

An old man, the captain of the slave ship, was sound asleep.

Despite the common belief that older people sleep less as they age, he, who was also a merchant, slept happily and peacefully.

Knock knock knock!

Someone pounded on his door, interrupting his sleep.

“Haaah… K-Khraaaaah!”

“Captain! Captain!”

“Wh-what is it?”

“I think… you should come out for this.”

“Huh…? I’ll punish you if it’s nothing serious. You have no idea how hard it is to fall asleep at this age…”

“It definitely isn’t… nothing serious.”

“That serious, huh? Was the mast destroyed or something?”

Grab…

The captain quickly grabbed something to wear before stepping outside, inhaling the cool sea breeze.

He raised a lantern and peered into the darkness.

“H-Huh?”

“Captain…”

“What is that? Why are they coming closer…”

All ships had to keep their lights on at night for safety. Only those with insidious motives ignored this rule.

Like for example, pirate ships.

“Th-there are ships following us.”

“Pirate ships?”

“I’m not sure, but…”

Suddenly, a voice could be heard.

“We’re going to check your ship really quickly.”

“Who are—”

Fwip!

A dagger flew through the air, landing directly in the captain’s heart.

“C-Captain!”

“Those evil bastards!”

Claaaack!

Claaaack!

The other ships placed planks to board the slave ship.

Sprint! Sprint!

Shuro and other believers of the Church of Eternal Life quickly boarded their ship through the plank.

“If you make any noise, we’re feeding you to the sharks,” warned Shuro.

“What are you…”

Unsheathe!

Slaaaaaash!

Splaaaaatter!

With a single slash, Shuro cut down the person speaking into pieces.

“Bwrgh… Urgh…”

“You’re good listeners, aren’t you? We’ll just give the ship a really quick check, okay?”

Despite their smaller ships, the crew found themselves unable to resist. Not only were they individually stronger, but their vessels were also combat-ready, unlike their merchant ship. The main reason, though, was that their captain had died before issuing any orders.

“It definitely smells here…”

Shuro immediately headed to the food storage.

Slash!

Thud…

He split an oak barrel in half, causing the fruits to spill out.

“Hm… Not here…”

Sniff sniff…

Shuro continued to sniff the air while wandering the ship.

The next place Shuro headed was where the scent was the thickest.

Creaaaak…

The captain’s quarters.

“Is there anybody here~?”

Despite hearing no response, Shuro continued to walk toward the bed.

“I should tell Miss Bria that I was mistaken—”

Stab!

Shuro stabbed the center of the bed, trying to hit Seol, who he believed was hiding beneath it.

“Huh?”

However, with the lack of response, Shuro checked underneath the bed.

“He’s not there? What?”

Shuro slowly exited the captain’s quarters.

“Miss Bria… it’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“He’s gone. It definitely smelled like… hm?”

Shuro caught the scent once more with the salty sea air.

“Oh… He left the ship.”

“Yeah, that’s what Zakun expected too,” said Bria while checking the ship’s merchandise.

“I asked the crewmates, and they said that one of their small ships had disappeared.”

“Then we should quickly…”

“Shuro,” interrupted Bria. “I know you’re in a rush, but you can’t forget your responsibilities.”

“Ah! You’re right, Miss Bria. I’m sorry.”

Raise…

“I’ll kill every last human onboard. Please wait a second.”

Only then did Bria laugh.