Water Magician-Chapter 663 : Before the Storm

Chapter 0663 Before the Storm

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

“Abel, the main event would be Lord Rowon.”

“Huh?”

After placing the three ice coffins at the magistrate’s office and explaining to the Emperor and the others, Ryo and Abel returned to the fleet.

They flew back just like how they arrived.

There, Ryo said it plainly.

Abel, not quite understanding, tilted his head.

“Lord Rowon—you mean that one. A water-attribute magician, an alchemist, and Captain Lu Yao’s master.”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Why is that Lord Rowon the main event? By ‘main event’ you mean the actual battle, right?”

“Yes. He was the root cause of everything.”

For a moment, Abel thought it was one of Ryo’s usual wild remarks, but this time it seemed different.

“Well, I don’t really understand Lord Rowon, but isn’t the real main event somewhere else?”

“Huh? The real main event?”

At Abel’s words, Ryo tilted his head.

“The real main event is the Phantom King, right?”

“Ah...”

“They’re heading to the Central Countries, after all. For whatever reason.”

“True. We have to stop them. It’ll probably be for some worthless reason.”

“Whether it’s worthless or not, depending on the details, we may have to stop them by force. That thing is powerful... about as strong as a Djinn.”

“Lots of problems to deal with.”

The two sighed.

Last night, there had been an uproar, but as planned, the Emperor’s army set out.

The fleet was moving northward in step with it.

“As if nothing happened...”

“If the army’s departure were delayed, it would spark all sorts of rumors.”

“My golems were sacrificed...”

“That’s certainly a sad thing, but they bought us time to get from the ship to the magistrate’s office, right? We should praise them.”

“That’s true! They did their best!”

Ryo said that and raised the teacup in his right hand high.

A toast—a salute to the five ice golems who had fulfilled their duty with devotion.

The two were drinking tea as usual on the first deck of the Lone Dark.

As if it were a familiar place.

Captain Gorick, First Officer Lena, Chief Engineer Gunno, First Navigator Mostara, and others had carried the two from the archipelago region to the autonomous city of Kwebasa and had transported them during the ‘Blue Island’ incident as well.

“This Lone Dark ship is amazing, isn’t it? Going back and forth between the archipelago region and Darwei. It must be the warship that sailed the longest distance this year.”

“I don’t know if it’s the absolute longest, but it’s certainly sailed quite a distance.”

Abel agreed almost completely with Ryo’s impression.

Ryo suddenly thought of something and spoke up.

“We drove off those three who attacked us yesterday.”

“Huh?”

“As Prince Kouri’s camp, they failed in the attack with the special-rank adventurers, so what are they thinking? Will this affect future operations?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Abel answered immediately to Ryo’s question.

Ryo looked a little surprised.

He continued speaking.

“I also think it’ll likely change nothing, but I can’t be as quick to answer as Abel.”

“Really? An attack on enemy leadership by a small force—if it succeeds, it’s just lucky, right? That’s normal.”

“Well, yes, perhaps...”

When you’re already moving a large army, that kind of view tends to prevail.

Planners assume those raid operations usually won’t work out.

The main effort is the large army already in motion.

That becomes the axis of thought.

Because many people are involved.

Because a lot of money is at stake.

Which means if that fails, the damage is huge.

“No harm in trying it at least. I think it was just that level of move.”

“Even special-rank adventurers are disposable...”

Ryo sighed while shaking his head slightly at Abel’s words.

“Harsh phrasing, but that may be the correct perception.”

Abel shrugged.

He still wore a troubled expression.

Abel is both a king and an adventurer.

Thus, he understands both the planners’ intentions and the adventurers’ position as the ones used.

That was why he kept a grim face.

“So that means the troops Prince Kouri can move will be heading south, right?”

“Probably. Whether they clash or hold talks, they won’t want this Emperor’s army to enter the capital as is. The moment they enter, it will become public that the Emperor still wields power and has returned... and regained authority.”

“The position of Prince Kouri, who was the ‘leading successor to the Emperor’, will be shaken. As one who opposed the Emperor.”

“Right... the Shitaifu class will drift away. That’s exactly why they won’t want him to enter the capital.”

“Surely this isn’t exactly what Prince Kouri planned. He’s supposed to have calculated... where did he miscalculate?”

“That’s undoubtedly because of that Phantomkin called Marie.”

Abel answered Ryo’s question immediately again.

“Marie-san?”

“Not only her, but... Prince Kouri probably didn’t expect the Choouchi Empire to let the Emperor go alive.”

“Ah... that’s true.”

Prince Kouri must have thought Emperor Tsuin would never return alive.

That assumption was reasonable.

A nation that declared invasion had abducted the supreme leader and even announced his death publicly.

They would not have expected him to return alive.

“No matter how good you are at calculating, you make mistakes. At the very end—before you submit—review it once more.”

“I don’t get it.”

Ryo spoke of memories of tests; Abel shrugged, not understanding.

Perhaps the former prince Abel hadn’t had to fight through fierce exam competition.

“That remark proves Abel grew up too cozily!”

“Why am I being criticized...”

As a commoner, Premier Duke Ryo may not be able to imagine the difficulties in growing up as a prince.

Though the unbridgeable gap between the premier duke and the king remained, both of them hoped to avoid armed conflict if possible.

After all, the troops on both sides are, in principle, armies for Darwei.

But soldiers follow orders—if ordered to fight, they will.

“Will the day ever come when wars disappear?”

“I doubt that.”

That night.

The party arrived at the town of Noros.

It’s not as large as Boago, but compared to yesterday’s Bant, it has a considerably larger port.

For that reason, the Lone Dark and the tenth public vessel entered the harbor while the other ships anchored offshore.

Only those two ships entered because a summit meeting was held at the Noros magistrate’s office.

Ryo and Abel were invited to the summit.

“Prince Kouri’s army set out from the capital two days ago and is moving south along the coast.”

“If they keep this pace, they’ll collide with us in ten days.”

Count Bashu Roche Ten and Count Barrow Fu Ten reported.

“How about the fleet?”

“Sorry, we haven’t been able to locate them at all. Since leaving the capital three weeks ago, we don’t know where they are...”

When Emperor Tsuin asked, Roche Ten answered with a frown.

“Previously, we received a report that a high-speed gunship was at the northern port from La Wu?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. At Shunboul, we were attacked by twenty-two high-speed gunships of the Beifanhei type. They have likely now rejoined the main force...”

The attack on Captain La Wu when he headed north to rescue the Emperor had already been reported.

Emperor Tsuin and everyone were deep in thought.

They couldn’t locate the enemy fleet... meaning they didn’t know when or where it might strike, or even whether it would strike at all.

The combined fleet led by Kabui Somar was sailing relatively close to land to coordinate with Emperor Tsuin and the land forces.

That means if something happens, the land could interfere with the fleet’s deployment.

Of course, this had been considered from the start, and they still chose that route...

In the end, the meeting concluded to proceed cautiously as before, and the meeting broke up.

Ryo and Abel did not return to the fleet; lodgings had been prepared in the town of Noros.

“Lots of difficulties. One problem after another.”

“War... well, since we’re marching, of course.”

Abel answered Ryo’s grumble.

“Even before we left Boago, we gathered a lot of information and held countermeasure meetings.”

“Because it’s war. The opponent tries to outmaneuver us, so we move, then they try to counter that... it’s a cat-and-mouse chase, so we must keep up with changes.”

“That sounds tiring.”

“Of course it’s tiring.”

Ryo shook his head slightly, and Abel gave a wry smile at Ryo’s very common-sense remark.

Lives are at stake, so this isn’t merely about being tired or not...

“I really hate war.”

“That’s undeniable.”

They sighed at the world’s injustices.

While they were drinking tea and talking in the dining hall, a man approached them.

“Please rest on land tonight.”

It was Captain La Wu of the tenth ship, smiling gently as he spoke.

“Yes. I appreciate the room... but tonight?”

“That sounded suggestive.”

Both Ryo and Abel tilted their heads.

“Ah, sorry. No ulterior motive. It’s just that tomorrow night you’ll need to rest on the ship.”

“Come to think of it... that sea area tomorrow has sheer cliffs on the land side, so there aren’t any ports, right?”

“Yes. It’s a difficult sea with many islands, so progress will be slow. Even the Darwei fleet slows down; for foreign fleets unfamiliar with it, all the more so.”

“Indeed.”

Ryo nodded at Captain La Wu’s explanation.

Yes—this fleet is multinational.

Just navigating an unfamiliar sea area is hard; passing through a stretch that even the home navy’s captains find difficult leaves no time to relax.

Ryo became curious about something and asked.

“How do you usually maintain contact between the fleet and the land forces?”

“The tenth ship carries what’s called the Darwei army communication box. Only the larger Darwei ships carry them, but they use them to keep in contact with the land...”

“But?”

“The land-side equipment is large too, and it’s usually set up during rests or at night when the march is halted for exchanges.”

“I see.”

Ryo nodded at Captain La Wu’s explanation. Interpreting it as a sort of radio.

Whether communication can be maintained during a march or operation is a vital point in modern warfare.

That point doesn’t change in this ‘Phi’.

In the Knightley Kingdom, Ilarion’s <Transmission> magic is valued for that reason.

Of course, the wind-attribute <Transmission> isn’t particularly difficult.

Hundreds of magicians could probably perform it.

But few can do so on a battlefield.

“So rather than magic, you tried to solve it with alchemy.”

“That’s true even in the kingdom... but distance is the issue.”

Ryo muttered, and Abel answered in a murmur.

Their thoughts converged... perhaps not identical, but across east and west, people inevitably follow similar lines of thought.

“Oh, by the way, I don’t think communication with land will be possible in tomorrow’s sea area.”

“Really? Is that so?”

“The land route the troops take is quite far from the coastline. If we anchor at night, it might be possible, but...”

After that conversation, Captain La Wu left the dining hall.

“Sailors have it tough.”

“No way I could do it.”

Ryo felt for the crew’s hardships, and Abel shrugged.

“But you once boarded a ship and drifted to Rondo Forest, Abel.”

“I snuck onto a smuggler’s ship. And because they left earlier than planned, I couldn’t get off...”

“And we got attacked by a kraken on the way.”

“The sea is scary.”

Indeed, perhaps the sea is not a place people should enter... at least in this ‘Phi’.

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