Ch.162Chapter 162 – Sea, Be Still (2)

During the voyage on the ship prepared by the Liu Empire, I mostly stayed confined to my cabin except when going out for meals or fresh air.

After all, there was nothing to see outside but the sea, and I couldn’t properly understand the language of the Liu Empire anyway.

“@#$$%@!$@#@#$%#$^^%%&.”

‘I can’t understand a word of what they’re saying.’

The language of the Liu Empire sounded like a mixture of Chinese and Russian.

Back at my old company, there were Korean-Chinese and Russian colleagues, so I could understand very basic conversations in Chinese and Russian.

However, the language of the Liu Empire, which seemed like a jumble of those two languages, was completely incomprehensible to me.

I asked Seon Yu-hwa about this, and she shared her thoughts.

“About my country’s language? We basically use the Central language, but it varies slightly by region. So if you learn the Central language, you can easily understand regional dialects once you get used to the slight differences in accent.”

…Perhaps I should learn a bit of the Liu Empire’s language?

When languages differ, communication becomes difficult, making it hard to deal with unexpected situations.

Fortunately for me, Seon Yu-hwa, the Administrative Officer, and all the envoys dispatched to the Celebrio Empire were people who had perfectly mastered the common language of the Western Continent.

Thanks to this, I had no inconvenience during the voyage, but as they say, life is full of unexpected turns.

While we were temporarily docked at an Archipelago Federation city for supplies, shocking news reached us.

During a meal at a nearby restaurant after disembarking, a man wearing Liu Empire attire rushed into the restaurant breathlessly.

He immediately approached the Administrative Officer and whispered something in his ear, which startled the officer.

“Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

The Administrative Officer looked at the man who brought the news with a troubled expression.

What could have happened to make the Administrative Officer look so distressed?

“Hmm, Count Severio. I’m afraid something unfortunate has occurred.”

“What has happened that makes you look so troubled, Administrative Officer?”

“Well, it seems a sudden sea storm has developed. The Archipelago Federation’s Maritime Office has prohibited all ships from departing for the Liu Empire, effective immediately.”

Upon hearing that all ship departures were restricted due to a sea storm, I became curious.

While the sea is known to be unpredictable, could a storm really develop this suddenly?

“Do sea storms frequently occur during this season?”

“No, they don’t. We specifically chose a period when sea storms don’t occur so we could return to the Liu Empire quickly.”

As I thought, the Administrative Officer had deliberately chosen this time.

He must have been eager to return to his homeland as well, and couldn’t have anticipated such a sudden storm.

“I find it strange too. According to the Archipelago Federation’s maritime records, storms don’t usually occur at this time of year. The sudden appearance of a storm does seem suspicious.”

“Could it be a mistake in weather observation?”

“Excuse me for interrupting, but our Archipelago Federation’s maritime weather mages couldn’t possibly be wrong.”

While conversing with the Administrative Officer, I suddenly heard a woman’s voice joining our conversation.

Turning toward the sound, I saw a brown-skinned woman dressed like a priestess standing there, looking at us.

“Who might you be?”

“Forgive my late introduction. I am Amina, a Level 2 Maritime Weather Mage of the Archipelago Federation.”

The woman who identified herself as a Level 2 Maritime Weather Mage of the Archipelago Federation was apparently named Amina.

“What brings a Level 2 Maritime Weather Mage here?”

The Administrative Officer seemed surprised that she was a Level 2 Maritime Weather Mage.

I remained quiet since I knew nothing about it, but judging by the Administrative Officer’s reaction, it must be quite a high rank.

“Since an Imperial ship from the Liu Empire is docked here, the Maritime Office asked me to provide detailed information.”

So the ship I was on belonged to the Imperial family? No wonder it was so large and luxurious.

“That’s very kind of you. We’re escorting an important guest and need to hurry, so this sudden sea storm has put us in quite a predicament.”

“We were also quite surprised by this storm, as it’s occurring during a season when storms typically don’t happen.”

Amina naturally joined our table and explained the situation in detail.

“Normally, sea storms occur most frequently between June and August when temperatures are highest. But since this is a cooler season, a sea storm shouldn’t be happening now, as everyone here probably knows.”

“Indeed. We deliberately chose a period when sea storms don’t occur because we’re escorting a distinguished guest, so this is truly troublesome.”

“Distinguished guest…?”

When the Administrative Officer mentioned a distinguished guest, Amina looked around.

But seeing no one from the Western Continent, she kept turning her head, searching for this guest.

“This is Count Patos Severio of the Celebrio Empire. He’s also known by the title ‘Demon Sword Destroyer’ in public.”

“Ah! The Demon Sword Destroyer! It’s an honor to meet someone of your renowned reputation. Your name is well-known even in our Archipelago Federation.”

Only after the Administrative Officer pointed at me did she realize who the distinguished guest was.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Count Patos Severio of the Celebrio Empire.”

“As I mentioned earlier, I’m Amina, a Level 2 Maritime Weather Mage of the Archipelago Federation.”

I took Amina’s extended hand and shook it lightly.

‘These calluses are no joke.’

Despite her tanned skin and fine features, the calluses on her palm revealed that she had not lived an easy life.

“I regret that this has happened while we’re escorting a distinguished guest. Our maritime weather mages are currently investigating the cause of the storm. Would you mind waiting a bit longer?”

“If we discover the cause, will we be able to deal with it?”

“It depends on the case, but there have been instances in the past when storms occurred during this season.”

At Amina’s words, everyone’s attention focused on her.

“Is that so? What were those cases?”

“As you all know, energy known as mana in the languages of the Archipelago Federation and Western Continent, or qi in the Eastern Continent’s language, is distributed throughout the atmosphere. Mages from the Western Continent, sorcerers from the Archipelago Federation, and martial artists from the Eastern Continent harness this atmospheric energy for their use.”

“I’m aware of that.”

This is common knowledge even to me.

From what Amina is saying, I wonder if this storm is related to the distribution of mana in the atmosphere?

“The sea where our Archipelago Federation is located has more abundant atmospheric mana than other places. This is because fewer people live here. For this reason, atmospheric mana is naturally consumed, resulting in sea storms.”

“So, the periodic occurrence of sea storms is also…?”

“Yes. It’s a phenomenon that occurs when atmospheric energy dissolves into seawater to maintain balance.”

Listening to Amina, something came to mind.

‘The World Tree?’

Yes, it was the World Tree.

The World Tree, located in the polar region, draws mana from underground and disperses it into the atmosphere.

And now that the World Tree has been healed through my ability, it’s releasing an enormous amount of mana into the atmosphere.

In other words, the cause of this storm was none other than the World Tree.

‘Damn, how do I explain this?’

Despite knowing the cause of everything, I hesitated to speak up.

After all, the fact that there had been a problem with the World Tree was something that should never be revealed except to a select few.

“So when I checked with the weather observation team, it was confirmed that unlike previous years, the atmospheric mana distribution is unusually high this season.”

“When will the storm naturally dissipate, then?”

“Approximately two months from now. Once a storm occurs, it typically lasts about two months before disappearing.”

“Is there no way to forcibly disperse the storm?”

I asked Amina if there was any solution.

I wouldn’t mind taking my time, but these people certainly would.

“If the atmospheric mana could quickly dissolve into the seawater, perhaps, but the sea has been behaving strangely lately.”

“Strangely? How so?”

From Amina’s words, I realized that this situation would not be resolved easily.