Ch.209The Romanticist (4)

Most humans from the Outer Continent are broken.

At least, that was true of everyone Najin had met.

They were either suffering from erosion, had given up something important to avoid suffering, or had gone completely mad. The Outer Continent was filled with people broken in their own ways. The land itself demanded it.

“Hahaha, row the oar! With strength!”

But that person was somehow different.

Najin looked at Anton, who was laughing while pointing at the approaching storm. He seemed out of his mind, but not exactly broken.

‘He’s been a transcendent since 400 years ago, so he must be around 500 years old, and he spent most of that time searching for the witch…’

For someone like that, Anton Kehano appeared surprisingly normal. There were no signs of erosion anywhere, nor did his abilities seem to have regressed. The man before him was clearly a transcendent.

Splash!

Every time he rowed, waves crashed against the boat, and Najin, rowing in sync with him, was drenched in sweat.

“Could you, row, a little, slower?”

“What, tired already? I can hear you panting!”

“You’re a transcendent, but I’m…”

“Can’t hear you! The waves are too strong! Your voice is drowned out by the crashing waves! What good is a rower whose voice can’t be heard?”

This guy, really.

Najin gritted his teeth as he rowed and shouted:

“You’re a transcendent but I’m not!”

“Oh, is that so? But that’s not my problem. Keep up.”

Shit, really. Najin swallowed the curse that rose to his throat and continued rowing. At first, Anton matched Najin’s pace, but when Najin pierced through a wave with Penetration, Anton gave him a meaningful look and began rowing with all his might.

You can keep up with this, can’t you? Youngster.

That’s what his expression seemed to say.

“Huff, huff…”

Gasping for breath, Najin rowed until his arms felt like they would tear off. The sailboat carrying the two cut through the water like an arrow.

“It’s coming! It’s charging at us!”

What appeared before them was a whale with its mouth wide open.

Najin had never seen continental whales before, but he doubted that whales from the continent would have such sharp and vicious teeth.

“Increase the speed, rower!”

Najin was horrified as Anton charged straight toward the whale’s teeth without slowing down at all.

“What are you trying to do?!”

“What else? I told you. We’re going to ram it!”

“This is a sailboat, not a warship! Don’t you know we’ll be smashed to pieces if we collide?!”

“Ah, that’s right?”

“This crazy bastard, really.”

Since his voice was drowned out by the crashing waves, Najin’s voice naturally grew louder. Shouting, Najin threw his spear at Anton while rowing.

“Oh, another oar!”

“Row by yourself for a while!”

Anton caught the spear Najin threw with a snap and held an oar in each hand. Then he began rowing vigorously again. Splash! As the sailboat raced through the water, Najin drew his sword from his waist.

Grip.

Maintaining his balance on the violently rocking bow, Najin unleashed his sword energy. With the flashing sword energy extended, Najin widened his eyes. Just as the whale’s vicious teeth were about to tear the sailboat to pieces, Najin’s sword moved.

Flash.

The whale’s teeth were swept away by the sword energy. Without reducing its speed at all, the sailboat plunged into the whale’s mouth, but Najin had no desire whatsoever to tour the whale’s stomach.

“Hup!”

With a short exhale, Najin swung his sword again. The sword energy that burst from the tip of the blade sliced through the whale’s inner lining and even cut through its outer skin. Not expecting its prey to butcher its body from within, the whale let out a “GUOOOOO!” scream, but that wasn’t Najin’s concern.

As the whale, suddenly with a hole in its back, spewed blood like a fountain, the sailboat carrying Najin and Anton emerged through the hole to the outside.

“Whew, felt like a cave tour.”

Watching Anton pretend to wipe away sweat and catch his breath, Najin had to resist the urge to punch him in the face.

“Isn’t there, a more normal method? I mean, please think rationally…”

“What is rationality? It’s knowledge shared by most people. But you and I aren’t most people! We’re transcendents. Transcendents have their own ways.”

“I’m not a transcendent.”

“Oh, a minor difference. You’re close enough to be an honorary transcendent, aren’t you? Don’t be bound by common sense, boy.”

Breaking common sense and shattering it was actually Najin’s hobby, but in front of a true madman, Najin’s madness seemed insignificant. Glaring at Merlin who was giggling beside him, Najin sighed.

So this is how it’s going to be.

After sighing, Najin swept back his wet hair. After tightening his hair tie more firmly, Najin loosened up his body and took back the oar from Anton.

“Hey, Anton.”

“Call me captain, rower.”

“Fine. So, captain? You just said we shouldn’t be bound by common sense, right?”

“Of course. Are you finally understanding what I’m saying?”

“Then we should change how we row too. What we’re doing is extremely conventional rowing, isn’t it?”

What are you talking about?

Just as Anton was about to tilt his head in confusion, Najin stomped his foot hard on the back of the boat instead of sitting down. As the sailboat rocked violently, Najin twirled his spear.

Thud.

The tip of the spear, held at an angle, pointed toward the sea surface.

“Hold on tight.”

“Huh?”

Penetration.

Crack.

Najin thrust his Penetration toward the sea surface.

2.

“Rower.”

“Yes, captain.”

“I was wrong.”

“Good to know.”

Looking like a drowned rat, Anton wrung out his clothes and raised the white flag. He had been defeated by true madness.

“Save that technique for special occasions. Like, when we need to jump over a several-dozen-meter-high reef. No, let’s not do that. Let’s just break through it. I’ll do the breaking.”

“I thought you liked adventure? Flying doesn’t seem to suit your taste.”

“Look, no one has a hobby of flying dozens of meters into the air with just a sailboat to rely on!”

Anton’s face was deathly pale after experiencing the storm created by Penetration, which resulted in a flight that was long if you thought it long, and short if you thought it short. It was a challenging experience even for a transcendent.

“Right. Let’s row more leisurely for a while. Let’s chat while rowing like before. Let’s do that.”

That was welcome news. Najin massaged his sore arms and rowed slowly.

“Captain. I have a question.”

“Oh, what is it? If it’s about Lapis that we were talking about earlier…”

“Not that. When we first met, you said you were the century’s greatest lover, right?”

“Ah, of course. There’s no lover like me.”

“So I want to ask this century’s greatest lover: what exactly is love?”

What is love?

It was a question Najin had long wondered about.

“I don’t understand why people risk their lives and give everything they have for this thing called love. You know, like in fairy tales and hero stories.”

Giving up everything for love. Their homeland, honor, pride, even their beliefs. Najin couldn’t quite empathize with such actions. Especially when such seemingly foolish acts were glorified.

“From stories, it seems like some kind of hypnosis. When people fall in love, they change completely. What exactly is it?”

What is love?

It might have been an embarrassing question that could invite ridicule, but Anton Kehano considered Najin’s question seriously. Pausing his rowing, Anton stroked his chin and spoke.

“Have you never been in love?”

“No.”

“Then you’ve never confessed to anyone. Have you ever received a confession?”

“Once.”

“Well, with that face, it would be stranger if you hadn’t received any confessions. Anyway, what is love? An interesting question.”

Anton curled up the corner of his mouth into a grin.

“Well, as you said, love might be close to hypnosis. Even the geniuses of the magic tower become the world’s greatest fools when they fall in love, and even the most solemn and cold knights show ridiculous sides to their lovers.”

It makes you lose judgment.

It turns objectivity and rationality into trivial matters, and makes even the coldest humans burn like hot fire.

“That’s what love is.”

“You mean it makes you stupid?”

“Ah, that’s not wrong. But calling it stupidity is ungraceful. Don’t you think?”

Anton Kehano spread his arms wide.

“Some mock those who fall in love, saying they’re stupid, foolish, or stubborn. Sometimes they pity them. But I’m the opposite. The complete opposite.”

“Opposite?”

“I pity those who haven’t felt this joy. I pity those who haven’t experienced true love.”

Love is, he said, almost singing.

“When only one person catches your eye, and everything else disappears. Your heart beats so violently it feels like it might burst, and all your senses sharpen for that one person alone. And then you realize.”

Realize what, Najin asked, and Anton smiled.

“That I can be this passionate. That I can burn this hot. It was then that I truly felt alive. It was the moment when my meaningless life gained purpose.”

He grabbed the oar he had let go of with a firm grip.

“Life becomes vibrant. You gain a goal. You feel like there’s nothing you can’t do for her.”

This vast ocean is nothing.

Saying that, Anton made a dashing expression.

“Love is the greatest magic, boy. The most primal and greatest magic that makes the impossible possible for humans.”

He rowed the oar.

“The supreme magic that even the Witch of Camlann, the world’s most powerful magician, cannot control.”

His expression while rowing was full of vitality. Najin could somewhat understand why he hadn’t become a ghost, why he hadn’t experienced any erosion.

After all, it would be strange for erosion to come to someone so vibrantly alive. Najin smiled incredulously as he rowed.

“I’d like to experience it too.”

Najin murmured.

“This thing called love.”

“I sincerely hope that day comes for you.”

The century’s greatest lover rows.

He navigates the vast ocean.

For the woman who asked him to find her.

3.

The voyage continued for days.

Rowing, hunting monsters, sometimes breaking through reefs, Najin and Anton sailed the sea. Even the continent’s best navigator would scream and shake their head at the sight of the Outer Continent’s sea, but the transcendent and honorary transcendent crossed the ocean relying on just a small sailboat.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for them either.

“The boat, cap, sized! That’s why I told you to row slowly!”

“Hahaha! Blub, blubbub!”

They were thrown overboard when the boat capsized.

“A true sailor should know how to navigate through storms. Hey, rower. Doesn’t it tempt you? The title of a first-class navigator who broke through a storm where lightning strikes from below to above with just a sailboat. I’m tempted. A true sailor should have big dreams.”

“Were you a sailor?”

“No? I was a nobleman. Why would I sail ships?”

“……”

“……”

“I’m going to use Penetration.”

“Wait, hold on…”

Boom!

They literally “jumped over” a storm with lightning striking from below and a whirlpool.

“Whale, whale! Ruuuuuuuun!”

“That’s a kraken, captain.”

“Anyway, ruuuuuuun!”

They fought against a kraken large enough to swallow an entire castle whole, cutting off dozens of tentacles the kraken swung at them. Continuing their ridiculous yet grand adventure, Anton and Najin crossed the sea.

After sailing for who knows how long.

-That’s the place.

In the middle of a foggy sea.

-That’s the destination I mentioned.

Najin and Anton could see their destination.

The fog was thick and visibility was poor, but there were things they could vaguely make out. In the middle of the vast ocean, there was a solitary island.

“……”

Without discussing it, Najin and Anton’s gazes naturally turned upward. They looked at a structure built on the island. It was a tower. A spire that rose so high it seemed to touch the sky.

Pointing at that spire, Merlin said:

-A tower created by the Witch of Camlann. A spire made to punish sinners. The place where the imprisoned witch is confined.

The Black Tower.

That was the name given to that spire.