111 – Under the Sea
“…Is this the right way to do it?”
I got on the boat and tinkered with the steering wheel.
Once the tied rope was untied, the anchor was also retrieved. After a bit of wrestling, the sails were unfurled. Since it was a small fishing boat, it seemed sufficient to drive alone.
If only I knew how to navigate.
First of all, I did my best with my shallow knowledge, but the question was whether I would move safely.
“Oh! It moves!”
A ship that slowly moves forward while receiving the wind.
For some reason, I felt a sense of pride even though I had barely managed to get off the ground.
“Okay. Can we keep going like this?”
[Of course. You are doing well.]
It was a bit awkward at first, but I quickly got used to the controls.
Is this more fun than I thought?
The sea was very dark. If it had not been for the blessing of the Goddess, she could not see an inch ahead and would have hit the reef right away and sunk.
Maybe that’s why there were no ships to be seen around. As I slowly moved away from the land, I realized that I was alone in the middle of the vast sea.
Fortunately, the waves were calm and not too strong.
I could feel the swaying of the calm waves.
“Should I go on a boat every now and then when I’m bored? It’s really nice.”
[There is nothing more romantic than wandering the sea.]
Of course, there is little chance that you will have enough time to go out to sea and drive a boat.
Since there are so many things open, every day is as busy as a war.
Right now, tomorrow morning, I have to go to the academy and take the exam.
Ah, since it’s already past midnight, should I say this morning?
Aside from that, things like Yulia’s work, the foundation management that Lupin had to deal with, and so on.
Recalling the mountain of schedules, she shook her head and erased them all.
I want to put everything aside for now and focus on this moment.
Wandering the night sea alone, searching for pearls sleeping in the sea.
What a romantic time this is. Even though the course was a little rough, I really liked it.
“Hmm.”
I took my hand off the key for a while and opened the map.
My current position is between Britain and Ireland.
Since they were so close to each other, you could see both lands in front and behind you.
“Where did you say exactly?”
[Go to the bottom of the Isle of Man.]
“This way?”
There may be quite a few people who don’t know, but in fact, there is a small island in the middle between the two countries.
That is the Isle of Man.
Even if you think it is just an ordinary island, it is definitely an independent island country different from Britain.
To be more precise, it belongs to the British royal family.
In other words, it means the personal territory of the royal family, not the state.
So the people who live on this island do not consider themselves Britannians.
There is no voting right and passports are treated differently. Of course, this era is still before full suffrage is guaranteed.
In many ways, it is a unique case that cannot be seen in other countries.
Actually, this was the information I learned belatedly while living here.
Once, as the goddess told us, we arrived at the central sea where the three main lands intersect. This makes me feel like I’m in the Bermuda Triangle.
Actually, it’s midnight, so when the day comes, there will be plenty of boats roaming around here. Since it is an area that crosses Britain and Ireland, there is bound to be a lot of traffic.
“First of all, we have arrived at our destination. Now what?”
[Find the Millennium Pearl.]
“…Just look for it here?”
[Hmm. That’s it.]
The land can only be seen faintly in the distance, in the middle of the open sea in all directions.
In a situation where the only lights to illuminate the surroundings were the moon and starlight floating high in the sky.
“You mean just go into the sea and find it?”
[You understood correctly.]
“Ugh. It seemed like that from the beginning.”
Actually, I had a rough guess before coming here. So, what other way could there be to acquire pearls in the sea?
It’s not like I’m going to collect it using a magic engineering exploration robot. After all, it was decided from the beginning that I would acquire it myself.
Even though I knew it, I felt very confused. The good news is that it is not the coldest of winter. No matter how much spring is in full swing now, the night sea will inevitably be cold.
“By the way, do you just go in this outfit?”
The phantom thief’s outfit was full of romance, but it wasn’t appropriate to go into the water.
[Don’t worry about that. I will bless you.]
“Oh…!”
A blessing. If that’s the case, that’s different.
Because I know better than anyone how fraudulent God’s blessing is, I had high expectations.
Soon after, a mysterious dark blue light enveloped my body. Admiring the beautiful color, I asked the goddess.
“What kind of blessing is this?”
[Hmm. It is a blessing that clothes do not get dirty.]
“…Uh, is that the end?”
[Then do you need anything more?]
“Being able to swim freely in the water, or breathing underwater. Are there any blessings like that?”
After hearing my words, the Goddess smiled and replied as if she had heard a funny joke.
[You should ask Poseidon for that. I am not the god of the sea.]
“If you think about it like that, what kind of blessing is not getting your clothes dirty?”
[That’s an essential blessing for a goddess as beautiful as this body.]
Anyway, in Middle-earth, you can only be in the form of a crow, but beauty is a b*tch.
[It’s my child. Aren’t you thinking very erratic thoughts inside?]
“It can’t be. I was imagining the beauty of the goddess.”
[Whoops. Of course I want to see it, but it would be better to be patient. After seeing my true self, the other children of the underworld will look ugly.]
That’s a lot of confidence. It sounded pretty plausible to just dismiss it as bluff.
Now that I hear that, I become more curious. When I saw Julia, Sharon, and Rachel in real life, I thought they looked unrealistic, but it’s more than that.
Beauty that transcends humanity.
There were a few people who came to mind when I defined it like that.
Once a witch. I’ve only ever met them, but both were definitely great.
And the aura that the woman of the lake gives off as a spirit is beyond the human category.
The last person that comes to mind is none other than Princess Victoria.
Actually, she is not a special race, but an ordinary human, but I felt that she was enough to belong to this side.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Yulia or Sharon are inferior to them.
It’s just that the atmosphere you can feel is transcendent and somewhat mysterious.
[Are you ready?]
I heard the soft voice of the goddess and escaped from my thoughts.
“Yes. Then let’s go down.”
First of all, to anchor the ship, the sails were folded and the anchor was lowered.
I don’t know how deep the water will be, but how futile it would be if the boat floated away by itself after coming up to catch a breath.
After making sure it was anchored properly, I prepared to take it.
The opaque sea is so black that you can’t see the inside at all.
It’s crazy to go inside.
I took a deep breath and held my foot out into the air. A body falling out of balance.
I jumped into the sea as it is.
As expected, the water was cold. You did well to cast the warming spell in advance.
Since I couldn’t see anything, I felt like I was adrift in the middle of space.
I tried to light up the surroundings with a simple beginner light magic.
Even after that, nothing is identified. All I see is my body and the dark colored water. Even if you lower your head, you cannot see the ground.
Oh my God. I’m trying to develop a deep sea phobia.
I will never dream of doing something crazy like this again. I don’t know if I’ll have a nightmare regardless of my will.
There is no way pearls are floating in the air. You have to go down to the bottom where the clams are.
I went upstairs for a moment and poked my head out of the water. The view from above from the sea gave a different feeling.
“Inhale…!”
I caught my breath again and dived into the sea.
I came up with a good method. The fact that the ship is safely anchored means that the anchor has sunk all the way to the bottom. So, if you follow the anchor line down, you will find the bottom.
I felt like I would lose my sense of direction if I went down without any signposts, so I held onto the anchor line like a lifeline and dived.
[Is it okay to hide?]
‘Don’t make me talk now…!’
[Yes. Please be careful.]
How deep is the water?
If I knew it would be like this, I would have learned the underwater breathing magic long ago.
Can I really go all the way down to the floor in one go?
Even if you succeed in going down, you must leave enough breath to go up again.
There is no intermediate point anyway, so going up and down several times will only consume your stamina and will not help you. In that case, it would be a much more reasonable choice to finish it at once, even if it was a little overbearing.
‘I can see…!’
I finally found the bottom.
I saw quite a lot of fish on the white sandy beach covered with fine sand. I asked where they were and they were all playing near the floor.
Now we need to find the clams.
Where are you? Where are the clams that contain millennium pearls?
I’m getting short of breath. It’s dangerous if you don’t go up and replenish oxygen now.
As I was about to rise to the surface holding on to the anchor line, I found a pure white shell right nearby.
That’s definitely it. Only that clam
With a moment’s thought, I changed my course and headed towards the clam.
[No. More than this is dangerous!]
The goddess warned me, but as long as you’ve already turned your body, it’s too late even if you hesitantly go up.
I’d rather just find the pearls with certainty…!
I approached the target and forced the mouth of the clam to open.
Then, the dazzling pearl that had been carefully kept inside was revealed.
This is the Millennium Pearl.
It wasn’t long before I was blinded by the beauty, so I hurriedly grabbed the pearls and tried to go upstairs.
But was it because I was too greedy?
My heart ached little by little and my vision darkened.
No. I’m almost there…
I stretched out my hand toward the moonlight reflected on the surface of the water, but I couldn’t reach it.
“Ok!”
In the end, he couldn’t hold back and inhaled his breath, longing for oxygen.
Cold seawater entering the lungs.
At the same time, I passed out.
“…Human?”
Is that u aphrodite?