As the name suggests, the Crescent Islands were a group of islands gathered in the shape of a crescent moon.
Of course, it is impossible to reach by train as you have to cross the sea.
Participants had to transfer to a boat in Havana, a port city in the south.
“It takes time to load the cargo, so why don’t you go sightseeing around the area?”
“Mr. Theodore… … ? Did you follow me all the way here?”
After getting off the train for the first time in a few days and warming up under the warm sunlight, Noah was startled by the sudden voice.
“What are you so surprised about? It is only natural that the person who will organize the tournament follows.”
“Oh, sure.”
Since the emperor could not personally follow the country, it was only natural that an agent would come.
It was no surprise that Theodore, who had already taken his place at the opening ceremony, followed.
“Havana is also famous as a tourist city. If anything, I’ll introduce you to a restaurant that kills you. Fresh seafood is delicious just grilled.”
“Oh oh.”
For Noah, who lived in the mountains, it was an exciting story.
Even though I didn’t know the real taste of cooking on the train, I couldn’t stand the temptation of seafood that I hadn’t seen before.
However, the gaze of the motives looking at the figure was strange.
“That guy. It goes surprisingly easily.”
“You can’t follow anyone just because they give you something to eat, Noah. It might have been poisoned.”
Saying so, Tiu put a cinnamon stick into Noah’s mouth.
“Now, you eat only what I give you.”
Miho looked at the scene and put on a puzzled expression.
“… … Tiu, he secretly and casually makes a lot of noise?”
“Uhm, definitely a bit like that.”
“Right? Felix, don’t you think so too?”
“No matter how interesting the gustatory stimulation is, chewing a cinnamon stick raw is a bit of a stretch.”
“… … No, that’s not the part about being tackled!”
Anyway, since we had to kill time in Havana, the group decided to try the restaurant Theodore recommended.
“Did you say number 83-7? This is Route 83, so if you go this way, you’ll find it… … .”
There was no need to check them one by one, and a response came shortly after.
“In a city other than Night Ray, the only place where knights can gather is the knight’s cafeteria.”
“I feel a pretty strong aura?”
Unlike Felix and Miho, who admired the aura itself that was normally felt inside the restaurant, Tiu and Noah were well aware of whose aura it was.
So, as soon as I opened the door and entered the store, I was not taken aback when a person sitting at a table inside waved at me.
“Are you here? Our little ones.”
However, when all the customers who filled the restaurant turned to look at them all at once, I was honestly a little scared.
All the knights who looked well over fifty were the same group.
They all took up positions to escort a woman in the center.
Noah was a familiar figure.
“Why is Ursula-senpai here?”
“Why why? It’s because the Crescent Moon Islands you guys are going to are my hometown.”
There, he met a high ranker ranked 72nd in the Night Ray rankings.
It was Ursula.
“What are all these people?”
“My escorts.”
Ursula invited them to sit at the same table.
Even in a shop full of people, Ursula was sitting alone at the table, which was not normal.
“Looking at you coming here, it looks like you guys are here to eat something too.
“No, what. Even if you have to buy it… … .”
“Don’t hold back. Those brothers will live, not me.”
“Then, let’s go straight ahead from the first line of the menu.”
“Really, you’re amazing about that.”
After the clerk took the party’s order, Ursula leaned back on the backrest and spoke.
“Anyway, I’m glad you guys came. I was worried about the lack of workers this year.”
“What do you mean?”
“Eh? Could it be that you haven’t revealed the contents of the second round yet?”
Ursula, who said “Oh” and covered her mouth, doesn’t it matter? and continued talking.
“The contents of the second round of Top Sword are the extermination of the demons of the Crescent Islands.”
“Extermination of demons?”
“Because extermination of demons is also the reason why knights were born. It can be said that it is perfect for a contest that tests the virtues of knights.”
“No, I know it’s like that, but it’s not a very big island, is it?”
When I heard that the Crescent Islands were my next testing ground, I learned about the islands.
A collection of small islands located in the southern part of the continent.
It was the border area of the Empire, but the Crescent Islands themselves were formed in the aftermath of the stars in the past, so the influence was quite large.
After all, it was one of the few star mining sites in the world.
Havana, a port city, is actually a city formed by the Crescent Islands.
However, the island itself was not very large.
The population is around 10,000 people.
Calculated simply by land area or population, it was smaller than Nightray.
“If hundreds of knights flock to a place like that and catch the Witchbeast, I don’t think most of them will come without even seeing the shadow of the Witchbeast.”
“Huh, our Noah. Do you want to keep showing off as a country boy? Do you really not know?”
Surprisingly, everyone except Noah was nodding their heads in agreement.
“The answer is a sea beast.”
“What is a marine beast? … no way?”
“that’s right. Even a knight can’t subdue all the monsters in the sea.”
Most of the monsters in the empire were subdued.
Even if there are people suffering from demonic beasts, they are always from outside.
However, the story was different when it came to the marine beast.
“Most of the monsters in the near sea that go fishing are organized. But the open sea is different.”
“Because there will be fish species that change their habitat every season, like migratory birds. Of course, there are cycles where demon beasts come.”
“answer. Every year, a ‘Big Wave’ comes to the Crescent Islands, where demon beasts that have grown freely in places that are out of reach of humans come.”
“Is that right now?”
“How nice it must have been in the central position. Handling complaints and preparing for competitions.”
I knew the situation roughly.
Since it is time for the big wave to come anyway, it means that we will solve two problems at once by making it a top sword task.
“But isn’t it a leak if you listen to this beforehand?”
“I think he was going to tell me on the boat ride, but knowing in advance doesn’t make any difference anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I tell him.”
“is it.”
When Noah was convinced, Tiu, who had been silently listening to the story this time, started asking a question.
“That means Ursula-senpai is from the Crescent Islands, right? Said to be from the Temple of the Moon… … .”
“Oh right. Actually, I am the moon maiden.”
Noah expressed his doubts at the sound of a temple or a shaman.
“A shrine maiden?”
“Even if it’s a shrine maiden, it doesn’t matter. It’s just an old-fashioned story, where the culture of the time when fragments of fallen stars were considered a gift from God is still going on.”
“It’s outdated… … I guess you don’t like being a shaman, senpai?”
“Yes, of course. Would it be nice if you were separated from your parents since childhood and locked up in a temple? Even if it’s honor or honor to those around you, it’s just kidnapping from the child’s point of view.”
Saying that, Ursula picked up the claws of the crustacean and ate only the flesh.
“Still, it’s not too bad that I, who was born into a humble fisherman’s family, became a shaman, so whether it’s my parents or myself, I enjoy an affluent life.”
It seemed like a pretty heavy story, but Ursula didn’t mind it.
The surrounding escorts were only sweating profusely and did not stop Ursula from making radical remarks.
It seemed that being a shaman had a very high status in this region.
“The reason I joined Nightray was actually because I was tired of being here. Even over there, if you take a high ranker, you’ll get plenty of money.”
“Huh.”
The shaman of the Crescent Islands shrugged her shoulders as she removed the fish thorns.
‘If meteorites fall from the sky and monsters periodically come in from the sea, it’s only natural that a shrine maiden could exist.’
In the countryside, until relatively recently, there were cases where demon beasts settled in the mountains received and ate sacrifices from the village.
Noah took it lightly that Ursula was a shaman.
However, the others were different.
“If you’re a moon priestess, you’re a direct disciple of the grand priestess, even within the temple!”
“huh. however?”
Ursula nodded calmly at Thiu’s words.
“The current Daemu-nyeo is the one who became a master knight with Eterna, but why is her disciple, senior, in the nightray… … ?”
Eterna is a dual swordsmanship that uses two crescent-shaped curved swords, and is famous in the southern jungle.
The Temple of the Moon is where Eterna originated.
It was one of the 4 great clans of Geomrim, comparable to the 8th generation.
“You said Ursula-senpai was a disciple of such a great person?”
“… … You’re close to the Ribéry family, and now you’re surprised by that?”
While Miho was dumbfounded, Ursula answered Thiu’s question.
“As I said, I ran away because I would die if I stayed here.”
“A shaman from the Crescent Moon Islands is a direct descendant of the 8th family, even if you put it simply, right? It must be a place to be envied in the south… … .”
“Still, it doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t suit me. If you cut through the monsters that come in every year, you’ll get halfway there.”
Black Forest is the cradle of dark knights.
It was a path of suffering in the shadows, the exact opposite of Ursula’s goal of eating well and living well.
From noble mtl dot com.
That’s why Ursula forced herself to enter Nightray instead of the Dark Forest.
Tiu paid attention to that.
‘Did that kind of coercion work?’
There are plenty of people in the south who want to become shamans.
Nevertheless, it was not an ordinary thing for Ursula, who hates shamans, to maintain her shamanic position while being recognized for the privilege of going to Nightray instead of Dark Forest.
‘Maybe even stronger than 72nd… … .’
Unlike Thiu, who was surprised by Ursula’s own abilities, Felix and Miho became cautious because of her background.
Since the four clans of Geomrim are not related by blood, there is no official position or title for each member.
However, it was a force placed on an equal line with the 8th family, and among them, the shaman was in a fairly high position.
‘I must be careful with my words in order not to become a nuisance to the family.’
‘Let’s behave well.’
Felix and Miho naturally stopped talking.
Among them, Miho was completely terrified.
There were countless ghost stories about Ambu Knight.
Even more so, what if it was the 4 major clans?
‘If you tease your tongue incorrectly, you can eat poisonous black tea or Maeuntang with your nose…’ … .’
According to one theory, there was even a saying that they would scrape off fish bones and stuff them into their noses.
“By the way, please keep it a secret that I am a moon maiden. It’s a fact everyone knows at school, but if it’s announced, it’ll be noisy.”
“Aren’t you going to raise the ranking?”
“It’s easy enough to be a high ranker, so there’s no need to struggle to raise a few more ranks.”
All the while, Noah was thinking only about the task at hand.
“Marine Marsura… … .”
“Underwater warfare is completely different from land warfare. Wouldn’t it be a bit of a headache if you had no experience?”
“I have never done it. Are you there?”
“I was going to learn how to fight in extreme environments next semester.”
“If it’s an award winning game, how about it? But if it’s a sea monster, it won’t come from under the water.”
No one in the party had ever experienced underwater combat.
“Even if you have the time left, practice this and that. It would be better than not knowing anything at all.”
“thank you. I would have been in trouble if I hadn’t known.”
Meanwhile, the finished dishes were placed on the table one by one.
As we were discussing underwater warfare and slaughtering seafood, a person came to visit Ursula.
“Miss Ursula! You’ve been looking for it for a long time!”
“Oh, you found it in two hours this time? You’ve improved a lot while I couldn’t see you, Mui-Mui.”
“Ahem! That’s right, now that I’ve become the Miko’s exclusive handmaid… … What if everyone runs away while everyone is busy preparing the topsword!”
The girl called Mui-Moo grabbed Ursula by the hem of her clothes while gasping for breath as if she had jumped.
Apparently, they had fled to Havana without a word.
“Uh huh, can’t you see there are guests here? I’m always here to greet guests as a shrine maiden from the Crescent Islands.”
“You’re taking the beggars’ kids and feeding them anyway… … uh? He is a great hero.”
“I’m sitting as this member, and the first thing I notice is me. Has my time finally come… … ?”
“The article was very popular.”
“Oh, nice to meet you. My name is Muimu, Ursula-sama’s exclusive maid!”
Mui-Mui nods! and gave a belly salute.
Even at first glance, he looked like a child, but in Noah’s eyes, Mui-Mui seemed to have at least become a swordsman.
In other words, at that age, it means that he is already stronger than the lowest rank of Night Ray.
It was said that the four major gates were not empty words.
“It’s bigger than that, Mrs.!”
“why? Didn’t the head priestess come out to find her?”
“what? How did you know?”
Ursula instantly lost her expression.