Water Magician

Chapter 508: Why are we in a Jungle?

Editor: Tseirp

“Abel... why are we walking through a jungle... or rather, a dense rainforest?”

“...Because the ship sank, obviously. We had no choice.”

Ryo and Abel were making their way through the dense jungle.

The reason, as Abel said, was that their ship had sunk...

The two had set off from the Autonomous City of Kwebasa, filled with dreams and hope. They were traveling aboard a Grand Duchy warship arranged by Duke Helb, the younger brother of the Grand Duke of the Atinjo Grand Duchy.

The ship had been steadily heading north without incident, and the crew had not mistreated them in any way.

The voyage had been smooth.

On the fifth day, the ship crossed the northern border of the Atinjo Grand Duchy and continued its journey northward, with the continent visible on the left-hand side.

But then, on the sixth night after leaving Kwebasa, disaster struck.

Ryo and Abel had enjoyed a surprisingly delicious dinner for a warship, though not as skilled in cooking as the head chef Susie, and were sound asleep when it happened.

Suddenly, the ship began to shake violently up and down.

It felt like an earthquake but vertical.

However, being on a ship, it clearly wasn’t an earthquake...

“What’s happening?!”

Abel, lying in his hammock, literally jumped up.

Ryo did the same and immediately used his to scan the surroundings.

The result...

“There’s a huge hole in the cargo hold...”

“Are you saying the ship’s going to sink?”

“Let me try sealing the hole...”

But before Ryo could finish chanting a spell, the ship shook violently again.

And then came the despair-inducing sound of wood splitting apart...

“The hull’s broken! Water will reach here soon!”

Ryo shouted.

They were on the middle deck.

The warship was large, but even large ships sink when their time comes.

“Come forth! Neil Andersen!”

As Ryo chanted, the scabbard of his knife glowed faintly with alchemical light, and the second ship of the Rondo-class, Neil Andersen, materialized.

Though ten meters in length and fairly large, Neil Andersen was dwarfed by the enormous middle deck.

The two hurriedly boarded the Neil Andersen.

And almost simultaneously, the warship split in half and was swallowed by the sea.

The sound of cracking wood continued.

There were no screams.

Everyone aboard, aside from the two, were sailors.

When the ship broke, most had already leaped into the sea.

Being near a sinking ship is dangerous.

So the sailors swam away, intending to cling to floating debris.

Or make their way to the visible shoreline on the left...

But after jumping in, they realized.

Why the ship had sunk so suddenly.

They saw several enormous ‘legs’ rising from the water’s surface...

“Krakens...”

Many sailors muttered the name.

This, of course, caused a bit of deforestation.

“You’re not wrong. It’s wonderful. Keep at it.”

Abel said with a nod.

“My apologies to the trees of the jungle. It’s all because of Abel’s orders that I’m forced to destroy the forest as we proceed. If you must blame someone, blame Abel...”

“Hey...”

Ryo shifted all responsibility onto Abel.

“Besides, isn’t there some terrifying creature in this forest? What was it again? That faceless gray monster... if anyone’s going to be attacked, it should be you...”

“A faceless monster? Oh, the Shadow Stalker?”

“Yes, that! The Shadow Stalker!”

Ryo had fought one before while traveling as part of the delegation to the Western Countries.

“Do you think they exist in the Eastern Countries too?”

“Who knows? You’d probably know better than me, given your history as an A-rank adventurer.”

“Shadow Stalkers aren’t very well-documented creatures, to be honest.”

Abel replied, shaking his head slightly.

“And yet you’re making me destroy the forest...?”

“Hey, I never asked you to do that.”

“How can you say that? Fine, how about you walk without the for a bit?”

“Uh, no, that would be inconvenient...”

Once people get used to convenience, they find it hard to give it up.

“But Abel, when you were active with the ‘Crimson Sword’ and had to traverse jungles, you probably did it the old-fashioned way, right? Without magic assistance?”

“Yeah.”

Abel nodded, but then paused midway.

“Abel?”

“W-Well... to be honest... while we mostly walked properly...”

“What?”

“There was this one time when Rin used to cut through the trees and clear a path...”

“...”

“And another time, Warren, following Rin’s orders, charged forward with his shield raised to bulldoze through...”

“...”

“Not my fault.”

Abel absolved himself of responsibility in the end.

“Abel... who was the leader of the ‘Crimson Sword’ again?”

“...Me.”

“Abel... who do you think should ultimately take responsibility for such acts of deforestation?”

“...Me?”

“Abel...you’ve done bad things, haven’t you?”

“...I was wrong.”

Abel confessed.

That said, the current scale of deforestation they were causing was minimal.

“I’m sure the Shadow Stalkers won’t get too angry over something like this.”

“...Yeah, probably.”

And so, the two of them continued their journey northward through the jungle.

TLN: Please read my translations at , I did not give permission to any site to host my translations.

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