Chapter 269 – The Ruined Continent

The Ruined Continent

In the end, Hikaru never found out what exactly was this magic item they used to repel specific sea monsters. He couldn’t even tell if the ships had changed route, as all around them was the great ocean as far as the eye could see. And since the magic item was active at all times, his Mana Detection couldn’t really pick anything up. They seemed to be using a compass and the position of the stars when changing routes.

It was a dull twelve days at sea. Hikaru played all the card and board games he borrowed and fished with the three soldiers—their names were Gin, Doran, and Zuzun—a few times as well. Fortunately the seas were calm and they didn’t encounter any stormy weather. Of course, that made for an uneventful and tedious voyage.

All the while, Deena and the soldiers kept their eyes on Hikaru’s party. Deena, in particular, didn’t like Hikaru getting in touch with Duinkler, but the latter didn’t seem to care and kept on approaching Hikaru, using his men to keep Deena away. The man didn’t want the topic of their conversation leaked.

Hikaru himself would not leak crucial information easily. Their conversation was casual, neither side giving away too much.

「Hahaha!」

「Hahaha!」

The two laughed. You cunning devil, Hikaru thought. He couldn’t let his guard down around the man, but he couldn’t just ignore him either.

Deena should have reported regularly to Grucel. However, Hikaru never figured out how she did it. Every noon, though, birds flew about from different ships. Soldiers who received the birds strained their ears, either nodding quietly, smiling, or sometimes whispering to their comrades and laughing.

It was easy to guess that these birds were the magic communications device.

Lavia said she’d get exhausted when sunburnt, so she spent most of her time in their room with Paula. Hikaru, on the other hand, went out on deck a lot, making him a bit tanned. It wasn’t that much, however, as he always wore his mask and cloak.

Hikaru was out on the deck early that day. Finally, he saw it.

「Land.」

After twelve days on sea, Hikaru saw a black line in the horizon, gradually growing thicker, and eventually he could see green mountains.

「Who called it the Ruined Continent?」

The name might’ve been a reference to the fall of the early settlers. Either way, the name definitely did not fit. Hikaru could feel plenty of life just by looking at the sheer greenery.

Soldiers erupted in joy, cheering. They left their continent for the first time in 500 years and had now finally returned. No wonder they were deeply moved.

「From here, we move south.」Duinkler appeared out of the blue.「Scenery change in next three days. You not get tired.」

And so the voyage continued.

Hikaru watched the land from the deck without ever getting tired of it. There were places with long sandy beaches, woodlands that almost reached the shorelines, precipitous cliffs with goats watching the ships, even natural caverns. Schools of fish swam past the surface of the sea.

No sign of humans could be seen from each of these places, however. Only small animals and some bigger ones that seemed harmless.

「Are there monsters here?」Hikaru asked Gin.

Deena translated what Hikaru said, and Gin, rod out in the waters, shook his head.

「He says monsters stay away from the sea.」Deena said.

「Didn’t the settlers 500 years ago build a city near the coast?」

Deena’s expression dimmed.「Yes. You should see it tomorrow.」she said, referring to the fallen city.

Like she said, the next day they passed by the ruins of a city.

Hikaru, Paula, and Lavia stood next to each other on the deck. Not only them. Men who had nothing to do stood with them, watching.

By the shore, only the rock foundation remained of what seemed to be the docks. Sand had covered other areas. The outer walls of the city had crumbled, covered in grass and ivy. Trees had grown in the middle of houses. The thought of how long it took for the trees to grow that big overwhelmed Hikaru.

There was barely any trace of human civilization left there. Yet what remained was enough to surmise that people lived there once, as it stood in stark contrast to the great mother nature they had seen until now.

Everyone simply gazed at the ruins silently. Some closed their eyes, others looked bored, while some stared in displeasure.

As for Hikaru, he was just overwhelmed.

「As long as these ruins remain, the people of Dream Maker will never forget what happened 500 years ago.」

Less than an hour had passed when the ruins eventually disappeared from sight and the fleet began approaching land.

「From here, we’re going up a river.」Deena said.

「A river? I thought Dream Maker was near the sea.」

「This area is near the Roots.」

「Roots…?」

「A place where monsters gather.」

Dungeons immediately came to Hikaru’s mind. But they wouldn’t use the word Roots for that.

「Do you know where the Roots are?」

「We have a magic item that can find them. We mark them on our map and stay away.」

「So the settlers 500 years ago built a city near these Roots.」

Deena silently nodded. Monsters stayed away from the sea. Yet monsters destroyed a city built near the shore. A clear contradiction. But with the Roots added to the equation, it now made sense.

「I see. If they had the same magic item that detected Roots…」

They wouldn’t have died, Hikaru thought. He didn’t say the words out loud. There was no need to. The natives who had lived here for a long time should have known these things.

「We are scheduled to arrive in Dream Maker early morning tomorrow. You will be shown to the king’s residence right away, so please get ready.」Deena left.

The next day, Hikaru and the girls woke up as soon as the sun rose and started getting ready to disembark. They had grown attached to their room after staying there for two weeks, but if possible Hikaru didn’t want to travel for a while. It was just too boring.

He would’ve loved to use a Drakon Passage, so he asked Drake about it, but this was the first time he learned about this continent. He had no knowledge about this place whatsoever. There was one thing, however.

『It stinks.』

Drake wore a frown ever since the continent came into sight. That most likely meant many evil creatures dwelled here. Hikaru couldn’t really see any monsters, even with the max range on his Mana Detection.

「Hopefully we see it soon… Hmm?」

It was noisy out in the corridor. Soldiers scurried towards the deck. At first Hikaru thought they were just overjoyed to have returned to their hometown, but he could hear angry voices.

「Sounds like something happened.」

「Yeah.」

「I think so too!」

『It stinks.』

「Let’s check it out. Drake, you stay with Paula.」

Hikaru and the girls left their room and made their way to the deck. They could hear a loud voice. It didn’t take long for them to realize where it was coming from.

Up ahead was a city surrounded by woodlands. Smoke was rising from it. A giant humanoid monster was attacking the city.

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