All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 177

◈ Chapter 177

89. Ghost Ship – 1

“Can you really say that right now?”

Aranse, bewildered, hurried over to investigate.

It seemed the Salt Marquisate was also aware of this anomaly.

On the main road for carriages, nobles were already moving quickly in their carriages, likely evacuating as a precaution.

Aranse stopped one of the escorting knights, showed his badge, and asked,

“Hey! What’s going on?”

“The sea suddenly changed.”

“Suddenly?”

“Yes. We’ve contacted the Marquisate, and the guard is on its way.”

Knights and mages dispatched to protect Emerald Beach were already down at the shore.

Seeing them, Aranse took Ian and went down to the beach.

“Doesn’t seem like anything special. Just the color changed?”

“I don’t know. Hey!!”

The female mage, who had been looking at the sea with a serious expression, was startled to see Aranse.

“Instructor Aranse?!”

“You know each other?”

“She’s an academy graduate. A mage who graduated three years ago.”

The mage with rich, light brown hair hurried over to him and said in a rather serious tone,

“What brings you here, Instructor?”

“I came with this guy to investigate the Train Valt incident.”

She tilted her head, looking at Ian.

Ian slightly bowed his head to her.

“Ian Brandon, at your service.”

“Oh?! The Ian Brandon?! Wow! I’ve heard the stories, but you’re really young? Nice to meet you. I’m Kesilan Bidleman, from the Bidleman barony.”

She was the daughter of Baron Bidleman, one of the vassal families of the Salt Marquisate.

After a brief self-introduction, she pointed to the sea, which was as red as blood but otherwise unremarkable.

“The sea’s color changed about an hour ago. A light flashed at the horizon, and then it gradually turned red.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem to contain any special magic.”

She had consulted the priest working with the guard, thinking it might be related to demons.

But the priest had no insight to offer regarding the change in the sea.

‘Circe.’

‘She said there was a flash of light. Could that be related to the Train Valt incident?’

‘What kind of incident?’

Circe calmly reported the results of accessing the truth.

A long time ago.

When the Magic Kingdom still existed.

Before the Salt Marquisate even possessed this area.

‘Sounds like The Little Mermaid.’

‘What’s the solution?’

‘My preference is the third. So, there’s no major problem, right?’

‘Really? I bet fishing here would be great. By the way, it’s kind of amazing that mermaid blood can stop demons.’

Ian, watching the red sea covering Emerald Beach, nodded.

Meanwhile, Aranse approached the beach.

He stared at the horizon and grabbed his sword.

“Prepare for battle!!”

“Yes?!”

It was as Circe had said.

Marine monsters that would normally only be seen in the deep sea were approaching, targeting the red sea.

Huge sharks and giant crab monsters rode the waves.

Monsters of the sea with alien appearances were approaching.

“Monsters at Emerald Beach?!”

Not only Emerald Beach but most of the Salt Marquisate is usually free of monsters.

That’s why it’s used as a resort for nobles, but now monsters are approaching.

The knights and soldiers of the Salt Marquisate were horrified and took up their weapons.

“Haaap!!”

A giant shark monster, Shax, leaped out of the sea as if jumping, opening its mouth.

Aranse quickly swung his sword at it.

-Swish!!

The surrounding knights were impressed as Shax’s flying body was cut in half.

“As expected of the instructor!!”

At that moment, some of the approaching monsters stopped.

Then, they began to suck up seawater and shoot it out.

Large craters were created each time a water bomb with considerable power hit the sand.

“D, dangerous…….”

The authority that only the sea gods with powerful power in Okenos, a world made up of numerous islands and seas, can use is being unleashed.

As Ian lightly raised his hand, the red sea moved.

-Krrrrrrrr……!!

The waves stopped.

And soon, the waves began to move in a different direction.

While the knights and soldiers were gaping at this unbelievable phenomenon,

-Kwaaaaaang!!

The huge red wave swept away the monsters.

At the same time, a whirlpool was created in the sea.

“Kraraaa!!”

“Kureong!! Keong!!”

“Kkeok! Kkeok!!”

It was a whirlpool so strong that even the monsters living in the sea could not withstand it.

The monsters began to be ground or torn apart by the fast currents.

Ian, watching this, lightly lowered his hand.

Then, the sea, which had been like a ferocious monster until just now, suddenly became calm.

“……What did you do?”

In a situation where everyone was speechless in confusion, only Aranse opened his mouth, and Ian shrugged.

“It’s a technique that can only be used in the sea. Well, that’s not important.”

People who meet Ian for the first time are taken aback by his nonchalance.

To show such a feat and still talk as if it were nothing.

While they hesitated due to the overflowing awe and the sense of alienation from that power, he said calmly.

“This isn’t the time to stand around. We need to investigate further.”

While the soldiers were disposing of the body of the Shax that Aranse had caught, the Salt Marquisate’s guard arrived.

“Huff, huff!! We heard the news and came!”

“You came early.”

“Oh? Instructor Aranse, isn’t it?!”

The knight in his early 40s recognized Aranse and was startled.

He was also the commander of the Salt Knights, and he grinned.

“How have you been?”

“Um, good.”

“You get along well with the people of the Salt Marquisate. Are you getting something out of this?”

“What do you take me for? It’s nothing like that. He’s just a guy who used to be under me.”

The knight in his early 40s grinned.

“He used to be an explorer affiliated with the Biden barony. He quit now, though. I traveled here and there a lot with the young master back then. Ah, by the way…….”

He examined Ian’s face and was startled.

“Are you perhaps Count Ian?”

The Salt Marquisate is a merchant family.

As such, they had to recognize people’s faces, especially important people.

The knight, who knew Ian’s face from his portrait, chuckled.

“I’m Logan Halkin. You can call me Lo for short. Ah, and first of all, I hope Instructor and Count Ian will come with me.”

“Arrest?”

“Of course not. But can’t we talk here?”

It would be fine if Emerald Beach was as beautiful as usual.

But what are we going to talk about in this mess?

Besides, there’s someone else to talk to, so I hope you’ll come with me.”

As he explained, Ian nodded.

“Alright.”

Following his guidance, they came out of the beach and entered a small town.

Although it was a small town, the roads were paved smoothly with gravel and stones, and the buildings all looked well-maintained.

It’s not a famous resort in the continent for nothing.

Walking past the facilities and villas for wealthy nobles, they arrived at a large mansion.

“This is a mansion operated by the Salt Marquisate.”

As a lodging facility directly operated by the Marquisate, everything from the outside scenery to the interior looked expensive.

Even though it was an inn, it seemed to be on par with the mansion of Count Predisian they had visited before.

While Aranse and Ian were looking around, a handsome middle-aged man with blonde hair ran from the entrance.

“Instructor Aranse! To come all the way here… I don’t know how to thank you!”

“You’re welcome, Marquis Herain.”

Aranse slightly bowed his head.

Herain, who politely accepted his greeting, straightened his posture and looked at Ian.

“Thank you for coming all the way here, Count Ian. I heard you used your power as soon as you arrived.”

“It was nothing. And please, speak comfortably. You’re my friend’s father.”

As Ian replied simply, he smiled and led them inside himself.

“I came to greet Haryun’s friends myself, but… I didn’t expect this to happen.”

Walking through the lobby and entering the most splendid room, he looked out the window.

The view of Emerald Beach could be seen from the window.

Confirming that, Aranse clicked his tongue briefly and asked.

“Marquis Herain, I heard the sea suddenly turned red. Did you see it in detail?”

“Yes. I was staying in this room, so I saw it clearly.”

He was sitting here, looking at Emerald Beach.

But about an hour ago, something strange suddenly happened.

“There was a ship.”

“Is a ship floating on the sea a strange thing?”

“Yes, it is strange. Not to mention other seas, all the seas around here are the Salt Marquisate’s seas. And,”

He’s eyes flashed.

“After the Train Valt incident, sailing near Emerald Beach is prohibited except for permitted times.”

Yet a ship appeared outside of permitted hours.

That was the strangest thing.

“So I used long-range magic to check what kind of ship it was.”

Marquis Herain was also a 6-circle mage [a mage of considerable power].

So he immediately used magic to see a long distance, and that’s when he saw it.

“It was a black ship. It had holes everywhere, and it wouldn’t be strange if it sank at any moment. And on that ship… don’t be surprised.”

He swallowed hard.

“Skeleton sailors were moving busily. In other words, it’s a ghost ship that only appears in legends.”

“A ghost ship in this world.”

It seemed that Aranse also knew about ghost ships.

As he was surprised, Ian glanced out the window.

Then, he quickly drew a picture on the paper on the table.

“Does it look like this?”

“Oh, right. That’s it!”

What Ian drew on the paper was a ship.

It was a quick sketch, but it was quite detailed, so Herain could recognize it right away.

“Do you know something about it?”

Could there be something related to it among the legacies of the Magic Kingdom that he possesses?

Herain asked, looking at the picture of the ship that was exactly the same as what he had seen, and Ian shook his head.

“No. I just drew it after seeing it. My bad. Mya, stay here. Instructor Aranse, I’ll be back for a moment.”

The moment he finished speaking,

The window opened, and Ian’s body disappeared.

And he headed towards the sea with incredible speed.

“M, my god.”

He began to run across the red sea towards the black dot at the end of the horizon.