Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 377: Setting Sail

“Passengers” like Sein often filled him with unease due to their peculiar dispositions and tendencies to invite trouble.

Yet, he also knew these passengers typically possessed valuable items not easily obtained through regular means, assuming he survived long enough to use them.

After a brief pause, Sein finally remembered the sailor’s question.

With his face hidden under the black hood, he replied in a subdued voice, “I wish to go to Monique Black Market.”

His explicit mention of the “black market” indicated his awareness that the vessel was no ordinary merchant ship.

The sailor showed no surprise but a trace of curiosity appeared on his face as he asked, “You’re not from these parts, are you, Master?”

Despite uncertain how his cover was blown, Sein coolly responded, “Correct, I hail from the Viridescent Land to the north.”

The sailor seemed like he had heard of the Viridescent Land.

“No one calls that place Monique Black Market anymore. It’s been known as Swell City for over twenty years now. This ship will pass through there, as for the fare...” he said, rubbing his fingers.

Sein remained silent. In the end, the sailor smiled awkwardly and finished his own sentence. “For you, five magicoins or any resources of equivalent will do, Master.”

Without saying a word, Sein tossed five magicoins to the sailor.

Based on the economy of the Magus World and the service fee for using the teleportation array in the divine tower, the price was quite expensive for a ship ride.

However, the sailor was not taking advantage of Sein. Given the potential perils along their journey, the requested sum was indeed a fair price.

The knight was merely earning his keep as a sailor on these vast waters.

After paying the fare, Sein was granted access to the ship.

The sailor assigned him a room on the second floor of the decrepit vessel, which offered the best view.

The bridge was just above it, while there were three floors beneath it, two of which were below the deck.

As soon as Sein boarded the decrepit ship, he scanned the number of passengers with his mental focus.

He was the seventh passenger to board the ship. Among the other passengers, one shared his floor while the others were distributed across the first floor and the cabins below the deck.

This decrepit ship held more secrets than Sein had anticipated.

Sounds of water splashing came from the cabins on the bottom floor, accompanied by numerous subtle signs of life.

This led Sein to speculate whether the ship was involved in the smuggling and trafficking of biological entities, likely aquatic creatures.

The sailor, who was previously lounging on deck, grew visibly tense ever since Sein boarded the ship.

Their vessel was definitely involved in illegal activities. Yet, facing Sein, who looked like a convincing black mage, the crew found it difficult to decline his request.

At the same time, the crew was also worried that lingering too long in the Storm City could attract unwanted attention and potentially lead to complications.

Initially, the ship was slated to remain docked for over a week to gather more passengers or cargo. However, merely three days later, the steam whistle of the ship sounded, signaling its departure from the island.

The skipper was an elderly man with a goatee, wearing greasy clothes.

It appeared that both he and the sailor were the proprietors of this alchemically powered, somewhat decrepit ship. Apart from them, there were thirteen human passengers, including Sein.

The sailor was obviously picking his victims, charging Sein only five magicoins, while he demanded ten from another mage seeking to board the ship later.

When Sein was at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, he became aware that some magic initiates were quite affluent. To them, ten magicoins amounted to little.

Now, having reached the thriving southern coast, it appeared that the cost of living here surpassed that of Viridescent Land, where the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring was located.

“It’s the end of the storm season, so the fare is a little higher since our ship only sails during the storm. The other ships may charge cheaper fares, but they won’t be able to take you to your desired destinations,” the sailor explained with a wide grin on the deck.

Although this was a “shady ship”, the knight and the elder, whom Sein suspected to be a Rank One mage, were seasoned in conducting business on the seas, thereby retaining a foundational level of trustworthiness.

They represented a gray faction that trod the line between white and black, making them fundamentally different from black mages or black knights.

Their business strategy focused on cultivating a base of regular and returning customers.

Sein estimated the numbers and discovered that the total fare collected from the passengers amounted to just over a hundred coins. Divided equally between the two, each would earn an income exceeding fifty magic coins.

Compared to the earnings of a conventional divine tower mage, this was already a substantial income.

After all, participating in an interplanar war spanning over a decade only yielded merely a few hundred magicoins in total.

Given the lucrative nature of their work, it was hardly surprising that some are drawn to these gray-market professions.

However, Sein was even more curious about the purpose of other passengers, who had parted with a significant sum of magicoins to board this ship.

Among them, a figure particularly caught his attention—a senior initiate clad in a gray magic robe, staying in the cabin at the bottom level.

He was a bearded middle-aged man. Given how cheap his robe and magic rod looked, he had likely depleted his savings just to board the ship. Sein wondered what could be his purpose in the black market.

With a blend of curiosity and composure, Sein sailed toward the storm on the distant horizon, where the sea melded with the sky.

***

The vastness and mystery of the sea were beyond the comprehension of lower life forms.

Having experienced the Viridian Venom Flame World war, Sein was familiar with the immense sea of molten lava in that low-level plane.

Even he, a Rank One mage, could hope to fully explore that immense sea of molten lava, let alone the Boundless South Sea which was comparable to the combined vastness of hundreds of lava seas in the Viridian Venom Flame World.

For those unaccustomed to the intensity of ocean storms, embarking on a journey during storm season was tantamount to risking their lives.

Yet, for Kurt, with his over two centuries of nautical experience, navigating his alchemy vessel through the storm with the agility of a fish was routine.

This very experience afforded Sein a profound realization of his insignificance when measured against the colossal forces of nature.