On the night of April 15, 2813 in the Western Continent [looking]:

"Hey.......what's wrong with my eyes?

　When he muttered this, the man pulled his eyes away from the telescope in his hand. He rubbed his eyelids repeatedly with his hands, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
　His hair had turned a light brown from continuous exposure to the sea breeze, and his skin was tanned red by the strong sunlight. He was a skilled sailor. And so is the man in the stern of this small boat. If you came close to them, you could smell the strong scent of the tide on their bodies. It was the result of the long hours they had spent at sea. And along with the smell of the tide, their bodies emit the smell of blood that smells like iron. It was proof that these two were no ordinary sailors.

'No, I see the same thing in my eyes I can't believe my eyes.

　The man at the helm in the stern of the ship replies, staring at the shoreline.
　These are men who have lived at sea for decades, even though they are scouting from an ocean field more than two kilometers from the shoreline. The two men's eyesight is highly regarded even by their peers. Both of them had doubted their own eyes.

　The cape juts out into the sea like a bull's horn. It's a small port city. No, it could be called a slightly smaller port city.
　As if to resist the darkness of the night, that harbor had a roaring bonfire, and there was no shortage of people to check out the entire harbor.

'But yo... how is this really possible?

'Couldn't possibly be. It's right in front of you...

　The man in the stern spat.

'That's true, but...' What do you want me to say to your head?　You ain't gonna believe this shit. This story.

　It's hard to believe the story now, even with the real thing in front of me. Even if I told them the truth, I don't think they would believe me. I've been drinking and dreaming about it, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

You can't tell me that, but it doesn't mean you're going to lie to me, does it?　If they find out, they'll skin you alive and feed you to the sharks, right?

　It is a private punishment so cruel that it is frightening. It is an example of the punishment imposed on lawbreakers and traitors. In fact, several people have fallen prey to this cruel private punishment.
　He shuddered involuntarily as scenes from the past flashed in his mind.

''Then what am I supposed to do!　You don't think you're somebody else's problem, do you?

　He understands the ruthlessness of his head in his own mind. He will never tolerate lies, especially from his subordinates.
　That doesn't mean he can't believe himself when he reports it like it is. It's very hard to believe that he can tell others and have them believe him.
(Duh!)　What a poor man's lottery ticket.
　If you're a bystander, there's nothing wrong with that. If you laugh at your bad luck, that's all right. But it's a different story when you're in the middle of it. It's your life in the balance.

There's only one way. There's only one way to find out, and that's to go up to that cape first thing in the morning and see for yourself.

Are you crazy? What did your head tell you to do?

　If you disobey your head's command, you will be shark food. That's their law. But the man in the stern shook his head.

"One way or another, we're going to be shark food. In that case, wouldn't it be wise to find out for sure, even if it means risking the head's life? Or better yet, run away?

Don't be stupid you can't get away in this little boat.

　The ship they board is one of the small boats provided with sailing ships for landing. They have no trouble traveling along the coast, but it is impossible to sail long distances. First of all, there is only enough water and food left for one day. Only enough for a one-way trip back to the mother ship, which is anchored in the north bay.
　If this were a normal place, you wouldn't have to worry about it so much, but this is the Worthenian Peninsula, which is said to be a magical place. If you land in the wrong place, you'll only be food for the monsters. It's not a bad idea to have a good time with a good friend. But at the same time, it also means that they themselves can only communicate with the outside world through limited means.

Then there's only one way. I'm not going to disrespect the head, if you give me a good reason.

　The man in the stern shrugged his shoulders as he said this.

'Do you really believe that?'

What other choice do we have?

　A question is returned with a question and the man is at a loss for words. He is also fully aware that he has no other choice.
　The problem is that he doesn't have a very bright future either way he chooses. He drops his gaze to his feet and falls silent.
(Shit!　

　Huh.

　Sighing loudly, the man looked up.

'All right. Pull the boat up to the headland. I want you to get to shore before dawn.

　He nodded silently at the man's voice, and the man at the stern pulled up the anchor. The ship began to move quietly towards the shore.


"This is ... it's not like we're looking at the wrong guy or anything. I can't believe it, how in the world did they do this in such a short time...

　They arrived at the northern cape and climbed the slope in the darkness of night. They gasped at the sight of the town, lit by a bonfire.

'A town?　No, this is as well maintained as a small provincial city...

　The entire western shoreline has been repaired with cobblestones and is fully functional as a port. On the east side, a deep moat had been dug, drawing in the water of the river flowing to the north, completely separating the city from the forest. On the south side, the shadow of what appeared to be a rampart could be seen.
　Even if it is not perfect, it seems to be more than capable of functioning as a port city. But if that's the only thing, the two of us wouldn't be so surprised.　
　The problem is that this is the Woltenia Peninsula, a magical land, and the city below has been created at least in the last two months.

Is that a rock?　At least it's not a tree... how the hell did they build it?　Did you bring it in from Ipyros?　No way... but how else would you do it?

　A murmur escaped from the mouth of the man looking through the telescope.
　The information he was able to obtain was significantly more than when he looked at it from above the sea, but his doubts had deepened to the contrary.
　If everything is wooden, I can still understand it. If we even meditate on the question of how they managed to secure their labor force in this magical world, the surroundings are a dense forest. It's not impossible by any means. But when it comes to the use of stone, this is a problem.
　There are small mountains surrounding this bay, but by all appearances, the terrain does not look like the kind of terrain where a quarry could be built.
　It is unthinkable that the quarry could be cut out of the rocks on the beach, but even so, there is a limit to what can be done.
　Moreover, if my guess is correct, there should be a quarry near the coast, but there is no sign of it.
　If that were the case, it would be logical to assume that the quarry came from some other city, but unfortunately, this is no ordinary place. The roads leading to Iphiroth are not yet in place, and it was impossible to transport the materials. I'm not sure if it's possible to get a large force of troops on escort, but if that's the case, there's no reason why we shouldn't hear from our friends who are hiding out in Ipiros.

We're going to have to take a sea route and... well, then, there's no way we wouldn't notice.

　As if in answer to the man's mutterings, the man at the helm asked himself the question.
　As he thought, using the sea route was a possibility, but even so, it would be impossible to build up a city that spread out in front of him in one or two transports. And if such a large fleet had been assembled, there was no way they wouldn't have noticed it.
　After all, they had drawn a net-like vigilance net to the adjacent waters, keeping a watchful eye on not only the ships sailing, but also the towns that existed in the coastal area.

'Shit!　What the hell is going on? The bastard's been on the peninsula for less than two months.　How can you build a city like this in such a short period of time?

　My hand tightened its grip on the telescope.

　It had been more than half a year since one of his friends in Ipiros reported that the Woltenia Peninsula had been given to the nobility.
　When they heard the report, they scoffed at the nobles.
　They knew so much about the environment of the peninsula that it seemed like a dream to them to have this peninsula as their territory.
　In fact, the aristocrats who were given the peninsula did not enter the peninsula for a long time after arriving in Ipylos.
　When they heard that, they thought it was only natural. It's a good thing they were given it, but they realized it had no value at all as a fiefdom, so they stayed in Ipiros, or so they thought.
　But they were wrong. The city in front of them speaks more eloquently than anything else.

I'm going home... and I don't know if you'll believe me, but I'm going to tell it like it is...

　Cold sweat dripped down his spine. His hands were shaking as he held the telescope.
　He didn't know what it was that he was afraid of.
　They ran down the promontory and rolled into a small boat that had been lodged on the rocks.
　So they were oblivious. The existence of someone who was listening to their movements from the darkness........


　The dawn broke and the morning sun lit up the town.
　The bonfire, which was made to avoid the attacks of monsters, has done its job.


Good morning. Ryoma-sama.　

'Oh, good morning, Laura. What's going on?

　It was a little after 5 a.m., even though the night had dawned. It was still early enough time to get out of bed. But Ryoma replied in a clear voice, as if he already knew about Laura's visit.　

''Sakuya is disturbed.

Is my quarry biting?

　With those words alone, Ryouma predicted exactly what had happened. Rather, he had been preparing for that for over a month, and he would be in trouble if he didn't bite the bait.

'Probably,'

　Hearing Laura's words, which she replied nonchalantly, Ryoma smiled a wicked smile.

''Then let's get on with cleaning up the peninsula, shall we?

　Laura nodded silently at Ryoma's muttering.