Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

The rest of the journey was anything but smooth sailing.

They encountered two more storms, each fiercer than the last. The storms weren’t the only problem either. The ship was also attacked by sea creatures in clear weather.

Sometimes, it was a single massive creature they had to team up to defeat, while other times, it was a swarm of tiny creatures they had to face in a drawn-out battle.

There were some other headache-inducing incidents as well.

There was this one time when Evangeline wanted to walk on the sea’s surface. She could do so by using the Ruler of Waves spell and solidifying the water’s surface beneath her feet.

But as she was playing on the water’s surface, a large tentacle suddenly emerged from the depths and wrapped around her leg. And so, she was dragged into the water as she screamed. It was a good thing Adrian had reacted in time and cut off the tentacle using the third level of his infusion art.

Standing by the deck, Adrian let out a tired sigh.

’I wish I could get this over with already.’

But just then, he paused.

He could see it. Far into the distance, he could see the island they were supposed to reach.

’We’ve arrived.’

***

Evangeline stood on the deck, supporting her weight on the railing. There was an angry pout on her face.

’Stupid Adi, it’s all his fault.’

She had known that the seas of this world were dangerous. Well, technically, the seas of Earth had also been dangerous, but these seas were especially deadly. And so, she had restrained herself because of the danger.

But she was still curious. If the seas were really that dangerous, then why did people travel aboard ships? Why did anybody set sail?

And so, she had asked Adrian why some gigantic and absurdly powerful sea horror hadn’t attacked them yet. And according to Adrian’s answer, it was because it had no reason to attack them.

Since they were strong, they could hunt whichever prey they wished. There was no reason for those beings to go out of their way to hunt small humans like them.

His answer sounded logical. After all, why would some sea giant hunt a tiny little prey like her if there were bigger prey around? Thinking that, she had decided to indulge herself a bit and try walking on water.

But then, that whole incident happened.

’I’m never gonna trust his words again!’

Maybe Adrian was one of those people who try to sound smart while spewing bullshit.

But just then, her thoughts froze as she spotted the island in the distance.

’Is this it? Is that the island we are supposed to explore?’

If it was, then Evangeline felt a bit sad that the sea adventure was coming to an end.

’But then again, maybe it’s time for an island adventure. Moreover, we’ll return the same way, so there is another sea adventure in the queue.’

As the ship approached closer, she was able to get a better look at the island.

’Hm?’

The island seemed quite large and seemed to be densely covered in vegetation. But she thought she spotted something white in the distance.

Finally, the ship arrived at the island, and the four of them got off.

The captain offered them a light bow.

"The ship will be around the island until you all return. We don’t have much combat capability, so if a beast or monster attacks, then we will temporarily flee. But don’t worry, though, we won’t abandon you all and will return after we think that the danger is gone."

And with that, the captain returned to the ship.

The four of them turned around and began walking through the sand at the island’s coast.

Evangeline looked around.

They were walking along the edge of the island, trying to gauge the situation. Or, more accurately, waiting to see if some abominable beast or monster was lurking nearby so they could quickly board the ship again and escape.

But even after walking along the coast for quite some time, they got nothing. Forget about finding abominable horror; they couldn’t sense any being nearby.

They looked at each other in silence, and then all collectively nodded.

Evangeline let out a sigh.

"Haah, that was exhausting. The whole walk, I kept imagining what would happen if a gigantic monster emerged from the dense forest and started chasing us."

Adrian turned to Saria.

"Take out our luggage from that storage pouch. We need to organize our things first."

And so, they spent the next hour or so organizing everything. They separated the rations, the garments, and the tools. The rations were measured.

After that, they sat together on the sand, forming a circle.

Adrian looked at them one after another, then nodded.

"I think it’s time we discuss who the leader of the team is going to be."

Evangeline tilted her head, Xion blinked in confusion, and Saria simply frowned.

"Adi, what do you mean? Aren’t you the leader?"

Adrian furrowed his brow.

"And when was that decided?"

’I mean...’

Xion was the one to answer.

"You are the one who always takes the initiative in conversations, Young Master Adrian, so we naturally assumed you to be the leader. I don’t think any of us have any problem with you being the leader of the team."

"Fine then." Adrian sighed. "So now that we have reached the island we were supposed to explore, how should we go about it? Do any of you have any suggestions?"

To everyone’s surprise, the one to raise their hand first was... Saria.

She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly frowned.

"What’s with your faces? Why are you both looking at me that way?"

"Ah, no." Evangeline hesitated. "It’s just that..."

Xion leaned in from the side and answered with an amicable smile on his face.

"You usually aren’t very cooperative and keep to yourself. So we were a bit taken aback when we saw you take the initiative in the group discussion."

Saria clicked her tongue.

"You think I’m stupid or something? I know all too well that I can’t survive alone here. Besides, it would be jerk behavior to act like a hindrance when I myself agreed to join the team."

Hearing her, Evangeline’s lips unconsciously curled up into a smile.

’I thought that she was a musclehead angry bull, but it looks like she knows when to keep her ego aside. Maybe I was too quick to judge her.’

Adrian nodded.

"Okay, Saria, tell us your suggestion."

"The goal of this mission is to explore this island, correct?" She began. "Then we should first measure how big this island actually is. We will divide into two groups and walk in opposite directions along the coast. This way, we will eventually meet and can then share our experiences and get an idea of the island’s size."

’That’s... a pretty good idea.’

Considering that their primary objective was exploration, knowing how big an island they were going to explore was a good start.

But Adrian shook his head firmly.

"Sorry, but that can’t be allowed. We have no way to communicate long-distance, so it would be a problem if something happened to one group—"

He suddenly paused with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Actually, if the goal is scouting, then I have a better alternative."

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