After the creature had engulfed the enemy ship, a stillness enveloped our vessel. The sailors and guards, their faces stuck with awe, stood at the railings, their eyes fixed on the Remains of the enemy ship floating in the ocean.

Yang, returned his gaze to the spectacle, a faint but amused smile crossing his face.

"We were lucky in many ways," Yang remarked,

As the guards and sailors continued to murmur among themselves. Yang, approached Marco, . He reassured Marco, saying, "See, everything's alright."

I decided to venture below the decks to check on Cairo and Deniz.

Upon reaching the VIP deck and finding Cairo and Deniz, I was puzzled to see them standing at the stairs.

"You saw all that," I asked

Deniz, seemingly attempting to process something, responded, "Yeah, that was a whale, wasn't it?"

As they exchanged thoughts, I joined the conversation, saying, "I had a similar thought. I've only read about whales in books and had never actually seen one before. It's also our first time venturing outside the island."

Cairo asked whether I had been injured during the attack or not. I assured him that I was unharmed.

Our attention was drawn to a commotion as we ascended the stairs to the upper deck. "There's a guy in the ocean!" one of the guards exclaimed. "He's tied to the ship's ropes. Give me a hand, and we'll pull him up."

Other sailors rushed to help, to recover the person who had been found in the sea, entangled in the ship's ropes. To my surprise, as they drew the individual aboard, it became clear that the individual was none other than Wilhelm - the very individual I had assumed had died during the enemy attack.

With Wilhelm safely back on the ship's deck, some of the guards remained wary, aiming their muskets at him and demanding that he reveal his identity. Wilhelm responded by explaining that he was merely a passenger who had fallen into the sea while attempting to save himself. One of the sailors who vouched for his authenticity confirmed his explanation.

The guards lowered their weapons, satisfied that Wilhelm posed no immediate threat. Yang approached Julius and made a wry remark, "Well, you were lucky that you got entangled in the rope. During an expedition, the sea can be a cruel place."

Wilhelm simply nodded without displaying much emotion.

I found myself speaking up unintentionally, "Wasn't that you who got hit by the cannon just now?" I asked Wilhelm. I pointed to the blood stains that had been left in the aftermath of the explosion.

Wilhelm laughed heartily, dismissing my statement. He said that he had simply fallen into the sea and was not a victim of the cannon blast. As the discussion continued, one of the sailors interjected He confirmed that a passenger had been hit by cannon fire, and Basir, another sailor, had witnessed the incident and could identify the victim.

Upon Yang's call for Basir, another sailor who had just ascended from the lower deck inquired, "Did any of our sailors die in the battle?"

The sailors exchanged glances as they remembered what had happened on the upper deck during the Battle. They stated that they had not seen any sailors being hit by cannon fire or dying.

The same sailor who had raised concerns about the missing sailors went on to explain that a number of sailors had mysteriously vanished during the chaos. Basir was one of the people who had vanished.

One of the guards leaned in closer, again asking, "Are you sure you saw him dead?"

"I... I thought I did, but..." my voice faltered in response.

I cast a quick glance toward Wilhelm, only to be met with a sight that sent shivers down my spine. Wilhelm, who had been a carefree and jovial fellow before, had undergone a profound in his attitude. His sapphire eyes, which had previously been filled with mirth, now bore into me with dead seriousness.

At that moment, it seemed as if the entire world had faded into a haze, leaving only Wilhelm's gaze.

Wilhelm made a subtle gesture, pressing his finger against his lips. The message was clear: remain silent, preserve the mystery, and keep the truth hidden from the ship's watchful eyes.

I found myself stuttering, as I addressed the guards, startled by Wilhelm's gaze. "I... I might have misidentified Wilhelm for someone else," I mumbled,

The guards sighed in response, still trying to solve the mystery of the missing sailors. Wilhelm walked past me, seemingly satisfied with my explanation, with a playful smile and a tap on my shoulder. "Good grief," he said, his attitude returning to the carefree nature I knew.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

As I tried to follow Wilhelm, Yang stopped me in my tracks"I know you're an esper, Kid."

He went on to say, "I'm not alerting my guards because I still see you as a kid." The implication was obvious: I was not regarded as a threat. However, "But if I ever suspect that you had a hand in the disappearance or the attack, I'll end you with my own hands."

Sweat began to form on my brow. In response, I offered a bow with trepidation. I tried to follow Wilhelm down the ship's staircase, but as I got closer, Wilhelm disappeared into thin air. I couldn't help but mutter to myself, "He's fast, huh?"

As the sun set below the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow across the ship, the passengers seemed surprisingly calm, considering the recent attack we had. The Passengers of the ship went about their business.

A variety of Things filled the air among the passengers. The soothing melodies of a lyre floated through the evening breeze. Some played chance games, rolling dice and trying their luck. Others, having found comfort in the embrace of alcohol, had fallen into such a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, Deniz and Cairo were conversing quietly in my quarters. The events of the day, the mysteries surrounding Wilhelm, and the recent attack.

"We saw it too, that Wilhelm guy did get blown away into smithereens, right Cairo?" Deniz stated.

Cairo responded with a solemn nod,

"But it's possible that Wilhelm is an esper," Deniz continued, his face thoughtful.

"It's unlikely," I said, expressing my skepticism. "Even if he was, resurrecting oneself from death is impossible, even for a psychic. Yang should have picked up on it, but he didn't. Wilhelm is Something else."

Deniz voiced his thoughts, saying, "You know, Yang is quite intimidating, but I'm glad he left you alone, Aries. He doesn't strike me as the villainous type we might have expected from a royal guard or soldier under commandment or whatever."

"Can't judge someone, can we?" I thought to myself.

Cairo, picking up on the subject, said, "True. People frequently have layers that we don't notice at first."

Deniz inquired changing the subject, "Some people on this ship are talking about a sea monster named Bahamut in these seas."

"Bahamut?" I asked, a little skeptically. "You're referring to the Bahamut from those childhood horror stories, right? A whale so massive that it carries the earth itself."

Deniz elaborated, "Yeah, the old folks used to say that if the kids misbehaved, the sea monster Bahamut would swallow the entire island."

Cairo followed up with a comment: "People are talking about the whale that destroyed the enemy ship, but that whale doesn't seem to be big enough to swallow an island."

"Just some rumors," I mused as I reclined on my bed, propping my hands behind my head. "People like to spice things up around the ship in order to keep the journey interesting."

One passenger, his voice tinged with disbelief, exclaimed, "Are you for real, Old man, or have you had one too many drinks and now you're spouting nonsense?"

The ship's chef interjected, saying, "I'll cut back on the alcohol supply a bit, they seem to be getting a bit too rowdy."

The elderly man, apparently the source of the rumors, insisted, "No, not that, please! Just hear me out, Eshaq. The stories of ghouls in Eblistan, mummies of pharaohs being scavenged and dumped in people's houses, all started around this time of the decade. Many people have claimed to witness Bahamut with their own eyes, and they've also seen the mu-"

The same skeptical passenger Eshaq interrupted him with a mocking tone, saying, "Heh, old man, have you taken your medicine today, or did you mess with a chicken again?"

The elderly man struggled to catch his breath, as if he had been holding these words back for a long time. "Murk-," he exclaimed, "Murky water..."

Eshaq reassured the elderly man, "Hey, hey, take it easy, old man."

"As it's written in the old books," the elderly man continued,

"the Bahamut appears near murky water." He pointed out the window at a specific point. Many passengers on the ship craned their necks to see what he was pointing to, with some struggling to get a better view as the crowd surged toward the window.

As passengers gathered to catch a glimpse of the murky area in the sea, some confirmed the existence of such a location. Eshaq was perplexed by the situation and inquired of the old man whether or not it was true.

"The first to notice it was Raj," the old man explained. "He was scouting the area from the crow's nest. He informed me first."

Raj, who was present, nodded in agreement, admitting that he had seen the murky water.