The room the lads were in was lined with wooden benches, and there was just enough room between them for someone to walk between their outstretched legs. It was quite a spacious area for a boat out on the lakes, where space was incredibly valued.

Even on the old fishing boat previously used by Holl- a ship that wasn’t originally made for multiple-day journeys- the resting quarters were incredibly cramped.

What they were in now looked to be a restored model of an older ship, which would almost definitely have even less living space. Their current spot was likely a meeting room of some sort.

All three of the crew members leaned forward as they discussed the events on the island. Cundy had never heard of a Regard before, and neither had Roth. The young map carrier hadn’t heard anything when the golden emblem jumped into him, unlike Holl who got to speak with the mysterious native woman for a short time.

“The ghost you saw said that Regards will change people?”

Holl nodded.

“I was already starting to pass out, but she said something like that. I still feel the same as before, aside from being stronger.”

Roth rubbed at his lower back. When he slipped his hand beneath his clothing, he could feel a slightly different texture on his skin. It was hard to tell with just his hand, but when he traced it, the shape seemed to resemble a rabbit.

“I feel the same, too…”

A deep chill of fear ran through Roth’s spine as he thought of something.

“Bindon. What if the way he was acting was because of one of these things, too?”

He and Holl both noted that they felt slightly stronger than before, and Roth had seen first-hand the inhuman strength sported by Bindon before he died. The fourth member of the crew had crossed multiple meters in almost an instant and had tripped Roth with whatever came out of his leg.

Holl’s expression collapsed into a frown as he remembered how Bindon had steadily become more and more strange as they spent time on the island. Ever since Cundy passed him the booklet, he progressively got worse.

“I don’t think it was just that. There was clearly something wrong with that booklet. Now that it’s gone, I doubt our own mental states will decay that quickly. Wilson didn’t look nearly concerned enough when bringing us aboard, and he definitely knows more about this stuff than us.”

Holl’s gaze paused slightly as he looked over Cundy.

His long-trusted aid was the only person here who hadn’t picked up a Regard on the island… but he was also the only other person who’d touched the booklet. Why didn’t it target him, instead going for Bindon?

“Still, we should try to get as much information out of the crew here about this stuff.”

Almost as if on cue, there was a light knock on the wooden room door as Holl finished speaking. A few seconds later, the door was pushed open, revealing a young woman. She had a smooth, light skin complexion and blazing orange-red hair that cascaded a dozen centimeters past her shoulders. A pair of light blue eyes matched the sky-colored muslin dress she was wearing, the hem of the cloth swaying as she propped the door open with her hip and carried a tray with a few bowls on it into the room.

After setting it down on the bench next to Holl, she did a small curtsy for the crew.

“Hello, Sirs, my name is Lia. I’ve been told you have a few questions, please feel free to ask me anything as you eat.”

The young woman grabbed one of the bowls of porridge and handed it to Cundy, then brought one over to Holl. Her soft skin brushed against Roth’s as she calmly passed the bowl over to him, and the young man’s heart skipped a beat.

He’d managed to avoid getting into any romantic relationships as he focused on mapwork in the past, but this girl was so eye catching-

His thoughts of romance were instantly swept away by the burning feeling in his hands, and he hurriedly set the bowl down on his lap. Steam was rising up from the nearly-boiling hot porridge within the bowl.

“Please wait a bit before you begin to eat, the porridge is still very hot. The cook just finished making it minutes ago.”

After straightening her skirt, she sat down on the empty bench next to the room’s door.

“Now, what questions can I answer for you?”

Lia had a faintly British-Irish accent, one that sounded more authentic than the one Wilson had put on earlier.

“Where are we right now?”

“Right now, we should be roughly thirty kilometers north of Marie Island. Our destination is Dover Island, where we can shelter for the winter.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lia paused for a moment.

“But the journey will take almost a month to reach there. If you wish to depart before then, I can pass your request on to Mr. Wilson.”

Holl frowned at the unfamiliar location names.

“Do you mean Sault Ste. Marie?”

“Soo… Soo Ste. Marie? I know Marie Island, but I’ve never heard of that before.”

“The rapids southeast of here, sault is a French word for it.”

Lia’s face screwed up into a frown as she tried to figure out where they were talking about.

“Even on the maps I’ve seen that detail outside of the safe routes, I haven’t seen any rapids anywhere near here, but there probably could be some in uncharted waters.”

“Where do you go through to get out of this lake, then? Or the Fractured Sea?”

The young woman looked at Holl in confusion.

“We will just sail along the safe route… where else would you go?”

She stood up from her seat.

“I’ll borrow one of Mr. Wilson’s maps. It should be easier with something to look at.”

Lia left the room to search for a map, and the crew all exchanged looks.

“Just like what Wilson said before… none of it matches up with what I know. There shouldn’t be any islands south of us unless we are way off where we thought we were.”

Roth nodded and raised a spoonful of the porridge to his lips. It was still steaming hot, but the bowl had now cooled down to the point that he could hold it comfortably. He felt like his heat tolerance was likely a bit better than before too, as he could see Cundy still struggling with his meal.

It only took a minute for Lia to return. After dragging a small table to the center of the room, she spread a paper map out on its surface. The room was silent for a few moments.

“This… this is a map of the country?”

Lia nodded.

“Yes. We're here right now.”

The girl’s pale finger tapped in a slight choke point of a massive body of blue. From the northwestern corner of the body of water, the crew could recognize it as the Lake Superior they knew. Everything else, though, was entirely different. There was a series of lines drawn through the water, with the note of “Safe Route” written above them. There were countless islands lining it, many of them in places Holl had sailed before and knew that there was no land.

This was just the start of the changes. Right where Sault Ste. Marie would usually separate Superior from Huron, though, everything turned into a mess. A huge, island-dotted canvas of water blew past where the rapids once were, multiple dozen kilometers wide.

The huge blue space continued all the way to the coast, where it spread out even further before meeting with the Atlantic Ocean. Almost the entire eastern coast of the continent was now split up into scattered and fragmented islands.

Such islands seemed way more common along the lines marked as “Safe Routes”, and there were still huge swaths of empty blue water marked with the occasional question mark.

There were also some spots marked in red, and the safe routes near them always took long detours to avoid them. Still, there were so many red markings that the safe routes were occasionally forced to enter the vicinity of them.

“You look a bit surprised… I can assure you, this is the most up-to-date version of the map out there.”

Lia’s finger moved as she tapped on their current location again.

“We’re just leaving this danger zone right now. Normally, if you get stranded in one of these, it’s the end for you. I’m sure you know how the Fractured Sea is. Death comes in many forms, and most aren’t yet ready to join the army of specters. Mr. Wilson is a unique one, to actually be willing to take in someone in a red zone.”

Roth’s brain struggled to comprehend the map before him, and he had a strange urge to take out his own map and check it.

“I see… I understand where we are now.”

Holl nodded in thanks to Lia, a calm expression back on his face.

“If you don’t mind, I have a few other questions for you.”

Holl had a somewhat sad expression as he reached over to pat Roth’s shoulder.

“If I’m being honest… I don’t know a lot about my own Regard, and I’m afraid I haven’t done a great job of explaining it to my nephew. Could you please explain some of the basics?”

“Hmm?”

Lia leaned forward.

“Mr. Wilson thought that your crew were Quian traders, but you are actually Catals, aren’t you?”

The corners of her lips curved up as she looked at the expressions on their faces.

“You don’t have their accent, though, and if you don’t know this map, I wonder how you got here. It looks like Mr. Wilson might’ve picked up some wandering ghosts this time.”

There was a wild and untamed flame flickering in her eye as she grinned.

“What do you want to know, ghosts?”

“Ehm, we’re just lost sailors.”

“Sure.”

The look on Lia’s face showed that she didn’t believe what Holl said, but the captain decided it wasn’t worth pressing right now.

“Regards, how do they work?”

The light in Lia’s eyes died down a bit when Holl didn’t try to argue with her, but she still started to explain.

“Something gives you its Regards- it could be a spirit, a legend, deity, or even just a powerful human. It forms a rough rating system for them, though the strength of the Regards isn’t only dependent on how powerful the giver is.”

Lia rolled up one of her sleeves, revealing a long, tattoo-like mark. It stretched down the entirety of her forearm, an ashen emblem resembling flames.

“One person can have multiple Regards, but if they gain clashing ones, the conflict can cause them to fall insanity quickly. There is a general scale for base strength for them- Human, Spirit, Legend, Deity, God. As for mental danger, though, Human is right up with God in terms of bringing insanity the fastest.”

“So the one I have, then-”

“It’s probably a spirit one, if it was a Quian who gave it to you. Every Regard will give you traits from the granter- you will gain abilities possessed by the figure behind the Regard.”

Lia’s face darkened as she continued.

“At the same time as making you stronger and giving you abilities, it will change your personality. It makes your abilities similar to the ones possessed by the Regard giver… and it also changes your personality to match theirs. It’s why Human and God Regards cause people to fall insane quickly. Strong ones can turn you into a clone of the giver in a matter of days.”