Warlock Apprentice

“Sir, are you perhaps going to—”

Angor made a “shh” gesture and grinned. “You don’t have to say it. As for Roman, he’ll be fine as long as he sticks to his job. Or if he suddenly slacks off and wanders off somewhere... it can’t be helped if he runs into some minor trouble, right?”

Although he wasn’t going to explain what he meant in detail. With these said, he told Helen to return to her post.

“Just work and sleep as normal and pretend that our conversation never happened.”

“But is The Limpet going to be safe?”

“Calm down. I’m on the ship, you know? Surely I don’t want to sleep with the fishes.”

“I... understand, sir.” Helen took a deep breath and walked to the door as she put up her usual look of a professional nautical officer.

...

Roman left a trick around Angor’s room, so he immediately knew it when Helen left.

Seeing the woman’s usual expression, Roman felt a bit relieved.

“Oh, and she looks quite disappointed. How long was it, half an hour? I was right. That man is a small-dicked a-hole who happens to possess a powerful familiar.” He mistook the purpose of Helen’s visit for relieving her middle-aged lust.

Just to be safe, he kept monitoring Helen’s movement and made sure that nothing special was going on, and that The Limpet was heading to Silver Palm Isle as planned before he fully relaxed.

...

Angor remained in his room and pondered over the situation quietly.

Telling from the records he read before, a Leviathan usually dwelt somewhere thousands of meters below sea level and fed on giant squids, octopuses, or any monsters that looked close enough. It wouldn’t show up on the surface unless a prey forced it to.

So why would this one constantly remain at the surface?

A Leviathan was known for its extremely tough body, which could easily deflect the attacks wielded by truth-finder wizards. But at the same time, the monster had extremely degraded spiritual power and intelligence.

A “stupid” monster should have no reason to leave its usual habitat unless something attracted it elsewhere.

The Leviathan Toby saw stayed near the Silver Palm Isle but without attacking it, which was strange.

Something on the island attracted its attention? Angor thought.

Perhaps Roman knew about something. Although there was no way Angor could visit him and ask such a question.

“Roman is looking for a destiny to level up...” Angor considered his options and shook his head. “Nah, I’ll stay put for now.”

He thought about checking the monster out right now but decided not to. Putting its weakness aside, the terrifying strength gap was still there. One wrong move and he’d throw his life away.

Besides, Angor’s most important task right now was heading home in one piece. The spell protecting Jon was going to run out soon. He couldn’t afford to waste extra time.

The Leviathan might be holding some kind of valuable secret, in which case wizards would come after it. But Toby saw no human being around the area. Either there were wizards who stayed hidden, or they did not value the monster.

Which meant there was no point for Angor to look for whatever was going on with the monster. To him, the best choice was to lure the monster away and let the ship pass.

...

Two days quickly passed by, during which Helen never mentioned her concerns to anyone again. According to schedule, The Limpet would arrive at Silver Palm Isle at noontime.

Helen chose to put all hope on Angor while trying her best to remain calm on the outside.

She still remembered how Angor said something that suggested Roman’s misery. If she were to choose, she’d gladly see Roman dead if this meant ensuring the survival of everyone else.

“Something on your mind, Helen?”

Helen woke up from her thoughts and saw Captain Erwin looking at her.

She found her hat and put it on. “Excuse me, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“I meant to ask, are you still worried about those ‘strange feelings’? You can always ask for Mister Roman’s opinions.”

Helen quickly shook her head. “It’s fine now, sir. I think I’m only homesick. Let’s not bother Mister Roman for this.”

“But... you don’t look fine to me.”

“I barely had any sleep these days.” Helen forced a smile.

“I understand. This route is more turbulent than usual recently. When we get to Ferran Land, take some days off.”

Helen hesitated for a while and decided not to tell Erwin about the monster problem. Erwin was always faithful when working under Roman. It would create unnecessary trouble.

Might as well wait for everything to settle down, by which it wouldn’t be too late to reveal the truth to everyone. If they were still alive by then...

“You’re not here to check my health, right, captain? Is there something you need?”

“I’m giving you a job later. When we’re at Silver Palm, take a team and replenish fresh water for us,” said Erwin.

Helen was taken aback. How can we get to the island with that Leviathan in the way?

Erwin waved a hand in front of Helen’s eyes. “Hey, talk to me. What’s gotten into you?”

“Oh! I was... deciding who should we send. You know, Chief Mosan died the other day, so... I get it, I’ll take Naki with me.”

Erwin showed a sad look when a fallen comrade was mentioned. “The Goddess of Ocean will protect us... and those who devoted their lives to our cause.”

Helen saw Erwin leaving and climbed onto the observation platform.

The weather was fine today. But the fog in the distance prevented her from seeing too far.

The silhouette of Silver Palm Isle was already in view. Helen clenched her hands as she scouted around for the giant monster, but she failed to see any trace.

Is it waiting for us below the surface?

The sailors on the deck were cheering loudly for getting to step onto dry land again. Even if it was a no-man’s land, it was worth celebrating.

The joyful sight further burdened Helen’s mind. Once again, she realized that mortals were too powerless against unknown threats, and they would die before knowing what claimed them.

She suddenly saw Roman leaving from his cabin. He was gazing at the dancing people below.

She was almost sure that Roman was smiling, and that smile wasn’t friendly. That man was like a victorious general gazing at defeated enemies who were going to get executed.

Yeah... funny to you, right? Winning fortune at the cost of others’ lives... Helen failed to contain the small hint of hatred in her eyes, which was seen by Roman.

Before she could worry about what would become of her, Roman was looking in another direction, where a sluggish middle-aged man with messy hair walked into the sunlight while yawning at the sky.

“Good morning!” Angor leaned against the railing and greeted Roman.

“You woke up a little too late, Mister Padt.”

“Yeah, I stayed up too late yesterday,” Angor said as he glanced at the island in the distance. “Oh, we reached land? So that’s why everyone’s so happy. It’s such a blessing to put your feet on solid ground after we’ve spent so much time on a ship.”

Roman scoffed. Bless? That will soon be your grave.

Seeing the island drew near, Roman looked more and more excited, and at the same time, a little afraid, for he fully knew what kind of terrible monster they were approaching.

He put a hand against his pocket, felt the nightmare stone safely kept, and calmed down.

“Just a little further...”