Chapter 487: Moonlit Sea
After dinner, under the warm lights, the Hero spread out a newly drawn map on the tidied dining table.
The lines on the paper were delicate and precise, clearly presenting a vast sea region before their eyes.
Back then, the Sergeant could rely on memory to draw a vivid Ancient Royal City. Although the Hero wasn’t at that level yet, with her exquisite calligraphy skills, she successfully quickly drew the map from her mind.
“This is a sea map of the Southern Territory, and it’s much more detailed than the Kingdom’s official one.” Grandpa squinted, scrutinizing the map, his tone unable to hide his surprise.
“Moreover, the scope is much larger.” The Fourteenth Princess leaned closer to the map, her eyes focused.
“Such a complete sea map is invaluable.” As a member of the Royal Family, she unconsciously expressed her admiration.
“If the Princess needs, I can draw an even more detailed one.” The Hero raised her hand.
“No, I was just expressing my admiration. The current Kingdom… also has no plans for overseas expeditions.” The Fourteenth Princess regained her clarity, smiling and shaking her head.
“But thank you, Hero, you truly are my Knight.”
Seeing the Hero bashfully scratch her head, Grandpa spoke up.
“Granddaughter, do you want to set sail?”
“…Yes, I do have this thought.” The Hero hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
After visiting the Warrior Guild in the Lake Town and obtaining this map memory from the Lake Holy Sword, she politely declined the Warrior Guild Leader’s lunch invitation and hurried back home, sharing her day’s experiences with her friends and family.
The Hero’s current level had long reached the standard for the Third Ascension, but she had yet to step into the Legendary Realm.
The Count had once taken her to the Border Church for a detailed examination, but the results were disappointing—any type of Stigmata would dim after connecting with her Magic Power, as if thrown into the Deep Sea, unable to resonate, and forcibly engraving might even render the Stigmata useless.
Even the Church’s Professional Tutor couldn’t offer a clear explanation, attributing it to the Hero’s use of an ancient ritual for her Second Transformation, hence incompatible with the modern Profession Stigmata.
To ascend to legendary, the Hero must adhere to some ancient ritual to gain recognition from the Deep Sea.
The Hero’s Mermaid Incarnation was a gift from the Lake Holy Sword, so she held a try-it-and-see attitude, hoping the Lake Holy Sword could provide a solution. Unexpectedly, she hit the mark,
although the Lake Holy Sword didn’t directly offer guidance for the Third Ascension, it allowed her to extract an extremely detailed sea map from the last memory crystal of the Siren Princess, from her longing for her homeland.
The Hero gently touched the sea map she had drawn, her fingers pausing on a particular marked spot.
“This is her homeland…”
Though the Siren Princess had long vanished, her Strength had helped the Hero on many occasions. The Hero herself had had the desire to head to the ocean numerous times but was always hindered by various reasons.
“This distance, if the scale is correct…”
The Fourteenth Princess squinted, extending her forefinger, slowly sliding it from a spot along the Kingdom Coast, presumably a port city, finally lightly touching the Hero’s finger.
[Target Distance (if above Kingdom’s maritime technology: 65, then it’s a sea area unexplored by Humankind)]
D213=d213(124)=124
“This location is already the far sea.” Estimating the distance slightly using the map’s scale, the Fourteenth Princess furrowed her beautiful brows.
“The far sea… does it mean it’s hard to reach?” The Hero humbly inquired.
“Not hard, it’s simply that no one has ever reached it. This distance is entirely beyond the Kingdom’s territorial waters, a completely unknown sea.”
The Fourteenth Princess shook her head helplessly.
The Kingdom has a long coastline, with more than half of its borders adjoining the ocean, particularly the Southern Territory, which has the longest coastline, numerous ports, coastal bay cities, and countless residents living off the sea.
Except for the undeveloped Reverse Flow Sea at the end of the Border Plateau, the coastal areas of the Kingdom are very prosperous.
Although ocean resources are so abundant, the Kingdom’s maritime technology isn’t as strong as some Bards glorify.
Sailing bravely to the far ends of the earth, slaying giant sea monsters from the ocean depths, listening to the admiration-filled ballads of mermaids… these legends might have existed in history but are merely romantic tales for the current Kingdom.
The dangers of the ocean are far greater than the wilderness for those living on land, and the Kingdom hasn’t expanded its borders for many years, so how could it possibly open up faraway overseas routes?
“Is that so? But if it’s just a transformation, we shouldn’t need to go so far.” Hearing the Fourteenth Princess’s narrative filled with a wry smile, the Hero scratched her hair, hesitated.
[Due to the passage of time and the penalty of death, the effect of the Weather Forecast hair dye has been nullified]
Her hair had now returned to nearly black, a dark green. The precious hair dye gifted by the Cruising Bishop, after being subjected to one magic power shock after another, finally couldn’t maintain its effect. Now, even if she went out, the hair color wouldn’t change with the weather, making the Fourteenth Princess regretful for quite a while.
“If, when leaving the Border, I had asked Uncle Count about the developer of that hair dye, it would’ve been great. I quite want it too, so I could dye it the same color as yours.”