CH 161

As the night had arrived, a swarm of stars twinkled frantically. The irritated Sagastar shook his head while looking up at the sky. After adjusting his expression several times as if he was adjusting his clothes, he spoke in the most polite tone he could possibly muster.

“Sir Edgar, you must go in now.”

“…”

However, Ed had long treated Sagastar as if he were a mere parrot. One that could only say ‘You must go in’. The pitiful commodore sighed deeply while looking at Ed, who didn’t budge this time either. 

‘During the day, he only stares at the Eastern horizon and by night his attention is solely focused on the Northern sky…’

After observing him for a few days, Sagastar finally concluded.

‘Somewhere along the line, he must have gone mad in one way or another… It suddenly feels like the truth that when you think a man can’t become any stranger, he’ll eventually take it up a notch…’

After receiving the uniform jacket from the captain, Sagastar placed it around Ed’s shoulders without saying a word. Beneath Ed’s colourless face, the brilliant crimson uniform looked like paint that was accidentally spilt on him. 

‘At this point, anyone can tell that he isn’t searching for a mere sword anymore…’

Sagastar consciously lowered his eyes. 

‘The symbol of the Admiral… three stars embroidered with golden thread, adorned by epaulettes. He must be the only human who can make those blissful stars fade this much… What can be meaningful enough to become such an obsession for him… whom even the highest honour is meaningless?’ 

Sagastar couldn’t help but wonder.

“Apologies, Sir Edgar, but may I ask where we’re going?”

“…”

“What’s exactly on that ship? And don’t give the excuse that it’s not the ship you’re looking for.”

Even though he asked, Sagastar didn’t really expect his question to be answered as Ed was naturally reticent. 

‘It actually isn’t because of his serious personality. Rather, other people simply annoy him… He only gives conclusions, and usually, they’re in the form of an order. I have long given up on the hope to receive an explanation of his thought process… There’s one exception… He’ll talk a lot longer when it’s about something ordinary men don’t usually understand, such as relics, artefacts, and things associated with ancient history.’

When Ed finally opened his mouth, Sagastar knew his hunch was right.

“Look at that star, Sagastar.”

‘So, it’s indeed about something historical again?’

“Which one do you mean?”

“The most beautiful star shining over there.”

“Yes. The Mariner’s Star.”

“…”

Sagastar, noticing subtle injustice, immediately corrected himself.

“If not, it’s the Alvenis Triangle.”

Only then did Ed let out a deep breath from affirmation. Sagastar stretched his neck forward and a bit to the side to give Ed the feeling he was playing along with his story. Whenever a dying person came to talk about something, Sagastar was naturally compelled to respond. For him, it was doing that person a favour by pretending to be interested in the topic.

“Do you know the story about the ancient goddess Alvenis and a human man?”

“No, but I’m very curious.”

Despite Sagastar’s enthusiastic response, Ed remained aloof and sighed. Then, out of the blue, the admiral looked back at the aspirant who was rubbing his hand with a hot towel, and spoke to him.

“Do you know?”

The aspirant who was working hard on his assigned task, raised his head in a daze. As if he couldn’t believe that the admiral spoke to him, his red-hot face glanced around, and he could barely answer.

“…Oh, no. Admiral.”

Ed clicked his tongue while narrowing his brows as if their responses were deplorable.

“Alvenis is a goddess. In fact, she’s the youngest child of Gromer, the god of thunder. But she had a story of her own.”

“…”

Sagastar nodded excessively and pretended to understand.

“She went around in the form of a human woman, but other than being beautiful, it was said that she didn’t really have anything special about her. She was in charge of defence, however she had barely any work to do. From the East to the West and from the North all the way to the South, peace was spread all over earth. Unable to overcome her boredom, she came down to the human world to satisfy her curiosity. Obviously, the rest of the story is pretty much a cliché; she fell in love with a human fisherman.”

“…”

Ed pulled out his hand wrapped in the towel and touched his forehead. Cold sweat had broken out above his deeply sunken eyes. Annoyed, Ed whisked away the hairs that stuck to it. Even while only taking light breaths, his uniform kept slipping off his shoulders. Sagastar had nervously watched the scene before carefully lifting the jacket again.

Despite all this, Ed persistently continued his story like a dying person who was stating his will.

“Alvenis had a beauty that transcended humanity, so a lot of men courted and seduced her. And the goddess, who didn’t know the principles of human fidelity, only sought pleasure. It was even said that she had seduced humans all over the earth in her travels as the goddess of defence.”

“That makes me feel sorry for the fisherman then.”

“Yes. Eventually, the fisherman, who was abandoned by Alvenis, became angry and ended up catching a whale. You may wonder why he wanted to catch a whale all of the sudden, but it was said he tried to weave a net with its toughest tendons. It seems like a terrible idea now, but at that time it was the limit of his own imagination… Anyway, apparently his intention was to catch her with it. How do you think that turned out?”

“She was caught?”

“No. It was because her father felt sorry for her and helped her. Remember? Her father was Gromer, the god of thunder. He took his daughter to heaven and put her in a star. He then told her to never wander the human world again.”

Slightly embarrassed, Sagastar couldn’t stop himself from finding the story absurd and snapped back.

“What?! So it didn’t go well? Is that it?!”

“In response, the fisherman built a huge boat. He loaded it with water and provisions and set sail. Watching her shine in the Northern sky, he got closer to her day by day. But as you know, the sky is not a realm that humans can reach. Also, isn’t the ocean much wider than humans initially thought? After a few months, he ran out of food and waited for the day he would die… That was not all. Gromer hated the man obsessed with his daughter, so he thundered the sea every single day. The god of thunder’s friends, heavy rain and gale, also answered his call. Even Orsay of the sea, the goddess that everyone loved, danced for them.”

“So, did he die?”

“And yet he survived.”

“Yeah, well, I guess he did…”

Ed looked at Sagastar disapprovingly.

“Don’t you sound a bit too sour?”

“Am I? Well, Gods and stars… isn’t it a typical mythological story?”

“On top of that, you’re being very naive too.”

“Those who believe such absurd stories are more naive.”

Despite Sagastar’s sarcastic remarks, Ed looked at him as if he truly were the naïve one. The commodore always felt a sense of disconnection instead of blindly believing in the myths told by Ed, who seemed to see them as the incarnation of reality, rather than reality itself. So, it felt too distant and unfamiliar whenever Ed told him such stories.

“That was men’s first voyage, Sagastar.”

“…”

“At that time, humans only rowed boats to catch fish near the coastal area. They didn’t think of crossing the ocean, not even once. But because of what that fisherman started, humans began to imagine the possibility of long ocean voyages. Ironically enough, it were the same humans who got out there on the coast, laughing at the fisherman’s foolish love and mockingly questioning if he wouldn’t sail right over the edge of the world… Anyway, not only inventors are curious. It’s curiosity that tends to create inventors.”

“…What? Is that true?…”

Captain Long couldn’t help himself and ended up intervening unintentionally. Ed, of course, went on in complete disregard of him.

“The fisherman’s survival was truly incredible. Gromer, who gave him all sorts of trials at first, eventually admired the fisherman’s love. When the life of the fisherman eventually came to an end, he was placed in a position where he could see Alvenis’ seat anywhere in the moving sky. That spot is the Mariner’s Star that rises in the North.”

“..!”

As if possessed, the Captain and the aspirant both looked up at the Northern sky at the same time.

“From then on, navigators wandering around in Orsay’s bosom measured their positions by looking at the distance between the Alvenis Triangle and the Mariner’s star. Although there was a lot of inaccuracy before various tools were developed, it was still a useful indicator. Even now.”

Sagastar was the only one still holding on to a sceptical attitude.

“Why are you talking about this nonsense?”

“The Central Continent as we know it now, was once actually the Southern Continent. There’s a story you don’t know about the original Central Continent.”

“There’s more?…”