Guardian Deity Of The Central Sea

“Alright!”

Finally, the morning of departure for the subjugation of the Guardian Deity of the Central Sea.

Alone in his room, Jonah was psyching himself up.

He had already finished his preparations and was ready to leave at any moment.

Ready to depart from this castle… from the Kingdom of Benedia itself.

However.

“…They’re definitely standing right outside the door, aren’t they?”

Now that the day had come, they must have realized he was planning to slip away.

He could sense Aurora and Priscilla’s presence beyond the door. Perhaps they were deliberately letting their presence be felt as a warning: “We’re watching you.”

“Well, no problem.”

As long as he teleported directly from this room to Carlo’s ship, Il Vento D’oro, nothing would stand in his way.

All he had to do was pray that the two of them didn’t enter the room before then.

And yet—

“Young Master Jonah, how about some of this cake today?”

“No, the macarons I brought would surely suit your palate better.”

It was business as usual, but sure enough, the two maids entered the room and kept pressing sweets on Jonah.

He was grateful for their kindness, yet today of all days he wished they would leave him alone; he drooped inwardly.

‘There’s no helping it. Even if I eat the sweets and teleport after they leave, I’ll still have plenty of time.’

Deciding that was fine, Jonah first took a bite of Aurora’s cake.

“…! It’s delicious!”

“Thank you very much. And thank you for the meal.”

Overwhelmed by how delicious the cake was, Jonah exclaimed in delight—only for Aurora to mysteriously say that.

She hadn’t eaten anything herself, so what did she mean by “thank you for the meal”?

“I can’t let my sister beat me. Next, please try these.”

Nom…

“W-woooow! These are incredibly delicious too!”

“Hauu!”
“Hauu!”

Seeing Jonah’s face light up with joy, both maids clutched their chests and let out strange squeals.

To them, Jonah’s adorable smile was already the greatest reward imaginable.

After that, the two continued offering him sweets and writhing in delight.

Jonah watched them with a complicated expression… but then—

“U-um…”

“What is it?”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“N-no, it’s not that…”

Even after finishing the sweets, with both of them staring at him from either side of the bed, Jonah couldn’t move and felt indescribably awkward.

They had never done anything like this until yesterday. As he thought, they really were keeping a close eye on him.

‘Could it be… they plan to watch me until Carlo returns from the subjugation…?’

Jonah’s intuition was correct.

The two were genuinely worried about Jonah, and on top of that, Carlo had strictly ordered them to keep watch over him, so they had resolved never to leave his side for even a moment, twenty-four hours a day.

Of course, they knew it was utterly impossible for a mere child like Jonah to slip past their surveillance—but just in case.

To be absolutely certain, they were taking every possible precaution.

“U-um, what about your duties?”

“Thank you for your concern. Sir Federico has given us permission to remain at your side, so there is no issue.”

“On the contrary, leaving Young Master Jonah’s side would make us unfit as maids.”

It seemed the two were determined to never part from Jonah, no matter what.

At this rate, Jonah wouldn’t be able to rush to Carlo’s side and face the guardian deity.

Realizing this, Jonah quietly traced a magic circle beneath the sheets where they wouldn’t notice.

“Ah… Th-This is…!”

“No way…”

The two desperately tried to resist, but they couldn’t fight it; within seconds they collapsed face-down on the bed, fast asleep.

Of course, this was the work of Jonah’s ancient magic.

After confirming once more that they were asleep, Jonah slowly climbed down from the bed.

“I’m sorry. And… thank you.”

Jonah bowed deeply to the two of them, then teleported to Il Vento D’oro.

And then—

“I-I knew it! Challenging the guardian deity was insane after all!”

“Don’t chicken out now, damn it! We’re doing this anyway!”

What appeared before him were sailors screaming and shouting angrily, frantically running about.

The scattered wreckage of ships floating on the sea like trash.

And… an enormous sea-serpent magical beast clad in azure scales, casting a shadow so massive it completely engulfed even the grand flagship Il Vento D’oro.

“This… is…”

—The “Guardian Deity of the Central Sea” opened its jaws wide, poised to strike.