A Mythical Creature Appears?!

As Prince Alexei approached, Ian asked with a bewildered look on his face.

“But what if that woman ends up pregnant?”

“Well, then she’ll be bearing a new child of mine, wouldn’t she? If I check later and she has the same hair color or looks like me, I’ll just bring them both to the Noma Empire.”

“And you’re fine with that?”

At Ian’s question, Alexei grinned shamelessly and answered:

“Our royal family is fairly open-minded, you see. We follow the principle of having as many children as possible.”

“I see.”

It was a reasoning Ian could understand. Given the harsh climate, infant mortality was likely high—so having more children made sense. Royal or noble, their fate was the same: to produce heirs and continue the bloodline.

Surely, across the world, there were illegitimate children born of royal blood.

“Anyway, when are we departing?”

“Let’s set off in about three hours. Prince Ian, have you had lunch yet?”

“Not yet. It’s still a bit early.”

“Then why don’t you join me? The chef at this hotel is quite skilled. His seafood dishes are excellent.”

“It’s a bit early, but I’ll join you.”

“Hahaha! Let’s go. I worked up quite an appetite this morning.”

Watching Alexei move off like that, Ian thought he might be a little too open-minded. Nevertheless, he followed him, and they ordered food at the dining hall—steamed seafood, naturally.

Paired with the right sauces, it was quite delicious. After their meal, they returned to their respective ships. Since the meal had taken about an hour, they now had two hours left before departure. Just then, a new ship approached the island.

“By the look of its flag, it appears to be a cruiser from the Vein Kingdom.”

It was likely a late arrival. Ian considered whether it would be appropriate to greet them. On the Noma side, a flag signal was already being prepared—a gesture to extend greetings. Thus, Ian had to disembark once again.

“If I recall, the Vein Kingdom is one of the stronger western kingdoms.”

He remembered it bordered both the Doicheun and Noma Empires—located in the western part of the continent. After a while, a boat launched from the cruiser and approached the harbor.

“Welcome. I am Alexei di Noma, Fourth Prince of the Noma Empire.”

“Ah, it is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

So they spoke Doicheun. Likely a choice made because Alexei had spoken it first—perhaps out of courtesy to Ian. Ian could tell Alexei had used Doicheun on purpose for his sake.

‘Some of them surely speak Nomaic, but he used our language for me. That was considerate.’

“We’re just about to depart today. Ah, and this fine young man beside me is Prince Ian of the Polia Kingdom.”

“Oh! So this is the famous Prince Ian. It’s a pleasure. I must be lucky to meet such a renowned figure in person.”

“I’m not that renowned.”

“Haha, no need for modesty. You’re quite well-known in our kingdom.”

Despite the man’s laughter, Ian noticed something strange in his expression—a hint of unease. The others with him had similar faces, as if trying to hide something.

‘They’ve already seen the sea monster, haven’t they?’

“Hm? You’ve already encountered the sea monster, haven’t you?”

“W-What? How did you…”

“I knew it.”

Alexei grinned with a smug, gotcha expression. The man who had spoken was caught off-guard—clearly realizing he’d been baited. Ian couldn’t help but be impressed by Alexei’s sharp perception and ability to read people.

“I just thought something seemed off, but he saw through it immediately… He’s even more capable than I expected.”

Eventually, the officer from the Vein Kingdom spoke, clearly unable to hide it any longer.

“Actually… before arriving here, we discovered the remains of a destroyed fishing boat. It had been torn completely in two.”

“A fishing boat, you say?”

“Yes. It was utterly shattered. We recovered some of the wreckage and examined it—it looked as though something had forcefully ripped it apart.”

“Oh? Sounds like quite the sea monster.”

“The boat was a medium-class vessel. Judging by that, the monster must be massive.”

It was unusual for him to reveal so much, but once exposed in front of a prince, hiding the truth became nearly impossible. From their expressions, it was clear they had no choice but to admit it. Perhaps it was also due to being neighbors with the Noma Empire.

“Where did the ship go down?”

“Roughly two days northwest of this island.”

“What? That’s the route we already traveled through.”

“Is that so?”

“Could it have been one of the fishing boats we passed?”

Apparently, the sea monster was closer than they thought. More importantly, they’d now acquired a vital clue at just the right time. The ships that had already departed were likely wandering blindly, unaware of this information.

“I don’t know how territorial this thing is, but we’ve at least narrowed the search area.”

Alexei seemed to be thinking the same thing. The two princes exchanged looks and nodded—they were ready to begin the hunt.

“Still, why come here? Aren’t you looking for the monster too?”

“Yes, but we needed to resupply before continuing.”

“Ah, I see.”

It made sense. They had been sailing for over a month—they needed fuel and provisions before they could press on. Unfortunate for them that they’d run into Alexei and were forced to spill such critical information.

Alexei then patted the Vein Kingdom captain’s shoulder with a grin.

“You go ahead and resupply. We’ll be off ahead of you.”

“Understood.”

“Shall we, then?”

He gestured toward Ian, who nodded and followed. It was time to depart. Once back on the battleship, they raised anchor. The boilers were already running.

They didn’t even need tugboats—since they were already offshore, they simply turned the ship and began to move out.

After traveling for two days, they arrived at a stretch of sea that still bore faint traces of disturbance. However, there was no sign of the fishing boat wreck they had heard about. Perhaps it had been deliberately destroyed—exploded even—to erase all evidence, whether or not they spoke of it.

“It must still be somewhere near these waters.”

Moving in tandem with the Noma Empire’s battleship, they began to search the area thoroughly. Since the creature had even attacked fishing vessels, it was likely aggressive. They kept their senses fully alert, in case it approached unexpectedly.

Just like that, another four days passed. It was now the sixth day since the search began.

“Still nothing in sight.”

“Do you think the information they gave us was even real?”

“Hard to say…”

“Maybe they fed us false intel just to mislead us. We never even found any real wreckage.”

Hearing his aide’s words, Ian had to admit—it was possible. Perhaps the Vein Kingdom had lied to keep them stuck in this part of the sea. But would they really lie in front of a Noma prince? The panic they’d shown at the time had seemed genuine.

“Maybe… but we can’t rule it out. Still, there was some floating debris on the surface.”

“True, but considering this area was once a busy fishing zone, that kind of debris might not be unusual.”

“Possibly. But let’s search just a bit longer. If we still find nothing, I’ll speak to Prince Alexei about moving elsewhere.”

The aide nodded at last. Checking the time, he began stretching, noting it was almost time for the next shift.

“You look exhausted, sir.”

“My eyes are starting to sting.”

“Looks like the executive officer will be arriving soon. You should get some rest.”

“I suppose I should. You ought to rest too, you know.”

“I’ll take my breaks once you’re asleep, Captain.”

Seeing the loyalty and efficiency of his aide, Ian once again felt grateful for having chosen him. Just then, through the open door beside the bridge, a voice called out in alarm.

“Captain! Massive bubbles forming at 2 o’clock!”

“Bubbles?”

Ian rushed to the lookout station and raised his binoculars toward the indicated direction. Through the magnified view, he could see bubbles rising from the otherwise calm sea.

Was it just a natural phenomenon? That thought was instantly dispelled when something suddenly surged up from beneath the surface.

“What is that…?!”

“I-It’s a battleship!”

A massive ship, unmistakably a battleship, burst out of the ocean. It wasn’t a submarine—how could a full-sized battleship surface like that? The sight was beyond belief. Realizing the gravity of the moment, Ian quickly turned to his aide.

“Are we recording this? We are recording, right?”

“Ah—yes! We assigned crew members to keep the cameras rolling at all times.”

“Good. This is something the whole world needs to see—a battleship erupting from the sea! But wait… don’t you recognize it too?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“That ship—it looks a lot like our own battleship, doesn’t it?”

“Ah! Now that you mention it… The hull looks almost identical to the Luda. Wait—could that be a Doicheun Empire battleship?”

“That’s what I’m thinking. No wonder we hadn’t seen them around—they were attacked out here…”

The ship was clearly not intact. Its hull was broken in several places, the gun turrets bent like soft metal. It was clear something had severely damaged it. There was little chance anyone onboard had survived.

“This could be bad. If that thing could do this to a battleship…”

“That means the sea monster we’re after is unimaginably dangerous.”

Just then, something even more shocking entered their view. Thick, powerful limbs shot up from the ocean, coiling around the ruined Doicheun battleship.

“Tentacles?”

“T-Those are definitely Kraken tentacles!”

“The Kraken? As in the mythical creature from old stories?”

“Yes! They were thought to be extinct long ago. But… to think one is still alive…”

The aide’s face lit up with excitement at the sight of a living legend. But this was no time for wonder. If the Kraken turned its attention toward their own ship, they would be in serious danger.

Quickly regaining composure, the aide shouted:

“Captain! We need to get out of here immediately! If it attacks us next, we’re finished!”

“Agreed.”

They already had enough footage to serve as proof. The beast’s limbs continued squeezing the ruined battleship, likely trying to break it completely.

Though not easy—breaking apart a 30,000-ton steel colossus would require immense force—it might explain what had happened. Maybe it had dragged the ship deep underwater and had only now lost its grip, causing the vessel to shoot back up and release trapped air as bubbles.

“Turn the ship to 9 o’clock and retreat at maximum speed! Notify the Noma fleet that we’re pulling back!”

With Ian’s orders, the bridge burst into action. The helm turned rapidly, shifting the ship’s direction. Signals were sent to the engine room to increase output. The crew must have begun shoveling coal with urgency.

As their ship began pulling away, the executive officer arrived on deck, having heard the commotion. Ian explained the situation briefly, and together they saw that Alexei’s battleship was also turning.

If they moved fast enough, they might escape without incident. Ian went to the lookout post and peered through his binoculars toward the rear.

The Kraken’s limbs, which had been fiercely grappling the Doicheun ship, were gone.

“Has it noticed us? Where is it now?”

Ian sharpened his senses, preparing to immobilize the creature with his psychic power if it attacked. Just then—something happened near Alexei’s ship.