The Storm Of Coral Sahar (4)

With the sound of heavy blows—puh puh puk—the servants collapsed to the ground.

“Gahk?!”

“A sneak attack…?”

“Coward!”

Though the fallen servants protested, they were all gasping, either feeling intense pain in their lungs or paralyzed across their bodies. Azadine had used punches, elbows, and kicks in a single motion to take down three of them at once.

The servants, who had been hit square in the solar plexus, wheezed and cursed as they lay on the ground, but speaking in anger only worsened their breathlessness.

“I made my intentions clear. You’re calling this a sneak attack? You’re joking, right?”

Even if it wasn’t, among the Messenger Clan, getting caught off guard was a fool’s fault. Especially when one had initiated a duel—there was no room for excuses.

“Enough! Are you all trying to humiliate me?”

Sion flared up, shouting at the servants.

“I’ve already acknowledged Azadine as a Messenger! And yet, you oppose my decision? Do you think I’m blind or something?”

“N-No, sir.”

“It’s just… there are rumors about Azadine…”

“Rumors? My sister serves him as a Messenger! Don’t you think baseless rumors are exactly that? Or what—are you suggesting that Mediam Ethar has bad judgment? Even if she’s young, do you think someone of Ethar blood is that stupid?”

“……”

“We apologize.”

The servants, defeated by Azadine, admitted their loss.

“Well then, Azadine. The power to decide their fate is yours…”

“No need.”

“No need?”

“They may be Ethar’s servants, but they’re also part of the Korasar Peddler Guild, right? It’s more beneficial for me if they keep working for the guild and help me out that way—money, supplies, information. It’s a win in every way.”

“Hmph, that’s unexpected. You’ve got some class after all.”

“Unexpected? I’m always classy.”

“That last comment knocked you down a peg.”

Despite his words, Sion appreciated that Azadine didn’t demand the servants’ lives or loyalty.

“Everyone, apologize to Azadine. You only apologized to me, didn’t you? Apologize properly to him—say you’re sorry for underestimating him and thank him for sparing your lives.”

“S-Sorry, Azadine.”

“Thank you for forgiving us despite our arrogance, Messenger.”

“If you’re really sorry, help me get this boat into the water. We’re short on time.”

Azadine had the servants hitch mountain goats to the boat’s cart.

With the goats and the people working together, they pushed the boat into the water. The flooding was so severe they barely needed to move it—the area where the village once stood was now submerged, making it easy to launch the boat.

“Alright, looks like it’s been repaired without any issues. Do you know how to steer a boat?”

“Nope.”

Azadine shook his head.

“Then just follow my lead. I’ll teach you how to handle a simple sailboat—it only has one sail, so it won’t take long.”

Sion confidently boarded the boat and took the helm.

“Uh, Sir Sion. Are you sure about this?”

“Most of the people on board are Azadine’s men, after all.”

The Ethar servants, who hadn’t directly clashed with Azadine, still didn’t trust him.

But Sion answered boldly.

“It doesn’t matter. If this man is a traitor, that’s its own kind of meaning. You guys head to the next rendezvous point and fortify it. Contact the family elders. If you run into people from the Arael tribe, just watch them—don’t engage. Pretend you’re just Peddler Guild members and they won’t kill you. Don’t risk your lives over minor victories. Keeping our communication lines intact is the most important task, and I’ll never forget your contributions.”

Sion gave the servants their orders and then boarded the boat with Azadine’s group.

Azadine and his group boarded the boat with Sion, who began teaching them how to handle it. Since it was a small boat, it wasn’t too hard to learn, but the strong current and numerous obstacles made things difficult.

“Flooded villages have brought in a lot of debris. Plus, the area we’re sailing through isn’t even a real river—it was a village. There are buildings underwater, so we need to steer carefully.”

Sion held the helm as he spoke.

“I can’t see a thing. The water’s muddy, and the sky’s too dark. We can’t see what’s under us.”

“You can’t just cast Foreseer Magic into the water. It doesn’t work submerged!”

Ismail shouted, but Sion clicked his tongue.

“That’s because your application skills are weak. Ismail!”

“Y-Yes?”

“I’ll teach you the Foreseeing Cormorant technique.”

Sion recited an incantation and demonstrated the Foreseer Magic himself.

An artificial spirit shot into the sky, then dove sharply, piercing the water’s surface to inspect the submerged obstacles before flying back up.

“Ah!”

“Incredible, brother! As expected!”

Mediam was impressed by Sion’s skill.

“Wow. I wish I could use Foreseer too.”

Azadine also admired Sion’s abilities.

“Well, knowing what’s under the water helps, but… steering the boat while using Foreseer is…”

“What?”

“Bleeaargh!”

Sion couldn’t hold back his dizziness and nausea—he started vomiting uncontrollably. Unfortunately, he was standing up straight, so it looked like a waterfall of puke pouring out of him. Everyone was horrified.

The handsome young man, at the helm, throwing up like a fountain.

“Hey! Throw up outside! What are you doing?”

“But I have to steer the ship. Ugh!”

“Don’t talk while vomiting! Damn it! Was it my fault for talking to you in this situation?”

Azadine turned to his companions for their opinions, and they all nodded.

“You shouldn’t talk to someone in that state,”

Shati commented dryly.

“Indeed… this is hard to watch,”

Zebec muttered, unable to bring himself to use harsher words.

Everyone was flustered, watching Sion vomit. Even Mediam, who usually called him “brother” and followed him devotedly, now looked at him with complete disillusionment.

“Ugh. I’ve always had a bit of seasickness. Using Foreseer Magic on top of that is killing me,” Sion groaned.

“You’re a Messenger, and you get seasick?”

“Yeah. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Even a young man of noble blood like me has small flaws. Makes me human, right?”

“Just clean up your vomit.”

“No need, the heavy rain and wind are washing it away.”

“And where do you think it’s going? It’s running down to the deck. Ugh, seriously.”

Azadine pulled out a cloth and dipped it into a nearby water barrel. The rainwater had filled it up, soaking the cloth instantly.

“Ismail, wipe Sion down with this.”

“Uh, but that’s a deck mop…”

“He won’t notice; it’s soaked. Better than leaving him covered in vomit.”

“……”

Ismail reluctantly approached Sion, who belonged to the noble Ethar bloodline. Though as a servant of the Messenger Clan he should obey Azadine, using a deck mop on a noble like Sion was mortifying.

Despite the heavy rain, the wind was so strong that it was already washing the vomit off Sion’s body as he held onto the helm.

“Ugh, whatever.”

Ismail bowed slightly, then began wiping Sion down with the mop. Sion, still gripping the helm, grumbled.

“The storm’s too strong—the ship’s rocking like crazy. I’m going to puke again. Probably best if I don’t eat anything.”

At that, Scott leapt up in alarm.

“What do you mean?! That’s insane! I’m fishing right now!”

“Fishing?”

Azadine looked over to see Scott and Zebec cheerfully fishing off the side of the boat.

“See? They’re biting easily, even without bait.”

Zebec had tied some suture thread to his iron mace, using it as a makeshift fishing rod.

Right, fishing was one of Zebec’s hobbies and skills. He expertly caught fish without any bait, tossing them into a nearby bucket. Scott was helping, hoping to get some food.

The boat was small, so it didn’t need many people to handle the sail. Sion steered the helm while Azadine managed the sail alone, his strength enough to handle what usually took two people.

“You’re saying we’re not going to eat? No way! I’m going to die of hypoglycemia! I can see my ancestors waving at me from across the river!”

Scott clutched his head dramatically.

‘This guy… no doubt he’s capable, but traveling with him is a pain. He eats too much, talks too much… Now I get why orcs have such a bad reputation, even among the followers of the Kurt God Clan.’

Azadine was getting tired of Scott’s antics, but as the leader, he had to calm him down.

“Hey, we’re moving fast. It won’t take long. We’ll stop and eat as soon as we find a decent spot to anchor.”

“Ughhh, I’m going to die. You don’t understand how delicate orcs are. I expected humans to be ignorant, but this? This suffering goes beyond what I imagined.”

“You’re so delicate it’s making me angry. Should I appreciate that about you even more?”

Just then—

“Everyone, shut up! They’re coming!” Shati screamed.

“What is?!”

“Ah?!”

At the front of the boat, Mediam spotted something moving beneath the water’s surface.

“Naga!”

“Naga?!”

A flash of lightning illuminated the scene.

Sliding over the turbulent water, pale-skinned Naga approached, their skin shifting colors to blend with the environment.

“Tch!”

“They’re fast!”

Realizing they’d been spotted, the Naga began casting spells. Magic projectiles shot beneath the water, creating bubbles as they homed in on the boat.

“Gah?!”

“Stop them, Mediam!”

“Yes!”

Mediam sprinted to the boat’s edge, leaped high into the air, using the rocking of the boat to her advantage, and fired arrows mid-air.

Swish!

Her arrows, following flawless arcs, dove like hunting kingfishers, striking the submerged projectiles.

Boom!

Explosions sent water pillars shooting into the air. Mediam fired more arrows, aiming at the Naga, but they dived underwater, dodging the shots before leaping back up and opening their mouths wide.

“Gah!”

A deafening roar shattered the air, disturbing Mediam’s balance mid-air, forcing her to stumble during her landing.

But Ismail rushed to the edge just in time, catching her as she fell. Together, they slid backward along the deck before Zebec and Shati helped them to their feet.

“These humans… they’re better than we expected,”

One of the Naga muttered in surprise.

“Ugh, damn it. What should I do?”

Shati hesitated, torn between allegiances. If she helped the Naga, Azadine’s punishment would be severe. But if she helped Azadine, the Naga would brand her a traitor.

Finally, she pretended to tie a rope around her wrist, but secretly just held it with her hand, then screamed.

“Ahhh!”

‘Nice try. But as long as Shati helps heal us later with her regeneration magic, it’s fine,’

Azadine thought with a bitter smile.

Meanwhile, the gap between the Naga and the boat continued to shrink.