성황의 아이들 [3]

494

494. Stranding (4)

The group completely abandoned their plan to replenish their water supply at Cosmima Island. After confirming the mass death of whales, they could not just set their boats out into the sea.

A situation where you can't even guess what kind of serious danger might be lurking around you.

"I don't feel any particular presence of the sea demon... ... ."

Despite Logan's assurance, the cautious General Lysander shook his head.

"It doesn't have to be this island, Your Majesty. If you go a little further south from here, you will come across Peridero Island, the second largest island in the archipelago."

Peridereo Island was a place where naval forces patrolling the open seas would sometimes stay, as it was a good location for observing the movements of sea monsters.

Given the circumstances, the island has a small port, as well as simple outposts and basic facilities. It was thought that there would be no better place for a fleet to stay for a day.

"But General, isn't that place too close to the den of sea demons? It seems dangerous to move with such a large fleet."

"It'll probably be okay now, Your Majesty. The number of demons seems to have decreased considerably."

This was a route that would have encountered sea monsters many times. However, since nothing has happened so far, most of the monsters were probably killed in the first expedition.

So the fleet reorganized its formation a bit and headed south again.

After passing a row of large and small islands, we proceeded for some time until the sailor hanging from the masthead announced loudly:

"...Ah! I can see the island, General!"

Soon, the thick, half-folded pancake-like shape of Peridereo Island could be seen with the naked eye from the deck.

It was said to be the second largest island in the archipelago, and indeed, it was so large that the opposite end of the island could not be seen at a glance.

however-

"The whales... ... ."

General Lysander, who had been looking straight ahead for a moment, muttered with a slightly dejected expression as he folded up his telescope.

"There are dead whales over there too... ... ."

As he said, the situation at Peridereo Island was not much different. On the long sandbank shaped like a crescent moon, there were many more whales stranded in a row than before.

Most of them were small dolphins, but occasionally there were large humpback whales and young sperm whales mixed in.

Skins dried out and tattered from exposure to the sun. Deep scars from the scraping of waves and rocks.

The various marks carved into the black hide made us guess at how horrific and desperate the series of processes the whales had to go through before they died were.

"It seems like quite some time has passed since that happened. There are no living whales left."

Logan shook his head with a serious expression.

Then, suddenly, he noticed Mitra looking at the beach with a very serious face. At that moment, a strange intuition flashed through the Sword Master's mind.

"Mitra? Do you have any idea?"

"... I'm not entirely sure, but I think so."

Draconian hesitated for a moment and then answered truthfully. Even if he hid something, Prince Logan would find out everything anyway.