The Guarded Princess

XXVI

For the next few days, they had all gathered in planning hall where each one of them took their places atop the various balconies that surrounded the materialized vision of the southern ocean. They were preparing for this year's Mahrajan and unlike previous years, the southern creatures seemed to have stayed at bay, arriving a little later than usual.

"Why not just wait it out?" Sharrkan said, throwing his head back. "They're still going to come sooner or later. Moreover, by allowing them to come to land, we attract tourists."

Yamraiha, who sat next to him, smacked his head with her wand. "First, fix that stupid head of yours."

"What?!" he yelled at her.

"Take a look," she said before he could say anything back. The materialized vision of the southern waters was zoomed in and there, they could see a dark mass of silhouettes swarming around in the midst of the ocean. "They're at bay and they don't intend on moving anytime soon."

"Which is weird," Pisti said with seriousness, resting her arms along the balcony edge. "Normally they'd be approaching Sindria at high speeds at this time of the year. But, they're just remaining fixated there."

"Not to mention, it's quite far from Sindria. Almost at the center of the ocean," Spartos remarked.

Sharrkan raised an eyebrow. "Which is pretty bad, I'm assuming."

"It's not exactly bad," Drakon answered, standing next to Sinbad along with Ja'far. "We're just taking precautions. With none of us knowing why they're suddenly behaving that way, it's better to go check it out in person and personally take care of the problem before it may take a downturn."

"After all, it'd be bad if the citizens got caught up in it," Hinahoho said as he stood behind Pisti and Spartos.

"So the reason why you called us is so that you want us to help you take care of your own problem, King Sinbad?" Kouen looked at Sinbad, who sat two balconies away.

Sinbad gave a nervous laugh. "Well, you didn't have to say i-"

Kouen glared at him with flaring eyes. "It's your problem, basically, is it not?" he said with a deep, demanding voice.

Sinbad flinched back as beads of sweat came trickling down his face. He hung his head low and gave in. "Y-Yes."

Kouen sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. Koumei, who stood to his side, held his fan to his mouth and looked at Sinbad with distaste. He was already tired enough from dealing with all those documents and hadn't even gotten a good day of sleep. To suddenly be tasked with dealing with the southern ocean creatures...he shook his head. He just wanted to sleep and laze around.

"Kouen-niisama, do we really have to?"

"Yes," Sinbad answered for him with a dead-serious face. "You have to."

"No one asked you!" Koumei was ready to throw his fan at him.

"But, it wouldn't be so bad to go hunting once in a while," Kouha said, leaning against Kouen's armrest with a smirk. "It's been a while since I got to practice my sword."

"And all the better if it's in the ocean," Kougyoku grinned, looking forward to it. "Vinea would be excited to go and let herself out. Right, Vinea?"

Her metal vessel that was pinned through her hair gleamed a bit, acknowledging what its master had just said. Kougyoku hummed to herself in excitement. This was going to be the second time that she would be going out with everyone and was looking forward to being with Lucy once more. Water was the type of magic that she held and since they were going out into the ocean, it was no different from being her domain. She was going to be Lucy's knight, her eyes shone with confidence.