"There are countless islands in the fjord, and no one has ever been to the border of these islands," said a tall, rugged-looking man, "and the farther east you go, the more unpredictable the climate becomes, and the same goes for the islands." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info really doesn't know how weird they can be in the end. ”

"Even you haven't arrived?" Tilly asked curiously, "they say you're the most brilliant explorer of the fjord, and few people but you dare to cross the Isle of Fire and continue east." ”

"Hahaha," he laughed heartily, "it's all magnified praise, and in fact every year the brave Fiordmen venture eastward, but it's hard to make any new discoveries." Violent hurricanes and sudden fog can make it difficult for ships to move an inch. ”

He is Thunder, Ash Thought, the first explorer to discover the Shadow Islands, but since he lost his whereabouts in a shipwreck two years ago, many people thought he was tragically killed, but he did not expect him to appear on the Sleeping Isles, and made a deal with the Five Princesses - he would open up new routes, charts, and find more new ruins for the Isles, and Tilly sent witches to assist him in the expedition. As for the two years since she disappeared, she has not heard the other party mention it, and Tilly has not talked about it, but she always feels that His Royal Highness knows the inside story, otherwise the two would not have such a tacit understanding. This made Ash feel slightly unhappy.

"Like yesterday's hurricane?"

"That's right, in the blink of an eye, in a flash," Thunder shook his pipe, scattering the ashes into the sea, refilling it with blades of grass and igniting it, "if it weren't for that magical witch—"

"Her name is Moriel," Ash Hard Bang reminded.

"Ah, that's right, look at my memory," Thunder didn't care at all, touching the back of his head and laughing, "If it weren't for Moriel, I'm afraid the ship would have been turned upside down." Her abilities are simply amazing, and I've often wondered if a witch might be the right explorer. ”

"There's already one, isn't it," Tilly smiled slightly, "...... A witch who bears the name of the most illustrious explorer. ”

"Hmm......" Thunder took a deep puff of his pipe and exhaled a long string of smoke, "I hope so." ”

Here it is again, Ash frowned, and he couldn't understand what the two were saying. She simply left the bow of the boat and walked to the stern to calm down. Her Royal Highness seemed to be eager to explore the ruins, and immediately after cleaning the fjord church, she began to prepare for the sea. And to her surprise, His Highness asked to go in person, and it was useless to dissuade herself.

Moriel was sitting in the stern of the boat, the magical servant who controlled it was holding a fishing rod and learning to fish with the sailors. Although the sailors were still a little resistant to the witch when they got aboard, the attitude of the people had changed dramatically since yesterday's hurricane - Moriel ordered the summoned magical servants to swell rapidly, enveloping the middle part of the sailboat in a way that could not be invaded by both the wind and the rain. While the boat rises and falls in wave after wave, the hull remains stable throughout. Nowadays, every sailor regards witches as gods of luck, and even says that they will not dare to go to sea without the company of witches in the future.

"Sister Ash, look at the big fish I've caught!" Moriel pointed to the bucket behind her, where a scalless sea fish with a sharp beak lay in it, very different from the river fish she had seen in Greycastle.

"What is this?"

"The swordfish, which likes to sail with the boat, sometimes its pointed beak will break the bottom of the boat," replied the sailor, "but it tastes very good, especially the meat of the belly, which melts like ice in the mouth," he smacked his lips, "and in the evening everyone can enjoy the delicious boiled swordfish." ”

"I think I've got another fish hooked here!" Moriel said in surprise.

I saw a black shadow appear under the turquoise water, and it was about to surface soon as the movement of the magic servant's lever became larger and larger.

"This ...... This is," the sailor was stunned, "no, throw away the rod!"

Before he could finish speaking, a strangely shaped creature had already jumped out of the water, opened its mouth and bit directly at Moriel.

It was about to swallow its target whole, but the ash was faster than it, and she picked up the little girl in her left hand and swung her greatsword with her right hand, slamming it directly into the attacker's head.

The monster let out a painful hiss and was smashed down from the air, its six legs slashing rapidly to escape back into the water, but the ashes didn't give it a chance. She let go of Moriel and slammed her sword in both hands, pinning the monster straight to the deck.

It twitched for a moment, spat out a string of white bubbles from its mouth, and soon stopped moving.

"What is this?" Ash had a chance to take a closer look at the monster in front of him - it looked like a fish, had short, crab-like legs, and had a round mouth when it opened, almost as big as its body, and it was full of dense teeth. Most disgustingly, it also has a pair of furry arms on either side of its mouth, which are split into five fingers at the end, making it look like human hands.

"A mutated sea ghost!" the sailor patted his chest in horror, "They often disguise themselves as fish, biting anglers and dragging them into the water, and I heard that only sea ghosts that have eaten people grow hands!"

"The latter sentence is just a rumor," someone behind him said. Ash turns around to find both Thunder and Tilly walking over.

"Mr. Captain!" the sailor stuck out his tongue and immediately moved out of his seat.

"The more sensational the rumor, the more inaccurate it is," Thunder stepped forward and kicked the monster on the ground, "in fact, it has a name that you might be more familiar with." ”

"What?" Ash asked.

"Evil beasts. He said word for word.

"Lord Thunder, it's foggy!" suddenly shouted the lookout.

"Cheer up, everyone!" Thunder ordered in a loud voice, "Lower the sails, we're sailing into the Shadow Sea!"

Ash noticed that the sky, which had been clear a moment ago, suddenly darkened, and the turquoise sea turned dark green, as if a cloud of ink was spreading underwater. In a few moments, the hull of the ship was surrounded by a thick mist, and she could not even make out the figure at the bow of the ship as she stood at the stern.

"What's going on?" Tilly couldn't help but grab Ash's arm.

"Prove that we're not going in the wrong direction," Thunder smiled, "and when the Shadow Islands emerge from the sea, a thick mist rises over the sea. Of course, the correct statement should be that the sea water is receding, the amplitude is about ten zhang, and the huge drop will produce a lot of water vapor, plus the reef is everywhere, so the slightest carelessness will hit the reef and sink. I need your witch to help keep the ship from crashing. ”

When the group reached the bow of the ship, as they did against a storm, Moriel let the magical servants wrap the bow of the ship, swelling up as much as possible, and sinking part of her body into the water, so that even if there was a reef on the bow, the servants would feel it first.

"What are you going to do if there are no witches?" Ash asked.

"Then it's just patience and luck," Thunder sighed, "the fleet will send small boats to explore the way ahead, and after confirming that it is clear, the big ships will follow." But the sea in this area is not calm, just like the evil beasts you saw before, the closer you get to the Shadow Islands, the more numerous they become. Mist, reef, monsters...... That's why many explorers go here, but few find the entrance to the ruins. ”

After sailing for another hour or so, the fog gradually receded, and Ash saw more and more islands around him, but there were few plants on them, only green moss or algae, and many crustaceans crawling. "Are all these islands sunk in the water?"

"Yes, it's like a sleeping island, but the interval between high and low tide here is much faster, about once every half a month. Thunder replied, "And it rises and falls so fast that it's like there's a huge hole in the ground, frantically devouring the surrounding water." I even suspect that the sea level change in the entire fjord has something to do with it. If we're lucky, we'll be able to see the main island leap out of the seabed. (To be continued.) )