“Creak, creak –”
As the bedboards bumped and rocked, the imbalance pressing into his body kept prodding at Lin Nuo, and he finally cracked open his eyelids.
Through the curtains adorned with conch shells and pearl clams, he gazed outside at the teak ship’s rail bathed in dusk for over a minute.
His mind, as if tossed inside a washing machine for countless cycles, finally began to clear.
“Where is this…?”
‘Damn it, why is it that every time I wake up, I never know where I am!’
“This décor… Migludia Family’s ‘Gilded’?”
Judging his location by the details, Lin Nuo shifted his gaze toward the person with long flaxen hair, clad in a solemn red guard’s uniform.
“Young Master, you’re up so early!”
Kaier, the manor guard captain, saw he was awake and immediately put down the brilliantly polished sword to come over.
“When did I get on the ship?”
“Not long ago—if you want to be exact, it was this afternoon.”
Judging by the sky, it’s evening now.
So, since boarding the Gilded until now, it’s only been sailing for a few hours…
“How long was I unconscious?”
“Five days.”
With a dull thud in his heart, Lin Nuo fell silent.
“What’s wrong, Young Master? You look all muddled… Don’t tell me you can’t remember anything that happened before you fainted?”
“Let me think…” Lin Nuo frowned, but soon shook his head, “I don’t remember, so did anything special happen?”
“Not really,” Kaier exhaled and stood up straight, “I just heard you’ve been working hard on your magic studies lately, so Lord Dax Migludia ordered me to take you to the Capital to observe the top apprentices of the Magic Academy.”
“Your lodgings have already been arranged, near the Academy. Just treat it as a trip. As for your pet, I had the maids help pack it up for you…”
“Chirp, chirp…”
The bird on the window ledge, admiring the sea, chirped twice.
It hopped down, cocked its head at Lin Nuo, then pointed with its wing at a sweet, fruity wine set out on the deck, clearly showing its eagerness to try it.
Seeing this, Kaier offered, “Young Master, you must be hungry after just waking up. At this pace, we’ll reach the Capital by dawn via waterway, so we didn’t bring many servants. The preparations are simple—please make do with some wine to fill your stomach.”
“Alright, that’s fine.”
“Oh, right, Young Master, the nun Lady XÄ« who looks after you is staying in the room next door…”
Noticing Lin Nuo showed no intention of seeking out XÄ« and instead went straight out, only to come back carrying several ceramic jugs of even stronger brandy, Kaier raised one in a casual, slightly irreverent toast to him.
The meaning was clear—he wanted to drink a few glasses together.
Lin Nuo helped Kaier, filling a glass to the brim.
Then, feigning nonchalance, he brought up a topic: “How was that Scarlet Church, the one full of succubi, doing these days?”
Being treated this way by the Young Master, and hearing a topic every man enjoys, Kaier was both flattered and intrigued.
He eagerly told Lin Nuo that the church had broken many taboos!
For example, they lured in magicians, and though the succubus technicians promised to provide only “half service,” in the end, they dared to secretly give the “full set,” harming people’s very foundation—absolutely vile behavior!
“That does sound pretty vile…” Saying this, Lin Nuo filled his glass again.
Seeing Kaier hastily drain it to show his respect for the Young Master personally pouring, Lin Nuo once more refilled his glass while casually asking: “If I wanted to join, would there be any advantages?”
As expected, Kaier was easily drawn out and explained that the church was nothing special.
If it came to the Clemence Family, they could squash it with just a finger!
If the Young Master, as the Clemence Family Heir, wanted to join—even if his own reputation wasn’t great—due to his noble status, the Succubus Bishop would definitely kneel down and hold his finger in her mouth…
Feigning sudden realization, Lin Nuo kept pouring for Kaier.
He then asked about the Succubus Bishop.
By now a little tipsy, Kaier cheerfully explained some of the church’s secret tax evasion schemes, saying, “She’s the one leading the evasion! She dodges so many taxes—there should be a full investigation!”
The night over the sea grew deeper.
As the minutes slipped by, the outline of a certain harbor of the Capital could just be glimpsed through the porthole.
Unknowingly, Kaier had been plied with who knew how many cups of wine and, unable to hold his liquor, finally slumped over drunk.
As Kaier had said.
There really weren’t many people on the Gilded, so Lin Nuo easily slipped past two Clemence Family guards and made his way to the navigation chamber at the bottom of the ship.
“Click –”
“Hm? Young Master, you—”
“Bang!”
At the crystal helm, where a crewman was channeling magic power into a certain elemental crystal to control the Gilded’s course, Lin Nuo took him down with a swift chop.
In the past, faced with this situation, Lin Nuo might have needed to wheedle the crewman’s cooperation—after all, he had no magic to steer the ship.
But things are different now.
While he was far from truly powerful, just using his magic to control the direction of a ship not all that big—
Lin Nuo placed his hand directly on the helm, letting magic surge from his body.
“Click”
As the door opened again.
A deep, commanding voice sounded from behind: “Lin Nuo, what are you doing?”
“Nothing much, isn’t it obvious?” Lin Nuo didn’t turn around, his hands moving smoothly, “I’m steering this patrol ship to where it really belongs.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Its original course is already toward the Capital…”
Behind him, the sound of a cane thumping closer and closer across the deck.
“Why don’t you tell me—where do you think it should go?”
After several seconds of silence, Lin Nuo finally replied, but this time changed the subject: “Kaier told me this trip to the Capital was just a vacation. But leaving in such a rush clearly means something happened—something dangerous that I don’t know about.”
“Besides, when I woke up, Kaier was polishing his sword, and the guards outside looked relaxed, but even the sailor I knocked out was wearing combat boots and ready to move at any moment—definitely a sign of battle-readiness.”
“If I’m not mistaken, once they drop me off in the Capital, they’ll turn the Gilded around and head straight to your place overnight.”
“So the Gilded’s real destination is—Shilang Bay.”
“Isn’t that right?”
“Ha! Kid, you really…” The man behind him laughed twice, the tone unreadable, “A place hidden in mist—how do you plan to find it?”
“I’ll look for it first. Who knows—maybe I’ll succeed? And besides… hasn’t my best navigator already shown up?”
Lin Nuo turned, pressing his palm to his stomach in a gesture of respect, bowing slightly in proper noble etiquette: “Good evening, Uncle Dax Migludia.”
“…..”
“Lord Dax!”
Kaier, dizzy from drinking too much, realized the Young Master had taken him out on purpose and disappeared in a flash.
Panicked, he propped himself against the wall and knelt at the door to apologize.
“Forgive me, Lord Dax!”
“It’s my fault—I thought the Young Master wouldn’t notice, and I was afraid of acting too unnatural, so I drank a little too much…”
At that moment, Lin Nuo stood and looked at the man before him—a middle-aged man with mid-length water-blue hair, leaning on a cane.
But when he saw the stains of blood on the cuffs and hem—evidence that during Lin Nuo’s five days of unconsciousness, he had already fought a bloody battle somewhere—his breathing slowed considerably.
He walked straight forward, eyeing the cane supporting Dax Migludia’s lame leg.
And then, to everyone’s surprise, he lifted his foot—
“Smack!”
The two guards trailing after Kaier had just approached when they saw Lin Nuo, the Young Master, give a solid kick and send Lord Dax Migludia’s cane flying.
As if he’d kicked the good leg of a cripple…
Kaier and his buddies were stunned!
“Y-Young Master! What are you… doing?!”
It wasn’t some magical projection…
It was really him.
“Surprised to see me here in person, aren’t you?”
Dax Migludia, nearly toppling over, was caught just in time by Lin Nuo’s quick hands.
Understanding Lin Nuo’s question, he waved it away, a trace of bitterness appearing on his face: “No matter how tough the monsters I’ve faced before, I’ve never once left the front lines after battle began. This time, after finishing with that blood pact wielder Blaineau, I rushed out here to watch over you—the first exception.”
“Not only because I know they can’t keep you in check, but more importantly… I know very clearly that the enemy we’ll be facing this time is one that, even if I deploy all the mages under my command, we can’t win against.”
If the Migludia Family’s mages all set out, they could flatten a small island in half a day.
But now, their lord admitted that even at full strength, they stood no chance—this was a grave admission.
Lin Nuo nodded, “Yeah.”
Yet he showed no sign of retreat.
As if realizing there was no point in saying more to Lin Nuo he said, “You and your Clemence Family guards have no reason to go there—there’s already no shortage of people rushing to die.”
Dax Migludia turned and left, leaning on his cane.
“Kaier, get up. You explain things to your Young Master.”