-『CHAPTER 07』-

« Heiress of the House of Novaldein »
— Velestina von Novaldein —

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Haah, I'm finally back in reality once again.

That was my initial thoughts upon finally awakening after I've experienced that nightmarish ordeal inside my mindscape. It felt so surreal that I still have troubles believing that it actually happened.

But it did. 

I now have a parasitic entity living inside me for which I didn't know what to do with. 

[ Hey calling me a parasite wasn't nice. ]

I mentally snorted.

Whatever, what do you want me to call you instead then hm?

It made some humming sounds before saying, [ How about that name you told me? The one that the Goddess used when you were talking with her. ]

You mean Nil?

[ Yeah that one. I kinda like the sound of it. ]

Is that so? Well I'll just call you by that name then. Anyhow don't forget your task of sensing any specimen that you can use. It's the only reason I'm partially sharing my senses with you to begin with.

[ Yeah yeah I got it sister dearest,  you don't need to remind me every single time. ]

I instantly frowned after hearing the word 'sister.'

Stop calling me that, we aren't sisters nor related in someway Nil.

[ Ehh...you don't want to? How about mother then? ] 

That's even worse!

I couldn't help but face-palmed myself before cutting off sharing my senses with Nil. I could still hear it whine inside my mind but I decided to teach the fool some lesson on proper etiquette.

After finally regaining my peace, I then decided to open and took a look outside the window to measure the time. It seemed to be around just right before the crack of dawn.

So the time's still moving here in reality even if enter the mindscape. 

I still need to do some more experiments in order to know the exact ratio of time discrepancy when moving in between the two but this could be done at a later date for I have more pressing matters that I need to address at the moment.

With my joints making popping sounds as I stretch my limbs and muscles, I finally stood up from my bed and do some rudimentary exercises.

Actually I was already partly awake for at least an hour or so earlier but I felt thoroughly drained and lethargic as if all the energy within my body seeped out of my pores so I opted to remain lying in bed at least up until I've regained a semblance of my bearings.

Ugh, I'm already feeling so weak after doing thirty situps...

My routine was interrupted when I heard the door creaked open and I turned my head towards its direction and found a petite girl in a maid outfit standing by the entrance.

We simply stood there staring at each other for at least half a minute before the towel draped on the maid's hand finally loosened as it plopped down into the floor. 

With teary eyes she exclaimed, "Mi...Milady thank Ignis you're finally awake! you've been burning up with a fever all throughout the night, we've been so worried!"

It's Jahna, a servant girl that grew up alongside me and she's been my personal attendant ever since my childhood. I just gave her a simple nod and this fluffy-like maid of mine breathed out a sigh of relief before fetching and handing me a cup of cold water. I received the wooden cup and whispered a silent 'Thank you' before taking a tentative sip. 

Ahh, that felt good...

I sighed in mild contentment before handing back the now emptied cup.

I was about to ask her to recount all the things that happened whilst I was unconscious but a string of coughs spewed out of my lips followed by some blood that got spattered onto my hands the moment I opened my lips.

"Milady!? Milady! Oh dear god, what should I do, what should I do!?" Jahna frantically rubs my back in a panicking mess up until the coughs subsided. She then gave me another cup of water before asking me for permission to leave so that she could fetch the ship's medic to check up on me.

I wordlessly nodded before watching her scampered out of the room so quickly that I began worrying that her oversized...assets might fall off of her ribcage.

I then placed one of my palms against my forehead in an effort to check my own temperature.

Hmm, It seems that I still have a slight fever. 

The corrosion of my mindscape seems to be also affecting me physically but luckily for me, it still hasn't reach the point that I have to be bedridden or couldn't move at all. 

Although it's for certain that my condition would only gets worse as time progresses to that three day deadline but nonetheless, I still have this day and the next to try searching for a creature with a strong lifeforce within this two day period. 

I have been pondering about this ever since I had awoken and so far the only humanoid being that I knew which had a strong lifeforce are Elves. 

However everyone within the fleet are human and it'll take me at least fifteen days to reach the New World wherein I can find the nearest Elves so the option of finding a humanoid specimen is entirely out of the picture.

Which leaves me to search for only animals as my main target. 

Currently my fleet is sailing through an area widely known as the 'Great Edge.' 

Before the discovery of the New World, everyone simply thought that the Great Edge was the end of the world since no one had ever came back after entering this forbidden area but that all changed when the explorer Rallano found a relative safe route within the Great Edge which eventually led to the discovery of a new continent inside this inhospitable area.

Navigating around the Great Edge beyond the safe zone is a very dangerous endeavour for compasses will began malfunctioning once you enter the danger zone but the main reason why sailors tend to avoid the danger zone is simply because it became the breeding ground for some of the most powerful animals ever known in Valria. 

If I want to find a creature with a strong lifeforce then I need to derail off the safe zone and enter the more dangerous areas of the Great Edge so that I would I have the chance to find the specimen I'm looking for. 

With my mind entirely made up, I decided to head outside and walked towards the quarterdeck to convince the Captain to change our fleet's course.

 

« First Captain of the Novaldein Convoy »
— Guillian Lé Froy —

I love my job.

I never get tired of smelling the brine with a tinge of saltiness lingering in the air first thing in the morning. Sure there's also quite a lot of downsides with the life of a sailor but nonetheless, it's the life that I decided for myself and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. 

Currently I am by myself at the quarterdeck, standing straight whilst holding the steering wheel as I awaited the first array of sunlight that will dazzle the skies as it rise through the horizon any moment now. 

The quarterdeck is a restricted area so only personnel with a high position could enter this place without notifying me first. There's only one person that could outrank me on this ship so when I heard the sounds of steps going up the stairs without the customary shout for asking permission, I knew instantly right away the identity of the person coming towards this area. 

It's the fleet commander and the sole granddaughter of the Admiral,

Lady Velestina Novaldein. 

"Captain." She curtly nodded after arriving at the deck. 

I've been serving the House of Novaldein for almost a decade now but so far, I've only had limited chance of meeting this rather infamous lady that my boss absolutely treasures. My initial impression of her was that she's rather taciturn and quite hard to talk with due to the differences of our social status.

Personally I don't think she's like how the rumors portray her like some kind of vile and malicious woman but I also wouldn't label her as a good person. 

To me she's rather the standard definition of a noble. 

A rather reticent woman that's quite hard to read and mostly care about the prestige of her family above anything else.

That's my impression of her.

"A pleasant morning to you Lady Novaldein...what can I help you with?" I greeted her in my most polite tone but she just reservedly looked at me before moving her line of sight downwards as it stopped and focused onto the objects tied at my waist area.

"Lend me that spyglass of yours for a moment." She casually ordered and I instantly unwind the string that tied the cylindrical object to my belt. I then handed it to her and she started walking towards the decks railing before placing the end of the spyglass on one of her eyes.

My sight followed the direction she's looking into and found to my confusion that she's looking at an area outside the safe zone. 

"Captain, what are our chances of survival if we slip out of this safe zone and into the more troubled waters of the Great Edge?"

Her question thoroughly confounds me but nonetheless, I still replied in my most respectful behavior. 

"Milady it depends on how deeper we enter the danger zones of the Great Edge. If we only stick to the fringe close to the safe zone then we still have a high chance of survival but anything farther than that especially along the uncharted regions would drastically lower our chance of surviving."

Milady didn't show any reaction to my comment and just simply resumed looking around the vicinity through the use of the spyglass. I stood there for minutes merely watching her and when she finally got tired of looking around, she finally gave me back my precious spyglass and instead asked for a map next. 

She unfurled the map I gave her as she traced something in it with her finger. Her impassive expression then changed into a look of engrossment as she concentrated upon something whilst tapping her fingers rhythmically at the railings. 

"Captain notify the other two ships within our fleet, tell the other two captains to head towards the Principality of Loth—" She then showed me the map and pointed at an island nearest to us. "—and disembark the fleet there for the time being since I want to discuss something to all the captains that you all might find entirely troublesome."

Her order instantly gave me a foreboding sensation.

What could this noblelady want to do that she even ordered the fleet to disembark.

She said that it would be troublesome and nobles in general have the tendency to either exaggerate or understate the matters they want to convey. In my experience with dealing with her, Milady tend to do the latter so when she said that it would only be troublesome, you can bet your arse to doubt it and expect that it would be wholly horrendous instead. 

"U-Umm, Milady...can I ask what this troublesome matter that you want to speak with us?" I couldn't help but ask since my insides are slowly being consumed by an insatiable sense of curiosity.

She rolled the map before handing it back to me. Milady then let out a toneless hum as if she's thinking of the words to say before frankly blurting,

"I plan to enter the danger zones of the Great Edge."

 

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