Kalais, Ruban's heir, had appeared without warning. Everyone in the dueling arena bowed low at his arrival, making Turan's party stand out all the more as they kept their heads firmly raised.

"Would you introduce the others?"

"These are my parents. And these are close friends."

Despite the rather perfunctory introduction, Kalais kept smiling and offered an extravagant bow. As his two-meter frame bent at the waist and one arm swept out wide, he seemed to swallow up the space around him.

"Your friends and parents? Then I must mind my manners. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kalais Ruban."

Unlike his casual manner with Solif, his tone toward the others was impeccably polite. With introductions underway, Turan and Maysa gave their names along with Godis and Romi.

Of course, Maysa used her public alias, Misha, while Turan used the newly chosen name Gosan. Once again, he had borrowed the name of someone from the village below Hisaril Hill.

"Miss Misha and Mr. Gosan... Mr. Gosan?"

"Yes?"

"I hear you claimed to be the Baraha House Head's illegitimate son."

"News reaches you quickly."

"Well, what happened recently was hardly a minor incident."

From the way he spoke, he already seemed well informed about the incident in Helio, Baraha's capital. Given that an ordinary person would need over a month to walk from there to Ruban's capital, news could not yet have arrived by ordinary letter. Especially with the extensive checkpoints set up because of the commotion they had caused.

For word to have reached him so quickly, they must have used birds to carry messages or recruited some of the wizards operating the Watchtowers of Light. For people who professed isolationism, they seemed remarkably attentive to events around them.

After the brief introductions, they left the noisy arena and sat facing one another in a nearby clearing. The wizards visiting the arena abandoned all interest in dueling to watch them from a distance.

"So, what brings you here? Surely you didn't really come to thank us for spending so much money."

"You speak quite differently than you used to. As I recall, you were even more formal and old-fashioned than I was."

"Well, that's..."

Unable to explain the process of making a 'shell'—remolding a vessel's personality so a god could possess it—Solif gave a vague answer. Kalais studied him, then stroked his bushy beard.

"Well, I like you better this way. First, I've come with some news. Baraha is beginning to realize you've crossed into Frostwind Forest."

That was only to be expected, considering more than a fortnight had passed since they left the land of lakes. Baraha was a great house, after all. Unless they were blind, how could they fail to notice even that?

Of course, discovering their whereabouts did not mean Baraha could act immediately. Capturing Turan's party would require the House Head's personal intervention or the deployment of the house's forces, and doing either in Ruban territory would mean war.

Unless, of course, House Ruban turned a blind eye.

"Did they put a bounty on us, by any chance? Offer something nice if you brought us in?"

"They seem to be trying to commission us directly, in fact. They're offering the entire Garam region if we capture you alive."

Garam was one of the regions along the Baraha–Ruban border, famous for its high-quality iron mines. With no fewer than four cities in the area, it was an extraordinary offer. Solif let out a small exclamation.

"Wow."

"Naturally, we decided to refuse. We're hardly on good enough terms to do them such a favor, and it's not worth the trouble of capturing powerful wizards who can turn a great house's stronghold upside down with just the two of them. Now, if they offered us a third of the land of lakes, that might be another matter."

Despite his bearlike bulk, something in Kalais's words and manner suggested an astute merchant.

"Well, that's settled, then. Let's get to your real business. You came because you wanted something from us, didn't you?"

"No thanks?"

"What?"

"Baraha discovering your whereabouts, their attempt to commission your capture—that's valuable information, and I've given it to you for nothing. I think I deserve a word of thanks, at least."

"Well... yes, thank you. Of course."

It was a distinctly reluctant thank-you, all but prodded out of him, yet Kalais seemed satisfied. A warm smile spread across his face.

"Then I'll have to ask you to show your gratitude."

"How?"

"Fight me. In there."

Naturally, Kalais was pointing at the dueling arena. Solif answered unenthusiastically.

"Can't do that."

"Why not?"

"I've already died once today. It'll have to be tomorrow."

Kalais turned to look at Turan and the others in surprise.

"I doubt you lost to any of those small fry... Of course. A tiger wouldn't keep company with wolves or wildcats. These people deserve to be called your friends."

Watching Kalais roar with laughter, Turan felt a complicated mix of emotions. The man had surely been raised, just like Maysa and Solif, as a vessel for a god to move into.

It would be good if they could tell him the truth and make him an ally, but convincing him would be no easy task. They had only managed to persuade the other two to leave their houses because their own families had persecuted them.

As he watched in silence, a quiet voice reached Turan's ear. Maysa was secretly carrying her words to him with wind magic.

["What do you think he's after?"]

["I'm not sure. It's only an impression, but he doesn't seem to mean any harm."]

At this close range, Turan could tell that Kalais's scent contained neither hostility nor wariness. No, what he sensed whenever the man looked at Solif was more like...

"What a shame. Anyway, I suppose it's time to tell you why I'm really here. My great-uncle... that is, the House Head, would like to meet you."

"Ruban's head? I mean, your House Head?"

Knowing that Ruban's ruler was also a fallen god, Turan's party could hardly accept that request. Especially if it meant visiting Ruban's capital.

They had grown powerful, but not powerful enough to face a great house's leader wielding divine power alongside hundreds of wizards. And hadn't they just heard about an offer to have them captured?

Turan quietly interjected.

"We appreciate the invitation, but we're about to leave the area, so I'm afraid we won't be able to visit. We wouldn't want to impose, either. Please tell him we won't forget his kind invitation."

"Do you feel the same?"

Kalais asked Solif without so much as glancing at Turan. That alone made it clear whom he considered most important among them.

"Mm, well... yes. Please tell him we're truly sorry."

"Hmm. I see."

Despite their refusal to obey the command of his all-but-divine House Head, Kalais showed no anger. He shook his head regretfully and rose.

"It wouldn't be right to drag unwilling guests along. I probably couldn't manage it, anyway."

It was a remarkably realistic assessment of his own abilities for the heir to a great house. At a flick of Kalais's hand, several accompanying knights cleared away the table and other furnishings they had brought from somewhere.

"Oh, he did give me a message to pass on if you refused. 'Keep the changes of clothes a secret.'"

Everyone's expression stiffened. The meaning was clear: a warning not to spread word of the fallen gods' secret, which they had uncovered...

Of course, neither Turan nor anyone else in the party had any intention of spreading that story around. They would have to be insane to make themselves targets of every fallen god in the world.

If they did, even Hisaril Hill would no longer be a satisfactory refuge. Arabion, Zahar, Karmine, and the rest—even those genuinely at odds at present—would join forces to eliminate them.

"And here's something I'm telling you personally: Baraha's House Head reached Helio last night. Just so you know."

"Another act of kindness?"

"Let's say you owe me one. If you're grateful, you can come back to the arena for a match someday."

Kalais winked at Solif and promptly left. Judging by the wolf and horse monsters waiting a short distance away, they had ridden here.

Watching them depart, Solif suddenly rubbed his arms.

"There's something about that fellow that makes me feel strange."

"Why?"

"It's like his gaze feels... sticky, somehow. The first time we met, he asked how I trained my body, then suggested we go somewhere alone and let our bodies do the talking. Being around him gives me goosebumps."

Turan thought he knew why Kalais had said that, but decided not to mention it. However he looked at it, Solif was better off not knowing.

* * *

After their meeting with Kalais, Turan's party decided to leave the dueling arena immediately. They had already been planning to move on as rumors spread, and now that they knew Baraha's House Head had returned home, there was no reason to stay.

They collected their belongings from the inn and set off west at once with Vije. Their speed when traveling in earnest was on an entirely different level from their leisurely touring pace.

In just five hours, they covered nearly a thousand kilometers from the arena and reached the shore of the North Sea.

"... This really is the North Sea? Already?"

"She's a cheeky little thing, but you can't beat her for speed. Ow! Hey!"

Romi murmured in astonishment as she gazed at the sea. Solif boasted to his mother while stroking Vije's head, only to yelp when she pecked his finger.

After a short rest, they looked for a boat in the nearby fishing villages and small towns. With five people aboard, a little fishing boat like their last one would be cramped, so they bought something larger.

"Can five people really sail something like this?"

"More than enough. Don't worry."

Once they set sail a little later, Godis's concerns proved unfounded. Drawing on their previous experience with the fishing boat, Turan, Solif, and Maysa had the vessel ready in no time. From adjusting the rigging and parting the water ahead to raising a wind for speed and manning the helm, everything went smoothly.

"Wow..."

"If I'd been able to sail this fast when I went south, it would have saved me a great deal of trouble."

From his words, the voyage to Shiraf Marsh in search of Solif had apparently been far from pleasant.

The voyage went smoothly. The North Sea's weather had grown considerably calmer since the great sea serpent's death, and the merfolk had quieted down too, perhaps because the rampaging commoners among them had finally been all but wiped out.

The Baraha couple took over sailing with fluid manipulation magic and wind magic, however clumsily, leaving Turan and his two friends free to devote their spare time to practicing soul magic.

"Hhh... haa..."

In the cabin belowdecks, the three meditated. Though the floor swayed with the waves, their minds remained completely undisturbed.

Combat experience was not the only thing they had gained from dying over and over in the arena these past few days. Through repeated near-death experiences, all three had grown accustomed to maintaining an extreme state of meditation in which the mind shut out external interference.

Considering that they had been unable to concentrate at all on their first attempts and had resorted to chatting, this was tremendous progress.

'The true self...'

With his eyes closed, Turan pictured the four symbols within him. How would they mingle and interact, as the Arabion House Head's had?

No, he was getting ahead of himself. First, he needed to refine his soul—his mind separate from his body—into another form and awaken his spiritual senses. Before running, he had to be able to walk, or at least crawl.

Fortunately, perhaps thanks to his several recent deaths, Turan's spiritual awareness seemed to have awakened considerably. If there was an eggshell between his mind and body, it felt as though it had at least cracked. He kept feeling that a decisive trigger would let him break through, yet somehow he remained frustratingly stuck, spinning his wheels.

'I don't think near-death experiences alone will get me past this. I need something else...'

On the off chance it might help, he had asked the librarian to let him try touching his spirit form several times, but that had not worked either. Should he really try taking drugs?

The thought lasted only a moment. Realizing that his wandering thoughts had half broken his meditation, Turan tried to immerse himself in a state of selflessness once more.

Just then, pounding sounded on the deck above.

"I think you should all come up for a moment!"

Turan roused Maysa and Solif from their deep meditation and went up on deck. The Baraha couple were there, along with a strangely uneasy-looking Vije.

"Vije says something strange is happening up ahead."

"Something strange?"

"Apparently the seawater is being sucked downward..."

Beside them, Vije pointed a toe at one side of the deck. Scratched there were words she had probably written just moments ago: 'The seawater is getting sucked somewhere!'

"What on earth could that be?"

"I haven't the faintest idea..."

"Have the merfolk done something again?"

The merfolk royalty had vanished into hiding after the great sea serpent's slaying. They had repeatedly committed decidedly hostile acts, including driving sea monsters toward the coast to threaten humans.

Blaming them for everything that happened at sea was likely unwarranted, but it was hard not to think of them first.

"Whatever it is, let's steer clear for now."

"Good idea. I'll go closer with Vije and take a look."

"Don't get too close."

Leaving Maysa's worried words behind, Turan gripped Vije's legs and took to the air. About a kilometer west, he saw the phenomenon she had described.

"This must be it."

Vije chirped in agreement.

Seeing it for himself, Turan realized that 'the seawater is being sucked downward' was a considerable understatement. As though an enormous hole had opened in the seabed, a colossal whirlpool drew in everything around it with a thunderous roar.

Caught in that current, even a reasonably powerful noble would struggle to escape unaided. Drawing within a suitable distance, Turan could make out a presence at the whirlpool's far-off center.

'Could it be a great sea serpent?'

He could discern the shape of a long creature, smaller than the one they had hunted before but still staggeringly huge beside ordinary living things. Deep underwater, it was holding its jaws wide open, sucking in vast quantities of water to create the whirlpool.

'Should I just leave it alone? It feels like it's up to something bad...'

Still, the circumstances were hardly favorable for an attack. Most of his preferred offensive methods would not work on a target hidden underwater. If he had to choose, perhaps he could select the Sun bloodline and attack with light magic...

As he deliberated, the great sea serpent suddenly closed its mouth. The whirlpool began to subside, and then the creature shot upward.

"Vije, up!"

Even as Turan shouted urgently, the rising great sea serpent changed shape. First it became a shorter, blunter shark, then a humanlike member of another race.

A moment later, Armani, the merfolk boy, burst out of the sea and pointed at Turan.

"I knew I wasn't seeing things! Long time no see, kind demon!"