* * *

“Farewell, then, Sir Knights!”

The captain and sailor who had safely transported the Scarlet Scales Knight Order to the island departed with a thunderous salute. Cadel turned around, gathering his pack, and his eyes fell upon a vast expanse of sand and vegetation baked in the hot sun.

“This is my second time on an island, first time on an uninhabited one.”

Yozen said, crouching on the ground and spreading his hands in the sand. Cadel ruffled Yozen’s hair lightly and smiled.

“Isn’t this also the first time we’ve all come to play together?”

“……We didn’t come here to play.”

“It’s all in your mind! Let’s pretend we’re here to explore together.

“Until the White Kingdom finds the Peace Stone, this is the only place we’re allowed to search.” 

Yozen’s lips twitched at Cadel’s energetic words. He had first come to an island to assassinate a duke who had a villa there. Now, however, none of the unpleasantness or stimulating killing that he felt then was present. All that surrounded him was a sense of peace and coziness.

“I sense the presence of monsters in the center of the island. There aren’t many, and they don’t seem particularly dangerous. We should be able to clean it up a bit while we search.”

“Is that so? Then let’s make camp first. We don’t know how long we’ll be here.”

Once they had decided that the search for the Stone of Peace on the Fe’alr Island was complete, they would send a signal through the [Ullo] connected to the White Kingdom, and then return on a ship sent by the Kingdom. In other words, they could stay on the island as long as they wanted until the Stone of Peace was found.

“Commander, I’ve had a quick look and there are quite a few edible fruits and mushrooms inside, so I think we should split up into teams to gather food, firewood, and camping materials.”

Van, who had just scoured the island, handed Cadel a handful of red berries. He picked a few and ate them, the tart-sweet flavor spreading across his tongue.

“Then let’s decide on the lottery. Gather round!”

At his call, Cadel scanned the assembled group. Garuel had already gathered the branches for the lottery, even though he hadn’t asked, and Lumen seemed to be calculating something as he scooped up food and water from the shore.

He glanced over at Yozen, still pawing at the sand, and Van, who looked strangely amused, and narrowed his brow. 

“Where’d he go again?”

Lydon was nowhere in sight. He’d been sitting on the deck, staring out at the sea the entire trip. After they disembarked, Cadel hadn’t been able to keep track of him in the hustle and bustle of luggage. Cadel’s imagination was beginning to run wild with ominous thoughts about how the fairy might have forgotten to get off the boat and headed back.

“Ahaha! I feel fantastic! I want to live here. Can we stay here?”

With a cheerful splash, a drenched Lydon slipped out onto the sandy beach. His white shirt clung to his skin as he unbuttoned the front, revealing the outline of his well-proportioned, toned body. As he shook out his damp hair, Lydon approached, he exuded a masculinity Cadel had never felt before.

Cadel’s eyes were immediately drawn to Lydon’s body, and he stiffened, shocked to realize that he was admiring it.

“Play can wait, fairy. You’re all laid back while everyone else is busy.”

“Hmph, you don’t look too busy to me? If Van is jealous, you can swim, too. Or maybe you can’t?”

“Even if you provoke me, I won’t be playing in the water with you. Get to work quickly.”

“I don’t want to swim in the sea with a slimy guy like Van either! Darling! Come swim with me later.”

Lydon clung to Cadel as usual, unaware of how arousing his current state was. Cadel could feel the cold sea water on his clothes and smell his body odor, thicker than usual. Cadel consciously kept his gaze fixed on Lydon’s face, his expression stern.

“Swimming can wait, we need to settle in for the night.”

“Can’t we leave that to the other guys?”

“No. Garuel brought some branches, so we’ll use those to make our lots. We’ll divide the group into teams with branches of the same length.”

Cadel was the first to pull out a branch, trying to keep his eyes in check as his instincts took over.

The tasks of each group were divided into procuring food, gathering firewood and materials, and building campsites. Two people were assigned to each group, with Lydon and Van in charge of food procurement, Yozen and Lumen in charge of camp construction, and Garuel and Cadel in charge of gathering firewood and materials.

“Haah… Huuu…….”

He should have just switched when they offered to switch groups. Cadel struggled to carry his chin-deep stack of firewood, regretting it long after the fact. Beside him, Garuel, who had collected three times as much material as Cadel, shook his head as he dropped what he was carrying onto the ice cart.

“Please don’t keep making obscene noises while I’m busily gathering materials, Knight Commander. It’s distracting and frustrating.”

“What…… ob……scene noises……!”

With a grimace, Cadel staggered to the front of the cart and tossed the firewood in with a short grunt. Wiping his sweaty brow, he huffed, and Garuel said with exaggerated distress.

“Do you think if I put something in your mouth, you’ll be quiet?”

Cadel couldn’t even bring himself to say that it was stupid under the strain. Garuel stood in front of Cadel, whose eyes were half-lidded and was panting softly. Garuel stroked Cadel’s smooth jawline and gave him a mischievous look.

“There’s nothing to eat. There’s nothing to drink. All we have here is wood and our bodies. Wouldn’t it be better to give you something of my own instead of wood?”

“……Get lost.”

The words were too much for him to bear without retorting. Cadel pushed Garuel’s shoulder with all the strength he could muster, and Garuel let out a raucous laugh as he was pushed back.

“You should take a break. I’ll do the rest.”

It was already exhausting enough, but hearing such absurd things made it worse. Cadel didn’t refuse Garuel’s goodwill, leaning heavily against the cold cart, while Garuel diligently gathered materials. Soon the two of them were pulling a full cart back to camp.

“Come to think of it, Knight Commander.”

“What.”

“The inscription from the White Kingdom. I don’t think I heard it this time. Can you tell me what it says?”

“I haven’t memorized it yet either. It’s in my bag, I think. Roughly speaking, …… in the middle of the sea, mixed with water……. Oh, I don’t remember, it’s not on the island we’re on anyway, never mind.”

Cadel shrugged and rolled his eyes, pushing the cart from behind. The cart was made of ice mana, which sent chills up his hands from the mere grip, requiring him to periodically warm them up, and it weighed a lot, requiring him to push it with his full body weight.

“What if the Stone of Peace is on this island?”

“I told you it couldn’t be.”

Cadel couldn’t remember exactly, but just because there were seven sealing stones didn’t mean the player had to collect all seven; once you’d collected enough, you could jump right into the sealing process after a bit of story.

So Cadel decided that the Scarlet Scales Knight Order’s mission was over when he collected two Stones of Peace. He also felt that it would be unrealistic for one Knight Order to find three out of seven.

“Of course, I think it’s beyond the realm of luck that we found the third Stone of Peace, but there’s always a chance, right?”

“There’s no such thing as a chance……!”

And with that, he pushed the cart along, not even bothering to explain why. Suddenly, the cold but sturdy ice cart came crashing down.

“Ugh……. What.”

The disintegrating cart scattered the firewood, stones, and leaves they had worked so hard to collect. Garuel spat out a hollow laugh, still clutching the handle of the cart, while Cadel, who had fallen to the ground in the wake of the collapsed cart, called out in annoyance.

“Lydon!”

* * *

Meanwhile, Van and Lydon, who was in charge of procuring the food.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to freeze the berries, you fairy?! They lose their flavor!”

Van retorted, throwing down a coconut fruit that was frozen to the core. He shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice rising to a high pitch. But the object of his wrath remained calm.

“Hmph, that hurts my ears. I can’t be bothered to pick them myself. Why do I have to move my body when I can just touch them with my magic and they’ll rain down?”

“That’s because your mana is ice, you useless fairy. Do you have any idea how many berries we can’t eat because of you? If you’re going to keep interfering, get lost!”

“Oh my god! If you’re not even pretty, you should at least keep your mouth shut, and how did you survive next to my darling with such a mountain beast attitude? Cadel likes guys as pretty and cute as me.”

“How dare you talk about cuteness with such a big body. Please get out of here. I beg you.”

“Ahaha, why should I do Van a favor?”

Lydon snickered, sending a chill through the pile of berries Van had managed to gather. Van, finally reaching the end of his patience, drew his greatsword and began to slash at the air.

“You want to fight me now, Van? Do you think I can’t do it? You started it, so I won’t be scolded by Cadel!”

“If I kill you here, Commander won’t even know who started it.”

“Kill me? You, Van? You can’t even dream of it! Ahaha!”

Lydon was as happy as a child with a new favorite thing to play with, blasting away at the cold. So focused was he on the murderous Van’s attack that he forgot to maintain the ice cart he had made for Cadel.

It was at this point that the two men lost track of time and lost themselves in anger and fun, respectively. Lumen and Yozen, with nothing to do but clear the grounds until the materials arrived, were having a quiet time.

“……They’re not coming.”

It had been three hours since their four comrades left. With nothing to do, Lumen and Yozen sat on the sandy beach, looking out at the sea. Unable to enjoy the view alone, Yozen considered pulling out his shadow alter ego to keep an eye on Cadel, but remembering how Cadel had once freaked out at his surveillance, he held back.

A stony silence fell between them. It was inevitable when two such reclusive men met. The waves were calm, the sky was slowly turning scarlet, and the breeze was cool. It was a peaceful atmosphere indeed.

“…….”

But after three hours of this peaceful, conversation-free atmosphere, boredom set in. Lumen stood up and looked back at Yozen.

“There’s nothing else to do, so why don’t we take a look around? The members will be back any minute, so you stay here.”

There was no reply, but Lumen turned to walk away, not waiting, for Yozen would have spoken up if he didn’t want to. But before he could take more than a few steps.

“Wait.”

Yozen’s firm voice rang in his ears, and Lumen flinched, looking down at his feet. A humming dark energy gripped his ankle.

“If you have a problem with this, why don’t you say so?”

“ ……There’s something.”

“……?”

“Something…….”

Yozen stood up slowly, his brow narrowing as if he could guess the identity of the ‘something’. Lumen looked around cautiously, trying to find out what Yozen had sensed. But even as sensitive as he was, he sensed nothing. Unless Yozen had grabbed his ankle when nothing was there.

As soon as the dark energy surrounding his ankles dissipated, Lumen immediately turned his attention to his surroundings. His hand tightened on the scabbard of his sword, and his eyes gazed into the forest beyond the island.

But the next moment.

“That way.”

Yozen’s muffled muttering was accompanied by the sound of a roaring waterfall from the sea, which had been silent the entire time. Reflexively, Lumen turned his head, puzzlement flashing in his eyes.

“That’s…….”

It looked like a spire towering over the sea, or the forearm of a giant flexing its might. But the closest description, perhaps, was a wingless Sea Dragon.

The creature, which cast a giant shadow over the entire island, squirmed slightly. Its tiny eyes were a frightening blue as if it held the sea, and only murderous intent glittered in them.

Seaweed-like whiskers twitched at the sides of its nose, and the creature’s mouth slowly opened, and Lumen naturally expected it to speak human words.

But the creature didn’t move, even though it was so close. Even Yozen barely noticed it until it was right in front of him. It wouldn’t be surprising if the creature’s mouth told him to leave the island immediately.

What came out of the creature’s mouth, however, was not the language of humans, the language of chasing away unwanted guests. Its gaping mouth filled with clear seawater, and a blinding brilliance enveloped the water. And the next moment.

“Take cover!”

A tremendous stream of water washed over them.

* * *

“What the heck is this sudden trouble?!”

Cadel brushed off his soaked clothes and looked up to the sky, where a monstrous creature so huge it cast a shadow over the entire island was constantly spewing water. The volume of water was vast enough to sweep the entire island away, and the pressure was stifling.

If it continued to spew water, it could easily sink a small island like this one. But even more than that grave fact, something else got on Cadel’s nerves.

‘That’s a boss monster in an event battle! Why is a Sea Dragon out here?’

If Kunra was a land dragon, this one was a sea dragon. However, unlike Kunra’s high intelligence and power, the Sea Dragon only possessed high combat strength. It didn’t have much intelligence. It was the difference between a dragon that guided an event quest and a dragon that appeared as a monster.

‘The event where the Sea Dragon appeared was definitely……. Yes, I know it was set on an island, but wasn’t it just an event where you could try out unowned knights? Is this somehow related to the main quest?

All Cadel knew was that in the event with the Sea Dragon as the boss, players could try out any combination of all the knights in the game. Other than that, he couldn’t think of anything else. He was sure the event had a story, but someone who skipped the main quest would never read the event story.

‘It was an event that appeared after the Demon War quest opened, and I don’t remember it having anything to do with the protagonist’s Knight Order.’

There were a total of six Knights available in the event stage. Aside from Cadel Lytos, who had always been a part of the deck, the other knights were added to give players a chance to experience more cards, so the story was completely unrelated to the protagonist, Cadel Lytos.

‘Are we getting the Stone of Peace in this event, where a Knight Order other than the protagonist’s Knight Order gets it by fighting a sea dragon…….’

If the story of the event was told from the perspective of an ally other than the protagonist, it wouldn’t be strange to get the Stone of Peace in that story.

‘The question is, why did the event appear to us?’

Cadel didn’t know if it was just bad luck or if it was something designed by the system. However, it was clear that now that the Sea Dragon was here, they had to defeat it as soon as possible.

“Garuel! Let’s hurry!”

Cadel hurried across the slick wet ground to the shore. By now, the members whose commander was late should be struggling.

But contrary to Cadel’s expectations, there were only two members struggling on the shore when he arrived.