Chapter 37: Boat

Clothes, clothes…

A mask, one, a mask, two, a mask, three, four, five…

No, why are there only masks coming out?

“The clothes to wear to the banquet, I think I put them somewhere here… where are they? I received them last time… Khan! Khan, come here too!”

“What is it?”

“Let’s see, this would look good. This and. Oh, and this accessory! This mask!”

Paul stood Khan next to him and, holding up the clothes he had set aside because they didn’t suit him, put them against Khan’s neck and then packed them in the bag.

My, he looks good in anything!

He also roughly chose the clothes he would wear and stuffed them into the bag, then checked the clothes he was currently wearing.

“Gor! Gor!”

“Ah, just a minute! Wait!”

“Khan, wear this too. Oof, and a hat too!”

As he was dressing Khan in a stylish black robe, carefully putting on a wide hat, and then checking if the mask was crooked, Gorgon came running, dragging a bag as big as himself.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Paul, this way. This way.”

Gorgon called out to Paul, who was about to go up the stairs.

The place Gorgon pointed to had a door he had never seen before.

“I dug a tunnel to the gate while you were away.”

“Hey, Gor! You ignored me when I asked you to make an elevator!”

Paul laughed, lifted Gorgon up, hugged him, and spun around in place.

“What, what on earth is that el… whatever?”

“I’ll tell you later!”

***

Kee-ruk—. Kee-ruk—.

“…Is this Hwion?”

“Yeah, isn’t it pretty?”

Gorgon, who had been hiding in Paul’s robe to avoid people’s eyes, peeked his face out from between the robes as they left the gate area.

Then his eyes widened at the sight that unfolded before him.

“It’s floating on the water?!”

His eyes were already wide at the buildings that soared high into the sky like towers, but the more surprising part was the terrain that seemed to be floating on the sea.

Gorgon, who had only lived in a forest area, was seeing the sea, not a lake, for the first time, and it was also the first time he had seen a city floating on the water like this.

At the strange sight, Gorgon kept shaking his head from side to side, and then finally jumped out of Paul’s arms.

“Aah, don’t go too far!”

As Paul ran to catch Gorgon, who had jumped out, Khan felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

The bridge floating on the sea swayed with every wave.

The entrance to the gate was far from the island, so they had to cross a bridge connecting the two places like this.

Khan walked on the swaying bridge, following Paul, who had gotten far ahead.

Suddenly, the salty smell of the sea blew in with the wind, and in the distance, he could see people moving busily.

Khan quietly took everything in with his eyes.

The strange sense of déjà vu continued.

It felt as if he had been here before…

He suddenly thought that he might have seen a scene like this before.

The kingdom made of pure white buildings on the sea, this clear sea that was so transparent that you could see right through it, the children running in the distance, the sound of seagulls and the songs of fishermen that he could hear… were all strangely familiar.

Perhaps he really had come here sometime that he couldn’t remember.

At that moment, Khan heard small footsteps from behind him.

When he turned around, he saw children quickly passing by him.

They were children with slightly darker skin, wrapped in several layers of cloth, with black hair and wheat-colored hair, chattering and running.

The song the children were singing blended with the voices of the fishermen.

“Khan?”

At the voice calling him, Khan came to his senses.

Then, the image of the chattering children disappeared like smoke, and the song that resembled the chirping of birds also changed to the heavy voices of the fishermen that hurt his ears.

“…”

Khan blankly shifted his gaze and looked at the person who had called him.

“Ah.”

Paul was already standing at the entrance of the bridge, holding the small goblin in his arms, waiting for him.

Since he was tilting his head at him, Khan shook his head slightly as if to say it was nothing and then quickly walked towards him.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Then shall we go?”

As Paul held out his hand, Khan took it.

Although it hadn’t been long since he met Paul, this action was now familiar.

He liked his body temperature, which felt even warmer because his own hand was cold.

“First, we have to go up. Hwion is divided into sections as you go up.”

“I see.”

While the two were talking, Gorgon struggled to get out of Paul’s arms.

“Let go of me! I’ll walk on my own!”

“No! Are you going to just wander off somewhere again?!”

“Am I a kid?”

“You act like one!”

“Tsk!”

Hwion was a water city built on the sea.

Of course, it wasn’t a water city from the beginning; it was a phenomenon that occurred as the sea level rose day by day, narrowing the land and isolating it, forcing them to move higher and higher to avoid the seawater.

As a result, they built buildings on top of buildings, gradually rising high and taking on the shape of a giant tower.

Hwion was famous as a water city, but it was even more famous for something else.

That was the fact that the Temple of Light was first built here, and that it was a land under the protection of the God of Light, Rasis.

Of course, not only that, but it was also one of the most beautiful tourist spots in <Arcana Chronicles>.

In addition, it is said that an endless gold mine lies dormant in the sea of Hwion, and it is no exaggeration to say that all the gold on the Arcana Continent comes from here.

It was truly a country of gold.

The lower streets of Hwion were full of people trying to go up.

It was incomparable to the small Batols.

Hwion, which resembled the Mediterranean Sea in reality, was a city where white buildings and blue roofs were coolly harmonized, as if it had taken its motif from there.

And between those buildings, seawater flowed as if it were a matter of course.

Waterways were laid out on every road, so the people here usually traveled through the city in small boats.

There were also water taxis that would take you to your destination if you paid the fare.

The seawater was so clear that you could even see the houses where the old residents of Hwion lived and the marine life under the surface.

Both Gorgon and Khan couldn’t take their eyes off the strange sight.

At that, Paul became a little troubled.

“I’d like to go sightseeing here and there too if I could, but we have urgent business right now. Okay? After we’re done, we can go sightseeing to our heart’s content!”

“…Hmph, whatever!”

“I don’t mind. Paul, don’t worry too much about it.”

Saying that, Khan rolled his eyes and glanced at the people scattered around.

Walking along the road holding Paul’s hand, Khan realized the commonality of the residents here.

The people born and raised in this place called Hwion basically had dark skin, and the number of people with wheat-colored hair was overwhelmingly large.

If not wheat-colored, most had a light hair color close to it.

There were no people with black hair like Khan.

There were some humans with black hair, but they were not residents of this place.

And their clothing was light, made of cloth, and just right for the warm weather.

On top of that, as befitting the nickname of the country of gold, it seemed to be a characteristic of this place to add a point with gold accessories.

Meanwhile, Gorgon, who was held like a doll in Paul’s arms, fidgeted in his embrace and, after scanning the surroundings, opened his mouth.

“Is there a library here too?”

“I think so?”

“There must be many different books from Batols, right?”

“There probably are a lot. Hwion has a lot of traffic, and its history is so deep that it can’t be compared to other kingdoms.”

“Oh, then I’ll go to the library.”

“What?”

Paul, who was walking along, suddenly stopped.

As he stopped, Khan, who was walking holding his hand, also stopped.

“Anyway, the letter is probably for you two. And it’s a temple. How can a goblin like me enter a place like that? Of course, Rasis is a benevolent god who treats monsters and humans without discrimination, but that’s Rasis, not his followers. So it’s a matter of feeling. Paul, monsters don’t serve Rasis. Our god is… no, that’s not relevant.”

“That’s true, but… I’m still worried about leaving you alone.”

“Geez, what big deal is going to happen at a library! I can’t enter the temple anyway, I’m telling you!”

“Ugh, okay. Okay. Then, let’s take a boat over there. That’ll be faster.”

The place Paul pointed to had several boats waiting for customers.

Gorgon, after confirming that direction, patted Paul’s chest a couple of times and then jumped to the ground again.

Gorgon, who straightened his wrinkled robe and readjusted his bear mascot head, grumbled.

“I’m not a real kid, alright, alright! I’ll go on my own, so you two go do your business.”

“But this is your first time here. What if you get lost?”

“Hmph, aren’t you underestimating this Gorgon too much, Paul? If anything happens, I’ll run away on my own, so don’t worry!”

Gorgon waved his hand and quickly moved away, afraid that Paul would grab him again.

Watching that, Paul’s ears drooped slightly.

He felt a little like he was leaving a child alone.

Of course, in terms of setting, Gorgon was older than Paul!

“But we have to take a boat too…”

Paul said sheepishly and looked up at Khan.

And he took Khan’s hand and ran towards the boat Gorgon was just about to board.

“Wait a minute…! We’re getting on too!”