Grilled Fish / Reason and Emotion

"Our coastal regions have been invaded by unidentified marine creatures. They want to expand their territory onto land, and we've suffered heavy losses under immense defensive pressure. If any of you big shots can help, please do so quickly. Otherwise, once I lose the line, cleaning up the mess will be troublesome for you as well."

As for Iberia, the letter did not mention it at all. In the records of Kazdel, Carmen had also become a specialist sent by Iberia to investigate the situation.

As for why he had arrived so quickly, Mr. Carmen had been on his way to Leithanien to visit an old friend and just happened to be nearby. As for the letter Mostima had sent, that had merely been a letter of thanks.

The atmosphere in the council chamber immediately became much friendlier. One side had obtained the security guarantees it wanted, while the other had received compensation. Everyone was satisfied.

The only matter left was dealing with the aftermath in Saltwind City.

"Mr. Carmen, it seems that a different kind of faith has begun taking root in Saltwind City."

Theresica spoke first. He had heard this from Amaya. She said that not long after Saltwind City had broken contact with Iberia and begun drifting across the sea, some people had started secretly preaching within the city through the gaps in the Inquisitors' surveillance, promoting an entirely new belief in a sea god.

They revered the Seaborn as messengers of the gods and vigorously preached their characteristics. Amaya had been dragged to one of their secret church gatherings at that time. Afterward, she became obsessed with researching the Seaborn, which led to her later ideas.

Although Amaya's motive for revealing all this was intriguing, that did not stop Theresica from passing the matter on to Carmen as an indirect indication of Kazdel's stance.

Iberia's obsession with religion is known throughout Terra.

Upon hearing this, Carmen's expression grew increasingly gloomy. He sat there in silence, seemingly deep in thought.

Theresica said, "I don't know much about religion, but that doesn't mean I'll allow this malignant ideology to spread. I think we should eradicate it."

"Oh? I'm very relieved to hear that His Majesty the King thinks so."

Carmen's expression brightened slightly. "Then, regarding the aftermath in Saltwind City..."

Considering that the city had very likely become a Seaborn nest, Theresica and Carmen discussed the matter and decided that the Sarkaz would provide resources to help Iberia's engineers repair Saltwind City's propulsion system. Once it reached the open sea, they would activate the sinking program.

During the repairs, the Sarkaz would send troops to assist Carmen in purging the population and erase every trace of the Abyssal Church. Iberia's loyal subjects would be secretly taken back to Iberia by Carmen.

"This was a fine meeting."

"Yes."

The treaty was signed without a Sankta present. The two men stood together, smiling broadly. As for Saltwind City, it had never appeared near Kazdel.

P.S. Please vote!!!! 2

Grilled Fish

Repairs to Saltwind City's propulsion system began. It was merely a matter of materials and technicians, clear and straightforward to resolve: whatever was missing was supplied. Identifying the cult members, however, was extremely difficult. If someone claimed they had done nothing, could you really investigate them thoroughly?

It was hard to determine. Besides, this was Kazdel, and Carmen did not have enough time to capture and interrogate everyone one by one. For Iberia's safety, he could only rely on the surviving Inquisitors from Saltwind City to identify the people who were basically suspicious, compile their names into a list, and send it to Theresica. Everyone else was treated as a suspected cult member, disguised as imported goods from Kazdel, sent back to Iberia, and handed over to the Inquisition for individual examination.

At noon, just as the residents of Saltwind City were collecting their daily rations, entire squads of Sarkaz soldiers appeared in the streets without warning.

They stood before the bewildered residents, then drew their weapons. Cold flashes pierced through their bodies in an instant.

Bright-red blood sprayed everywhere. Elderly men and women stared in disbelief as their children collapsed onto the ground, their severed limbs rolling uncontrollably to one side.

In a corner, young children stared blankly at the Sarkaz soldiers. The soldiers no longer distributed food. Instead, they drove their blades into the children's parents, then ruthlessly stepped over them and charged toward the other side of the street.

Cries and screams immediately rang throughout Saltwind City. Every so often, some able-bodied young men who knew nothing of the situation tried to resist, but the Inquisitors stopped them all.

Standing beside the gangway connecting Saltwind City to the transport ships, Theresica watched as squads escorted the city's residents aboard. Most of them glared at him viciously as they passed.

Will these people become a source of trouble for the Sarkaz in the future? Should I...

Theresica froze, then helplessly shook his head.

He had never expected that he would already be having thoughts like these.

"Lady Gladiia, tell me... how long will the high priest of the Abyssal Church in this city continue hiding?"

Brushing aside the surrounding gazes, he asked Gladiia about the Abyssal Church. That was also why he had come here personally.

The Seaborn he had encountered previously were all extremely weak ordinary individuals. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of these creatures, Theresica wanted to see just how powerful their stronger individuals could become.

"Hunts require patience. I'm sure you understand."

Gladiia replied calmly while carefully observing every battlefield and overlooking no detail. Her expression was not good, however, because a large proportion of those confirmed to be members of the Abyssal Church were Aegir who had immigrated to Iberia.

What could be more painful than members of one's own race defecting to the enemy?

Boom—

A dull sound rang out, and a four-story building suddenly collapsed. In the next moment, Gladiia vanished from her position.

"She's fast. Shining, let's find a better place to watch from."

He climbed onto Shining's back. Shining bounded across the rooftops toward the place where the sudden disturbance had come from.

After crossing row upon row of buildings, a gigantic soft-bodied monster appeared before him. It resembled an octopus, with a bizarre white flower blooming from its head. It swept its tentacles across the surroundings while spraying jets of water from the flower's center. Ordinary soldiers had no way to deal with such a massive creature.

Gladiia began fighting it alone. She moved so quickly that no one could follow her with their eyes. Theresica could barely catch the afterimages she left suspended in midair.

She wielded a massive spear, but she did not use it to stab. Instead, she used her speed to turn it into a cutting weapon.

Huge strip-shaped wounds appeared out of nowhere across the giant Seaborn's body. Its flesh split open, the wounds festering as they turned inside out. Although it continued regenerating, the intense pain still drove the monster to release a piercing roar.

That was too much for Gladiia, who was nearest to the monster. She withdrew to Theresica's side.

"Have all the people in this city left?"

It was the first time Theresica had heard her completely discard her etiquette. The pressure she felt from the monster seemed considerable.

"The soldiers and residents have withdrawn under Carmen's protection."

Theresica was not worried. He could escape without any trouble, but he was afraid that a Seaborn might escape the attack of his Originium Arts, so he had not brought a single Arts Unit operator.

He had really shot himself in the foot.

Suddenly, the Seaborn flung all its tentacles toward them. Gladiia vanished in a flash, and the tentacles were severed at once. They regenerated rapidly, however, while Gladiia could only retreat to catch her breath, an inexplicable heat radiating from her body.

"Is that caused by friction between your body and the air? You're moving that fast?!"

Theresica did not let Shining take the risk. Instead, he drew a small staff-shaped Arts Unit. The tentacles that attacked again were instantly enveloped in white mist. Amid the monster's anguished roars and convulsions, its tentacles dropped off one after another, looking as though they had been steamed.

There's only one of them anyway. As long as I make sure it dies.

"Land is unsuitable for me. There's too little moisture. If I don't stop, I'll end up with the same effect as your Originium Arts."

As Gladiia spoke, Theresica immediately raised his hand.

"You...!"

Gladiia's words caught in her throat. She suddenly realized that her body temperature was rapidly falling. Large amounts of steam were rising from her skin.

"If you're too hot, then cool down."

The steam gradually diminished. Large droplets of water still clung to Gladiia's body, but she did not dislike the sensation. Instead, she felt extremely comfortable.

"Good. Can you surround that monster with water?"

"Of course."

Theresica aimed at the enormous monster in the distance. Water began gathering around it, and Gladiia vanished from her position.

The hideous wounds appeared on the Seaborn's body as before, but this time Gladiia moved through the curtain of water, her speed increasing until it completely surpassed the creature's regeneration. As soon as an external wound began to heal, Gladiia struck it viciously again.

Bit by bit, Gladiia dismantled the Seaborn's body. The Seaborn could not even cry out, because she had already twisted its entire set of organs into minced meat.

Theresica maintained the curtain of water until Gladiia finished dismembering it. He had also watched the battle with his eyes wide in shock.

Aside from Originium Arts, can Terra really possess such powerful physical strength?

He moved closer to Shining and asked quietly, "Shining, could you beat her?"

"I don't know."

Shining replied, "There are many unpredictable factors in battle."

P.S. Idea 1

Operator Theresica deals Arts damage with his attacks and applies a Waterlogged mark to enemies he hits.

Skill One: Temperature Adjustment. Changes the temperature of an object. When attacking an enemy with a Waterlogged mark, it produces a high-temperature gas impact, ignores defense, and deals enormous damage.

4

P.S. Idea 2

When Operator Gladiia is deployed within Theresica's attack range, her skill's charge time and cooldown are canceled and replaced with continuous activation.

The high priest of the Abyssal Church died, and nothing else emerged to obstruct the Sarkaz soldiers' purge. Repairs to Saltwind City's propulsion system also proceeded smoothly.

After repeatedly confirming that no one remained in the city, Iberia's engineers restarted Saltwind City's power core. The mobile city stopped approaching Kazdel and sailed toward the boundless depths of the sea.

A mechanical device had been fixed to the seawater intake valve at the bottom of the city. Once the preset time arrived, it would begin operating and twist open the valve, causing the city to sink into the deep sea.

To ensure that no accidents occurred, three such mechanical devices had been installed, while Sarkaz drones continued tracking the city.

Once everything had settled, and even Carmen and the Iberians he had selected had been sent away, Theresica lazily reclined on the sofa in the royal residence while Warfarin tied a tourniquet around his arm.

"The Seaborn matter is finally settled."

"Is it? I don't care about that. All I know is that you actually used Originium Arts!"

Warfarin observed his blood vessels while nervously muttering, "If Theresis were still here, and he found out that I hadn't kept you from using Originium Arts, he'd definitely kill me! Theresa couldn't stop him either!"

"Warfarin, I only used it for a little while. It's fine."

"That isn't up to you!"

Warfarin carefully inserted the needle into Theresica's blood vessel and drew his blood into a test tube. She then walked aside, unscrewed the sealed tube, and quickly drank the liquid inside.

Theresica was already used to it. This was the unique method Sarkaz hemomancers used to test blood. The results were no different from those produced by professional machines and were even more accurate.

However, if there was something wrong with the blood itself, it could easily cause the hemomancer using this method to suffer the same harm.

"Warfarin, maybe you shouldn't use this method next time."

Theresica tried to persuade her, but Warfarin stood to the side, savoring the taste without answering.

After quite some time, Warfarin swallowed several times and opened her eyes.

"It tastes a little bad. You haven't been resting properly lately. The Originium content hasn't increased, so you're lucky, brat! Go to bed early tonight!"

"Sure, sure." Theresica nodded repeatedly.

"I heard you brought back two more foreign women?"

Warfarin sat down beside him and asked, "I can smell blood on that very tall woman. She seems a little dangerous."

"You mean Gladiia? She knows a great deal about the Seaborn, and she's very strong, so I wanted her to stay. She hasn't agreed, but she hasn't refused either."

Theresica spoke indifferently. "She's only one person. Supporting her for a while costs us nothing."

"What about the other one? The flat-chested woman. The Confessor said you locked her up?"

"You mean Amaya? That was her own request. That woman actually yearns for the Seaborn's social structure. So I made an agreement with her to conduct an experiment."

Theresica explained, "The Seaborn lack a complete, independent consciousness. They only know survival and reproduction. To imitate a similar state, I designed an experiment to let her experience the Seaborn's mental world. Her sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch will all be physically blocked, because the Seaborn have no concrete concept of them."

"What kind of outrageous experiment is that? Don't do anything bad!"

Warfarin frowned, and Theresica hurriedly explained, "I only did it after discussing it with her and receiving her approval! Besides, she can request to stop at any time."

Amaya's way of thinking was problematic, but there was nothing wrong with her pursuit, and it was not impossible to change her. Theresica wanted to see whether he could guide her thoughts onto another path.

As for the method... it was indeed somewhat strange, but he had no choice. It was difficult to figure this out by himself. This was not something that could be solved by memorizing lessons from Earth. This was Terra!

Considering the cultural level of Kazdel's residents, he had the Faceless use filming equipment purchased from Columbia to record scenes of life and work in Ursus, Victoria, Leithanien, and other places in the style of Earth documentaries.

He showed the entire population of Kazdel how people in those places worked more than fourteen hours a day, received no wages, went hungry, and lacked even a proper place to live, alongside the extravagant, wasteful lives of the nobility in those countries, who spent money like water. At the end of the film, he objectively described how long Kazdel's residents worked each day, what they could eat, and what their living conditions were. Not a single lie was told, because everyone lived that way.

Images and sound were easy to understand. Whether it was shown in factories or military camps, whether the viewers were literate or not, everyone cheered his name after watching the film.

That was not what Theresica wanted. The Sarkaz people were satisfied with their lives now, but he was not satisfied with the status quo. Thus, when Amaya appeared with her unusual aspirations, he wanted to bring her over and try to change the way she thought.

Inside the Confessor's private laboratory, Theresica looked through the thick glass at Amaya.

Her eyes were covered, earplugs were inserted into her ears, and her mouth was sealed. She was strapped to a chair in an empty, soundproof room. An intravenous needle had also been inserted into the back of her hand to prevent hunger—not because he was worried about her condition, but because hunger was not something the Seaborn could feel.

After trying it for several hours at first, Amaya had decided that the experiment would last three days and could not be interrupted during that period. Today was the final moment of the seventy-second hour.

"Time's up."

Theresica walked over, removed her blindfold, tore the tape from her mouth, and took out her earplugs.