The sunlight was gentle and warm, the lake's gleam calm and shimmering. Beneath the bright, balmy sky, the two young Divine Inspiration Priests imagined the cold tide and towering waves, and both their expressions turned grave.
"Main God! North of fifty degrees north latitude, and then ten thousand li farther north! Is that the end of the world? What kind of terrifying place is it?!"
"Zuwaro, don't let your imagination run wild. Look—the Divine Inspired Majesty wrote what the far north is like in the prophecy!"
As he spoke, Scholar Miki's face filled with reverence, and he recited devoutly.
"...From the fourth leg of the voyage onward, the exploratory sailing will roughly all be north of fifty degrees north latitude. You will need to face extremely low temperatures, polar great waves, icy fog over the sea lanes, polar day and polar night, seasonal freezing, cold waves and blizzards. In all, about six heavenly trials from the Main God!..."
Hearing those terrifying words whose meanings he could not grasp, Second-Rank Priest Zuwaro shuddered from head to toe. In his keen senses, he already had a foreboding of ill fortune. But things had come this far, the heavy burden was on his shoulders, and there was not the slightest retreat to speak of. He could only set his heart on pressing forward!
"The Main God bears witness! The first trial is extremely low temperature! The farther north you go, the colder the temperature will become. Before you leave the ice-free port of 'Seattle,' you must prepare thick fur coats, several preserved fire seeds, and enough firewood and coal for fuel... Mm, several full-body sets of Cotton Armor. The fleet has them, and they can make do in an emergency! As for more details... go find the local tribespeople and ask them for