By the campfire, after taking a drink, Edward shook the tin flask in his hand. "This contains Nia Bloodwine. Want to try some? It's brewed from the sweetwood sap native to the area around Golden Spring. It tastes like diluted honey mixed with a little blood—sweet and smooth, but easy to get drunk on. Sometimes, when I can't sleep, I use it to help myself drift off."
Quincy, who sat near the campfire but had deliberately kept his distance from Sifa and the others, tossed a stone into the sea. "Didn't realize you were such a drunk."
Edward laughed. "Don't put it like that. I just enjoy sampling the food and fine wines of different regions. Honestly, I've always thought I shouldn't have become a Sleepless. I should've become an Apprentice. I really admire their Traveler abilities. So convenient—you can go wherever you want."
Sifa glanced at Mr. X in the distance, then listened as Edward continued, "Still, after becoming a captain, I traveled everywhere while carrying out missions. I suppose that fulfilled a small wish of mine."
"Only after leaving the Wavebreaker did I learn just how many interesting places and legends there were on the sea. I once saw quite a few Merfolk in a lake on an island. You should know that monsters like that rarely appear along the main sea routes and their surrounding waters. I thought they'd all gone extinct."
"Sadly, I didn't find any Mermaids."
Miss Natalie, the Apothecary, elegantly dealt with a piece of grilled fish. "If you encountered Mermaids, you wouldn't be coming back."
Edward, once a Midnight Poet, said with an intoxicated expression, "If they were willing to let me paint a portrait of them, I'd gladly stay by their side forever."
That was a poet's romance.
Quincy sneered. "They wouldn't