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Iceland, Iceland Coast Guard headquarters.

As the agency responsible for both international maritime rescue and part of Iceland's national defense, the Iceland Coast Guard was usually a solemn place.

But today, the entire Iceland Coast Guard headquarters was in chaos.

Icelandic president Anderson Streicher forced the words out through a tight throat. "Commodore, please tell me you and your Coast Guard crews can defeat that enormous sea serpent."

Anderson Streicher had been in a meeting when his vice president, Jacob, burst in to tell him that an enormous sea serpent had appeared in the North Sea Fishing Grounds.

At the mention of a sea serpent, Anderson Streicher's first reaction was to check whether today was April Fools' Day. His second was to wonder whether Jacob had developed a sense of humor, since even someone as stern as him had apparently learned to joke.

But once Jacob laid out the evidence, Anderson Streicher felt it wasn't his vice president who had changed. He himself must have been cursed by the Norns.

Sea monsters really existed?

And one had appeared in the North Sea Fishing Grounds?

Now nobody dared go to sea?

Odin above, did this have to happen to me?

Fishing was the backbone of Iceland's economy, and the North Sea Fishing Grounds were the backbone of its fishing industry.

They hauled in as much as 1.17 million tons of seafood from the North Sea Fishing Grounds each year, generating revenue equal to sixty percent of Iceland's gross national product.

When the financial crisis swept Blue Star, Icelanders had maintained a high quality of life even after their government went bankrupt. Unlike bankrupt Americans, they hadn't had their homes seized by banks and ended up sleeping under overpasses. They had the North Sea Fishing Grounds' vast fish stocks to thank for that.

If those fishing grounds were lost, the consequences would be ten times worse than the financial crisis.

So Anderson Streicher had immediately brought key officials from every department to Coast Guard headquarters to discuss killing the sea serpent.

Commodore David Arthur thought of the report: the visible portion of the creature alone stretched hundreds of meters. His expression darkened. "Mr. President, I think we should ask for help."

It wasn't that the enemy had some unbeatable weapon.

We were simply nowhere near strong enough.

The entire Iceland Coast Guard had three Open Ocean patrol vessels and one hydrographic survey ship. One of the patrol vessels had even been converted into a rescue ship after its retirement.

The two Open Ocean patrol vessels had any real combat capability, and their only weapons that could be called heavy were Bofors L60 MK3 rapid-fire guns.

Attack that sea serpent with rapid-fire guns? David Arthur figured he'd have better odds jumping straight into its belly, finding its heart, and stabbing it.

Anderson Streicher's face twitched. I know we've underfunded you so badly you can't even afford missiles, but do you have to be so blunt?

Ask for help? How embarrassing would that be if word got out?

"Who should we ask?" Anderson Streicher asked.

Given a choice between losing face and losing the North Sea Fishing Grounds, he would rather lose face.

David Arthur's first instinct was to seek help from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, Iceland's fellow Nordic countries. But after thinking it over, he said, "Let's ask the Bear Nation. This sea serpent is simply too enormous. I doubt ordinary light weapons could do much damage, and even some heavy weapons probably wouldn't be effective. To kill a monster that size, we'll need missiles, perhaps even nuclear weapons."

Ask the Bear Nation? Anderson Streicher hesitated. Iceland's relations with the Bear Nation were hardly good. They had been boycotting it just last year, and now they would come asking for help...

It wasn't that he was too proud to ask. He feared the Bear Nation would impose a slew of harsh demands, just as it had during the last financial crisis.

At that moment, Jacob, who had been silent since arriving, cleared his throat softly. "Perhaps we could ask the Eastern Isles for help."

The Eastern Isles?

Everyone exchanged looks. Wasn't that country's military about as weak as Iceland's?

"The Eastern Isles may be weak, but they have a god protecting them. Half a month ago, an incident codenamed the 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons' struck Eastern Heijō-kyō. The whole city nearly perished, but in the end, they summoned the god they worship, Amenominakanushi, to resolve it. I think we could ask them to summon their god to deal with this enormous Sea Monster."

Have them summon their god?

The people in the room warmed to the idea.

To ordinary people, what had happened in Eastern Heijō-kyō might be a joke: fake news cooked up by the media, with doctored pictures and edited videos. But those in the room had reliable channels for obtaining accurate information.

Hard as it was to believe, it had really happened.

The people of the Eastern Isles had indeed summoned a god to resolve a supernatural incident in Eastern Heijō-kyō.

Afterward, countless countries had begun secret investigations into whether hidden supernatural forces existed within their borders.

Iceland had done the same. After a thorough search, they had finally discovered something.

Among Iceland's three hundred thousand people, not one looked remotely like a supernatural being.

"I think it's a good idea. Compared with the greedy Bear Nation, the Eastern Isles would ask for far less. But we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket. We should contact both the Eastern Isles and the Bear Nation. Whichever can help us deal with this Sea Monster is the one we'll turn to."

Once someone spoke up, the meeting room came alive with discussion.

"We could also spread the news. A sea serpent this unbelievably large is bound to interest a lot of countries. We might get it killed without paying a thing, and perhaps even profit from it."

"Rodney's right. I was thinking the same thing. Lately, countries everywhere have become fascinated by the supernatural powers in myths and legends. We could announce that this sea serpent might be Jormungandr, the legendary World Serpent. That would surely catch the attention of countries desperate to find supernatural power."

"Jormungandr? The one from myth that could coil around Blue Star? Surely this isn't it. The sea serpent is huge, but not huge enough to wrap around the planet."

"We only need to say it might be. The truth doesn't matter. Besides, ancient people had a very limited understanding of the world. To many who had never left their island, that island was the whole world. They could easily have seen this enormous sea serpent and called it a serpent that encircled the world."

Just as the discussion grew heated, a voice cut in.

"Since when did we Norsemen ask other peoples for help when we ran into trouble?"