Fish-Man Island, Ryugu Palace.
Ryuboshi put down the Den Den Mushi, his brows drawn into an impossible knot.
"Will this really be all right?" A trace of unease colored his voice, his fingers unconsciously tapping the edge of the coral table. "Aaron Ball will reach Fish-Man Island in two hours? Isn't our brother in the Prodence Kingdom? How..."
He paused, swallowing the rest of his question: "How can he get here so fast?" If his brother said two hours, then it would be two hours. His brother would not joke about something like this.
"Let's do as our brother said first." He rose, walked to the door, and instructed the attendant waiting outside, "Notify the kingdom's guards. Have them clear an open space..."
He hesitated, as though weighing his words.
"For a castle."
The attendant froze. "Your Highness, a castle?"
"Yes, a castle." Ryuboshi's voice held a helpless note that said, "I know this sounds absurd, but don't ask." "That human will be bringing his castle with him. We need to make room."
The attendant opened his mouth, then closed it. He turned and hurried away, his tail slapping a rapid succession of sounds against the corridor floor.
Ryuboshi stood in the doorway, watching the attendant disappear at the end of the corridor, and suddenly felt that the absurdity of this matter had gone beyond his comprehension.
"All right," Manboshi said to him. "That human can already reclaim land from the sea. Bringing a castle to Fish-Man Island in two hours... doesn't seem entirely impossible to accept."
He took a deep breath and turned toward the depths of the Royal Palace.
"Come on, little brother. Let's tell Father."
Neptune wearily set down his cuttlefish pen.
His desk was piled with documents and letters-petitions from the Fish-Man District, letters of