A Sense of Being Watched

The salty sea breeze rushed toward him.

As he watched the massive steel deck draw ever closer,

Tetsuya could only marvel at just how wealthy Mauville Holdings had been.

Building a "sea monster" like this took an enormous amount of time and effort.

Sea Mauville, located at the boundary between the waters of Number 108 and Number 109, had been abandoned for over a decade.

At its peak, ships had come and gone here, and the place had been bustling.

However,

the Sea Mauville of today was completely different from what it had been more than a decade ago.

Dark green moss, a dilapidated exterior, and the facilities in its rear half that had sunk into the sea.

Only the deck remained, tilted and exposed above the water surface.

The island shoals on the other side were the last support keeping it from sinking completely.

All of this showed that after Mauville Holdings went bankrupt, Sea Mauville had suffered a severe blow as well.

If not for its unique ecosystem allowing it to remain under the name of a "Nature Reserve,"

perhaps several decades from now, no one would remember that this stretch of sea had once borne witness to a glorious era.

"Poga!"

Once they got close, Empoleon leaped.

With ease, it carried Tetsuya onto the decrepit deck.

Standing at the highest point and looking into the distance,

he could vaguely make out quite a few people on the other side sightseeing, fishing, and so on—just as Wattson had told him before.

Part of Sea Mauville was now a famous tourist attraction, beloved by certain groups of people.

Of course,

the area beneath his feet did not receive such treatment.

It could only endure the ravages of sun and rain, growing ever more worn with time.

Tetsuya had no