Chapter 41
Chapter 41. The Influence of Krelsite
When Yul first came out into human society and began trading, it was just a very small-scale transaction for an individual.
But on the national level, calling it “small” would be an understatement -the ripple effect was enormous.
“Krelsite, you say?”
“That’s the material used to decorate the Emperor’s jewels, and now that much of it is circulating? Did they find some new mining site somewhere?”
“They say the Sun King wore a solid Krelsite crown on his head.”
“Good grief, how rich is he?”
This was because the Sun King confidently appeared wearing a crown made entirely of Krelsite.
He had commissioned the kingdom’s greatest master craftsman to forge the crown, and wearing it proudly, he made his debut in high society.
At first, they considered hiding Krelsite, but when Yul said he would continue to transport it, they ended up not hiding it at all.
And when the nobles saw this, they whispered among themselves. Foreign diplomats visiting the kingdom were no exception.
“It’s the sea! There must be a Krelsite mine out in the far ocean!”
The change became obvious quickly. The Kingdom of Frangia began sending its sailing ships into the open ocean far more frequently.
And soon after, they acquired enough Krelsite to make crowns out of it.
So that means-there’s a Krelsite mine somewhere?!
With that conclusion, human shipbuilding kicked into high gear, and the Age of Exploration accelerated dramatically.
A single individual named Yul had accelerated the beginning of a new era.
Leading the charge among the nations was the neighboring Kingdom of Aragon.
“I-I want to touch Krelsite too!”
“The country next door is sending ships into the ocean and raking in easy profits. What are we doing?!”
“I want a Krelsite crown too! Mweeeeh!”
Within the kingdom, that became the prevailing sentiment. The king observed this carefully, and then gave an order to Prince Enrand, the “Sailing Prince,” who had been obsessed with ships since childhood.
He would take responsibility and construct a massive fleet of large sailing ships.
It was an ambitious plan to launch a grand fleet. The project soon became widely known as Aragon’s “Western Fleet.”
And the one most wary of this threatening project was the current front-runner: the Kingdom of Frangia.
Instead of sending Étienne Drake to explore the ocean, the Sun King decided to employ him as a privateer captain.
“What? You want to go west across the sea? Go ahead, then.”
“In other words, if a few ships disappear over the ocean, no one will notice.”
On one such day, after several similar incidents.
Yul arrived.
-Hm? What’s all this? Why are there so many ships?
There were more ships in the harbor than he had ever seen. Yul did not even consider that all this had happened because of him.
“Oh! Lord Yul, this isn’t the place. Please come this way.”
The merchant who came to greet him, Hugh Retel, was waiting in a small boat.
He guided Yul to a small uninhabited island a few kilometers off the coast, a place the Sun King had converted into an exclusive harbor for the orca.
There were many reasons. If people witnessed the rare sight of an orca conducting trade, it would cause no end of trouble.
-Fair enough.
Until now, Yul hadn’t cared. After all, only a small number of humans even knew about his trade.
But now there were so many ships on the ocean that he had no choice but to care.
For Yul, this was actually a good thing.
He didn’t think any other sea creature would become interested in trading with humans like he did, but if one did, it would become a competitor.
-Anyway, this time I brought something unusual along with the Krelsite.
“What sort of item?”
-Do you know of the Eternal Ice Stone?
Yul took out the Eternal Ice Stone he possessed. The moment Hugh saw the white gem, his eyes sparkled.
“Anyone can see this is an extraordinary item.”
-The Eternal Ice Stone is very expensive, so I’ll send that to the Sun King. As for the rest, they’re specialties from the Arctic, such as polar bear pelts.
“Th-the Arctic?”
-I’ve established trade with the Penguin Kingdom of the Arctic and received a permit. So I plan to discuss with the Sun King about sending a trade fleet there. Ah, and I also want to acquire a large sailing ship, one with a spacious cargo hold.
“P-Penguin Kingdom? A fleet? Purchasing a sailing ship? W-wait, this is far too big a matter for me to speak on…!”
Hugh Retel looked like he was about to cry.
He thought he was just a broker handling small transactions. Why did enormous issues he couldn’t decide on keep popping up every time Yul arrived!?
In the end, Hugh boarded his boat again and returned to the mainland, having no choice but to summon the Sun King.
The moment the Sun King heard the situation, he boarded a ship in disguise and immediately headed out to the island.
“Oh! My friend Yul! How have you been!?”
—Jean, it’s been a while.
“It no longer feels awkward at all to see you.”
—And the person next to you?
Beside the Sun King was a blond boy, clearly nervous.
“My son, Lui. The man who will become the next king.”
-Oh. A successor. So you intend to continue this trade.
Seeing how Yul immediately understood, the Sun King’s eyes gleamed. He hoped to maintain this marvelous opportunity for generations.
“Even if I die, I want my son to continue this trade.”
-Are you ill?
“I’m very healthy! But wouldn’t it be good to strengthen our bond while we can? In that sense, do you have any children?”
-No, and I don’t plan to have any.
“How unfortunate. Children are a blessing.”
Yul had no desire to have children, not even knowing what kind of creature he really was.
For one, he didn’t even know if he could have an offspring. And even if he could, he had no idea what kind of creature that child would grow into. And once fully grown, what would that child think if its father ascended into an entirely different species? He couldn’t even imagine it.
-Anyway, I get it, Jean. What I want is a ship that belongs to me. And a trade fleet. I want to transport large quantities of goods.
“Hm. A trade fleet is perfectly manageable, but you're saying you need a ship?”
-I’m thinking of carrying it on my back. It can hold more than a giant clam, at least.
“But even so, you'll need sailors for loading and unloading cargo, and for repairing the hull or dealing with issues when something goes wrong at sea, no?”
-I see. Then I’ll hire them here.
“Oh? Then they will be traveling with you?”
-Of course. Sometimes we may go into waters that humans don’t know. But I’m worried we won’t gather enough sailors. Maybe I’ll need to pay them a lot.
The Sun King burst out laughing at Yul’s concern.
“Hahahaha! If I announced that we’re recruiting sailors who will serve under an orca captain, be paid handsomely, and head off into unknown seas we know nothing about, everyone would shout the same thing: That’s insane!”
-Really?
“Then every single one of them would raise their hand! Frangia is full of brave and mad men!”
-Good to hear.
It must be something like, 'That's crazy, let's do it immediately.'
-Anyway, I intend to operate my personal ship in the way I want. And I’ll hire my own captain for it.
“Very well. I’ll discreetly recruit skilled sailors.”
-And the trade fleet, this is the main reason I came here. Have I mentioned that penguins live in the Arctic?
“No, I don’t think I’ve heard that.”
-It’s complicated, but the king of the Penguin Kingdom, Adol, wants to restore his realm. What they want are magic stones and steel. They also want human cannons.
Yul had explained human kingdoms to Adol himself. Among the various weapons humans possessed, cannons could help repel Crocken, the Sorcerer King of the far north.
“Oh? Are these ‘penguin people’ warlike?”
-No, they’re not even human to begin with.
Yul lifted his tail fin and sketched on the island’s rock wall.
“A bird…?”
-Right.
“Fascinating. I’d love to see them. Wouldn’t you, Lui?”
“Yes, Father.”
The boy beside him had sparkling eyes as well.
-To be precise, I don’t think they’ll raid human kingdoms unless someone violates their territory. They can’t live anywhere except in the cold.
If they came south toward the Kingdom of Frangia, they could survive in the sea, but if they stepped onto land, they’d die from the heat.
So the Sun King could rest assured, he would never be attacked with the very cannons he sold them.
Yul pointed at the Eternal Ice Stone.
-And this is the Eternal Ice Stone passed down as a treasure of the Penguin Kingdom. Adol told me to deliver it to the Sun King as a gesture of goodwill.
“Truly astonishing.”
The gem was white like an eye carved from frost, exhaling mist as if it were releasing cold air.
Even though its purity was low, it was still white as snow.
The Sun King rested his chin on his hand as he pondered what to offer in return.
But that could wait.
For now, the Sun King gave his full approval.
“I’ll work on assembling a large-scale trade fleet.”
-Since it’s the first time, just a few ships are fine. We can expand the trade gradually.
“Very well.”
The meeting concluded for now. Yul handed the Krelsite and the furs to the merchant Hugh and instructed him to sell them as he saw fit, exchange the proceeds for magic stones and cash, and deposit the remainder in the bank.
Once the talk was over, Yul immediately headed to Ian with a large amount of Krelsite.
He crossed the strait of the Kingdom of Frangia and arrived in Britain.
He met Ian’s family on Skilgg Brigg Isle to the west.
-Ian.
“Welcome, Yul.”
Ian and Celestia, who stood beside him, both looked much more at ease. So that meant only one thing.
-You resolved the problem, I see?
“Of course. Lucian, come here.”
Lucian, who used to toddle around, had grown quite a bit in the meantime.
“It’s the orca uncle!”
-This kid’s got no fear.
Remembering Yul from last time, Lucian came running full speed toward him. In his hand, worn almost like a glove, was a piece of equipment made of Krelsite.
-What’s that?
“A magic-blocking device made from Krelsite. Lucian’s magic affinity seems concentrated in his hands, so I made it in the form of gloves.”
-Hooh.
“Uncle!”
-Not uncle. Yul.
“Ool.”
*—Sigh.
Yul waited a moment as Ian allowed Lucian to approach and touch him.
Even when Lucian placed his hand on Yul, there was no light emission or any abnormal phenomenon from Lucian’s palm.
-It really works?
“Yes. Even if he holds a powerful magic artifact, he should be fine. But I ran out of Krelsite. It was my first time working with the material, so I made some mistakes.”
Ian looked slightly downcast. He’d probably planned to use the leftover material to make a weapon for Yul.
-Don’t worry about that. I brought around 20 kilograms of Krelsite.
“Again?”
-Of course. I need you to make something for me with it.
Yul intended to use a Krelsite weapon in his next evolution.
“What kind of shape?”
-Roughly a stake about Lucian’s height, and make the handle from a material that reacts well to magic.
He planned to use the Mantra of Armament, operating it like a missile, no, more like a torpedo.
‘If it turns out difficult, I can always resolve it through evolution.’
“I’ll try making it. You plan to use it underwater?”
-Yeah.
“Then drilling a hole inside wouldn’t be bad. It’ll allow water to pass through. The shape should be streamlined, no, maybe like a spiral horn… And I’ll need some proper shock absorption between the handle and the weapon…”
Muttering to himself, Ian was already imagining the entire construction. Reliable as always.
Making a weapon from Krelsite was a form of insurance.
It would likely be effective against enemies who used mantras.
Especially in the fight against Ogh, if he’d had something like a Krelsite spike, things might have been easier.
Turtles didn’t use Krelsite weapons because of the risk of accidentally ingesting them, but that was their issue, not his.