Water Magician-Chapter 666 : Alchemist
Chapter 0666 Alchemist
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
The allied fleet’s provisional flagship, the Tenth Public Vessel, rammed into Kouri’s fleet at the center of the formation.
Even while Ryo was throwing spears of ice, magic bombardment from Kouri’s fleet continued.
In particular, the density of fire aimed at the Tenth Public Vessel was considerable.
Of course, every single shot was repelled by the ice wall.
In the center of the Kouri fleet, with ships deployed to the left and right, was a ship flying the Darwei national flag and Prince Kouri’s banner.
That ship was the flagship Feidoshin.
The Tenth Public Vessel drove itself into that vessel.
The two flagships collided.
One side deployed an ice wall.
The other side deployed the ship’s <barrier>.
So the collision was between two invisible walls.
No sound.
Yet there appeared a scene extremely rare in fleet warfare.
Standing on the bow of the tenth ship were Ryo and the allied fleet leadership.
On the bow of Feidoshin stood Prince Kouri and Kouri’s fleet commanders.
The two leaderships glared at one another.
But the first to speak was not either of the top commanders.
“You must be the famed Lord Rowon.”
Ryo said, having spotted an old man standing on Feidoshin’s bow.
“Indeed. Duke Rondo, pleased to make your acquaintance.”
The old man replied.
The straight-line distance between them was perhaps ten meters.
Between them lay the ice wall and the <Barrier>, separating them.
“Surrender.”
Prince Kouri said clearly.
A natural command.
Still, the allied fleet hesitated at the words.
The fleet was being led by Kabui Somar.
He had been formally given command authority by the emperor.
By right, he held the authority to accept surrender.
But he was not a Darwei native.
The highest-ranking Darwei person present was Captain La Wu of the tenth ship.
But he was, after all, merely the captain of a single ship.
He understood that making a decision that might determine the future course of all Darwei affairs would be far too great a burden to shoulder alone.
So the allied fleet wavered.
“Ryo.”
Abel called softly, and with a nod jerked his chin toward the center of Feidoshin’s deck.
The moment Ryo saw it, anger flashed across his face.
On Feidoshin’s deck stood Prince Ryun.
Around him were Attendant Wen Shu and Captain Lu Yao.
The three of them were suppressing their frustration.
They were not bound, but encircled at a distance by what appeared to be Prince Kouri’s royal troops.
“Hostages...”
Ryo’s whispered words were so quiet that even Abel could not hear them.
This outcome had probably been calculated from the start.
It had begun with the small number of twenty shots.
In the end, even the maximum-power barrage had been deflected, confirming that Duke Rondo himself was present.
If Ryo had not been there and they could sink the entire allied fleet... so be it.
If Ryo was present, showing that Prince Ryun was being held hostage could be used to force surrender.
The Kouri camp knew that Prince Ryun and Duke Rondo were allied.
If they could pull Ryo out or neutralize him... victory could be won without large-scale military confrontation.
It was despicable.
Despicable, but there was nothing to be done by simply calling it despicable.
This was war.
This was a battlefield.
If victory could be achieved at the cost of a few lives?
Many rulers would choose that.
And Prince Kouri had made that choice.
Ryo’s insides boiled with rage.
He understood that they had lost the read of the situation and that he was still lacking.
But he would look back on that later.
What he had to do now was protect those who had been taken!
<<Abel, buy time please.>>
<<...Understood.>>
Startled by Ryo’s sudden ‘Soul Resonance’, Abel nevertheless complied.
Ryo must have considered the possibility that even a whisper could be overheard.
From where Ryo stood, he faced forward as usual.
But Abel could tell.
Ryo’s attention had turned elsewhere.
Likely alchemy.
He was doing something alchemical in his head... constructing or altering a magic formula.
“Well, then.”
Ryo trusted Abel and asked him to buy time.
He would simply carry out what needed to be done.
Abel steeled himself and smoothly thrust his arm forward.
“Is that how a king acts in Darwei!?”
Abel’s words, delivered with the dignity of a king’s proclamation, struck the Kouri fleet commanders.
Kabui Somar and Captain La Wu were surprised by Abel’s sudden words.
Abel had suddenly shouted in front of the prince.
But when they looked in the direction Abel was pointing...
“Prince Ryun...”
Captain La Wu murmured upon seeing Prince Ryun and the others on Feidoshin’s deck.
Kabui Somar, having attended Ryun’s banquet, recognized his face.
He also understood that Ryun was in effect a rival to Prince Kouri.
The reason they were on the flagship’s deck.
In essence, they were hostages.
Abel pointed that out.
At the same time, by gesturing and speaking strongly, Abel made it clear to Prince Ryun and the others that he understood their predicament even without being told.
Amid that, the opposing leaderships were surprised by Abel’s behavior...
But, apart from Ryo, one person did not seem surprised.
That was the man who had been denounced.
“I see.”
Prince Kouri murmured, nodded once, and continued speaking.
“Duke Rondo’s guardian Albert... but in some circles called ‘Abel’. I have heard that around Duke Rondo there is a man called Abel... he even appears in the ‘Ballad of the Knightley Kingdom’. Duke Rondo is always accompanied by this man. So you are Hero King Abel the First.”
Captain La Wu and Lord Rowon were surprised.
Kabui Somar, who already knew, showed no surprise.
“Well then, what will you do, Prince Kouri?”
Abel’s gaze pierced Prince Kouri head-on.
It was truly the look of a king.
“I do not think I need to explain to His Majesty Abel the Hero King... but if war can be avoided at the cost of three lives, why not choose that?”
“Will the people follow such a king? A king who makes his people feel ashamed to be taken in by him cannot be a king!”
“A difference of opinion, Your Majesty.”
“The people are the very basis of a nation.”
“No — the nation is the basis for the people. Without a state, the people cannot live.”
Prince Kouri said it plainly.
The instant Abel heard that, he understood.
Why Secretary Shau disliked Prince Kouri and why Emperor Tsuin had not elevated him as crown prince.
For the sake of the state, to force sacrifice upon the people.
In reality, such cases can exist.
Politics, considered as the means to pursue the happiness of the many over the few, can make such harsh choices inevitable.
Still — those involved in politics must never take that as a given.
Abel believed that.
Because those in high places must view relations between their country and others from a broad perspective, they must always hold the lives of every citizen in their minds.
That is precisely what ‘the people are the basis of the nation’ means.
But the prince before him...
“The people are not tools for a king to rule his state.”
Abel said heavily, his words truly weighty.
Prince Kouri said nothing in response.
It was clear he was not moved by Abel’s words.
His gaze, however, remained fixed on Ryo, who had been silent until then.
“I wondered why Duke Rondo revealed his identity while Abel the King hid his by claiming to be a mere bodyguard...”
Prince Kouri said, looking at the silent Ryo and continuing.
“I see. So Duke Rondo, the loyalist, is sung by bards. By drawing attention to himself, he prevented his lord from being targeted. Naturally, if Hero King Abel came to Darwei, it would cause a great stir.”
Prince Kouri said those words directly to Ryo.
But Ryo kept his eyes on the Kouri fleet commanders, including the Prince Kouri, and remained silent.
Prince Kouri regarded that with suspicion.
And Lord Rowon.
“Impossible...”
Lord Rowon whispered, and the instant he looked at Prince Ryun and the others in the deck’s center.
Consciousness appeared in Ryo’s eyes.
“It’s too late. Come forth, Neil Andersen!”
The moment Ryo spoke, the ice submarine Neil Andersen was formed by alchemy around Prince Ryun and the others on Feidoshin’s center deck.
In other words, from the instant of its generation, Prince Ryun and the others were inside Neil Andersen.
“Changing to such a special method of generation took time. Abel, nice job buying time!”
“Right.”
Ryo gave a thumbs-up to express thanks, and Abel, startled, accepted the thanks.
Abel had expected Ryo to use alchemy to rescue Prince Ryun and the others, but he had not imagined Ryo would generate Neil Andersen on the enemy flagship’s deck.
“<Ice Spear Torrent>.”
Lord Rowon’s ice spears rained down on Neil Andersen.
But every one was repelled by Neil Andersen’s outer hull.
“I activated the ‘alchemy shell’ upon generation. It’s a defense that even a kraken couldn’t pierce—shall we see if it can be penetrated?”
Ryo said with a grin.
His face was full of confidence.
“I see — this is hard.”
Lord Rowon frowned slightly but quickly continued.
“If you cannot damage it from the outside, do it from the inside. Drown them. <Infinite Springwater>.”
Lord Rowon cast a spell, but nothing happened.
“What?”
He scowled clearly.
“You intended to generate water inside Neil Andersen to drown Prince Ryun and the others. Yet that is impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Neil Andersen does not let magic through.”
“Impossible!”
For the first time since the collision, Lord Rowon voiced genuine surprise.
“That cannot be!”
“It can.”
Ryo said with a smug face.
It was the result of Ryo’s multilayered ice — an extrapolation of magic based on his earthbound knowledge of theoretical physics.
For anyone whose knowledge was limited to the ‘Phi’ and who had devoted even a deep study to magic and alchemy, it would be natural to want to shout ‘impossible’.
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy—so it is!”
“Horatio?”
Ryo declared, quoting Hamlet, and Lord Rowon, baffled, muttered.
“Human intellectual inquiry never stops; as a result, it becomes possible to block magic... or so the story goes.”
“I see.”
Lord Rowon nodded several times as if to savor Ryo’s words.
“Interesting.”
A whisper.
“Interesting.”
A little louder.
“Interesting.”
Now audible normally.
“How very interesting!”
A cry of rapture...
Lord Rowon’s rapturous shout.
“How very interesting, Duke Rondo! Truly the wonder of magic, the pinnacle of alchemy... the reason humans are human... to explore, to explore, and to explore. Ah! Wonderful! To not know now is to be able to know in the future! What joy! What bliss! What exquisite delight!”
“People like Ilarion give the same impression — these sorts of people seem frightening to ordinary folk.”
Ryo murmured, watching the reactions of those around Lord Rowon, who trembled with joy.
Kabui Somar, Captain La Wu, and others on Feidoshin’s deck reacted similarly.
Abel, perhaps used to Ilarion, wore an ‘I expected as much’ expression.
Prince Kouri showed no expression.
Or rather, a faint smile.
He probably kept Lord Rowon close because he understood this side of him too.
“Duke Rondo! Please, share that Horatio stuff you have — teach it to me.”
Lord Rowon begged, apparently misunderstanding.
“No.”
Ryo refused, of course.
He thought about correcting the misunderstanding but gave up.
Let Horatio be sacrificed if necessary...
Sorry, Shakespeare.
“Refuse? Ah, I see! If you want it, steal it. If you want it, show your power. Naturally! Expecting to be fed while keeping your mouth open is arrogant. An indulgence only for fledglings... not permitted for people. Oh, indeed, indeed.”
Lord Rowon frolicked in his rapture.
Ryo had already given up any hope of a peaceful resolution.
“Lord Rowon.”
“Ah— Your Highness, this is impossible. Prince Ryun, who was being held hostage, is inside Duke Rondo’s ice. You must win by force.”
“Couldn’t you seize and take away a magic construct generated by another water-attribute magician?”
“Yes, Your Highness, I did say that before. But that was for magic constructs. The ice covering on that deck was produced by Duke Rondo’s own alchemy. Things produced by alchemy cannot be taken.”
“I see.”
For some reason, he seemed pleased— no, perhaps he was simply delighted to be able to fight.
Lord Rowon explained with a laugh.
Prince Kouri frowned.
But the decision came quickly.
“Then do it.”
“I thought you’d say that! <Infinite Springwater>!”
Lord Rowon chanted again.
But again, nothing happened.
“So Lord Rowon tried to generate a vast amount of water on this Tenth Public Vessel’s deck to drown us.”
“Indeed. I see—the ice in front of us is designed not to allow magic through!”
Ryo explained calmly, and Lord Rowon, still filled with rapture, understood.
“Then truly we must resort to brute force! ‘Stellar Frost Ring’!”
The moment Lord Rowon cast it, Ryo looked up.
His <Passive Sonar>— activated before the collision— had reacted.
More than a hundred somethings appeared in the sky.
The next instant, a rain of ice poured down upon the allied fleet.
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