Pritt Strait, aboard an ordinary passenger ship.
On the windy deck, leaning against the railing, Dorothy raises an eyebrow after hearing Nephthys’s complaints and then asks curiously.
"The Shimmering Pearl... I think I’ve seen this ship in some magazines. Isn’t it a cruise ship? Is your study tour wealthy enough to travel by cruise ship?"
Dorothy asks Nephthys, who responds directly.
"Of course! We’re students of Royal Crown University, and none of us come from poor families. For a long-distance trip like this, the school naturally arranges some high-end transportation. The ordinary passenger ship we’re on now is just temporary."
Nephthys explains, and Dorothy continues.
"Even if everyone comes from well-off families... isn’t taking a cruise ship a bit excessive? The tickets for such a cruise cost at least ten to twenty pounds. I remember your three-month study tour fee was only a little over a hundred pounds?"
Dorothy asks with some curiosity. Cruise ships are clearly a luxury, and it doesn’t seem like the kind of transportation a study tour would typically choose. For regular travel, a passenger ship would suffice.
"Even among well-off families, there are differences in wealth, Miss Dorothy. Many of my classmates come from old noble families in Tivian. Given their status and family backgrounds... they’re not too keen on sharing ordinary passenger ships with commoners. Since this is a rare long trip for them, they voluntarily paid extra travel fees, each contributing several hundred pounds more. This gave the school extra funds to further improve our travel conditions. I guess I’m just benefiting from their generosity."
Nephthys whispers to Dorothy, glancing at some of her classmates on the distant deck. Many of them are from noble families, the kind with old Tivian flags."So, because those guys generously contributed, everyone else benefits too. Truly the wealthy... even a study tour has to be done on a cruise ship. Is this for studying or for fun?"
Hearing Nephthys’s words, Dorothy can’t help but murmur. Nephthys then adds.
"It’s not entirely like that, Miss Dorothy. I heard that after the Shimmering Pearl sets sail on the 25th, there will be a grand exhibition on board. We might actually learn something from it."
With a hint of anticipation, Nephthys speaks, her eyes sparkling. Dorothy, hearing this, can’t help but twitch her lips and think to herself.
“You archaeologists are planning to learn something from a jewelry exhibition, huh…”
Dorothy internally complains. She can see that for many people, this study tour is more about fun than learning.
“It seems I’ll have to board the cruise ship once we reach Bass. I wonder what this jewelry exhibition that even Adèle is interested in will be like.”
Looking out at the turbulent sea beyond the railing, Dorothy ponders. Her first sea voyage is about to come to an end.
…
A few days ago, after handling all her affairs, Dorothy finally embarked on her journey. Since Vania was traveling to Ivengard for a pilgrimage and had church-arranged transportation, Dorothy couldn’t accompany her. Instead, she chose to travel with Nephthys, following the route of their study tour to Ivengard.
Two days after Dorothy set sail from Tivian, she felt a slight weakening in the spiritual thread connected to her. Realizing this, Dorothy confirmed her theory was correct: she could use distance to sever the incomplete spiritual thread attached to the bird marionette.
Although two days of sailing had taken her quite far, the spiritual thread, bolstered by the Eight-Spired Nest’s spirituality, had only weakened slightly. It was far from being severed. Dorothy would need to travel even farther to achieve her goal.
“This incomplete spiritual thread hasn’t been severed despite the distance. The Eight-Spired Nest must be providing a substantial amount of Chalice spirituality to maintain it. They’re investing so much spirituality just to keep a means of dealing with me in the future. It seems they take me quite seriously. That makes it even more important to sever this thread.”
With this thought, Dorothy becomes even more determined to continue her journey. Four days into her travels, the first leg of her journey finally ends as the ship arrives at the port city of Bass in Falano.
After four days at sea, Dorothy finally sets foot on solid ground again. Since her destination isn’t Falano, she doesn’t have much time to explore the exotic charm of this foreign port city.
Dorothy spends half a day casually exploring the city, and though her time is short, she gains many impressions.
She notices that, despite it still being late winter, the weather in Falano seems warmer than in Tivian. The cityscape of Falano also differs significantly from Pritt’s. Artistic decorations and sculptures are more prevalent in Falano, and the styles are bolder and more varied. The clothing of the upper class is more elaborate and flamboyant compared to the darker tones of Tivian. The overall palette of this Falano port city is more vibrant.
To Dorothy’s delight, the restaurants in this foreign city are excellent. She enjoys many delicious dishes here, finding the cheese, truffles, beef, onion soup, and other dishes particularly satisfying. Overall, she feels that Falano’s cuisine surpasses Pritt’s in both variety and flavor.
Dorothy had previously studied Falano language at the university library and had mastered the pronunciation using phonetic symbols. Although she had a good grasp of Falano, she had never practiced it in real life. Now was the perfect opportunity to practice her spoken language.
Thanks to the powerful learning abilities of a Revelation-path Beyonder, Dorothy had started self-studying other languages at the university library, mainly to exchange for more Dragon Language characters.
However, to Dorothy’s surprise, after mastering a significant portion of Falano, she failed to exchange it for new Dragon Language characters. Instead, she received a useless language from some unknown world with no mystical power.
Dorothy had successfully exchanged Pritt Common and Spirit Glyph Language for Dragon Language characters before, but Falano failed. This left her puzzled. After some analysis, she came to a possible conclusion.
Falano and Pritt Common are too similar!
According to Dorothy’s previous conclusions, the languages of the main continent, including Pritt and Falano, evolved from Old Imperial Language. They belong to different branches of the same language family. Thus, despite being separated by the sea, Pritt and Falano share many linguistic similarities.
After exchanging Pritt Common for Dragon Language characters, Dorothy had already consumed a significant portion of the content from this language family. As a result, the overlapping content between Falano and Pritt couldn’t be exchanged again, leading to insufficient content for Dorothy to exchange Falano for Dragon Language characters.
On the other hand, Spirit Glyph Language from the New Continent isn’t a branch of Imperial Language and is fundamentally different from Pritt and Falano. It belongs to a separate language family or even language system, providing enough content for Dorothy to exchange for Dragon Language.
Unless she can acquire enough non-overlapping content, it will be difficult for Dorothy to exchange other languages from the Imperial Language family for Dragon Language characters.
After spending half a day exploring Bass, Dorothy checks into a hotel near the port. At noon the next day, following the instructions on her pre-purchased ticket, she procures a marionette in the form of a middle-aged, portly man to act as her guardian. Carrying her luggage, she heads to the designated spot at the port, where she sees a massive vessel docked.
This is a giant cruise ship, at least twice the size of the passenger ship Dorothy had been on. Standing beneath the colossal ship, Dorothy estimates its length to be around 200 meters, with a height of over 30 meters above the waterline. The hull is black, while the superstructure on the deck is painted white. Three massive smokestacks rise from the multi-story superstructure, quietly pointing toward the sky.
Around the giant ship, numerous well-dressed men and women gather, carrying their luggage and chatting as they board via several gangways. Beside the gangways, a wooden stage is set up, with a band playing cheerful music to celebrate the boarding. Numerous security personnel maintain order at the scene.
"Is this the Shimmering Pearl? Both the ship and the spectacle are quite impressive..."
Dorothy murmurs as she takes in the scene. She then has her guardian marionette carry the luggage and join the line of people waiting to board.
Following the long boarding line, Dorothy has her guardian marionette present the tickets—a 20-pound adult ticket and a child ticket—at the checkpoint. After climbing the gangway for a while, they finally step onto the deck of the Shimmering Pearl.
The spacious deck is bustling with people. As Dorothy and her guardian marionette step onto the deck, a uniformed steward approaches with a smile, greeting them warmly in Falano and eagerly helping the marionette with the luggage before leading them to their cabin.
As Dorothy and her guardian marionette walk across the lively deck under the steward’s guidance, Dorothy curiously looks around. She notices large posters for the Massimo Jewelry Exhibition plastered in many places. After seeing these posters, Dorothy has her guardian marionette ask the steward in slightly accented Falano.
"When exactly is the Massimo Jewelry Exhibition?"
"It’s on the 28th, three days after the ship sets sail. It will be held on the foredeck. The Massimo Jewelry Exhibition will be the highlight of this voyage. We’ll host a grand banquet, and I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful evening."
The steward, who is helping with the luggage, replies respectfully. Dorothy then turns her gaze to the spacious foredeck of the Shimmering Pearl, her eyes showing a hint of interest.
"An exhibition on the deck? Hmm... It’s still January, right? The nights at sea aren’t exactly warm. Is it really necessary to hold it there?"
Dorothy has her guardian marionette ask, and the steward continues politely.
"According to Mr. Massimo, this is mainly to better showcase the centerpiece of the exhibition—the Deep Blue Heart. Mr. Massimo believes that the Deep Blue Heart can only achieve its best effect when displayed under the night sky between the sea and the heavens. That’s why the exhibition is being held on the deck."
As the steward speaks, he points toward the bow of the ship, where a large bronze angel statue is installed. The female angel, with her wings spread, holds her hands aloft, reaching toward the sky and the waves.
"Sir, do you see that Madonna Angel statue? That’s the platform where the Deep Blue Heart will be displayed. It was custom-made by Mr. Massimo at great expense. After the exhibition, the Deep Blue Heart will be permanently installed in the angel’s hands for everyone to admire. This is Mr. Massimo’s creative way of showcasing his most treasured jewel."
The steward vividly describes the upcoming jewelry exhibition to Dorothy’s guardian marionette. Dorothy, listening nearby, examines the large angel statue at the bow and nods silently.
"An angel under the Madonna, holding the Deep Blue Heart... What a creative way to exhibit it."
Dorothy murmurs in admiration. She then stops asking questions and follows the steward into the ship’s interior.
After walking down a long corridor, Dorothy arrives at her cabin under the steward’s guidance. After bidding the steward farewell, she closes the cabin door and takes in the luxurious, well-equipped, and brightly lit cabin, which is several levels above the comfort of the previous passenger ship. She lets out a sigh of relief.
"Ah... traveling is wonderful..."
As she speaks, Dorothy kicks off her shoes and flops onto the soft bed, rolling around a couple of times.
…
After several hours of boarding, the Shimmering Pearl finally sets sail. As the gangways are retracted and black smoke billows from the smokestacks, the massive ship raises its anchor and begins its journey. With the blare of the ship’s horn, the cruise ship gradually leaves the port. Sitting in her cabin, Dorothy watches the port grow smaller in the distance.
As the cruise ship departs, Dorothy begins to experience the luxurious life on board. She spends her time enjoying various delicacies in the ship’s upscale restaurants, listening to music and even dancing in the ballroom, and occasionally observing Nephthys and her classmates attending history classes on the ship.
Sometimes, Dorothy has her guardian marionette engage in conversations with other gentlemen on the ship, learning about their countries and cultures while practicing her spoken languages other than Pritt. When in a particularly good mood, she even has her guardian marionette join these gentlemen for a few rounds of cards in the casino, winning a few games.
In this comfortable and pleasant environment, Dorothy spends two days on the Shimmering Pearl. On the evening of the second day, she sits in her cabin, looking at a world map she brought with her, trying to determine her current location.
"Based on the ship’s speed, after two days, we should have rounded Far Sight Cape and entered the Conquest Sea, right? If we’re heading to Ivengard, we should be sailing east now..."
Sitting on her cabin bed, Dorothy murmurs as she looks at the world map spread out before her. Out of boredom, she wants to figure out her location at sea in this era without satellite positioning.
According to Dorothy’s calculations, the Shimmering Pearl should have just entered the Conquest Sea and be sailing east toward Ivengard. If the ship is indeed heading east, then her previous assumptions are correct.
Next, Dorothy tries to determine the ship’s heading. Determining direction on the open sea at night requires a compass, but fortunately, Dorothy, who has simulated the abilities of a Thunder Summoner, doesn’t need tools to determine direction.
She can directly sense the planet’s magnetic field to locate north and south.
Dorothy closes her eyes and focuses. After a while, she finishes her sensing and opens her eyes, looking slightly puzzled.
"This ship... seems to be heading south..."