Conquest Sea, aboard the Shimmering Pearl.
Under a night sky shrouded by dark clouds, the massive cruise ship slowly sails toward an unknown horizon. The steel hull cuts through the waves, leaving a long white wake behind it.
Inside a luxurious cabin, Dorothy sits alone on a soft, white bed. Spread out in front of her is a large world map. Dorothy frowns slightly as she studies the map.
With plenty of idle time on the ship, Dorothy has been trying to keep herself occupied. She attempts to calculate the approximate location of the Shimmering Pearl on the map, relying solely on calculations in this era without satellite positioning. However, the results leave her somewhat surprised.
“Based on the Shimmering Pearl’s voyage, it should have departed from Basse Port in the northwest of Falano, sailed westward, then turned south, rounding the Far Sight Cape of the peninsula nation Castia, before entering the Conquest Sea. From there, it should head east toward Ivengard.”
“Given the Shimmering Pearl’s average speed, two full days have passed. It should have already rounded the Far Sight Cape and entered the Conquest Sea. Once in the Conquest Sea, the ship should be heading east toward Ivengard, not continuing south.”
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Dorothy ponders this. Although the night outside is too dark to see the stars or moon, making it difficult to find navigational markers, Dorothy can still sense the planet’s magnetic field. She is certain that the Shimmering Pearl is currently heading south, not east as it theoretically should be.
“Interesting…”
Realizing this discrepancy, Dorothy murmurs to herself, stroking her chin. She begins to seriously consider the reasons behind this anomaly.
“The Shimmering Pearl’s current course doesn’t match my calculations… There are three possible reasons. First, my calculations could be wrong. Second, the ship isn’t sailing at its normal cruising speed but is moving slower, meaning it’s still sailing south along the western coast of Castia and hasn’t yet rounded the Far Sight Cape to enter the Conquest Sea. Third, the ship has unknowingly deviated from its intended course.” Dorothy lists these three possibilities in her mind. Confident in her calculations, she quickly dismisses the first possibility after double-checking. That leaves two options: the ship is moving slower than expected, or it has deviated from its course.
Both possibilities point to issues with the ship’s crew. Determined to investigate, Dorothy decides to find out what’s really going on.
Having made up her mind, Dorothy puts on her shoes and walks across the cabin’s carpet. She opens the cabin door and steps outside, wandering through the ship’s corridors until she finds an empty corner. There, she takes out her magic box, places it on the ground, and opens it. Using her abilities, she begins manipulating the contents inside.
Soon, countless small corpse marionettes—spiders, geckos, rats, mosquitoes, and more—crawl and fly out of the box. Under Dorothy’s control, they scatter in all directions.
After releasing the swarm of small marionettes for reconnaissance, Dorothy returns to her cabin, closes the door, and sits on the sofa. She begins using the small marionettes to monitor the entire Shimmering Pearl.
Under Dorothy’s control, the small marionettes infiltrate the ship’s ventilation system, using their various senses to observe scenes from all over the ship. The band in the ballroom continues to play soothing music, while men and women dance across the spacious floor. In the casino, multiple gambling tables are in full swing, with some gentlemen losing their composure and shouting in frustration. Waiters bustle about, catering to the passengers’ diverse needs. In quiet corners, elegantly dressed noblewomen whisper and laugh with handsome young men, away from their husbands’ watchful eyes.
The various scenes aboard the Shimmering Pearl flood Dorothy’s mind. Ignoring the trivial details, she directs many of the small marionettes toward the ship’s bridge to observe the situation there.
After some time, Dorothy maps out the ship’s ventilation system and quickly finds a path to the bridge. She guides the small marionettes through the ventilation ducts and into the bridge, where they observe the crew through the vents.
Inside the bridge, three or four sailors are present. They aren’t actively operating the ship but are instead resting and keeping watch. The ship’s wheel is locked in place, with no one currently steering it.
Through the vents, Dorothy observes the sailors in the bridge. She notices that they are unusually quiet, speaking little and only exchanging trivial complaints. Dorothy remains patient, waiting for useful information. Finally, after more than half an hour, she hears something significant. One sailor, glancing out at the dark sea, speaks up.
“Is the course correct? We don’t want to get scolded by Mr. Costa again.”
“It’s fine. Mr. Costa just checked. We’re on the right course,” another sailor replies. The first sailor looks surprised.
“Mr. Costa was here? When? Where is he now?”
“About an hour ago. He came to the bridge. He’s probably back in the captain’s cabin now.”
“Oh…”
After this brief exchange, the bridge falls silent again. Back in her cabin, Dorothy nods thoughtfully.
“Costa? Isn’t that the name of the Shimmering Pearl’s captain? So, the person who set the current course… is the ship’s captain?”
After hearing the sailors’ conversation, Dorothy realizes where the main issue lies. She immediately begins searching for the location of the captain’s cabin.
Fortunately, the bridge has a detailed cross-sectional map of the ship on the wall. Using this map, Dorothy quickly locates the captain’s cabin and guides her small marionettes through the ventilation system toward it.
The captain’s cabin isn’t far from the bridge, located in the upper superstructure of the ship. It doesn’t take long for Dorothy’s marionettes to reach the ventilation ducts leading to the cabin. However, as they approach, Dorothy notices something unusual.
After her advancement to White Ash, Dorothy’s ability to control smaller marionettes has significantly expanded. She can now manipulate tiny marionettes like mosquitoes. Among the marionettes she sent through the ventilation ducts, these mosquito marionettes are at the forefront.
As the mosquito marionettes get closer to the captain’s cabin, Dorothy feels something strange. Specifically, the mosquitoes’ wings are becoming heavier.
Yes, with her incredibly precise perception, Dorothy notices that the mosquitoes’ wings are accumulating a thin layer of water droplets.
“The humidity here is higher than elsewhere…”
Realizing this anomaly, Dorothy immediately halts all marionettes moving toward the captain’s cabin and observes carefully. Using a spider marionette crawling on the corridor wall outside the ventilation ducts, Dorothy keeps a close eye on the locked door of the captain’s cabin. After watching for a while and seeing no movement, she breathes a sigh of relief.
“Phew… It seems no alarms have been triggered. I haven’t been discovered…”
Dorothy feels a sense of relief. She has been discovered during reconnaissance missions before—whether by stepping on mystical spider silk, being detected by spiritual perception, or encountering blood mist. As a result, Dorothy has developed a habit of extreme caution when using marionettes for reconnaissance. Even the slightest anomaly, like an increase in humidity, puts her on high alert.
After noticing the increased humidity near the captain’s cabin, Dorothy doesn’t proceed further. Instead, she conducts experiments, sending more mosquito marionettes from different directions and paths to approach the cabin. As expected, once they get close enough, their wings start to feel heavier.
Although the air on a ship is naturally more humid than on land, Dorothy’s reconnaissance reveals that the humidity around the captain’s cabin is even higher. Insects are highly sensitive to changes in humidity, and Dorothy, who can control insect marionettes, can clearly sense this difference.
The humidity around the captain’s cabin is higher than elsewhere on the ship, even though the cabin’s location isn’t particularly prone to dampness. This abnormal increase in humidity suggests some kind of mystical influence.
“Heh… It seems even a vacation isn’t free from trouble…” (T/N: Yes, you are calamity magnet)
Faced with another mystical phenomenon during her journey, Dorothy sighs in mild frustration but quickly regains her composure. She begins to consider the problem at hand.
“The ship’s course is abnormal, and the captain might be connected to mysticism. I need to figure out what’s going on to feel at ease. But this abnormal humidity… I can’t recklessly approach the captain’s cabin.”
Frowning slightly, Dorothy ponders the situation. Since all her marionettes are operating with spiritual vision to avoid detection by tools like the Illuminating Beacon, Dorothy can see that although the humidity around the captain’s cabin is unusually high, there are no abnormal spiritual phenomena.
The absence of spiritual anomalies means that the water vapor is ordinary and doesn’t possess any mystical power. It’s not like the spider silk of the Face Spider or the blood mist of the Priest of Fangs. Her marionettes won’t be detected even if they come into contact with it.
However… even if the water vapor is ordinary, its abnormal concentration is still cause for concern. To understand its purpose, Dorothy decides to conduct some tests.
First, Dorothy leaves her cabin and finds a secluded corner to release a humanoid marionette dressed in formal attire. She guides this marionette through the ship until it reaches the bar.
When the marionette pushes open the bar door, it sees a somewhat noisy scene. Passengers are gathered in small groups, drinking and gambling. Some drunken passengers are slumped in corners, fast asleep.
Dorothy has her marionette quietly approach a bearded male passenger who is passed out drunk in a secluded corner. After glancing around to ensure no one is watching, the marionette takes out a quill and quickly draws an inverted pentagram combined with a chalice symbol—a Living Marionette Mark—on the drunkard’s palm.
Dorothy uses the quill’s ability to transform the drawn symbol into “common text,” making it appear as random scribbles to anyone else. To onlookers, the mysterious symbol on the drunkard’s palm looks like meaningless doodles, as if the drunkard accidentally drew them while intoxicated.
After discreetly marking the drunkard, Dorothy has her marionette quickly leave the bar. She then uses the Living Marionette Mark to control the drunken, unconscious man. The marionette stumbles to its feet, hiccuping a few times, grabs a bottle of alcohol, and staggers out of the bar.
Dorothy guides the carefully selected drunken marionette toward the captain’s cabin, making it sway and occasionally take a swig of alcohol while muttering curses. The marionette looks like a typical drunkard trying to find his way back to his cabin.
Dorothy has the marionette wander near the captain’s cabin, entering the area of abnormally high humidity. The marionette walks back and forth, its body accumulating a significant amount of moisture.
After a while, Dorothy’s small marionettes observe the captain’s cabin door opening. A uniformed crew member steps out, frowning, and quickly navigates several turns before accurately locating the drunken marionette loitering near the cabin.
“Sir… This is the crew’s rest area, not the passenger area. What are you doing here?”
The crew member speaks seriously to the drunken marionette, who shakes his head and looks at the crew member with a confused expression, slurring his words.
“Huh… Crew… What crew… Screw the crew! I’m trying to get back to my room… My room’s around here… It was here just a moment ago… Don’t know where it floated off to…”
The drunken marionette shouts at the crew member, who frowns at the strong smell of alcohol and says, “Sir, you’re drunk. Do you remember your name? Which cabin are you in?”
“Drunk? Drunk my ass! I’m not drunk! You dare say I’m drunk?!”
The marionette starts causing a scene, and the crew member quickly grabs the marionette’s arm, using his superior strength to restrain the burly drunkard, who struggles in vain.
“Sir, you’re heavily intoxicated. Let’s go somewhere else to talk. Don’t worry, we’ll figure out your identity and get you back to your cabin.”
“Let go of me! You little punk, I’m not drunk! I’ll find my way back myself!”
The crew member escorts the drunken marionette away from the captain’s cabin. Watching this scene unfold, Dorothy thinks to herself.
“This area of non-spiritual water vapor… If you accumulate enough of it, you really can be detected…”
“So, what kind of mystical power can sense even ordinary, natural water vapor with such precision?”
Dorothy ponders this question and soon arrives at an answer.
Some Beyonders have the ability to sense natural, non-spiritual phenomena to a certain extent. These are Elementalists. For example, Dorothy, who has simulated the abilities of a Thunder Summoner, can sense natural electrical discharges. If a natural lightning strike occurs nearby, she can predict it.
So… by the same logic, could a Hydromancer—a water-elemental Beyonder—sense an excessive accumulation of ordinary water vapor?