Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

All that remains is the marble floor, its surface cracked to resemble the outline of a boot sole.

The massive impact knocked the elderly and young people to the ground.

A dark figure with sharp features rushed towards Skadi.

Goredia's group of deep-sea hunters would not agree with his current understanding of the Sea Child.

Those who wanted to return to Agor aboard the Fool's Ship could not possibly understand why they were being prevented from returning.

Since a battle is inevitable, it's best to strike first.

"I'm so sorry, Skadi!!!"

The next instant, Ulpian clearly saw a fist that wasn't particularly strong appear in the path of his movement after he turned into a bullet.

It's white and smooth, and even when you hold it tightly, it doesn't feel violent.

"boom!!!!!"

Skadi did not hit him.

She simply placed her fist in Ulpian's inevitable path.

The immense kinetic energy struck that frail fist.

The powerful reaction force concentrated on Ulbiana's rather handsome face, which was quite striking for a man.

If a high-speed camera were to film him, one would see a huge distortion on his handsome face—an astonishing facial expression that wouldn't even appear in exaggerated variety shows.

Then, with that face still attached, he flew at an astonishing speed in the opposite direction he had come from, precisely plunging into the damp soil of the Granfalo border, leaving behind a human-shaped crater with a weapon in hand and a hat.

Skadi, with her fist outstretched, glanced at Specter and then at Goredia.

The two of them looked just as confused as Skadi.

"Is this how your third squad usually greets each other?"

Skadi shook her head, and then hurriedly ran towards the spot where Ulbian had fallen, under the astonished gazes of the old man and the young man.

At this moment, Goredia seemed to remember something:

"Although I think the probability is very low, has Umbil temporarily established some kind of cooperation with the Deep Sea Church? Just like when I was in Saltwind City?"

Ghost Shark pressed for more information, while also offering his own thoughts:

"To avoid being exposed—or because they felt that other hunters would never accept it if they knew about it, so they decided to fight first and find out later?"

Then, Goredia fell into another hypothesis.

If she hadn't been beaten up on Rhodes Island and forced to confess everything, would she have ended up being brutally beaten by Skadi in front of Quintus, just like Ulpian is doing to Amaya now?

[Event] Fool's Past: Chapter Twenty - The Truth

"hiss--"

It is extremely rare for a deep-sea hunter to gasp in pain.

What's more, it was caused by a swollen and red wound on the face from being beaten—which is even more rare for deep-sea hunters who are generally very proud.

After all, they would protect their faces well in battle, always maintaining the elegance of predators. In a sense, they were also the crystallization of Agor technology, representing their face, so they naturally couldn't afford to get bruised and battered in battle.

But it did happen, and it happened to a deep-sea hunter at the captain level.

Ulpian was unable to move in the deep pit, and it was only after the arrival of the three hunters that he was pulled out.

This was also an unbelievable situation for him.

Because for a deep-sea hunter like him, whether his body is pierced with a large hole, cut in half at the waist, or even split vertically in two, he will not necessarily lose his ability to move.

The powerful regenerative ability and vitality are the key factors that deep-sea hunters rely on to fight against the tarantula.

But now he is unable to move because of Skadi's "small punch".

"I've become weaker...? Is it because I've been on land for too long?"

Doubts arose from the depths of his heart, and whenever he tried to use his power to regain control of his body, he always felt something moving around inside him, hindering the normal use of his power.

“No, your speed is just as fast as ever, practically divine,” Skadi replied, supporting Ulpian as she did so, equally perplexed by his attack.

After finishing her sentence, Skadi added:

"—But it's just 'the same as before,' Third Captain."

Skadi's implication was clear: it wasn't that Ulpian had become weaker, but rather that she had become much stronger than before, strong enough to defeat her former captain and former combat mentor with a single blow.

To Ulpian's surprise, the three men did not continue their attack on him, who was now incapacitated. However, he also did not struggle to ask them why they had spared his life.

In the end, it was Gretia who took the initiative to ask the most important question—what is Ulpian doing here?

It was only then that he realized that his encounter with these three hunters was truly just a coincidence, rather than them coming to "settle scores" knowing his existence.

Ulpian's current situation can be described as "fish on a chopping board" in the literal sense. He doesn't care much about the consequences of revealing those things, so he explained the cause and effect, from why he settled in Granfalo, to why he didn't interfere with the Deep Sea Church, and then to why he suddenly attacked the three hunters.

"So, after you separated from the group, you gradually realized that the problem of the sea creatures couldn't be solved by hunting them, so you wanted to learn about their 'gods' by contacting highly intelligent sea creatures? In order to find other solutions? And these highly intelligent sea creatures often collude with the deep-sea church, so in order to achieve their goals, they temporarily abandon the hunting duties that deep-sea hunters should do and choose to associate with bishop-level guys from a non-hostile standpoint?"

"Then, because of that hunt that caused the Great Tranquility last time, not only did Iberia almost perish, but it also caused great damage to Agor. They also regard the Deep Sea Hunters as a dangerous and unstable element and are ostracizing them. So it is not very appropriate to go back now, and they don't want us to find the Fool and return to Agor?"

After listening to this explanation, the three deep-sea hunters looked at each other, seemingly unsure how to respond to Ulpian's thoughts.

After a long silence, Gretia slowly spoke:

"You decided to take a different approach to understand Haisi and try to find a more effective way to deal with it. Let's not go into the details of what you did for this. But the Fool's matter... that's not the purpose of our trip. We're not in a hurry to return home, but we still appreciate that you brought us information about the situation in our homeland, instead of being like some people who use the 'I'll give you a look and you'll understand' approach to keep us in suspense and refuse to tell us about Agor's situation."

Seemingly realizing that her words contained some personal emotion, Greta cleared her throat and continued.

"We all fulfilled our duties in that battle. As for the unfounded accusations, I will deal with them properly when I return to Agor. I will not allow those of my fallen kin to suffer foolish and blind doubts about their honor and loyalty after losing their lives."

“I don’t bother to clarify the prejudice and stigmatization of the Agorians by the Iberians who are unaware of the truth, but… if this misunderstanding and insult comes from their own country, that’s a different story.”

His tone was calm, but there was a hint of disappointment beneath the coldness.

As a senior governor of Agor, Goredia could naturally guess the reason for this, while Ghost Shark stated it directly.

"What is this? Although he pretends to be in control, acting like 'even if the path to communication with the land is blocked by the terror fish, we will still live a good life,' Agor must still be seriously injured. There must be a lot of conflicts arising, otherwise he would not have thought of us, whose fate is unknown, to share the firepower and shift the focus."

Skadi also remarked with a touch of self-deprecation:

"In this respect, it seems that even we, Agor, are just like the land-based nations when faced with the same situation."

The three remained remarkably calm throughout, showing no anger at Ulpian's actions, nor any shock at Agor's current situation, nor any sense of injustice regarding their current public perception.

They didn't seem to care much, even Goredia, who claimed she would "have a good talk" with the Agor officials.

"...Are you really Gretia?"

Ulbian asked incredulously.

“Of course I am,” Goredia replied. “Just as you chose to understand the Terrorfish from a different perspective… I have also learned to see the earth and the sea from a different angle, instead of making the foolish mistake of thinking I am on a high pedestal and looking at everything with arrogance.”

"mistake?"

"For example, ideas such as 'Deepsea Hunters are the strongest elite combat group in Terra' and 'The Agor people have the best technology in Terra'."

"Ideas? Shouldn't it be 'facts'?"

"...No longer, that's all."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigh, my other cat has also gone missing. I've been looking for it for over a week without any luck.

Does everything I pour my heart into just mysteriously slip away from me?

[Event] Fool's Tale: Chapter Twenty-One - Run, Silly Child!

The old man and the young man are still at the site of the battle in the town. They don't know what happened in the blink of an eye, they just watched as Uanbil flew out and the three hunters immediately chased after him.

Then they noticed Amaya, who had been left standing there by Specter Shark, disheveled and looking utterly lost—after all, neither of them could immediately reconcile this person with the usually dignified and elegant translator, Li Boli.

"Miss Amaya!? Is it...is that you!? What did those people do to you?"

The old man immediately stepped forward to help her up, but Amaya deliberately moved back, avoiding his hand. She then raised her lifeless face to look at the figure in front of her and said weakly, "Tiago... Mayor? Hmm? So there's Jody too... Is that so? I'm not dead yet?"

The blue-haired Agor youth named Jody immediately looked her over cautiously from the side, taking off his coat and draping it over her shoulders while asking urgently:

"Are you injured anywhere? Who are those people? Are they related to the riots that are happening now?"

"—It's a very important relationship."

A stranger's voice suddenly rang out, and Jody saw a new figure appear behind him in Amaya's suddenly widened eyes.

Looking back, I saw that it was the Agorian nun in the same uniform who had first appeared carrying Amaya.

"You...you guys, are you from the Inquisition?! What...what kind of state do you want to set Granfalo in before you're satisfied?!"

The old man and the young man immediately stood in front of the ghost shark, protecting Amaya behind him. The old man's voice was very loud and full of anger, but his legs were trembling.

The old man sensed fear emanating from Agor in front of him.

Even with a kind smile and wearing pristine clothing, the immense, oppressive presence within still feels somewhat suffocating.

"The courtroom? No, but seeing how much you dislike them, I understand why."

The next instant, Ghost Shark disappeared from their sight, replaced by Goredia, who arrived later, and Skadi, who was supporting Ulpian.

Specter Shark had already arrived behind them and carried Amaya on his shoulder once again.

“Last time you watched them rob Granfalo of its prosperity.”

"And this time you think they're trying to kill Granfalo's life?"

"You can't see the insidious corruption of the Deep Sea Church; you only see the Inquisition's high-profile arrests."

"But when the corrosion is presented to you, you still stubbornly believe that it is the work of the court."

Ghost Shark spoke with a mocking expression, but his tone was extremely cold, as if he were laughing at the old man in front of him for being completely unaware of the situation—or for knowingly doing so.

Only when you get closer to her can you truly feel that the old woman also has a very strong deep-sea smell, which suggests that she must have had quite a bit of contact with Amaya.

It's possible that the other party already knew about Amaya's identity as a deep-sea bishop, but never considered it a danger.

"corrosion……?"

The old man remained silent, seemingly astonished by everything the ghost shark had said, while the young man was confused, seemingly unable to understand what the person beside him had never mentioned to him before.