Chapter 634: I Love the Sea

This chapter is a bonus update thanks to "The Whale That Never Grows Up."

Speaking of the three broke great magicians, Liszt suddenly remembered the map pointing to the lost ruins of an unknown race.

The map indicated the nearby waters off the coast near the Roaring River Estuary.

When the three great magicians found Yevich, since he was also broke, they conned him into thinking this ruin likely hid vast amounts of ancient treasure. Yevich bought it hook, line, and sinker and prepared to fund their excavation of the ruins.

"We don’t know if there’s any treasure, but as an unknown marine civilization, they must have left behind priceless knowledge." This was the dodgy reply Lars Truth gave when Liszt questioned him, still trying to rope Liszt into digging up the treasure.

But in truth, Liszt didn’t need any persuasion—he would have excavated the lost ruins of this unknown race regardless.

Taking out the hand-drawn map and examining its three sections, he itched to return quickly to his Black Horse Island. To successfully locate the ruins using this map, he’d undoubtedly need the help of the sea witch Acheronides and Rainbow Whale Rosi—otherwise, diving’d be a nightmare.

"An unknown race—could it be the sea witches?"

No answer.

He stashed the hand-drawn ruin map and dropped it.

Instead, he turned his gaze to the sea, where Clearwater Sword Saint Yevich Shui Huasheng was grinding through swim lessons. As a man of the mainland, despite possessing water-attribute mana, his swimming skills were lacking. Soon to take up the role of captain for the expedition fleet, he threw himself into the waves daily to adapt to maritime life.

At first, sailors had to fish him out.

Now, he could swim back to the ship on his own and was gradually overcoming his fear of the deep sea: "I’ve gone sea-mad—the boundless azure fills me with awe for its depth and vastness. Though I’m nearly thirty years late, I’ve found my destiny at last!"

After his swim, Yevich delivered a soppy love speech to the sea.

Yet by noon, that declaration was shattered, leaving only Yevich’s hoarse screams: "My lord, let me back into the cabin! I can’t stay on the deck!"

The clear morning weather turned the sea into a monster by noon.

Enormous waves bucked the Sunset like a wild stallion, tossing it with no power to resist. Though the ship was equipped with a Water Calming Pearl and a Wind Calming Pearl, Liszt ordered the captain to keep 'em off—just to scare Yevich and test whether he truly loved the sea.

Moments later,

the Water Calming Pearl and Wind Calming Pearl were both activated, restoring calm to the Sunset. Beyond a hundred-meter radius, the sea still churned with towering waves, but as they entered the influence of the pearls, they gradually subsided. Even so, the residual swells kept the ship gently rocking.

Many who had never sailed before—

such as Alvin Eaglesword and the three great magicians—were vomiting uncontrollably.

Yevich, with his sky knight’s robust physique, should have been fine, but after being locked outside the cabin and tossed about, he could endure no longer. Collapsed on the deck, he puked his guts out, heaved till he was hollow, until his face turned pale.

Only after being cleaned up by several squire knights and changing into fresh clothes

did Liszt receive him in the wheelhouse: "Yevich, the sea is a moody bastard—all smiles one minute, trying to kill you the next. Do you still believe you love the sea and wish to live upon it?"

Yevich took a deep breath.

His answer remained firm: "Yes, my lord! Sure, I swim like a brick, I just puked my soul out, and the sea may indeed have its terrors—but I still want to make it my bitch. I once whiffed on dragon-taming. I won’t miss my chance to tame the sea!"

Dragons and the sea—how’s that even a thing?

Liszt didn’t understand Yevich’s logic, but since the man hadn’t pissed himself and was instead still raring to go, it meant the expedition fleet could be entrusted to him.

...

The Sunset arrived at Iron Hoof Island’s Oxhoof City port on August 23.

The port was bustling with ships transporting iron ore one after another. The Marquis of Quicksand City, Nesta Grandiflora, the elder brother of the Grand Duke, was stationed in Bullhoof City.

Upon hearing of Liszt's return, Nesta personally came to the port to greet him.

"Marquis Nesta, thank you for your welcome. I am deeply honored," Liszt said with grace, executing a courtly bow.

Of course,

it wasn’t the reverent gesture of a minor noble meeting a high-ranking one, but rather a more military-style knight's salute, skillfully avoiding the status gap brought by their respective titles.

Otherwise, a viscount meeting a marquis would have required a level of etiquette that would have made Liszt uncomfortable.

Nesta didn’t mind this at all.

Cockiness from talent was a flaw exclusive to the young.

He enthusiastically patted Liszt on the shoulder. "A rising star, a rising star! When I heard news of you back home, I was itching to charge straight to the Shockwave Plains to witness your battle with the Marquis of Surging Tides. It’s been a long time since Blue Gemstone has produced a young man as outstanding as you!"

Liszt smiled modestly but didn’t respond.

Nesta promptly pulled him toward a nearby castle. "I wrote to the Grand Duke about you, and in his reply, he praised you extensively. It’s a pity both his daughters are already married, or he would surely have arranged a match for you… But no matter, my eldest granddaughter has just come of age. You two should meet."

Nesta’s granddaughter, by convention, would be a generation younger than the princess and thus a generation younger than Liszt.

But here, seniority wasn’t strictly observed—marriages were mostly about matching status and serving the interests of both families.

Liszt had never held high expectations for noblewomen. Unless he could mold them to his liking, he wouldn’t easily accept them, given the loose morals.

Leaving his subordinates to arrange supplies for the *Sunset*,

Liszt took only a few attendants, along with Yevich and Emily, to attend Marquis Nesta’s banquet at the castle. Many nobles were present, most of them from the Blue Blood Alliance garrisoned at Ironhoof Island, which was still firmly under the control of the Blue Gemstone family.

At the banquet,

Marquis Nesta wasted no time in subtly prying for intel about Liszt’s background. Soon, he wormed out plenty of details from the "loose-lipped" Liszt—about "shipwrecks," "Mentor G.S.D," "spiritual power," and the "Ghost Swordsman." He realized Liszt had been blessed by *The glory of knighthood!*, inheriting the legacy of the Arad civilization.

Whether they believed it or not, the banquet kept its cheerful vibe.

The back-and-forth compliments were ear-numbingly tedious.

No hotheaded young nobles dared to provoke Liszt. In fact, ever since Liszt became the youngest *sky knight* in the country, he hadn’t encountered a single foolhardy noble challenging him.

He was, after all, an earl's son, just scraping into high nobility, and he wasn’t particularly sociable, so he rarely interacted with young nobles. Those who did move in noble circles were mostly heirs of great families, trained in the empty art of courtly manners, and most were still only at the level of land knights.

How could they possibly dare to challenge a *sky knight*, let alone the youngest one in the country?

Thus,

the banquet wrapped up on a high note.

Nesta still didn’t let Liszt leave, instead pulling him aside for further conversation, pushing his granddaughter while prying for more intel.

Liszt couldn't care less about these topics. Instead, he asked, "Marquis Nesta, do you know about *Domain Knights*? The Marquis of Surging Tides was one, and I nearly died at his hands. If not for the instability of his *mana* domain, I might not have made it out alive."

"A *Domain Knight*, huh…" Nesta stroked his beard in thought, weighing his response.