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nThe ceremony of Lagaope.

nIt wasn’t just a regular ceremony.

nThere were plenty of Talic Stones on the pedestal at the top of the hill by the coast. Below the pedestal were merchants, politicians, and nobles of Margaran wishing for safe passage for another year.

nThey were all who had profited from Lagaopora.

nEveryone in Margaran made profits from the route, but these people especially so.

nAs people gathered to activate the shrine, the Exar began flowing through Talic Stones that were piled up on the pedestal.

nSian and Stiel were sitting on the closest seats that allowed them to witness it closely.

n“So, it wasn’t only for memorial purposes. Let’s see… . That’s what the booklet says.”

n“He could’ve been a Magic Priest. The ceremony looks similar to their ways.”

n“I think offerings might work better. Those Talic Stones…”

n“I’m sure there were others who thought like you before.”

nSome people in Margaran thought the same. They wanted to save using Talic Stones, and under one merchant’s strong persuasion, they decided to do the festival without Talic Stones. After the ceremony, the route was safe for almost a week, and there were no Harijans. Merchants became proud and shouted,

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nAnd until the news that all ships had been sunk reached Margaran and Kiara, a total of 930 ships that had set sail had been destroyed. It was the time before communication artifacts that resulted in such large scale damage.

nThe cost of the damages were thousands of times more than the use of Talic Stones.

nPeople were infuriated at the result of not listening to Lagaope and burned the merchants alive, seizing their properties to restart the ceremony.

nAfter that, no one brought up the idea again.

n“So that opens up the sea route somehow.”

n“I guess so, but no one knows how.”

n“I see. Let’s see if there’s anything in the booklet.”

nStiel looked at Sian, who was scanning through the pages and remembered the report she read about Sian before coming here.

n, so the mystery actually helped them anyway.

n“But it’s so boring! I thought some beam would shoot out and kill all the Harijans on the route or something.”

n“That’s not something even you can do.”

nThe route was very long; it ranged over thousands of miles. No top grade magic had such a great range of attack, save one.

nThe magic that destroyed the Empire.

nThe magic that was activated by fifteen Great Magic Priests of the Empire destroyed the entire Empire. It also killed all the Harijans and Kal-Guls that had invaded the land as intended.

nHowever, that was just a legend. No one was left to prove it.

nIt was now considered a hoax or fairytale.

n“Huh? You can’t do it too. No one can…”

n“I can do it.”

n“WHAT? Really?”

nStiel was shocked. She couldn’t believe that Sian was able to divide the sea from here to Kiara with a strike. That wasn’t at the level of a superhuman, that would make him a god.

n‘What… so the can be used for such a thing?’

nSian’s claim froze Stiel.

n“I’m just joking.”

n“…”

n“Haha, it’s my revenge for a while ago.”

nStiel blamed Sian’s power, making such claim sound possible.

nAfter they finished watching the ceremony until the end, it was already night time. Today was only the beginning, and the wave was going to shoot out to sea for ten more days. That was how long the festival would last.

n“Let’s go back. You don’t have anywhere else to go, right?”

n“Yeah. It’s been a good day.”

n“So, we’re heading to for lunch?”

nSian looked at the map and headed to which was listed in the

nThis restaurant used a special, costly spice called La-Jeanne to flavor its seafood and earned its fame. The food was so popular that a lot of nobles made reservations.

nA mansion employee had already made a reservation, so Sian and Stiel casually walked towards the place.

n“I should make a ‘kid’ I know somewhere. It’s convenient.’

n“Yeah, it does make things convenient for sure.”

n‘I do have an ‘old man’ I know…’

nHe thought about King Narasha, but it didn’t feel right to ask for such a petty request, so he shook it away.

nThe restaurant was located at a high part of the city, towards the north where the coast was visible, and that helped with it also famous. It was a great place to enjoy lunch and the view at once.

nThe road to the place was through the bazaar, so Sian and Stiel bought some snacks to eat along the way. As they walked through, Sian noticed people gathered around something. They looked like they were avoiding what was inside. He wanted to ignore it, but he had to pass it to head to his destination when he saw some familiar faces.

n“Bastards… how dare you attack our friends?”

n“You sirs tried to harass my friend first.”

n“But how can you beat up a man like that? Hehe… now you should feel how to get beaten up!”

nSian looked inside. There were familiar faces on both sides.

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