Chapter 277: ‘Déjà vu.
[Lord of the Sea, Laviatharid’s Bloodline Detected.]
Kael stopped midway as he saw a screen pop up in front of his face.
The [Primordial Sense] was activated.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time it had happened. After he left the Palace and rescued Lavinia, the ability had activated quite a lot of times, especially now that it wasn’t just restricted to the domains of Dragons.
Every beast, no matter how strong or weak, could be traced back to one ancient or another. This was also the reason Kael wasn’t particularly worried about his future Bonds since he could create strong beasts whenever he wanted.
His main focus, however, was on levelling up Vitaria and Imperia simply because of how important their abilities were.
But…
He couldn’t exactly ignore this message either.
Lord of the Sea.
It wasn’t a title he could ignore.
Yes, there were countless times Primordial Sense had activated, but Kael had never seen a grander name than this.
“Customer?”
Seeing how Kael stopped, the innkeeper called out.
“Ah, wait a minute, there is some place I need to be.”
“What?”
The innkeeper frowned; even Lavinia was confused.
“It won’t take long, come with me.”
“A-Alright.”
The innkeeper nodded, and without waiting, Kael walked towards the Egg he had just sensed. Yes, he could have waited, but…
This was Kael, a crazy fool when it came to his children.
Everything else can be done later, he first needed to secure his child.
After about 10 minutes’ walk, Kael stopped, his mouth twitching as he saw the scene in front of him.
It was an old man sitting cross-legged beside a worn-out cloth, displaying a few strange objects for sale.
Yes.
His [Primordial Sense] had reacted to one of those ‘objects’.
‘Déjà vu.’
Kael muttered inwardly as he stared at the shiny, smooth gemstone placed in the middle of the cloth. It was shaped like an Egg, but no life could be sensed from it. Yes, it was an incomplete Egg that would remain as a Gemstone if Kael wasn’t here to awaken it, just like Cirri’s ‘Egg’.
The gemstone had deep blue colors with black crack-like patterns running through it. Its surface was very glossy and reflected light, giving it a magical feel.
*Image*
Soon, however, he gave in to his protagonist fate and approached the old man.
“Oh? You are not from this place, are you?”
The old man’s eyes lit up as he saw Kael and the group approaching.
“That blue stone, how much is it?”
Kael questioned directly.
“Stone? Are you kidding me? Does this look like a stone to you?”
The old man countered.
“It is an unawakened Dragon’s Egg! Any person who gets his hands on it will be blessed by Dragon’s Luck. How dare you call this a stone!?”
He raised his voice, as if offended that his product was undervalued to this degree.
But then,
“Alright then, keep that luck for yourself.”
Kael shrugged as he grabbed Lavinia’s hand and,
“Let’s leave, I’ll find an even prettier stone for you.”
Lavinia had absolutely no clue what was happening, but she played her role excellently and turned around.
“Alright, I saw another one before coming here, let’s buy that instead.”
“Goo—”
Before Kael could agree,
“Wait!”
The old man shouted.
Kael paused for a moment,
“I-It’s a Dragon’s Egg! It will bless your married life with endless love and happiness! Do you really wish to give up on something like this!?
1 Silver!
That is all I ask!
1 silver and it will be yours.”
“One Silver?”
Kael raised his eyebrow.
“One Silver for a Stone? Old man, have you lost yo—”
Before the innkeeper could say anything,
“Here.”
Kael tossed the coin towards him and picked his future child.
Honestly, he would have given more money to him but…
‘He wouldn’t be able to keep it.’
Kael muttered inwardly as he momentarily glanced at the group following them.
“Mr. Customer, he is scamming you! Don’t be fooled b—”
“It doesn’t matter, I am done here, take me to the ship owner.”
Kael ordered, and the confused Innkeeper just nodded.
“Hehe~ You are a lucky one, my Lady~
Your husband cares about you, I wish you a long, happy life together.”
The old man laughed as he glanced at Lavinia, who, for some reason, stood frozen, before she turned around and followed Kael without saying anything.
The innkeeper rushed towards Kael as well and took them to the ship owner.
…
“So you wish to rent the entire ship on your own?”
The ship owner questioned.
“That is correct.”
Kael nodded.
“Where do you wish to go?”
“Ashen Heights.”
“Huh…?”
The instant Kael said those words, the ship owner and the innkeeper frowned in confusion.
“Why do you want to go to that darned place?”
“There is no reason for you to know that, is there?”
Kael answered, and for a moment, the ship owner stared at Kael and Lavinia in silence. Even the innkeeper had a strange expression on his face, an expression that he tried to hide, but both Kael and Lavinia noticed it.
The two couldn’t be blamed either. This wasn’t the first time someone had requested to go to the Ashen Heights. Since it is an isolated area with no Major Power influencing it, many criminals from all over the world try to go there, believing they could settle there and escape any charges.
Of course, this was still the first time someone wanted to rent an entire ship just for two people, but in all honesty, the ship owner didn’t care.
Rich people were peculiar; he had learned not to think too much about the stuff they request and directly get to the point, and that is what he did,
“It’s a seven-day sail from here to Ashen Heights. My men would need to take you there and then return. That is a total of 14 days. My ship is large enough to carry 100 men, I earn around 3 copper coins a day from one.
That will be 42 silvers.
Of course, you can say my ships aren’t always full, so…”
The shipowner thought about it for a moment and,
“30 silvers, that’s the lowest I can go. Any lower and I will be making a loss here.”
“30 silvers?”
“Yes, don’t try to bargain. I do not do that. This is the final offer.”
The shipowner answered directly.
Of course, to Kael, the price was cheap. Elira’s money had made him rich, but,
“What if I only need the ship to land at the mountains instead?”
Kael questioned.
“Huh?”
The shipowner frowned.
“Didn’t you say you want to go to the Ashen Heights?”
“Yes, I was thinking of trekking through the mountains to go there.”
“Why would you do that? That not only takes twice the amount it usually takes, the mountains are also dangerous with different tribes residing in them.
Even if you clear the mountain, once you get there, you would need to pass through another river to get to the Ashen Heights, and I don’t think you will find a ship as big as mine there.”
“…but won’t seven days in sea be dangerous?”
“Huh? Dangerous? What do you think I do for a living? Sea travel is only dangerous if you do not know your way. My family has been in this business for generations. We know all the paths to take and avoid, we know how to study weather and how to react in different situations.
Do not worry, my men are all seasoned, nothing will happen.
Trust me.”
The ship owner answered reassuringly.
Kael paused for a moment, thinking it through, and then,
“We leave tomorrow morning?”
“We can leave as soon as you pay the money. I will take 20 silvers tomorrow before you leave, pay the rest to my men after they drop you to the Ashen Heights.”
“I also have big containers that I do not want to be touche—”
“My men aren’t nosy. Since you have rented the entire ship, you can bring 15 normal-sized containers. No one will stop you and ask what’s in them.”
“Good.”
Kael nodded.
“Do you need men to carry your containers?”
“Labour?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Kael shook his head as soon, a light grin appeared on his face and,
“We already have labour.”
For some reason, the eleven people following him felt chills on their backs at the same time when he said those words. Right now, however, they couldn’t understand what it meant and decided to ignore it.
It was a mistake.
On the other side, Kael made the final deal with the shipowner, the hands were shaken. Once free, Kael turned towards the innkeeper and,
“Clean our room and prepare our food, we will be there in 10 minutes.”
He ordered.
It was time to spray on the bugs that had been following them for a while now.
“Yes, please enjoy your time.”
The innkeeper nodded and left without asking anything as well. Even he had sensed something was about to happen and wanted no part in it.
The purification was about to begin.