Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Blessings of the Sea
"The Blessing of the Sea...... What is that? Can you tell us about it? Pen Γ fun Γ Pavilion www. ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ γ ο½ο½ο½ο½β
"The secret treasure of the royal family of the continent of Calradia, don't you know Andorra? β
In a splendid and noble hall, on a silver-plated bench among the many sumptuous furniture, Atros conversed with the King of Andorra whom he spoke, and the two did not seem to care about the difference in status, and discussed the purpose of Shoy and his party without hesitation, and after about a quarter of an hour, Atros got the answer he wanted, and left the place with brisk steps.
At this time, Shoy and his party were resting in the garden of the huge royal palace, and a dense flower tree shielded them from the bright sun of tropical Gronia, and the beam of light shining at their feet between the branches and leaves was still very hot, and when they did not know what to do, Atros with a smile on his face walked up to them on the gravel path in the garden, and brought a message from Andorra.
"Three, let's go with my uncle, Antao wants to talk to you~"
"Uncle Return...... I'm wondering how this king could stand such a foolish general as you...... Forget it, Sig and Sister Melva, let's go meet the king!"
The three of them followed Atros through a door in the garden into the palace, and in front of a magnificent royal throne stood a middle-aged man wearing golden leather chain mail, but his temples were white, his golden beard covered a small half of his face, his exposed cheeks and forehead were wrinkled, and a pair of bright eyes seemed to be unaffected by the years, still looking at the comers who entered the palace hall......
The group walked through the palace guards under the guidance of the Wind of Shadowhunting, and walked straight to the King of Andorra in front of the throne, judging from his current military uniform, it seemed that he had just experienced a sword duel, and the old man who looked more than half a hundred years old did not feel a trace of fatigue, but laughed loudly and came to greet these visitors in person.
The old king bypassed Atros, who was smirking at him, and came to Melva's side, and asked, "Is Belmondo right? Pope Marius of the Holy Religion is all right?
"The old pope has been dead for more than ten years, and now the eleventh generation of popes dominates the church, that is, Pope Matthews. β
"I see, you are a guest, please come with me to the conference hall. β
Without saying a word, Andorra led the group through one of the side doors in the main hall, and wandered for some time through the narrow marble cloister to the meeting hall where Atros had just spoken, and motioned for everyone to sit down and continue their conversation.
"I heard that Atros said that you came to Gronia in search of the seal of the Elemental Gem?" the old king asked bluntly, seated on the main seat, motioned for the maid to serve tea to the guests.
"Yes, we need to find out where Simon's sealing array is, but we don't know where he used to be......" Melva didn't hold back, informing Andorra of everything so far, and the other party kept nodding.
"Alright, Duke of Andorra, this mysterious place must be in Gronia, but we don't know how much it has changed over the centuries. Shoey didn't talk nonsense, and insisted that the gem she was looking for was in the city of Gronia.
"I see, then I can tell you that we are originally Barionians, belonging to the powerful Duchy of Lokti, which is considered an independent kingdom with a high emperor, and Gronia is only an independent commercial city-state, which has not changed much since the alliance with the Holy Kingdom of Calradia hundreds of years ago, but in the meantime we have unearthed countless technologies and riches buried in the vast ruins of Dabaran, if Simon hides what you are looking for in Gronia, then it will only be in the places we have not yet excavated, at least the possible scope will be narrowed. Andorra explained the truth about the city of Gronia, revealed the secrets of Dabaran's so-called high technology, and provided a search plan.
"Hey, hey, hey, Andorra, you've ignored me just now, I'm the best at treasure hunting, why don't you ask my opinion?" Atros, who had been ignored for a long time, reminded his loyal king of his allegiance, holding a map of the dwarven ruins of Dabaran.
"What!?Aren't you best at picking up girls?How did you become a treasure hunt......
Andorra's answer made Atros eager to dig a hole and burrow into it, but in order not to lose face in front of outsiders, he forced his composure and said: "...... How can I say that my daughter is also the best treasure hunter, haven't you heard that a wonderful daughter must have a great father behind her......"
"Then we should find your daughter, right?, we old men, don't get involved in the affairs of young people, I'll look up all the materials about Simon in the royal library, it will take some time, let's stay here first!" Andorra leveled up with Atros, and asked Shoy what she thought.
"It doesn't matter, let's live here and wait for clues! and the stupid uncle...... Can you ask your daughter to give us some information?"
Shoey agreed to stay, and asked Atros for help, and he replied with relief: "I will go and ask her, you stay first, and my king should rest......"
Andorra then led the three of them to a luxurious room on the west side of the marble palace, where Atros took a strong horse from the royal stables, mounted it and galloped towards the Knights' quarters, while the king returned to the main hall to attend to the business, and the time passed minute by minute while waiting......
After a long wait, the city of paradise ushered in its night, standing on the walls of the central island and looking at the whole city, the night is lit up in Gronia, the pedestrian streets and the arena are especially lively, and the red knights and gray knights standing guard in the aisles of the solid stone walls also sigh at this amazing night view......
And this peaceful environment naturally has people who know how to appreciate it, the knights on the city walls are chatting about the deeds of the people they admire, most of them are related to a young and beautiful treasure hunter, and in the atmosphere of beauty, Melva was invited by Atros to the west tower of the central island, where you can have a panoramic view of the night view of the pedestrian street, and the cruise ships of the nearby waterway are also clearly visible, but she has been waiting for a long time under the night sky, but she has not seen Atros for a long time.
"Doesn't your general usually keep his promises! and the lady he asked out......"
When she began to complain to the knights standing guard, there was a crisp sound of footsteps from the nearby circular passage, and Atros quickly ran up the hundreds of stairs, came to Melva, and teased with a spring breeze on his face: "Sorry, I've kept you waiting! I just pushed down the evening banquet, and now the date has officially begun~"
"Is this worth being so happy about? You are a man of status, please respect yourself...... It seems that your purpose is not pure, I am going back!" She angrily pushed Atros away and walked down the circular staircase.
"Don't~ I just want to enjoy the night view of Gronia with you!Of course, there are some clues about the elemental gems, after all, your desire for them is much stronger than that little sister, isn't it?"
Melva was a little surprised by what Atros said, she stopped and smiled, and asked, "You mean you found a clue?"
"Of course, I'm a treasure hunter!" Atros said confidently, but he didn't notice the whistling of ropes turning nearby.
"Smack!"
A solid noose flew towards Atros' neck, only to be picked up by his windy movements, the noose only wrapped around his right wrist, and a familiar female voice came from the other side of the rope.
"Atros, you're bragging again, you have to be clever in lying...... It's your daughter's clue!"
Looking back, the two of them saw Sophia, a treasure hunter who had appeared in the catacombs and caves of Treasure Island, and when she appeared, Atros greeted her with a laugh and shook off the noose on her wrist.
"Sophia, why did you call your father's name again...... Is it so hard to say the word father!~"
"I'm Andorra's father's daughter! I'm the same as you as a general, so why do I call you father......
Sophia threw the noose under the high wall and walked past Atros proudly, but Melva reached out to stop her and asked unkindly, "Sophia, I heard that you took the sun horn from Trevor, and now you should know the whereabouts of this holy artifact, right?"
"It was of his own free will...... I still couldn't understand why he gave me the horn. β
"Trevor stupid...... I don't understand what he's thinking, so did he say anything to you?"
After some reflection, Sophia told Melva what had happened that day: "I went to look for him in the tavern that day, and I was going to steal the horn, but he said that it might be better to give it to me, and inexplicably said that he would sleep for three days, but he said at the end. This trumpet will bring danger, and it is hoped that the employer will have enough strength to hold it, otherwise it will be destroyed by darkness. β
"yes...... There are also those thugs of the Drua Church who want to get their hands on these relics, but they have had little success at the moment!Can you tell your father about the blessings of the sea?"
Atros interjected: "Although I know everything, let my good daughter show it~"
"It's such a shame, I'm just telling you a little scratch, so let me say it!"
From then on, Sophia began to tell the clues about the blessings of the sea, and Melva listened attentively to each of her clues......
"The Ancient Armory of the Dwarves?
After about ten minutes, Melva learned from Sofia's clues about the location of the sealed gem, but it was not known exactly where the arsenal containing all the ancient mechanical technology of DabarΓ‘n was located, but it was not difficult to hear from the words of the King of Andorra that it did exist in the city of Gronia, and gradually faded into oblivion with the passage of time.
"Maybe we can go to ...... Below!"
Unexpectedly, Atros just said it casually, but it stirred Sophia's thoughts like a sobering medicine, and she shouted excitedly: "Yes! How did I forget this!!"
The nearby knights who loved Sophia were attracted by her shout, and she said with a little embarrassment, "It's okay...... It's okay, you guys keep watching......"
"Is it underwater?"
Melva felt a little puzzled, and Atros took over and analyzed, "It seems so...... The waterways of Gronia are more than 100 meters deep, and it is impossible to dig caves at the bottom of these protruding islands with current technology, but the dwarves who once lived on this continent in the primeval period were best at digging, and based on the dwarven relics we have collected over the years, it can be concluded that these ancient gnomes had the technology to dig warehouses in the lower part of the islands. β
"And if there really is a cave at the bottom of these islands, then how are we going to go down......" Sophia began to plan a way to dive into the cave, but Melva said, "You know the sigil of the water breath in the spell, right?"
Atros was secretly happy in his heart, feeling that the time for the limelight had come, he shook his hair and replied with a smile: "The secret technique of underwater breathing, as long as enough magic is instilled in the medium, it can be drawn on the back of the hand or wrist, and after it takes effect, there is a quarter of an hour for people to breathe in the water, and if the place is predetermined, then there is enough time to enter the cave." β
"And where do you think this armory will be?" Melva naturally wanted to test the old slippery head, so he continued to ask.
"According to my gut instinct...... It must be under Center Island! Of course, I'll tell you, it's because we've recovered a lot of scorpion fish carcasses in these waters. β
Atros began to explain his semantics to the two, and informed them that the Melva Scorpion Fish was a species of fish endemic to the waters around Gronia, and that their flesh was edible, and that Gronia's abundant water resources allowed them to live well in deep waters, but there were many of them near the central island, and that they had to be like their nests, and that there must be huge caves under the waters where they lived in groups......
I said...... Why are you suddenly serious? I am a little impressed! I didn't expect you to explain everything in detail in just a few words, as for the water breathing spell, although there are no magicians among us, there must be a record in the knowledge hidden by the forbidden blade!"
Melva praised Atros and also planned the next step, Sophia wiped her leather armor clean, and said: "Then I will go with me, the discovery of the ancient armory will definitely make a great contribution to the Hunters' Guild~"
"Hey, hey, hey, your dad and I'm here, how can it be your turn?Besides, how can I let you, this little girl, interrupt the two-person world between me and Miss Belmondo~" Atros bluntly rejected Sophia's request, and Melva's hand knife was also blocked by him, and said: "Don't hit me~ I see that you are not too young, are you interested in spending time with your big brother?"
"I'm only twenty-eight years old!Damn old pervert!!I'm not serious enough to praise you for a few words!!" Her continuous kicks were completely unable to attack Atros, and she gently repelled Melva with a smile, saying, "I see...... Big brother, I'm forty-two this year, and our ages are very compatible!~"
Sophia seemed accustomed to Atros's words and deeds, and she whispered, "Actually, he is forty-six, and I still have more than a dozen mothers...... Melva, you must refuse him~"
Feeling helpless at Atros's actions, Melva shook off his hand and walked under the walls, complaining as he went: "This guy ...... Fortunately, we know where our goals are, and it's not a loss. β