The knight is completely trusting in his senses. As a pragmatic warrior, if you always feel that what you see and hear is only an accidental illusion, you are not far from being cut in the throat from behind with a dagger. So Lothar was well aware that someone, or someone had just been standing on the deck of the Damned Lady, was probably the one who had opened the hole in the deck and let the sea breeze blow in. From this point of view, he or she should be the lifesaver of the group. But the Count didn't think it would be so simple.

"Ahem," Lothar coughed twice, his throat aching from the dryness, and the weakness of his body as he got up told him how weak he was at this moment. After a period of fasting, with even the strongest warriors skinny to the bone, Lothar began to wonder if he would be able to raise the Fool's Justice to fight his enemies. But before it happened, unnecessary worries were not helpful, and the Count reluctantly stood up and looked around.

The sunlight shining through the holes and the cracks in the planks fell on the cabin, giving a clear view of the situation. The two witches showed no signs of waking up, but their breathing was steady, and they were probably only asleep from excessive physical exhaustion. As for the net worm, her situation is better, but Lothar has no intention of waking her up immediately, and in the current situation, even if all four of them wake up, their combat power will not increase much. Rather than that, let them rest in this safer space and climb up to the deck to see what's going on outside.

Lothar searched for his weapon in the light, and the straw that had been laid on the ground floor was scattered by the tumbling, making it impossible to see the real floor. Thankfully, even though the wizard had been coated with a camouflage shell, the sharpness of the witch-hunting knife remained undiminished, and the Count soon found his tomahawk at a reflective spot. The heaviness in his hands nearly brought him down as he picked up his weapon, and Lothar shook his head and smiled wryly, a feeling that reminded him of the first time he had picked up a real weapon. And he is no longer a child, and even if he is in a desperate situation, he has the responsibility to protect others. Not to mention being weak just because you haven't eaten. The Count took a deep breath, then lifted the tomahawk with the strength of his abdomen, and he weighed the weight of his hand, estimating how long he could hold it if he swung it.

Before going to the deck, the Count pinned his tomahawk behind his back, he didn't want to go to the man with his weapon in his hand, as he might scare away the good man with good intentions. Although he also did not know what kind of good person would gouge through the deck of a ship after a tsunami. The palm of his hand was raised above his eyes, and after a few days, Lothar finally saw the sun and the sea in the sunlight again. It was incredible, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face, no one could live in a small claustrophobic room.

"Ou!" the seagull flew overhead, making a high-pitched call. This made the Count realize where he was now. He re-examined the deck and found that the Cursed Lady's hull was almost completely damaged, except for the magically protected cabin, both the mast and the terrace behind it were badly damaged in the rapids, and the original three-masted galleon was now left with not a single mast, and it was alive with a wooden box floating on the sea. "Hopefully they can afford to pay for the repairs. Lothar muttered to herself.

The seagull appeared, indicating that the hull of the ship was close to the shore, and the Count took a few steps towards the edge of the deck and saw the sea full of wreckage and floating objects. The sight of the apocalyptic flood made his smile disappear. But soon Lothar realized that the sight would be there, and he turned his head to look behind him, and sure enough, he saw towering mountains in the distance, stretching out like a barrier to keep the sea out. "I see, so this is Heartbreaker Bay?"

"Not entirely accurate. The human city you call is now gone, and although everything in it is only temporarily covered by the sea, if the sea does not recede, it does not belong to humans. A voice with a strange tone and a trilling voice came from the front of the deck. Lothar followed the sound and saw a man, or humanoid.

He had never seen anything like it before. The creature standing on the deck has a slender body, at least two meters tall, full of streamlined beauty, and his hands and feet are slender, but the obvious muscular contours can be seen. On the slender limbs, there was no human skin, instead a thin layer of scales, about half the size of a fingernail, that made up the creature's epidermis, glittering with beautiful colors in the sunlight. Overall, the creature's skin color, or scales, was light blue, but it had bright yellow lines on his chest and limbs, a striking sign that reminded Lothar of the patterns on a poisonous mushroom or a poisonous snake.

The head of the creature is quite different from that of a human, its neck is about a quarter longer than that of a human, and its head is also elongated. He doesn't have a nose on his face, but there are gills that resemble fish gills near his collarbone. The most striking thing on that face is the pair of large eyes, which are estimated to be only about three times the size of humans, and these two eyes are clearly oriented to both sides on the narrow face, and they are more like fish than humans.

Lothar noticed that the creature wore some ornaments made of shells and seaweed, especially a short knife made of shark teeth on his belt, proving that it was from a civilized race. If it were a different person, he would have screamed and panicked at the sudden appearance of the non-human species in front of him. But the Count had lived through the rat-man plague, and after witnessing the half-human, half-rat monster and the shadow dwellers of the royal capital, Lothar himself didn't notice that he didn't show any unusual expression in the face of this strange being. When he looked at the other person, it felt like he was just admiring an unusual work of art.

"So, you saved us?" the Count said directly, now that the other party had already greeted us in human language. The alien on the deck, with his hands on his back, grinned at the question, which Lothar guessed was an attempt to mimic a human smile, but the large mouth and the sharp teeth in it didn't make it feel kind.

"No, I'm just delaying your journey home. Our process in the sea of life is all about experiencing suffering before we reach our destination, and only then will we understand the meaning of eternal peace. So this is not salvation, but rather because my curiosity and selfishness prolong your suffering. I'm sorry for that. The thing said, leaning down slightly, revealing the protruding fins on its spine.

Lothar frowned, but it was a brow, but it was not the first time he had heard a different worldview than his own education. And as a knight, he should have respect for the beliefs of others, and since all people are creatures of this world, who can tell whose view of the world is correct?

"You don't need to apologize, whatever your motivations, we've really gotten your help. Lothar bowed his head slightly, he was no longer the lord who was full of war, and if the rat-man plague taught him anything, humility must be the most important of them.

"You have a peaceful heart, a strong spirit rooted in your heart, which is not very common in your race. The fish-like creature tilted its head, he didn't seem to have eyelids or anything like that, "That might also explain why you can travel with a traveler." They're too hard for the weak-willed to understand, but not necessarily for you. ”

"Traveler?"

"Well, I think about it, they claim to be witches among ordinary people. You should be more affectionate with that. The creature said as if he had remembered something, and he took two steps closer to Lothar, who had only four toes on the soles of his feet and were spread apart. "I'm sorry, but as is the etiquette of terrestrial creatures, it seems like I should introduce myself first. You can call me, Fioni, which means shapeshifter in our language. ”

"Lothar, I don't think my name has any special meaning. The Count reached out and shook hands with the creature who called himself Fioni. He could feel the other's palms damp and covered in scales. And in addition to that, there seems to be some small thing with a certain suction in the palm of Fioni's hand.

"Oh, I see. When the two shook hands, Fioni suddenly said, "So you're the one." No wonder I'm here. ”